Dyer Circumstances

One of the enormous perks of living in Northern Idaho is that it is considerably closer to my dear cousin, Amber and her family!

Two weekends ago, Nels got a Friday off and the girls +Nels had Monday off for MLKJ Day, so we decided to jump on a perfect opportunity to head over to Monroe to visit the Dyers. -- Not to mention, I think if we'd all been cooped up in this apartment for four days straight, we may not have been feeling so lovey by Tuesday. :) -- Thank you, Amber for letting us crash your long weekend!

Hooray for snow! This was their first snow and all those Dyers were so excited. :) I'm just glad that we brought our snow clothes. The kids had SUCH a wonderful time playing in the snow together.

This was my personally favorite trick! :) Riding the sled down the slide. :)

Sweet Hannah

 

LOVE kids in diapers and boots! :)

The night before we left, Clara was running a bit of a fever. I just passed it off, sure that it would pass. Alas, Saturday came along and she STILL was warm and getting more and more fussy so we finally took her into the Urgent Care down the street. Poor little baby had an ear infection. After some antibiotics, she cheered up quite a bit, but she was not in top shape the entire time we were there. I felt bad that everyone didn't get to see her generally smily and pleasant self. Amber's girls were SO in love with her and wanted to hold Clara every chance they got, but because she wasn't feeling well, she wouldn't let anyone but her mommy or daddy hold her for very long. Luckily, next time probably won't be too far off. :)

We took a few minutes before going sledding on Monday to take a quick family picture for Amber.
They all turned out SO cute!

The drive home Monday night was quite snowy over the pass coming out of Seattle. Luckily our van is a beast in the snow and zips right along with nary a slip.

It was such a great weekend. I'm so thankful for Amber and the wonderful friend that she's been for me my whole life. It was so great to see our children developing sweet cousin friendships as well. It made my heart happy. They all had so much fun and got along so well. Being at their home was also good therapy for me. It felt like home.

Thank you, Dyers! We can't wait until next time!

A Perfectly Busy Weekend

I had a beautiful birthday. The kind that will probably never be duplicated. Every birthday for the rest of my life, I will remember that I share that day with my baby sister. I will remember her face as she looked across the alter at her sweetheart and covenanted to be his forever. I will remember being in the temple with my parents and all of my siblings.

What a beautiful, perfect day.

It will go in the books as one of the best days of my life.

Genny looked incredible. Ben looked incredible beside her. They are happy. (unfortunately "a man" who ran around with a camera the whole day, failed to get any actual "pictures" of said happy couple, only video, so this picture is "stolen")

This picture is one of the the only ones that I have of the "wedding day" and that is because I took it. My lovely baby and my incredibly hot husband.

All the little nieces (all TWELVE of them) we dressed in beautiful matching white dresses with purple sashes. It looks like Violet was trying to get away from my handsome husband, but really, she just like looking at the world upside down --- and is adorable --- and incredibly wiggly --- and incredibly heavy to wrestle with for an entire day. :) Nels complained the next day about his arms being sore from carrying around his camera all day . . . let's just say that I was able to sympathize. :)

Genny got married on my birthday. Two days later was Easter. I love when my birthday is close to Easter.

We stayed in Utah for the couple of extra days so that we could spend the day with my family - minus the newly-wed Mr. and Mrs. Worthington.

Once again, I wish we'd gotten pictures of us all decked out in our new Easter attire, but alas, twas not meant to be . . . maybe this coming Sunday. - But we looked great. :)

After church we all headed to my parents' house for an Easter barbeque (??? - weird? Yes. But simple.) and the annual Easter Egg Hunt that my dad likes to do for the grandkids. I tell ya, my dad puts on an excellent egg hunt. Add Jake, Ben, and Chris to the hiding mix and there are many eggs that will never be found. They're good. :)

There's always lots of this . . .

A little of this . . .

Waaaa! *tears*tears* I can't find any eggs, Mom!! - Oh, there one is. :)

The excitement of climbing all Grandma's trees to get the "coolest" ones . . .

 . . . while "less ambitious" children get twice as many eggs by just finding the ones on the ground.

And lots and lots of smiley kids running all over.

I must say, my siblings make some of the most beautiful children I've ever seen.

A wonderful, beautiful Easter weekend.

Moons in Montana - Part 3

For days following our hike, I walked like a cripple. :) SO SORE! But my brother-in-law, Chris, was awesome enough to help limber me up each day. :)

Thursday morning was lovely and we headed down to the lake, bright and early. First order of business: Tubing. The boat was able to pull two enormous tubes behind it, so one tube filled up with my oldest niece and nephews and Genny and I jumped on "Big Mabel". I want everyone to know, here and now, that I HATE Big Mabel! What a terrible tube for anyone over the age of 17! My body was not made to endure such torture. -- Although I will say, after our ride, my muscles were much less tight. :)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I'll just let this one tell the story of the first tubing expedition of the day.

Me, Genny, Eli, Nate, Liza

Let's just say that the ride on the "inside" seat was a bit rougher than the outside (although both are terrible!). This was toward the end, right after I'd convinced Genny to switch me places. After this little spill I didn't hear any more "You're such a wimp, Rachel! :) Why can't you stay on??" :)

The next two days were spent 

Wake Surfing, 

Nels loved wake surfing and did awesome.

My first time out, I honestly couldn't figure out where the fun in this particular water sport was supposed to be. However, after some analyzation and sleeping on it, I finally got the hang of it and had a good time. Although, I think I need to do quite a few more squats and lunges before I get full enjoyment out of it. :)

Chris is an amazing wake surfer, and is good enough to get up and going with a child around his neck! Once up, he lowers said child down to stand on the board with him and (holding onto his legs) they also get to enjoy the ride. Lilie loved doing this and when I get the pictures from whoever has them, I'll have to add them.

TUBING,

Lilie LOVED riding the tube!

Love her face in this picture.

I also love the sequence of these next pictures! :)

Nels, Cade, and Ben --- Going UP . . . 

(Nels displays the perfect form for take off!)

 . . . and UP . . . 

 . . . coming down . . .

. . . and down . . .

(we can finally see Eli on the back! :)

Where'd they go, Cade? LOL!

Turtle Hunting,

Echo Lake has lots of turtles and we were able to catch several to inspect and then let go.

and U-Boarding.

(I'll have to add more pictures later, when I get them from various family members. -- But that might take a while and I don't want to forget to finish posting about our vacation.)

Both Hazel and Lilie were brave enough to try out the U-board. Lilie was rarin' to go from the moment she saw her cousins do it, but I was afraid Hazel would need some coaxing. However, when I told her it was her turn, she jumped right on and had a wonderful time. I was so proud of them both!

We had such a wonderful week. It's weird to think that a whole WEEK seemed too short, but it did. I think I could have stayed there all summer! :) Thank you Melissa and Chris! It was awesome!

Moons in Montana - Part 1

This past week, from Sunday to Saturday, was spent with all the Moons having a grand old time. Chris and Melissa invited us all up to the Pilling cabin in Big Fork, Montana at Echo Lake. It was . . . awesome. And way too short! :)

Ben and Kelly drove up to our house Saturday evening, deciding to spend the night before caravanning up the next morning. I felt so bad that it probably wasn't much of a restful night for them, with me up until 4 AM cleaning and packing. I finally fell asleep and Nels called me two hours later, at 6:00, to come pick him up from work (having just finished 3+ weeks of late-nighters, working on a massive project that has yet to be finished).

With only two hours of sleep under my belt, I was feeling a little woosie as I got in the van, but by the time I'd driven across Idaho Falls and back, I was just rarin' for the six hour drive ahead! :) Back at home we woke the kids, ate breakfast, tucked Nels into the back seat of the van with his pillow and blankie, and headed out.

We made it to Butte in record time and stopped in for a little spiritual enlightenment with the Butte 1st Ward, picked up some lunch, and finished off our drive with nary another potty break. Incredible! Rolling into the cabin driveway, we were more than ready to spill from the van and leave our cares behind for the next week.

The cabin was wonderful with rooms and beds, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a fabulous deck, a smaller side-cabin (where we bunked), running water (good for drinking, but so saturated with iron that it will turn white clothes and fake blondes {like moi} a brilliant shade of orange! - just ask my mom), and a five minute walk to the private beach!

Nels ate some dinner and crashed in a bed (Can you believe that he didn't find our six hour ride in a hot van with four kids restful?). I unloaded the van while the kids played with cousins and after they were all safe and sound in beds later that night, being dead tired from the drive and two hours of sleep the night before, I proceeded to stay up till 2:00 with Wendie, Alyssa, and my mom playing two rounds of Hearts. Making sure that my mom lost both games, after absolutely smashing us for the first half of both and then getting cocky - trying to take it all. :) I love her, but my mom is way too good a card player for me to not get satisfaction out of her losing. :)

After sleeping the majority of the day, when I finally went to bed, Nels was ready to be up for a few hours. He spent the time watching for bears :) and taking some fun long exposure night photos.

Monday morning Nels finally reemerged to the land of the living and we spent a great {and windy} day at the beach wake surfing and tubing. Tuesday dawned cold and windy - a good day to go hiking in Glacier National Park. However, when we finally made it to our destination, it was a whopping 52 degrees! Yikes! My mom and Alyssa were sweet enough to watch my little babes {Violet and Hazel just did NOT want to brave the cold}, while the rest of us hiked a short distance to a very pretty waterfall.

Me, Lilie, Nels, Jake, Ben, and baby Bella

Me and my sistas. Not the most flattering shot,

but hey. I'll take what I can get.

As Elsie would say, it was "coldy" - so she hid under this jacket most of the hike. :)

Elsie loved riding in the backpack and I'd been dying to try it out for more than a year. Hopefully we'll make some more opportunities for its use in the coming years. 

Because of the frigid weather, we didn't venture much farther into the park, but we thoroughly enjoyed the drive back through the pass and the Going-to-the-Sun Road. This highway takes you right along an incredible glacier canyon. Absolutely amazing views, numerous waterfalls, wildlife . . . mmmmmm . . . so beautiful!

Why I was having my sleep-deprived hubby drive down this winding and precarious road is questionable, but as we drove past the "Weeping Wall" he couldn't help but get me close enough to run my fingers -- er, LAP through the waterfall cascading down the cliff and across the road. :) It started out so innocently with the fresh trickling water falling on my hand, but when the real stuff came up, he drove straight under it before I could roll up the window. :) He said that he was just returning the favor for my many "jokes". Touche, Babe.

Further down the canyon, we stopped at a few lovely points along the river. I am so amazed at the beautiful blue color and the clarity of the water. It's truly breathtaking.

Driving down the canyon, we didn't see a lot of wildlife, but at one point Mom and Dad almost got run off the road by a big moose! Dad says that he saw it coming up out of the riverbed and never got close to hitting it, but that's sure not what that HUGE SwErVe looked like to ME. :) Unfortunately, although we were driving right behind them and I was holding the camera in my hands as we drove, I had to scoop my jaw out of my lap and regain my wits before I had the sense to snap a shot. By that point, it was already off the road and as exciting as a big dark mass in the bushes appears, I'm not going to post my one picture of it. :)