The "Reunion": A Few Adventures

I can't believe I have let so much time pass by without an update.  I think my marathon training is getting the better of me.

We got up one day early in the morning and headed to Rexburg to go to the temple.  Unfortunately, Kyle was not feeling well and didn't make the trip.   It is always wonderful to be able to attend the temple with our kids.

I have been blogging with my friend "Betty" for quite awhile.  We have never had the chance to meet, but since i was not too far from where she lives, we were able to message each other and meet up.  She EVEN BROUGHT TREATS!!!!  It was wonderful to have a few minutes to visit.  She is as beautiful and wonderful in person as I knew she would be. 

She is an expert on Yellowstone and gave me lots of info because we were going to head there.  In fact, after we got back to our house, we packed up the cars and we headed to Yellowstone.  My dream TO SEE A BEAR.  (Unfortunately, it didn't happen ; (  But it was a wonderful visit.   I'll let my photos tell the story.

We saw a herd of elk and they were beautiful.

One of the things you learn as you are going through Yellowstone is whenever you see a car stopped it is usually because they have spotted an animal.  We found this little guy--notice he has a little treat in his mouth.

We stopped at the waterfalls and managed to get this picture of some of the kids.

Unfortunately  we got to Old Faithful just as she was doing her thing!!!  We couldn't wait around for her next scheduled showing. 

The next day the kids ended up going rafting--no, not "white water rafting", I'll let Heidi's description on the family website tell the story:

"Here we are before adventuring into the stiller-than-a-statue river for an exhausting rafting trip!;p They told us it takes 3 hours, but being competitive Robs/Fr**s we were determined to cut that in half and we did! We could not move our arms after, but we decreased the amount of suffering;p hee hee   Good times!"  BTW, I think we will razz Daniel for quite awhile about the black socks with his tennis shoes!!!

And, by the way, they tried to convince me they had seen this bear on their little journey--yeah, sure, they found  postcard in the gift shop ; )

I have to admit, I did enjoy seeing the guys fly fishing on the river.  They are definitely much more patient than I am.

I loved this shot I got of an Osprey nest--now that is one impressive nest!!!  Notice the male guarding the nest, and I'm assuming the mama was sitting on the eggs.  You have to really look to see her in there.

When we were on our way heading home, we passed this little lake that had some pelicans, and I couldn't help but think they were playing a little "how many pelicans can we get on this rock"?

The trip home was uneventful, but can I just say Kyle was THRILLED to be back on Canadian soil. 

We are having a great time having Kyle home.  Can't believe he will be gone again in less than a month ; (

Sidenote:  Marathon training is going well.  I just MIGHT make it.  I will be glad when it is over--the training and the marathon!!!  This week I have a 20 miler to run.  

Now one more thing, we had a freaky storm the other night and it knocked down our beautiful 35' pine tree.  We were grateful it didn't come through our window, or our neighbor's roof on their garage!  This is a shot of Allan and Kyle trying to get it off of our neighbor's driveway.  It was impossible and fortunately it wasn't in their way. 

The "Reunion"

Several months before Kyle came home from his mission we began working on a reunion so he would have an opportunity to reunite with his brothers and sisters, and his nieces and nephews.  (Two nieces were born while he was gone, and one great niece)  Unfortunately as the time got closer it was determined that not everyone would be able to attend, so we changed it from a reunion to a gathering where "if you can get there, we'd love to have you attend" ; )


Kyle, Allan and I left California after Church on Sunday along with Daphne, B, Hannah, Drew and Georgia.  We drove as far as Elko.  We had walkie talkies and it made the drive a little more fun.  Whenever we go to Elko, we ALWAYS make it a point to have dinner at our favorite Basque restaurant, The Star.  Unfortunately, they are closed on Sundays, so no Star for us ; (


I had a 7 mile run to do Monday morning so up and out early.  Altitude was a little tough, but I managed to complete the run.  One of the things I ran by was a Pony Express Cabin--I thought it was pretty cool, so when we went to McDonalds to pick up breakfast, I got a picture.

The drive was fairly uneventful.  We met Heidi and Daniel in Twin Falls .  Had lunch at Subway and then off to Chubbuck where we met Brent.  Once we got Brent, we split up--there were last minute things to pick up.  Allan and I headed to Costco in Pocatello--always have to go to Costco.   I really don't know how we got everything in the car.

When we got to the "cabin" we were so happy.  Well, I have to tell you there was a moment of FEAR.  I had booked this place on line and paid up front.  We used our "Garmina" to navigate and when "she" said "arriving at destination" there was an empty field.  I was literally sick to my stomach--I knew I had been duped!!!!  But, Allan told me it was just fine, we probably made a wrong turn.  We went back and sort of retraced our steps and finally got to the right place and it was beautiful.

First stop for the kids was THE HOT TUB

We had a blast playing games--Headbands, Disney Apples to Apples, and even had a foosball tournament.

               

Allan and I had never played foosball, but even we got into the game!!!!

And, of course, 'smores were a big hit with everyone!!!

  

It was great to be with everyone, but I sure fell in love with this little girl!!!  She is such a cutie.

We had a wonderful time, the problem was not everyone was there, and I know the kids would have had such a great time being together.  Oh well, hopefully next year everyone will come!!!

I still have to write about our trip to Yellowstone, the Rexburg Temple, and my chance to meet a great blogging friend.

SIDENOTE:  Today I had a 16 mile long run and guess what:  I DID IT!!!  And yes, I am feeling the results.