Epic Idaho Adventure- Take One

The first week of July we were able to go to Idaho for the first time since we moved back to Arizona. It was a much anticipated trip for the kids, I was excited for it too, but my feelings were more bittersweet since it evokes some sad memories for me. Anyway, we planned on driving all night to make it easier on the kids (and our sanity, quite frankly) but we left about 6 hours later than we intended to and wound up driving most of the day on Saturday, which for some reason made the drive feel realllllllly long. I guess staying up all night will do that.

I love the scenery in Idaho and I was just soaking it all in, I took this pic from the car and I just wanted to cry at seeing all the farmland and mountains and gorgeous blue skies.

The kids were so excited when we finally made it to Grandma and Grandpa Archibald's house.  Ahhh, it felt so good to be out of the car! to sit outside and not melt into a puddle! to see them again! We were super excited to get to see Mia and Michelle too!

Then we went to dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe.  I have been craving their oreo dessert pizza for two years. TWO YEARS! Good gracious! And it was just as good as I remembered! Oh, how we stuffed ourselves that night! And then we drove by the temple and down the hill. Wheeeeee! We'd been waiting two years to do that, too!

The next day we went to church with the grandparents and they delighted in showing off the grandkids and the kids actually knew some of the primary children from when they went to school in Burton so they weren't as nervous about attending primary in unknown territory. I love it when Kris runs into people who watched him grow up and they see how great he's turned out and what an awesome (read: large) family he has, I think it makes them genuinely happy to see him doing so well.

After church Kris and the kids hit the links at the Archibald Golf Course (aka: grandpa's backyard) and I sat on the grass with Leelee soaking up the scenery and the sublime weather and snapped some pics. It was dreamy.

Someday I'll use picasa so I can rotate my pictures.

Then we headed to Idaho Falls to have dinner with the Grover clan. All of Kris' uncles were there with some of their families, and Grandma Grover was there, and Kris' dad and stepmom, who had just moved to Idaho from Washington the week before! Hopefully we'll get to see them a bit more often. We love hanging out with the Grovers', it's always a good time!

Here's Grandpa Grover and Grandma Kristen meeting Leelee for the first time, she took right to them.

Here's Kris admiring all the Grover hunting trophies with his Uncle Dennis. They've got quite a legacy going.

Uncle Dennis is a genius when it comes to kids. In his backyard he has this patch of dirt cut into the grass loaded with a myriad of digging toys for the chilluns to play in. Then, when the party's over they roll a tarp over it and hold it down with boards so it doesn't become the neighborhood litter box. Needless to say, Colby thought this was the coolest thing he'd ever seen in his whole entire life and he didn't leave that patch of dirt the whole time we were there.

At the end we tried to take a family picture and this is what happened:

Take one: Kids are acting crazy, I'm tucked behind Kris and Leelee isn't looking.

Take two: Owen is doing bunny ears on Gracie, Grandpa Grover isn't looking, I'm still tucked behind Kris and I have no idea why I thought I was sitting in a good spot.

Take three:  I'm not looking, Rex is not looking, Colby has his eyes closed... but there are no bunny ears!!! Success! :\
And two special gold stars go to Kris and Grandma Kristen for managing to look good in all three pictures! 

First full day in Idaho=success!

Leelee's Big One!

I basically can't believe I'm sitting here writing this post. How on earth did my baby just turn one? Where did this last year go? I have no idea, but I do know it's true that time just keeps flying by faster and faster. My little chunky monkey 9 pounder is now my sweet, petite baby girl teetering through the house mixing it up with her siblings. They all adore her and it's so cute to see each one's interactions with her. I even get glimpses of Colby doting on her and I have hope that one day they will be best buds.  While having six kids has completely kicked my butt it has all been worth it to have her in our family. She has saved my sanity this past year and she is such an incredible joy to have in our home.

 Kris got her the CUTEST pink donut for her birthday and mostly she just enjoyed mushing it.

 A little thing about Leelee is that she loves ice. I mean, she really LOVES ice. She knows all the places to look for cups of ice water and she goes to great lengths to get to it. She knows she can often find a cup on my night stand and here she is on her birthday snagging a piece after church. I just have to laugh at her and I think it's pretty much the most adorable thing ever. In fact, we got her a cute little pink ice tray that makes the perfect size cubes as a present for her b-day. AND just after she opened it she was sitting on the floor and turned around and grabbed Kris' cup of ice water that was sitting under his chair to get some ice, I kid you not.

 She dug right into her cupcake, sans frosting. She's a big chocolate lover (like her mother) so it was right up her alley.

Growing up in a large family Leelee is certainly not afraid to voice her opinion or stick up for herself, much to Colby's chagrin I am sure. She will let you know what she wants when she wants it. That being said, she is quite an agreeable child, she gets along with everyone, she's calm, content and lots of fun to be around. We all adore this little girl and cannot imagine our lives without her!

Happy Birthday sweet little Leelee!!!