
I love this picture of Derek, as it really shows how all of us were feeling by the time we reached Idaho. A week on the road, even with stops to visit friends and family, is just a long time to have to pack up and move every day. So, when we got to Twin Falls and knew we would be there for three weeks, it was quite a relief.
Kevin only got to stay the first week, as he had to head back to North Carolina to out-process at Ft Bragg, but even for him, it was a wonderful vacation. I did still spend a lot of time on the phone, computer, or hunting down fax machines to arrange things for buying our house, but we still made time for fun. We packed a lot in - in fact, each activity could be its very own post, but since I am so behind (and you don't want to have to wade through that much), I will just give you the highlights. Be warned though, there are still a lot of them.
Chillin' in the Backyard
One of our favorite things was just relaxing in a backyard, enjoying a non-humid relatively bug-free environment. It was wonderful, and I think it was probably the kids' favorite part of our vacation. Here they are at Kevin's parents' home our first day there.

Derek injured himself on the way over, and so he got extra brownies from Grandma Valerie. I think he managed to eat four, and I wonder why he didn't want his dinner :).

We also spent a lot of time in the backyard of my parents' house, as this is where we stayed. The weather was so nice, we ate outside almost every night. (If you notice all the people, 5 of the 7 kids in my family happened to be in town for a baby blessing, and so Lily and Derek got to see lots of family - it was wonderful.)

Dance Parties and Plays
It just so happened that the second night we were there, my old community theater group, JUMP Co., was putting on a play, and so Kevin took Lily there on a date. Meanwhile, the rest of us had a party - my sister Holly loves any excuse to have a dance party. We clear out the garage and have a blast. If you notice, Derek got quite a few different girls to dance with him - already the lady's man I guess :).

Soon, Derek discovered that most of the boys were outside playing football with my brother Preston, and so he thought he should join in. Being too small to play with the big boys, my niece McKayla played with him instead. (And of course, Grandpa was out there too, but Isaac had him tackled pretty soon.)

Homemade Rockets
Preston and my brother-in-law Stuart made the coolest rocket launcher. They hooked it to an air compressor and would shoot paper rockets about one hundred feet in the air. The kids (and adults) spent hours making and shooting off rockets. It was so much fun, and Lily and Derek especially loved it - even if Lily's first rocket exploded :).

Kevin Playing Golf with His Dad
They only made it out twice, but they had a blast. I think one of Kevin's favorite things in the whole world is getting to play a round of golf with his dad :).

Wagon Rides with Uncle Stuart
One afternoon, Stuart hooked up their pony to the cart and gave all the kids rides. Just another awesome memory and fun experience for Lily and Derek :).

Elizabeth's Baby Blessing
My sister Holly has four boys, and finally had a little girl. We got lucky and happened to be there on the Sunday that little Lizzy was getting blessed. I have to say that I fell in love with that baby girl and was so happy to be there :).

After church we had a party to celebrate Elizabeth. Derek loved the cake - or should I say, the frosting? While we were together, we had to snap a few pictures. Holly and I got one with my gorgeous niece Madeline, who is headed to BYU this fall. And we also had to get one with my mom and her girls - it is too bad we were missing my sister Wendy, but she is having her very own moving adventure right now.

The Sandbox and Treehouse
Last year, with some help from my brother and father, Stuart built his boys the most awesome treehouse. The kids spent so much time in there, but their favorite thing by far, was the huge sandbox under it. Derek spent hours there every day.

Family Home Evening at Uncle Randy's Apartment
The Monday night Kevin was there, we went to his brother's apartment and had a BBQ at the pool. The kids loved getting to swim, but I think Lily loved getting to meet his new kitten even more than that.

Jumping on Grandma's Trampoline
I love that my parents' trampoline is built into the ground. The kids had a blast on it, and even got Kevin and I to join them a few times. It was another thing they spent hours with.

Fun Times and Projects with Grandma Valerie
Before we came out, Lily let her grandma know that she would love to do a cooking project, and maybe a science project as well. For the cooking project, they made the cutest (and yummiest) rainbow cupcakes. And for the science project, they had sea animals that grew in water. They loved every minute of it! (And when Derek wasn't involved in the projects, he was collecting Lego heads and making creations out of them. So strange, I know.)

Visiting Old Friends From High School
We were really lucky that our time in Twin Falls overlapped a little with a few friends that we hadn't seen in forever. One of them was our friend Danielle and her husband. They are in the process of moving from Ecuador to Vietnam, and so it really was a miracle that things worked out for us to get together. We met them for lunch at Papa Kelsey's and had a blast catching up on our lives for the past decade.
(Oh, and being really lame, I forgot my camera, and so these pictures were taken with my phone. Lily took the one with Kevin and I in it. Oh well, it is better than no pictures at all.)

I also got to see another old friend, Carrie, the day before I left town. I could have talked to her forever, and we had such a wonderful time catching up. She had just had her first baby, a little girl named Elizabeth, who is only a few days older than Holly's Elizabeth :). We had to get pictures together of the little girls, and of us as well.

Afternoon Walks
I love taking walks on my parents' street. My kids get to see horses, cows, sheep, and beautiful farm fields. One afternoon, we went with the few of us that were still there visiting, and took a walk around the neighborhood.

Herrot Center Planetarium and Museum
One day we took a field trip to the free museum at the planetarium. It was really cool and the kids loved it. Lily was even more excited about it, when later in the day, my sister Heather took all the older kids to watch a movie about Outer Space there. The whole rest of the days she filled our heads with information about the first black hole :).

Pony Rides
Every time we come, Lily always talks someone into giving her a pony ride on her cousins' pony. She absolutely loves it!

Band Concerts in the City Park
Kevin's brother Randy played in the City Band, and so we made sure to go to one of the weekly concerts. The kids had a blast eating their rainbow cupcakes, playing on the lawn, listening to the music, and even getting to be in a teddy-bear parade.
Afterward, Lily even went up to the conductor and introduced herself, before I realized what was going on. He even let her wave his baton - pretty much the highlight of the night for her :). Our last night in town, the kids got to go again with Kevin's parents - so much fun!

Roasting Marshmallows
One night, my dad built a fire in the fire pit and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows to pretend like we were camping. It was so much fun, even with the sticky mess all of us became - he he!

Going Fishing
Lily has been begging Kevin or I to take her fishing for years, but since neither of us are fishermen, we always tell her that sometime when we go to Idaho, we will go fishing. Well, she got her wish when my sisters Holly and Heather took the kids out fishing one morning. (Heather is an amazing fisherman.)
Not only did Lily get to go fishing, but she caught two fish, and her fish was the very first one caught out of all them. She loved it! My sisters told me that at one point, she fell off of her stool and scraped up her knee, but when she started to cry, Heather told her, "Now Lily, you don't want to fish to hear you crying, because they need to know that you are the boss of them." Lily stopped crying, jumped right up and started yelling at the water, "Listen to me, I'm the boss of you fish!" Awesome :).

Fun Times and Tea Parties with Grandma Lynn
For the most part, after the blessing weekend, Lily was the only granddaughter left (aside from the new baby). She didn't seem to mind at all, but my mom took full advantage of having a little girl around. They baked, they did projects, played with jewelry, and even had a tea party on real china plates. I know the two of them had such a wonderful time together.

Playing With Their Best Friends - Their Cousins
Lily and her cousin Austin have been best friends since they were babies. They are only two months apart, and when they were little, they spent enough time together to be twins :). It makes me so happy that they are still such wonderful friends. It also makes me smile to see Derek get to build relationships with his cousins too, as he has spent most of his life across the country from them.

Taking Portraits
I got to do a few different photo sessions when I was in Idaho, and I loved every minute of it. When I get the chance, I will post about them on my photography blog, but until then, I will leave you with one of my favorites from Elizabeth's newborn shoot. Holly and I had such a fun time experimenting with these :).

Going to the Temple
It is so amazing to me that there is a temple in my hometown. That whenever we come home, we get to visit it. Not only that, but anywhere you go in town, you can see it - especially when we go to Kevin's parents' house, which is across the street :). Lily took a special walk with Grandma Valerie around the temple and even went up and touched it. It meant so much to her. And while we were there, I was lucky enough to attend the temple three times. It was such a place a peace, and just what I needed in all the stress and craziness.

And so that was our three weeks in Twin Falls, which almost brings us to the end of our moving adventure, but not quite :).