Week after the move --trip to Utah

So we got moved in with the help of Richard's family who came over with us and then before we could really get settled in we were off to Utah. We were able to experience a little Boise weather though by going to the park with Richard's brother and his wife when it was 100 degrees out. There was some big "Soul Food Extravaganza" or something at the park with music and good food and, of course, a bounce house that we could hardly drag Ethan away from. (He loved the slide part more than the bouncing, but the buttons on his pants kept popping open). He was also pretty interested in the geese there and the giraffe that we could see over the fence to the little zoo. Gabe was pretty content with just chillin' in the tummy pack for the most part. We had a great cashew chicken dinner the night before we left and just had to take a picture of it in the new bowls that Richard's dad gave us as a housewarming gift.

The ride to Utah was pretty long --longer than to Rexburg by far, and stopping to feed the baby twice made it about an 8 hr trip. Ethan had fun in the parks that we stopped at though, and we let him watch a movie on the laptop to make it through the last two hours.

Once in Utah, we had a few days and then went on a camping trip up Hobble Creek Canyon. Ethan's favorite pastime was throwing rocks in the river, and so we spent a lot of time doing that. My brother and his wife and two kids were there too, and so Ethan was able to get to know his cousin, Asalyn, whom he's only met once when they were about 2-3 months old. They're only three weeks apart actually, and they got along pretty well considering. They also have another little girl (and somehow we didn't manage to get pictures of her) who is only three days older than Gabe, and it was fun seeing them all together. They were all great campers, and I think Gabe slept better in the tent trailer than at home.

Oh yeah, quick story: Ethan and Richard slept on one of the pull-out beds in the tent trailer and sometime during the second night, Richard was woken up by Ethan yelling. He was really disoriented especially since it was so dark, and as he felt for Ethan next to him all he felt was his legs. When he felt the legs sliding away, he grabbed them and found that Ethan was falling out of the tent trailer. You see, Ethan likes to sleep with his head up against something and no one had remembered to velcro up the wall on that side of the bed area. Richard was able to pull Ethan back to safety, and Ethan went right back to sleep without another sound. I don't know if he was even awake for it all. Richard on the other hand didn't sleep so well since he was paranoid about it the rest of the night.

Other than that, the trip went very well. Ethan even spotted a deer across the creek from our camp before anyone else did. I heard him say something, but didn't realize that he was saying "deer" until I looked up and saw it standing there only about 20 feet away. My sister Heather took him wading in the ice cold water of the creek, and it took him a while, but he got used to it.

Anyway, the real reason we went to Utah was to see my Brother's baby get blessed, and so a lot of my other siblings and their kids came for a visit on Sunday. Ethan had so much fun playing with his cousins. Richard also got to try out my brother Jared's compound bow and did pretty well. My grandmother was also there for most of the trip, and I'm so glad I was able to get a picture of her with my two kids even if it is a little fuzzy.

Well, enjoy the montage!