Nice to be home....

I will try not to get too cheesy in this post BUT you see these 5 people (and dog).....

 

 

 

THEY ARE MY EVERYTHING!

 

 

On Wednesday night, this is what happened to our van. 

Wednesday night: after accident

 

Thursday morning- day picture

A deer ran out in front of us in Salt Canyon near Afton, WY.  Jim was absolutely amazing and kept our car on the road.  I don't even want to think about what could have happened considering a cliff and big mountain were on each side of us.   Once we stopped we both grabbed our cell phones. We had absolutely no phone reception.  We flagged down a VERY kind, nice generous man who took Jim to the top of the canyon so we could get phone reception to call his parents and a tow truck. I meanwhile sat in our van with our children in a very dark canyon hoping this man really was a nice man and that they would be back soon.   They came back much faster than I had anticipated and he was gracious enough to wait with us for the tow truck.Our family of 6 and dog would not be able to fit in a tow truck. Lilly and I rode in the two truck.  Jim, Ethan, Liz, Afton and Lucky got in the generous mans car.  Jim's dad was so nice to come meet us at the tow place.  We all crammed ourselves and as much of  our stuff as we could into his Buick LeSabre (a lot of room in those cars). We then headed up to the comfort of the cabin with very thankful prayers in our hearts.  

 

But wait.... our unplanned adventures weren't done.  Jim's dad got really sick Thursday morning.  He ended up going to the hospital and was admitted for 2 nights.  Although we really missed him being with us at the cabin, he was taken care of so well by the incredible people at the hospital in Star Valley.  He is doing just fine now :)

 

So many tender mercies from the weekend....

-Grateful Jim's parents decided to come up with us. 

-Jim handling the car so well

-A pull off appeared on  the road just a few feet from where we hit the deer. 

-There are still kind, generous, thoughtful people who stop and help strangers

-My family is safe

 

We ended up having to go up to Jackson (about an hour away) to rent a car.  In case you need to know, Star Valley has an amazing hospital but no car rental places :).  We drove our rental home and will now need to figure out a new car for our family.

 

-

 Here are a few pictures of the rest of our trip. 

We still enjoyed each others company, relaxed and were grateful.

I also taught Ethan how to play Solitaire. 




Went on a walk with Grandma. 

Our absolutely adorable Afton.

Ethan, Lizzie, Afton and Lilly. 
We are honored to call them ours.



Cute Lizzie

 

 

 

 

Jim, and kids at the camp spot Jim hung out at many times as a kid.

 

 

Our mud walk. 
We seriously had layers of thick mud on all our shoes
but the kids wanted to keep on going.
It was fun!



Seriously, can he please stop growing?

Lucky the Hero
- I am sure all the rocks he saved from the lake are extremely grateful :)

Jim still got a little fly fishing in.

View from our cabin!  Gorgeous!

It was still a nice vacation despite the few really weird, random happenings.  It was nice to feel the comfort of peace, be thankful and spend time together.

Zoo Day

Yesterday we were able to go to the zoo with my parents.  It was a great day.  Perfect weather, good company, and since we hadn't been for quite awhile my kids thought everything seemed so new and exciting.  It was also on our summer to do list so now we can check that one off :)




Always good to have a tour guide. 
 Lilly was very intent on following her map and wanting to know
 where we were on the map at all times.

Such a good big brother!



This picture is for Lizzie- she is fascinated/terrified of bears right now.



Jim with his friend the turkey on the carousel



New cool off area in Rocky Shores.
  Here is Lizzie right before she got soaked.



Seems like every time we go our kids pose at this same spot.
 

The Lego exhibits were pretty awesome!



Group Shot- after the kids got soaked :)



Build your own Legos!  The kids decided to make a big yellow pyramid. 
See that cute boy in the background?  He was more than happy to help gather yellow pieces.




Ethan was a very happy boy to see all the Lego exhibits.

Utah State Girls

Once upon a time I was in college.  It was over 15 years ago but in so many ways seems just like yesterday.  I had an AMAZING college experience.  I loved my years at Utah State.   I especially treasure the friendships that I made there.  I realize how lucky I was to get such great roommates and have such fun years at Utah State.  I was able to watch most of these ladies meet and fall in love with their husbands. They also had front row seats for the beginning of the Jim and Alisha love story.  We were all silly together, cried together, supported each other and in a nut shell,  experienced college together.   We helped each other through some very fun and exciting pivotal years.

  Me and my old roommates still try to keep in touch as much as our busy schedules allow. That usually means once or twice a year for just a couple hours.

 BUT THIS YEAR WE DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT....

WE SPENT A WHOLE WEEKEND TOGETHER!!!

  It was so nice.  We did absolutely nothing but talked, and talked, and talked, and talked.  We stayed up much too late every night, laughed incredibly hard and just enjoyed each others company. A few were missing due to busy schedules so we will make sure they come next time.



Four amazing people that I am honored to
call my friends and college roommates




This picture makes much more sense
 to those that knew us 15+ years ago :)



We found a canoe!



We ate LOTS and LOTS of food!!!!!!



So grateful for the weekend and to hag out with these ladies!