Christmas in Idaho

Idaho is far from Iowa. Therefore, one would find it highly unlikely that a bunch of Iowans would show up on Idaho's front doorstep for Christmas. But we did and the surprise was awesome. Michelle's squeal to see us standing in the doorway made the 20 hour drive well worth it. Before we made it to Idaho we stopped in Ogden to see my sister and meet two of her kids and her new husband. It has been so long since I have seen her that she has added 3 newbies to her family. We loved seeing the cousins and meeting her husband Kevin. What a nice guy.

(Lou's three and my three. Our last one's are 2 1/2 weeks apart)

After dinner with her family we went on to Idaho. We started out surprising my parents and spending a few days with them. They just kind of stared at us when we walked in the back door. It was so wonderful to be with them. My brother is the choir director and we were there for the ward choir Christmas program the Sunday before Christmas. It was so beautiful. My brother directs, my sister-in-law plays the piano, my other brother and sister-in-law sing along with 3 nephews and a niece. I felt so blessed to be in church with them. There was no other place on earth I would have rather been, than right there with them. It was such a tender mercy to feel so abundantly of the spirit and to be among family. I was a favorite Christmas gift. After a very short few days with them we headed to Island Park to surprise Jonathan's family. It snowed and snowed and snowed while we were there. It was definitely one of those have to see to believe kind of times. We swam at the clubhouse, went on a horse-drawn sleigh ride, fed fish at Big Springs, dug and dug and dug snow, and celebrated Christmas.

(Right after we arrived in Island Park. We Pulled the boys on sleds from our condo to G&G's condo to give a jolly good surprise.)

(We froze to death on the sleigh ride. The smores and hot cocoa at the end of the ride were a welcomed treat. The river behind us wasn't frozen so we got to feed the fish.)

(Adam turned into a water loving fish while we were there. There is a smaller kid's pool at the clubhouse that is heated and the boys loved swimming in it. Jonathan and I also got to play some racquetball... I whooped him. Twice.)

(Christmas morning was magical. The boys especially loved getting candy canes with candy in them.)

(It snowed like nothing I have ever seen before on Christmas Eve. We got 2 1/2 feet of snow overnight. After we opened gifts on Christmas morning we opened the blinds to survey the damage. All 5 cars parked at the cabin were completely buried. This is a picture of Preston's van after it had been dug out... by the way Becky... we love Preston. The A-frame cabin dropped all the snow on top of his van along with the 2 1/2 feet that fell. It was an adventure to say the least. I wondered if any of us were ever going to get out.)