Here We Go!

All righty now...don't fall off your chair or anything, if you're even reading this at all. But it's true--I am actually posting. Wow, huh?! I decided to get brave and finally start going through vacation pictures from JULY...yikes! And I saw how many of them there were and I just decided to not think about it for a few weeks. And wouldn't ya know it, now it's October? But as usual, I'm wanting to get caught up, so here's a shot at least.

So, diving right in here...I think I *may* have mentioned that we took a little trip to Idaho this summer. Ok, 'little' may not be quite the right word since we were gone nearly a month. But we drove this time and it actually turned out to be great. Garrett and I both commented that it couldn't have gone better. The boys were fabulous in the car and it was pretty smooth sailing. So, just like last year, one of our biggest events was a reunion in Paris. We took off from Blackfoot and drove down to Garrett's grandma's house in Paris for a few days. We left a little earlier than the rest of the crew so we could tour Minnetonka Cave. And we kidnapped Cash for a day. The boys and Cash were pretty inseparable during our trip there. As we drove up the canyon to the cave, I got the picture up top as my view out the windshield, and when I turned around to the backseat, this was my view:

Boy, did we have fun!!

We had a little bit of wait time before we headed into the cave, but there were squirrels and chipmunks to keep everyone entertained. In fact, that may have been more entertaining to the "5 & under" crowd than the cave itself.

And then we headed in...if you haven't ever been to this cave and you live in Utah or Idaho or happen to visit there, you really should go. It is pretty amazing. It is full of stalactite and stalagmite formations that have developed over many years (like so many years that I can't remember just how many...). And they say stalactites grow from the ceiling and stalagmites grow from the floor, and I expect you to remember that. There will be a quiz later.

Touching rock formations throughout the cave was off limits, except for this one. And wouldn't you know, it felt like a wet rock. :)

These boys were sure troopers through the entire thing. They climbed up and down all those steps (1/2 mile & 444 steps in, and then again back out) and did their best to keep up. Sam struggled some, but all in all, they were rock stars.

And someone offered to take a family picture for us when we got out. Aren't we a good looking family of 5? :) We love you, Cash!

Me & my boys. :)

And really, is it possible to have a more gorgeous view than the Idaho mountains? I think not. I find myself taking a great big breath when I look at these. Ahhhh, Idaho! {sigh}

And this is just the first installment, many many more summer photos to come (and I'm even going to go so far as to promise that they're coming SOON! I want to move on from summer, even as much as I loved it, it's time to get into FALL pictures!)