Our Idaho Trip, Part 2

While we were in Idaho, we were also able to get some much needed updated family pictures of the Andersens. It had definitely been a while! There are a lot more grandkids now than the last time we had them done. With a group this size, it was nothing short of a fiasco, but we pulled it off and are happy with the results! And now Mom has a brand new big (or huge, rather!) family picture on her wall. I'm so excited to see it next time we're there!

Our trip also consisted of wishing Rockford Service Center a Happy Anniversary! This year marked the 50 years of business for the little service station my grandpa opened up in Rockford. It has come a long ways since it was just a service/gas station! It was fun to reminisce and look back, since growing up this business was our family...our family was this business. I have a lot of fun memories spending time up at the shop with my dad--usually I just knew that if I was there, that meant I got to have candy and pop so it didn't take much convincing for me to go visit Dad at work. :) Even though I know that I personally didn't really put a whole lot of work into the business myself, when you're all part of a family business, it does make you feel like you all kind of worked at it. We were all very involved in some way or another. My dad put in a lot of long hours when we were younger to make it what it is today, my brothers have all worked there during high school, and two of them still work there now. And now it is a very big part of the community. So, to celebrate, Rockford Service threw a big party for the community. We served up a big meal, had bounce houses, door prizes, and lots of fun. These are the things I am usually very sad to miss out on living so far away, so it was really a lot of fun to be there for it! I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in years and it was fun to be involved in it.

My dad serving up ice cream...and lots of it! He was in his "element" there! :)

Garrett rockin' the grill!

Good times had by all! And lots of food served, we almost ran out. And my poor mom, I think she needed a good long vacation after that. It was definitely a lot of work, but she did a great job putting it all together!

And the last event that I have pictures of is a day on the lake. Notice Sam started a goggle wearing trend...even Rhett decided he needed to wear them that day!

Sam...and his goggles! Funny kid!

Before we even got to the lake, Tyler mentioned that he wanted to try to ski. I was really surprised since we don't spent a lot of time out on a lake in a boat...in fact, it happens once a year when we're in Idaho! So he vividly remembered Grandpa Andersen skiing last year, so he thought he wanted to try. I didn't want to discourage him, of course, but I also know how hard it is and was wondering how he'd handle that. He, of course, thought it meant you would just pop right up the first try! So, he tried...and failed. But at least he tried! The first try, he just had Carter helping him from behind and actually came pretty darn close, but just couldn't do it. He wanted to call it quits after that one attempt, but everyone knew we had to give him more encouragement because you never get it the first time!

So the next thing we tried was having my dad ski with him. They both put on a pair of skis and Tyler was in between my Dad's. And, they came SOOOOO close, but never quite got it. Tyler was definitely ready to be done after a few tries! We were just about to have him try standing on Dad's skis, but he was just too ready to be done. So I am hoping he'll be brave enough to try again next summer! I was proud of him for trying, though!


And thankfully, when the skis don't work out for you, there's always the tubes! Who doesn't love a tube ride. It's so much fun! I convinced Sam to go, but he would only go with me, so I don't have any pictures. And the kids could have rode in the tubes all day long, I'm certain. I love it!


And as we were tubing, the sky was looking like it might start to storm so we headed back in. But look how beautiful it looked! I love Idaho summer skies!
And this picture is from later on, it posted out of order, but the sunset was also gorgeous that day, too!
Tyler loved jumping off the tube at the end of the ride and swimming back to the boat instead of getting pulled in. Whatever works, I guess!
And to end the day, Carter wanted to show off his wakeboarding skills and attempt his flip, and he wanted some pictures of it. So, we tried! The pictures could definitely be a lot better (sorry, Carter!). I am not very skilled in taking pictures as it's about to get dark from the back of a moving boat with my crappy lens. I had lots of odds against me. :) Next time I'll do better! Ha ha! But oh well, here they are anyways!

Woops, another picture out of order. Look at those cute kids tubing, though. :)

And there you go, folks! That wraps up our Idaho trip AND the month of July!! Now we'll be moving right along to August. We're gettin' there. :) And of course, there was SO much more that we did in Idaho that I don't have pictures of. We went to Ross Park, went on 4 wheeler rides, roasted marshmallows & hot dogs, played with cousins and played and played and played some more. It was wonderful!