Stanley 2010

We've been back for nearly 2 weeks but Blogger hasn't been letting me upload pictures until now. So here are some new ones from Idaho finally! We loved being there! Gary and Sari have a picture-perfect log cabin, an inflatable swimming pool, ATV's, snowmobiles, guns, fishing poles and are surrounded by wide open spaces! I'm beginning to suspect they're trying to create a little boy's paradise so we'll ship Jackson and Cullen there for the summers :-) The boys will probably be begging us to soon!

Roadtrip!

They enjoyed reading to themselves in the car

Cullen in Redfish Lake, yes still wearing his shoes

Redfish Lake

Watermelon is definitely in their top 3 favorite foods of all time

Family Bonfire! Brandon and Scott built a fire pit one of the first nights we were there and we enjoyed a few evenings out by the fire roasting smores and watching the sun set over the mountains.

Brandon and I went to Sun Valley one day and we found this incredible little hut built out of twigs all twisted together. As far as we could tell there was nothing else holding it together but the twigs!

Jack and Uncle Scott

Cullen in the creek

Daddy took Jack for a short ride on the ATV

And I took Cullen

Cullen wrestling with Uncle Scott

Just lounging on the porch

Brandon, Gary and I all went out shooting one afternoon.

A bunch of cows were roaming the field near where we were shooting. I wanted to see them up close.

A mother and her calf

I made Brandon take a picture of me with my targets. You can't see in the picture, but one I hit with a shotgun so it was quite nearly obliterated and the other I hit 4 times out of 13 shots from 130 feet away. I was pretty proud of my marksmanship skills! Haha

Family photo by the beautiful Salmon River

Looking for fishies with Grandpa

Kissing... I know, I know So. Darn. Cute!

Jackson

Cullen trying the ice cream

Oh man, that's really cold!

He went on to eat most of his cone though and then fed the rest to Daddy.

We went on an ATV ride with Scott and Ashlee one day, the view from the top was gorgeous!

Then we rode to this little lake nestled way back in the hills. We stopped for a picture and were promptly eaten alive my mosquitos. Good memories.

Brandon's college friend and groomsman Chris lives in Boise with his wife Heidi and they drove up to visit us over the weekend. We took them hiking to Goat Lake the first day they arrived. Every time I do that hike, I forget how hard it is and I only remember when I'm 9,000 feet up a mountain, lightheaded from the lack of oxygen and about to slide off a rockface covered in gravel to my death. I'm exaggerating a little but it is definitely the hardest hike I've ever done, but SO worth it once you get to Goat Lake at the top! We packed a picnic lunch and rested for a long time before heading back down.

Brandon and I taking a break to enjoy the view during one of the toughest parts.

Up we go!

Goat Lake. It's a crystal clear glacier lake way up in the Sawtooth Mountains.

Brandon and Chris jumped in to the glacier waters and wanted a photo to commemorate it.

Posing with my hubby by the stream that flows out of Goat Lake.

The next day we rode ATV's with Chris and Heidi. This tree had fallen in the path so Brandon used the winch and pulled it out of the way. That's my mountain man!

And now our wonderful extended summer vacation is over and we're settling back into life in steamy DC. I'm already looking forward to our next visit out west!