I HEART IDAHO

This post is going to make my husband's day.

If he reads it, rainbows will probably happen in his heart.
Double rainbows.

He might even let me buy $70 worth of yarn.
The reason I say this is because this post is all about Idaho.

Have I told you how much Idahoans love Idaho?
I had no idea until I met Tyler, and subsequently many other Idahoans.




They are prouder of Idaho than Texans are of Texas.

Seriously.  Once we were in northern Illinois visiting a historical tourist attraction called Nauvoo and one of the guides was an older gentleman.  We were cordial with him, until he said the word "Idaho" and Tyler realized he was from there.  The next minute they were chest-bumping and high-fiving!
He was like 75 years old!

Ok I may be exaggerating a little.  But not much.

A couple weekends ago we went to Idaho and I took some pictures:

This is what I call a cowlick.

Tyler's family runs a small calf operation on their family farm.
What you didn't know is that they breed a special kind of man-eating calf.

I went out in the morning to help do the chores, and I started with the chores, but then I ended up taking pictures.

And was stalked by one of those man-eating calves.

Look:

"F" totally wanted me and my camera for lunch.

Even after I fed him.

Just look in "F"'s eyes.  Can't you see how much he wants to eat me?

And yet, they are such cute, dough-y eyes.  Very deceiving.

Here is a picture of the rest of the corral.

You can barely see it, but in the tree behind the barn is one SWEET treehouse.  Or what's left of it.  Tyler and his brothers built it many years ago.  It has a swing that goes across the canal and webbing that you can lay on and look up into the stars.
We had our first kiss in that treehouse.  <3>

The home they live in is over 100 years old.  Tyler's mom grew up in their house.  Tyler's ancestors actually settled Rexburg.  A relative lives in almost every house on their street--uncles, cousins, second cousins, third cousins once removed.  Their childhood consisted of working hard...

...and playing hard together.

Like at the St. Anthony sand dunes down the road:

Tyler's bro #1

Tyler's bro #2

Tyler...grrrr.

Or longboarding.  By car.

I never said it was intelligent fun.

Or four-wheeling up to breath-taking vistas.

Or heading for the mountains and the snow.

Tyler teaching at Targhee...I married him because of this picture.
And a bunch of other stuff, too.

And when it's warmish, the lake...

Tyler with a bloody nose after pulling a blindside 1080.

They grew up sharing what they had and taking care of each other.

There are not a lot of places like that anymore.

Not many people have roots like that anymore.

Sometimes I can see why Tyler feels so deeply about Idaho.

The reason we were able to go to Idaho for the weekend is because Tyler's youngest brother (he is one of five boys, no girls) got married.
Because of hurricane Sandy, our flight from Boston to Salt Lake was cancelled, but they rerouted us to Long Beach, CA, then a flight to SLC in the morning.  Although we missed the actual wedding we made it to the reception and there was a 'tender mercy from the Lord':
My sister lives in Costa Mesa, CA and we were able to spend the night at her house in between our connecting flights...ON HER BIRTHDAY.  It was so fun to see her and her sweet kiddies.

Here are some pics from Quinn and Kaitlyn's beautiful reception:

When you first walked in, a tray of personalized chocolates and a guest book greeted you.

As you walked around the room, you not only got a feeling for Quinn and Kaitlyn's fun and vibrant relationship...

What a cute idea!  And I totally want to make that quilt.

But a sense of where they came from, including generations past.


The decorations were absolutely darling:

 And the cake was perfect:

This bronze statue stood underneath the cake.

As you can see Kaitlyn had decided on a country theme and it was adorable...from the painted doors to the horseshoes on the cake, from the home-made quilts to the milk cans and country music.

I am so happy Kaitlyn is a part of our family now.

It was a wonderful whirlwind of a weekend, and reminded me of what it means to be home and with family.

I have decided there is no replacement in this whole wide world for that.

Love, C