Our Summer Trip to Colorado and Idaho

We had a great time on our summer trip to Colorado and Idaho. To warn you in advance, this might be a long post with quite a few pictures, but it's the best way for me to keep a journal and I'm sure there's at least a couple of people who are interested in our trip. The main purpose of us going to Colorado was because my brother Max is leaving for his mission in the middle of August and we wanted to be there for his farewell talk, I mean, to hear him randomly give a talk in sacrament meeting. It worked out perfectly to go to Idaho as well for Dan's family reunion. Although the trip included a lot of traveling, we had loads of fun and we were able to see tons of family!

We flew to Colorado on Wednesday night and Thursday Dan worked from my parents house. That evening, we drove the what should be 9 hour drive turned into 12 hours to Idaho.

Here's a couple of pictures from the drive.

Friday was AWESOME! My sweet USU roommate, Diana, and her family came up from Utah to see us. It was so much fun spending the day with them. They have 3 kids all of which are absolutely adorable! Sorry, I forgot to take my camera with me so I'll have to get some pictures from Diana. Anyway, we went to the Splash park in Rexburg, walked around the Rexburg LDS temple grounds (gorgeous!!!), tried to go to the zoo (can't figure out why they close so dang early in the afternoon) and went to my favorite restaraunt in IF; Johnny Carino's! I hadn't seen Diana in about 4 years, so it was great catching up. She is a terrific mom. I'm so impressed.

Saturday morning, we woke up early to go to Dan's family reunion at Herraman Park which is about 30 minutes from West Yellowstone. It was great to see his immediate and extended family. The food was great (thanks to the amazing cook: my mother-in-law), the place was gorgeous (I had forgotten how clean air can actually be), and the entertainment was fun. Mckenzie and Dan had a blast building a rocket and then launching it about a thousand times. I'm so proud of Dan for being willing to put pink on the rocket for Mckenzie.


My favorite part of the reunion was listening to Grandma and Grandpa Wood tell stories and share their feelings of how important family is. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!


After the reunion, Dan and Jake (his brother), took the kids home and off I went with my sisters-in-law to the Playmill theater in West Yellowstone to see "See How They Run". It was outrageously funny. I think it's my favorite one I've seen there. As for Mckenzie, she played until past midnight. Dan and Jake said that she just wouldn't go to sleep and all she wanted to do with play with the cat.


Sunday was spent relaxing at Dan's parents house in Rigby. Abby wasn't feeling well, so she ended up sleeping most of the day.


Mckenzie loves dogs and was thrilled that she could play with Sheeba.

(Please ignore the mascara on Mckenzie's face...agh)

Dan's brother Jake, his wife Toni and their family spent time with us on Sunday. It was their son Walker's 8th birthday and we had a yummy breakfast with them and then a delicious cake! I have to say that I am so impressed with Walker. He was so good with Mckenzie. He was like her own little helper. He'd help her down the stairs and was always making sure she was ok. It was pretty cute. Mckenzie had fun with her cousins. She loves to follow her 10 year old cousin Torrey around everywhere!


His sister Rachel and her family were there for most the day and we introduced them to the Wii. Needless to say, they're hooked.


That night, we played Scrabble with Jake and Toni and I lost BAD! The sad thing is, I don't even have an excuse. I just played bad throughout the whole game.

Monday was spent with Dan's family. Dan went golfing with Jake and learned some new techniques! Thanks, Jake. I went for a walk with the girls, Dale and Betty (Dan's parents) and of course, Mckenzie found animals on the way. Including, kittens, dogs, and horses.

Grandpa enjoying cuddles from Abby

I love how they look when they fall asleep in a carriage.

His parents have a beautiful front lawn with large trees that give great shade. We spent time under the shade just talking to his parents and Jake and Toni. Mckenzie decided she wanted to pose for the camera and I was all for it. Rarely do I get Mckenzie to even look at the camera, so that day I was a little "camera happy" (please note that I wanted to take pictures of Abby, but she was still sick and either was asleep or fussy). Mckenzie also enjoyed searching for strawberries with Grandma in their garden. Then, for lunch we went to Johnny Carino's (yup, again. come on, we don't have Carino's back east so I have to take advantage of it while I have it).

After lunch, Mckenzie wanted to go play at Cindy's (Dan's brother, Josh's wife) backyard. She has goats, kittens, dog, rabbits, I think chickens, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Anyway, Mckenzie LOVES LOVES LOVES animals, so she had a blast. We were so impressed with how kind and gentle she was to the animals.

After playing with the animals, Mckenzie moved on to playing dress-up with her cousin Ellie on the trampoline.



We left late Monday night for Colorado. We drove about 1 1/2 hours and then pulled over and slept for 3. The majority of the drive home was done by Dan. THANK YOU!!!

It was great to spend time with my family. Unfortunantly, I didn't take nearly as many pictures, but what do you do? Anyway, Dan had to work a couple of the days, so I was able to have fun getting my hair done, having a manicure and pedicure and relaxing. Tough life, huh? Thursday evening, we went to see my Grandma Whaley. She is amazing! She had an aunurism in January. Her health continues to improve and she keeps on surpassing the doctors expectations. I'm so grateful that she has such strength and determination. I love her so much and am glad that she is getting better! Dan tried to help her with some computer issues she's having and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and played with the girls in Grandma's big backyard. Of course, Mckenzie played with the dog.


One morning, Dan and Max rode motorcycles to breakfast at a yummy restaraunt.



While I had breakfast with my best friend from high school who I haven't seen in 5 years!

Mckenzie loves her aunt and uncles. Spencer (on the left) is called "Pepe". She loves being the center of attention.


If Mckenzie isn't playing with animals, she usually doing something that involves music!


Dan was able to go golfing again with my brothers Max and Spencer and had a great time, even if Spencer had to wear a collared shirt.


We also went indoor skydiving. It's one of the coolest things I've ever done! If you haven't gone, you need to. You essentially go in a wind tunnel type thing that simulates a real sky dive. Divers from all over the world come here to practice. Thanks to our instructor, Dan, for doing a great job teaching! I can't wait till next year when Mckenzie turns 3 and she can try it!!!

Disclamer: Jumpsuits are not flatering to the figure!

This was our instructor, Dan. At the end of our diving, he showed us some awesome tricks. He looked just like Spiderman!



We really enjoyed our trip to Colorado and Idaho and are so grateful that we were able to see and spend time with everyone. Thank you for making it possible! We love and miss you all! Remember, you are all more than welcome to come visit us!