4th of July CRISIS!

So, Mike and I had planned on taking some friends down to his family cabin in Utah, but some family business got in the way, and now it doesn't look like we'll be heading down. That's fine and all, except that now we have no idea what to do.

Mike wants to go kayaking or hiking or something on Friday, I'm sure. That's fine, except that I can't go. (I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a little out of commission in the "Working Your Abs Department.) Normally this wouldn't matter since I'm in classes all day Friday, so Mike goes to the temple, then if he has time, on a hike or something. But THIS weekend, I get Thursday and Friday off, so I'll have nothing to do while he's gone. I guess I could go with him and just hang out at the ending point of his trek or something, but that wouldn't be much of an improvement. Although I guess I could take a friend. Or a book. (They're really just about the same to me.)

Again, not seeing my husband for an afternoon really wouldn't be a big deal if we lived at all a normal schedule. But we don't. Mike's work and stake calling keep him the majority of the week/weekend, and my classes keep me the rest of the time we would normally spend together.

But it's more than all that. We also just don't know what to do on the actual 4th. Other than make ice cream. That's pretty much set in stone, since Mike's been waiting more than patiently for the first legitimate holiday to arrive since we've had the freezer. We've talked about going camping again, which I'd be up to. The last two times have been pretty fun. We'd just have to find a couple of couples to go, so maybe we'll invite the same people as were going to go to the cabin with us. I've also suggested a barbeque, watching a movie on a projector (if we can borrow one), and/or even a bon fire out at Beaver Dick or something. But apparently none of those sound interesting/are sinking in to Mike because he keeps asking me what I want to do for the Fourth.

Any suggestions?

Appeasement

I told Mike our internet was working again and he asked me to please "appease the mobs by posting [my] belly shot" so that's what I'm doing.

Ironically, the picture we posted before this was on Mother's Day and this on is on Father's Day. (31 weeks along, my friends. We're gettin' close!)

Speaking of Father's Day by the way, this, I think, was a good one for Mike. Of course, it's also his first, so he has very little to compare it to. I bought him some new scriptures - which he knew he was getting 'cause he told me he wanted some and exactly what kind and even looked at a few with me. He desperately needed some new ones, and he's really been wanting a fresh pair to start studying from. I also bought him a book he's asked me for every time there is a reason to expect presents (except this time) called T

he Lost Language of Symbolism. It's about the symbolism in the scriptures and the temple. It's fascinating! I think it'll come in handy for some up-coming papers I'm writing!

Of course there was cheese cake. A small one, thank heavens.

And then there was this:

This was not supposed to be part of Father's Day. I had already bought all the gifts I was going to. But then I saw this 6-quart freezer on the bulletin board while I was browsing for baby items under "Miscellaneous" and it was only $25! Mike's been talking a lot about getting one, but I kept putting him off. I kept saying things like, "We don't really have the money this month, so maybe next," "Honey, the last thing we need is an ice cream freezer," and "If you can find a hand-crank one for a reasonable price (knowing they're considered 'novelties' now, which ups the price by about $200 for the same size) then we can get one." But I knew I could only hold him off for so long, and for $25?! Of course I was going to get it! The guy said he never even used it, and he seemed unsure of how to even make ice cream, but he bought it to learn and never did.

Of course, I have put restrictions on it: only on birthdays and certain holidays. Which means none of this "Box day is a holiday, right? I mean, it's on the calendar and all." No. Sorry to break it to you, but you're American, and that means you can't celebrate box day.

CAMPING!

We went on our first camping trip of 2009, which is also our first camping trip together. It was a perfect time to break in the gear Mike's siblings bought us as our wedding gift last August. (Just so everyone knows, we loved it all!)

Here's the one picture of Mike (he kept taking the pictures). He's unrolling the tent after we had laid down our tarp. After camping in Idaho two summers ago, much later in the season, and FREEZING to death, I was not going to fool around anymore. A tarp was a necessity. And our new air mattress worked out nicely too.

There's this gray thing that goes to our tent, and I have looked all over that sucker to see what it is supposed to be used for, and found nothing obvious. I can't find the directions, but in a couple weeks, when we go with our ward, I am definitely figuring it out.

We were tucked between two ridges. This is the one across the little dirt road that Mike and John climbed around on while Jennifer and I held down the fort. There was also a little brook that ran right next to us, which was nice to fall asleep to, even if Sam did have to stay strapped in his high chair the whole time to keep him from running/falling down the very steep slope into it.

Jennifer, Sam, and I right after we really got the fire started.

A nice nature pic from Mike's hike that first day.

Re-awakening the fire after we had cooked on the coals of the first one. We kept part of it flaming the whole time, so it really didn't take too long for it to start up again.

A nature shot from Mike's hike the next morning. I like the red wood against the green and white.

Another nature shot. It just looks so picturesque. It was nice to be up in the green of the hills. It's been really rainy for the past few weeks, - which WE are loving! Every day I go to my religion class, Bro. Kinghorn starts out by talking about what people think of the weather. They all complain and say they are ready for "summer to start." I look at him and say, "This is actually how summer is supposed to be." (By the way, "really rainy" is actually only a couple 20 minute showers a week, but it's a lot more than we usually get!)

Chris heats up by the fire on Saturday morning.

Tanni's over the bacon and eggs, and I'm doing pancakes. (I realize my face looks mischievous here. I'm not plotting anything.)

Hanging around the campfire after breakfast. It was fun to get together with some friends, and to test out our new gear! We stayed surprisingly warm and dry all night long, even though it did drizzle at about 6:30 the next morning.

Rainy morning at Island Park

So we decided to drive up to Island Park Saturday morning. It had been raining all week, and was still raining. We didn't mind it though, it is looking so green everywhere, we love it! We went for a few reasons. 1. Scenic drive. 2. Scope out potential camping areas. 3. Scope it out for my family reunion in July. We didn't take as many pictures as we wanted. We were on a pretty tight schedule, so we couldn't stop as much and walk around. Here is what we did get though. 

This is Island Park Reservoir. This was really pretty. I don't think it costs for day use either (at least I didn't see anywhere to pay). 

Mal and I at the Reservoir. 

Sweet dock.

This is on the way to the cabin that my family reserved for when they come in July. There is a little brook about a half a mile away from the cabin, lots of aspens and firs. Only about 15-20 mins from West Yellowstone. 

Same area as above. 

Memorial Day

We had a very nice memorial day on Monday. We slept in a bit (that translates to 7:30 am for us), and had some french toast from the homemade bread that Mal made on Saturday. It was really good. We cleaned some things up a bit, and then headed down to the BIG city...Idaho Falls. To those of you who aren't familiar with the city, it's not very big at all. It just happens to have all the stores. We went down and had a picnic in the Green Belt, which is a very beautiful area right along the snake river near the temple (a General Authority made mention of this place in a talk a few years back and how it used to be a landfill). We walked around afterwards, and checked out some antique shops. Those are some of our favorite shops to walk through, you just never know what you will find in there. We then saw the Titanic exhibit at the museum, which was really cool. 

After lunch.

We threw some Chex Mix at the ducks, but I don't think they liked it too much. 

There is a good picture of the Green Belt area along the river, or at least it's trees with the temple in the background. 

Mal sporting the Polo rider's cap. Smashing dauling...smashing.

Myself in the beautiful sombrero. I tried to give my best ranchero face. 

Movie Review

I don't know if any of you have had a chance to see this movie or read the book, but it was amazing! Personally, I thought that this movie was better than Da Vinci Code. I haven't read the books yet, so I can't make a call on that one. I would really like to read them, just to compare and get more to the story. According to recent press releases, Dan Brown is coming out with a new book called The Lost Symbol, which will feature the Freemasons. There are rumors that pieces from LDS church history will be intertwined into the story. While some LDS members may be bracing themselves for the ramifications of this new novel, I think it will be great publicity. Watching Angels and Demons made me so interested to learn about Catholic History/culture, I think that it would do the same for the church.  

There was a recent HBO showing that featured sacred temple ordinances, and I thought it was interesting to see the church's response. They kind of tossed the whole situation to the side, and didn't make a big deal of it at all. I think it's when we make a big deal that we are targeted and attacked by the media as we witnessed with Proposition 8. I say, let's embrace this new novel. I think it will be interesting. 

A great day for a hike

Today we decided to go and visit Mesa Falls up near Island Park, ID. This is a very beautiful area just outside of Yellowstone and the Tetons. There was still patches of snow in some spots, which was okay because it was about 70 degrees! I don't think we could have asked for a better day to go hike around up there. 

This is the Upper Falls. It's huge! There is a wood-plank deck that lets you walk right around the falls and lets you get really close. 

This is the mist from the falls floating towards the trees above the falls. There is actually a microclimate there that is something very unusual due to the constant mist considering it's in a tundra-like area. 

We went with some friends from our ward, the Stevenson family. 

Here is Mal's belly shot for the week. This was actually taken at the Lower Falls, which are a bit more unique because you can hike down to a spot where you find yourself right next to the heart of the falls. 

Mal and I at Lower Falls. 

This is where the Lower falls begin. 

Again, where the Lower falls begin. 

Mal, always lookin' good! I couldn't really get a picture to do the Lower falls justice since we were so close. So I uploaded a video below that should give you an idea of what we were looking at. There was so much mist!