The Grand Finale

We left Salt Lake and drove back to beautiful Donnelly Idaho. We had a few days of rest and relaxation and thoroughly enjoyed it! We slept in, stayed in our pj's, swam and watched movies. We spent one afternoon at the lake playing on the beach. The kids had fun jumping off the dock and building sand castles for Jake to destroy.

After our little break, we drove back to Boise to see my brother Jeff and his family. We met them at the lake and had a great time at our favorite spot, Lucky Peak!

This is the lake my family spent every summer at. We would head up after work just about every day in the summer and ski until it was too dark. I had fun telling my kids about my childhood memories as we drove up to the lake and spent the afternoon there.

Noah had more time to practice his new favorite past time...skiing! It was so fun to watch him learn how to get up and ski around the lake. He loved it and wanted to do it over and over again.

My sister in law, Brenna, and I decided to take our 2 little ones on a tube ride. I gave the camera to Noah and asked him to take a few pictures. He took this shot and I thought it was so funny! Jake and James had been enjoying their ride (kind of) and then they decided they were done. So we were signaling the boat driver and Noah caught this moment...classic.

Lucy was so excited to see her cousin Jackson. When we were on our way to Boise and I told her we were going to see Jackson, she said "we're going to Texas!!"

The next 2 days were filled with Aaron coming back to Boise, a big family dinner the night before the wedding, the wedding, the luncheon and the reception. I do not have any pictures of this event yet so I will have to post them later. But it was a beautiful wedding and we were so happy to be able to be there for Melanie and Jeff's special day. The reception was one big party with great food, good dancing and a very interesting DJ. My parents put on a fantastic event and Melanie looked beautiful. The best moment was when we were in the sealing room in the temple and we were able to look around and see my parents and all of their kids and spouses. I remember as a teenager my mom would often say she dreamed of the day she would be able to be with all of her children in the temple. Well that day arrived and it was a very emotional moment for everyone. My parents have worked so hard to teach their children the gospel, and we were able to see the fruits of their labor as we all sat in the temple together.

We had one last event to attend before heading home. My brother Brian and his wife Emily were blessing their sweet baby,Blake, the day after the wedding. They rearranged their plans so we would be able to attend. We loved being there!

After the blessing we had lunch with everyone at Brian's house. It was a bittersweet moment as we said goodbye. We had been gone for 5 weeks and were ready to get home. But saying goodbye for another year is always hard and I was tearful as we drove away. We are blessed to have such great parents and siblings and enjoyed sharing our summer with them.