The Great Outdoors

This last weekend our good friends, The Garbers, invited the whole neighborhood up to their cabin in Ashton, ID.  And when I say the whole neighborhood, I mean it -10 adults and 17 kids! Good thing their cabin is like an oasis on a mountain top, plenty of room for everyone. We had a great time. 

It was a four hour drive so the kids watched movies.

Isaac had a hard time getting his headphones to stay on his head 

so we got a little help from Dad's gloves.

Finally at the cabin, and after exploration time, the kids decided they liked the loft the best.

Friday was a fairly nice day, just a little chilly, so we headed outside to see what fun we could find to do.

After a little hike we went canoeing.  The kids had a great time taking turns going out on the slightly frozen lake.  I thought it was hilarious to watch everyone in their coats, gloves and hats fumble around trying to get life jackets on and get in the canoes without touching the frigged water.

After canoeing we went to the field down the hill from the cabin and played games.

We were certainly glad to have been able to enjoy the sun one day because when Saturday came. . .

so did the SNOW!

It dumped 4+ inches Saturday, so for most of the day we were quarantined inside.  We did venture out one time when the snow let up a little and drove up the canyon to Mesa Falls.  On the drive up, the snow actually stopped and there was blue sky.  That lasted exactly 10 mins. and then a blizzard set in, right as we were walking down the trail to see the falls. The falls were beautiful but with the snow I'm not sure many of the kids appreciated the beauty.

Mesa Falls

Freezing children

On Sunday we headed home, and because it was Sunday, we thought it would be fun to stop by the temples that we passed on the way and let the kids experience these temples close up.

Rexburg, ID Temple

Here the gates were open, so we walked all around and the kids went up and touched the temple.  

We talked about temples and their importance and looked at all the beautiful details that are built right in.

Idaho Falls, ID Temple

At this temple the gates were closed so we couldn't go right up to the temple 

but we did walk around the outside and across the street to see the Idaho Falls.

Our family doesn't vacation much so this trip was really a treat.  It was fun to be with friends and then spend some time on the way home with just our family.  Thanks for the opportunity Garbers. 

Hopefully we can go again . . . soon.  :)