Has it really been Ten Years?

Being pregnant didn't seem to lend itself to a beach vacation, so we decided to go to Carmel and San Francisco for a few days instead. We had a great time in Carmel and Monterey with our long-time friends Matt and Amy MacKay. On the first day of our trip, we flew into San Francisco and drove down to Carmel. We had dinner at a great local restaurant called The Fishwife - we were a little nervous when we saw the building, but its outward appearance doesn't do it justice - the food was excellent! After dinner, we drove to a state beach in Carmel. To get there, we drove through a residential neighborhood and just parked on the street and walked down to the beach. It was one of the prettiest sunsets either of us has ever seen, and we could have sat on the beach and watched the waves all night.

We stayed at the Quail Lodge Resort in Carmel Valley for the first night of our trip. The service was amazing, the resort was beautiful, the golf course was breathtaking (I wish that my golf game was as spectacular as the scenery), and the spa was super-relaxing. The lady that did Jamie's facial was VERY friendly and told her all about her love life, but she did a great job. Overall, a wonderful place to stay and very romantic! After golf and the spa, we left the Quail Lodge and went to Monterey Bay Aquarium. There was a lot to see at the Aquarium and it was the perfect choice for something to do on a cold, cloudy day. After the Aquarium, we took the 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach. It was amazing to see how the other half lives, and the views were beautiful.

While we were driving on 17-Mile Drive, Matt and Amy got a sad phone call from home saying that their youngest was injured by a heavy stone fountain that had seriously damaged her thumb. The rest of the day was a little stressful as Matt and Amy tried to find a quick flight home to Salt Lake. There were no flights available for less than $1000/person on such notice (you have to love the great service provided by the airlines!) so they had to endure a sleepless night until they could get out the next day. We felt bad that they couldn't fully enjoy the surroundings - we stayed at the Tickle Pink Inn that sits on the cliffs south of Carmel. The view of the beach and the ocean was beautiful, and the sound of the waves crashing below added to the great atmosphere.

After dropping Matt and Amy at the airport in San Francisco, Jamie and I did some sightseeing in San Francisco. We saw all the old favorites - Ghiradelli Square, Chinatown, Union Square, the Trolley Cars, the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street - and then went back to the hotel pretty exhausted after walking all over town. When we got back to our hotel at Embarcadero Center, I realized that it was the last Friday of the month and time for the Critical Mass ride in San Francisco. It was also the last Friday before Halloween, and the crazies were out in full force. There were at least 1,000 riders, many of whom were decked out in Halloween costumes. A lot of super heroes, cross dressers, and even Pee Wee Herman, complete with the biggest bike I have ever seen. Right before the ride started, two guys pulled up on their bikes wearing nothing but briefs. That is strange enough, but then they whipped off the briefs and started the ride. Don't worry - we won't post pictures.

Despite the horrifying sights in San Francisco, we had a wonderful time and would highly recommend a trip to Carmel and Monterey!

We realized after our trip that taking pictures is not our strong point - we need to be more aware of picture opportunities - but we did take a few!

THE WORST BLOGGERS EVER

We are the worst bloggers ever. Our last post was a cruel blog joke. We deserve the blogspot equivalent of the guillotine. I wish we could say that we would make it up to you, that our next few posts will make everything ok. But we can't. Life in Idaho in November just isn't that interesting.

With confessions out of the way, we'll try to catch up on the last few months.

Coming your way...soon !

Hey there all you blogger fans...something wicked awesome is coming your way. Just not tonight. I am too tired to download it all. But I just wanted to get you excited about us posting a new post SOON! In the meantime, thanks for all your great reads on your blogs. I am loving them all.

First Haircut

Yummy! Lauren enjoyed her favorite food, yogurt after a long afternoon at the beauty salon. It was so fun. Girls day out. My hair dresser cut Lauren's hair and styled it so cute. She brought out all of this natural curl somehow. I just sat and smiled from ear to ear. She is so yummy!

Yellowstone or Bust!

This last Saturday as we sipped our hot chocolate and watched the snow start to flurry down from our kitchen window we (the Peterson Family) all decided it was a perfect day to venture out as planned and visit Yellowstone. We were sure all the animals would be coming down to feed and prepare for winter. The leaves were suppose to be gorgeous and we had nothing better to do as a family.(The Utah game wasn't on Dish Network). Unfortunately, when we made these plans it was the day before and it had been a toasty high 70's and we were all geared up for a great Saturday. The snow is no deterrent to a child we found and we were soon on the road to Yellowstone - no matter the weather. We made it all the way to Island Park where the magic of the car ride wore off and we were all ready to take a break. Funny thing the gas station/bar/service station/restaurant we stopped at happened to have 1 cent candies...a thing of the past I thought. It made the trip all exciting again and we decided according to the dropping thermometer in our car that 32 degrees was chilly enough and we stopped at the coolest, closest next stop. Big Springs in Island Park. We were the only ones there. (I can't imagine why). Still, I have to admit that it was really cool and a rare chance to be there alone. The gigantic trout were starving and jumping out of the water at any food thrown their way. The kids could have cared less about the temperature and we played at the springs for a bit. Troy was as giddy as the kids were at the fish. It was quite the sight. It was really fun...fun enough that Yellowstone was no longer a necessity of the day. We started for home and took a detour at Mesa Falls. It was awesome. Again we were the only ones there again but the water was still so warm from the recent weather that it was steaming all over. Very cool. We hiked our little hearts out and marveled at the wonderful pace of life we have somehow discovered back into our lives. It is so easy to forget about how important it is to enjoy the small moments. The waterfalls got Troy reminiscing of college days at Ricks and he mentioned another waterfall called Cave Falls. So we ventured on over to there. It was such a beautiful drive, the last part was slightly hard to see when it started to snow so hard it was a white out. That's when we saw a sign that welcomed us into Yellowstone Nat. Park. I laughed that we somehow made it to Yellowstone even though we thought we had talked the kids out of going there. Obviously it was snowing in Yellowstone and no animals were out for us to see, but we sure did have fun discovering beautiful parts of Idaho and all the great water falls of Idaho. Idaho...what a great and crazy place. Scary how much it actually grows on you.

First Frost!

A sad day has come in my life. The first frost of the season is here and my fear of winter time has officially set in. Who knew I was such a wimp? Who knew my blood ran thin? Who knew that Texas was the perfect climate for me? I have to be strong for my families sake but I am confiding in my new found friend...my blog. I am terrified of freezing to death this winter. Pray for me.

Surprises O' Plenty!

Ok! Ok! For all you family and friends who thought I was acting a bit weird...Yes, it's true. I am pregnant. We are excited for #4 and really not sure what to expect. Three has been a blast. We have enjoyed having a baby in the house so much, only Lauren is not much of a baby anymore. She would love a baby. I think that she would love a baby sister. The boys are hoping that is the case too. They say then she will stay out of their stuff and bug the baby instead. I am sure this will all come to pass. we are excited and I am a bit sick, but March is the due date. It's exciting! I am honestly hoping all my extra baby padding will help me weather this winter a little easier...since my blood still hasn't quite thickened yet.

We Love Visitors!

These photos are dedicated to some of our visitors we had this summer. My brother Mark and his wife Jaime came up with their girls and we had such a good time. I love the picture of Emeryn stuffing things down her shirt. That captures most of her time spent here. It was so hilarious.













Our last visitor of the summer was Michelle Hill and her kids Gavin and Lainey. We spent a perfect day at Bear World and enjoyed the theme park afterwards. We all had a blast (as you can tell from the pictures). We miss them already and enjoyed all our time together. If you can't tell already we LOVE having visitors and really want you all to come visit some day!

Where Did The Summer Go?

So one minute it is July, and the next minute school is in session and the summer is slipping away. The end of summer is bittersweet - fall means cool weather, changing leaves, Utah football (Troy made me add that) and the kids get to go back to school. But it is so fun to have the boys at home during the summer for outdoor adventures.

We spent a wonderful week up in Driggs, Idaho at Aunt Laurel's and Uncle Blake's place and loved every minute of it...except that Troy was the only member of his family that wasn't there for most of it. We moved here for less travel, but his one big business trip of the year fell on the same week as the annual Peterson family reunion. We enjoyed the beautiful outdoors while he sweated his guts out in Atlanta. We missed him but still had a great time. At the cabin, we also met our future uncle/brother-in-law Ryan Bessey. He is already a favorite for Kimball and Cole - a favorite like a cherry snow cone. Uncle Justin is still a favorite too, like a grape snow cone. They are both favorites. We are sad to see our beloved "Wee" grow up (and we will miss her visits and free nanny services) but we are happy for both of them and look forward to the wedding in December. A few photos from the trip:













Kimball thinks school in Idaho is still like summer vacation (since they get three recesses and start later and finish earlier than in Texas). I am still anxious to see how the school situation works out for both the boys. Texas schools are a little more intense to say the least.

We sold our Camry on the first day of school, the boys posed by it before they pedaled off to school. We enjoy our bike rides to the school (four times a day for me and Lauren) although we are not so excited about the city's new idea to drop tons of gravel all over the road and then just leave it there to help the roads last longer. It makes riding a bike extremley difficult, especially with little legs. I guess these are the benefits of living in the so called "country".





Kimball has become the big stud of the neighborhood since all his little buddies on our street saw him out mowing our lawn a few weeks ago. Troy and I are enjoying the bliss while it lasts. Our lawn is HUGE, and Kimball has still begged every week to mow it. We are the only ones on the block who don't own a riding lawn mower. Kimball loves it and it takes a good three hours to do it but he is awesome at it! I just start the mower for him and then he goes until it runs out of gas. I fill it up and off he goes again .... Last Saturday he got really smart and told his neighbor buddy how cool it is to mow the lawn...so a few minutes later he had his buddy rolling his push mower down the street and they split our lawn in half and both mowed it happily together. I need to get a picture of the lawn so I can remember and laugh at all the missed strips and crooked rows! I love it and it only cost me two tanks of gas and two ice cream cones. what a deal!

Our New Blog

Welcome to our new blog! It is definitely a work in progress, so don't judge too harshly - focus on the positives (things like we actually figured out what a blog is and found a website where we could publish our own)! We have gained a newfound respect for Mike Baird, Stephanie Farnsworth and others who have successfully uploaded videos to their blog. We have really enjoyed keeping up with others through their blogs and hope we can put something together that is worth reading. Our secret goal (not quite as secret now that we are posting it on the blog) is to post enough pictures of the Idaho outdoors that our friends and families will be inspired to come for a visit!

Saturday Drive Through Tetons/Yellowstone

On Saturday morning, we packed some lunches and snacks in a cooler and hit the open road. We didn't plan anything in advance, but decided that we would drive through Grand Teton National Park. The drive from Idaho Falls to the Tetons goes through Swan Valley (Troy's favorite place and hopefully the location of Rancho de Peterson some day) and Victor, Idaho and then on to the park. We decided to take a short hike around Jenny's Lake, throw some rocks in the water and just enjoy some beautiful scenery. For those in the know, the hike from the parking lot around the lake to Hidden Falls is about 2.5 miles, but we weren't that ambitious.

We had a great time enjoying great weather and wonderful views. The kids' favorite part was throwing rocks in the lake.







After our hike, we jumped back in the car and decided to go home through Yellowstone rather than return the way that we came. We drove up through the south entrance, past the West Thumb at Yellowstone Lake and stopped at Old Faithful. We had some dinner at the lodge and did the geyser walk to pass the time until Old Faithful erupted. We drove home late, tired but happy. We paid for it a little bit in church since Lauren was a little crazy, but she is always a little crazy. We can't believe that she is only two weeks away from going to the nursery!

We're here and loving it!

Idaho
Things I love about it... well, mostly fun weekends. We have had one great weekend and set our kids' expectations high.
The week got off to a rough start after finally making it to Idaho on Tuesday afternoon. A rough plane trip and late night made me grumpy and ever so pessimistic about this whole move.
Wednesday Troy informed me that he found a really great rental house and that we might look at it. I was a bit confused since last I knew we were building a house. But after a nice drive and some chatting we both agreed that our "dream house" was lacking a few major things and had some issues, like a crazy neighbor who was bent on making life miserable for people living in that development. So we opted out and now are the proud renters of a brand new house with a fenced in 1/2 acre backyard. It happened so smoothly and quickly that I can't help but think it was meant to be. It will be perfect. I am excited about it all...except mowing the yard (thankfully Kimball is stoked about that part).

Friday Troy left the office early and we were hanging out when we got a call from some old friends who said they were going up to Island Park to their cabin to play and wanted to know if we wanted to go. We hopped in the car and an hour later we were playing and the boys were experiencing the beauty of livng near the mountains. We fished Henry's Fork, hiked and biked (Kimball is a professional mountain biker now...he told me so). Later that day we took Kimball to a bike shop to pick out his birthday present (a new bike) and he was so sure that it had to be a mountain bike. He loved it at first sight and we came home with a fun bike for him. We have been biking ever since. On Sunday our dear friends from Utah came up to spend Memorial day with us and to help celebrate Kimball's birthday. We stayed up way too late and ate way too much but had a blast. Morning came and all the kids were ready to play. We all loaded up and went to Bear World (just south of Rexburg). It was so FUN!

For those that have never had opportunity to visit Bear World, it is a must-see attraction when you are in Eastern Idaho (which we hope you will be soon)!



There are 50-something bears walking freely around the park (within an electrified fence, of course). When you drive in the park, the attendant at the gate gives you a stern warning to keep moving to prevent bears from climbing onto your car or biting your tires. It added some adventure to the whole experience.

At the end, there is a little petting zoo and some kiddie carnival rides. The kids had a great time chasing ducks, geese and miniature goats, and even petted a deer.




Untitled from Troy Peterson and Vimeo.

There were also swans in a little pond which got a little aggressive and started biting the kids' shoes while they were standing at the edge of the bridge.



The cutest thing was the bear cubs - we had fun watching them wrestle with each other and clown around. The mood was light until Kimball informed us that they keep the bear cubs separate from the big bears so the daddy bears don't eat them. Our little man is 7, going on 27.



For all those former Rexburgers out there, we even ate lunch at the new and improved Craigo's.

It was such a great day. Such a great weekend and it really will be hard to top.

So there you have it, our first week in Idaho...and imagine I thought it might be boring here.