Vacation to Idaho

During the last week of August, we traveled to Idaho for our vacation. We go every year to spend a week with my sweet grandma in Ashton. I always look forward to spending time with her! My aunt also lives there now that my grandpa is gone, she takes care of grandma so we don't have to worry about her being all alone. I decided it was time to get some nice photos of grandma.....



This year we brought Tabitha along, she is Larry's 15 year old cousin who didn't really get a vacation this summer. We also had the opportunity to meet a new member of the family, Helaman. He was born in July to Tara and Gnanam and he is cute! He was blessed on the weekend we were visiting.



Part of the tradition of being in Ashton is that we visit Yellowstone (which is like Disneyland for a photographer). Here are some highlights.... click here to see the best of the best on my flickr page.





Every year, we hike in Yellowstone. Normally we hike to the top of Mt. Washburn, but this year we decided to visit Meriman Falls. The only problem is that we didn't know the trail very well and missed the turn off at some point. So we hiked 4 miles and didn't have much to show for it. We called it the 'hike of disappointment' as a joke.





Because we didn't get the chance to see any bears in Yellowstone, we decided to visit Bear World. The kids love the petting zoo at the end. Jared and David figured out a way to hijack the little machine that had food inside (sort of like a gumball machine, except there was pet food inside). Well, the turkeys know that these machines produce a treat and they eagerly waited for the boys to get food out of it. Jared and David both tried to run, but the turkeys were faster. At one point, David just threw his hands into the air like he was under arrest.



David makes new friends wherever he goes...


And so does Larry....


Jared told me he had been waiting his whole life for a ride on the tractors, I think they both agree that this is the reason they love the farm so much. They also got to help rebuild the old chicken coop. There's nothing like good ole fashioned hard work!









I took a couple of pictures of the old homestead. My grandpa was raised next to this grain house, it sits less than a mile away from the current house. 'Bird Rock' is also nearby, it's easy to tell why the local people call it that.





On the way home, we stopped in Mountain Home to visit the Air Force Base. We met up with our dear friends to have lunch and spend time with them. We found our old house, it was empty. I'm pretty sure they plan to tear down this house within the next couple of years, many houses in that neighborhood are empty. It was David's first home and we have a lot of fond memories.