Fourth of July in Soda Springs!

Anyone who's ever lived in Soda Springs, Idaho knows that they know how to have a party for Independence Day! Its my favorite holiday to spend at home and something I've missed dearly! We headed to Soda Springs early Saturday morning. We dropped the kids off with my mom and picked up Melissa, one of my very best friends! We headed to Lava to float the Portneuf River and it was just as amazing as I remembered! It was Brett's first time floating and we all laughed harder than we've laughed in a long time! 

We skipped the big waterfalls at the top of the river and floated it four times. Melissa flipped out of her tube once but we survived without injury, thankfully! 

After the river, we got the kids and went with my family to the City Park where the fire department sprays foam all over and everyone can play in it. Its so much fun and they've done it since I was a kid. Our kids were a little hesitant at first, but Brett dove right in and they soon followed suit. 

 

Brett had so much fun that he knocked over a couple kids and even lost his wedding ring! We weren't sure if he lost it in the river or the foam, but we had a video with him wearing it in the foam. Brett even went back twice afterwards, once with a rake, and once with a metal detector and searched the area with no luck. 

 

As a follow up, my mom posted online that the ring was lost in the foam and someone found it....the day after we ordered a new ring for Brett. :)

 

We had a lot of fun hanging out with my family. That night, we did fireworks that Jon bought at Fort Hall and then made s'mores in the backyard. 

On Sunday, we went to church with my mom and it was great seeing so many people I knew growing up. My kids were in nursery with several of my former YW leaders, and it made me happy to see them learning from the same ladies that made such an impact in my life!

My mom always makes a flag cake for the 4th of July and she had Kayla help her with the frosting. Brett and I were down working in the basement and my mom came down to help us for a minute. Haley heard the mixer turn on and thought my mom was in the kitchen. When she didn't say anything, Haley and Jon peaked in to see Kayla adding all the cookies from the cookie jar and redvines! It was pretty funny!

When I was her age, my hair got stuck in a mixer and ripped out! I'm pretty relieved that there was no injury this time around. The only loss was the frosting.

Early on the morning of the Fourth, Brett headed off to run the 5K race. He ran it in  24:45. He even got sparklers for participating! 

We then headed to the park where we got the Lion's Club breakfast. It was delicious but the line was really long! I snapped this photo of Kayla's cute hair while we waited in line. 

We went to our usual spot for the parade and ran into the Pingels. The kids were so excited to see their friends! I love the parade in Soda. I know almost everyone in it and I get to see so many people that sit in the same area that we sit every year to watch. 

 

When we went to the parades in Texas, they didn't throw any candy! Not in Soda Springs, though. The kids got so much candy!

We wandered around the park after and met up with friends. We visited with Melissa and her family for awhile. Kayla really loved Melissa's baby Beckham!

 

I sure love this family of mine and I am so grateful we got to spend the best holiday in the best small town in Idaho! Hooray for being an American and having all the freedoms we do. Thank you to all the men and women that have given so much to allow us the freedoms we enjoy! God Bless the USA!

Teton National Forest

On Memorial Day, we headed over to Jackson Hole and Teton National Park to explore and hike to Jenny Lake. The weather ended up being cooler than we expected, but it was beautiful and it was a great day! 

I bought this Kelty backpack on the garage sale page on Facebook and I'm so glad I did! Kayla thought it was pretty great. 

There were a ton of people there and it was hard to find a place to park!

Kayla saw this rock and asked me to take her picture on it. She knows the drill!

We took the boat across the lake and the kids thought it was great!

Part of the trail up to Inspiration point was blocked off for trail repair, so we went just as far as we could. The trail followed a stream the whole way and it was beautiful!

 

 

We made it as high as we could go and stopped to have lunch. The kids had fun chasing a chipmunk! I was a little nervous eating there because a ranger told us a mama bear and her cubs had been sighted nearby! Luckily, there were so many people there that we were fine. 

 

The view of the lake we boated across was breathtaking with the mountains in the distance. I've grown up around mountains my whole life, and I'll never tire of their majestic beauty. 

Brett carried Tyson most of the way, but on our final walk up, Tyson got out and hiked for awhile. He did awesome! He even learned the word steep. We joked that was a word he might not have learned in South Texas. There wasn't much change in elevation there. :)

 

 

These kids love their daddy!

Kayla is a great hiking buddy! I've always been a slow hiker, probably because I've never been in great shape! haha! She gives me a good excuse to go a little slower. :)

Since it was colder than forecasted, we didn't have pants for Tyson. I had an extra pair of pants for Kayla in the diaper bag in case of an accident, so we put them on Tyson. We got some interesting looks from other people! He didn't care at all! I'm glad we were able to help keep him warm enough though. 

 

That view is just breathtaking!

My two favorite boys!

This was our view from where we ate lunch. It was perfect!

On the boat ride back, Tyson couldn't stop looking at the motor and Kayla diligently held on to my hat, just like the driver told her to. :)

It was nap time by the time we got back to the other side and Kayla was done. I carried her from the boat to the car. I had to get proof that I carried someone in the pack. Its comfy, but not easy! Good thing Brett is so much more strong than me. 

We found a driving road up to a peak when the kids fell asleep. It was perfect and Brett and I were able to get out and enjoy the view while the kids continued their nap in the car. It reminded us of being on our honeymoon and all the beautiful outlooks we stopped at then, since we weren't distracted by the kids. 

 

We stopped in Jackson Hole and wandered around. Of course, we headed to the town square with the famous antler arches. Kayla was really excited about the horse pulled stage coaches too. The driver let her pet the horses and she was in heaven. She's a little animal lover!

 

It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun! It was a great way to spend Memorial Day, together as a family, especially because it was the first time Brett had the holiday off since we've been married. I'm so grateful for his new job schedule!