Texodus: The story of a fish

Once upon a time, a little girl went fishing in a beautiful mountain lake.  Her kind and wise uncle hooked a fish with his special bait of Steelhead roe jerky and handed the pole over to her.  She was thrilled and began reeling the big fish in.  At one point, it jumped out of the water and Uncle Mark said it was a sure sign that it was a rainbow trout- a keeper! 

After returning from the exciting fishing trip and eating a yummy dinner of spaghetti, Uncle mark showed the girl and her sister (and Mom and Dad) how to clean the fish and get it ready to eat.  At first, the girls were grossed out...

Then he pulled its guts out and they were REALLY grossed out....

But then it got interesting as he showed them all about how to clean it and get it ready. To their surprise, the fish meat was red! Just like Salmon! Uncle Mark says it comes from the little shrimps the fish eats in the lake.

The next  day, the girls helped Dad cook it up for lunch. He made it very simply- just dredged it in flour and a mixture of lemon pepper and some salt.

Finally, the little girl got to taste her fish. She declared it THE BEST fish she had ever eaten! It was so fun to catch, cook and eat her own food!

Texodus: Gone Fishin'

I can't think of a better way to kick off the Salmon part of our visit than to pile in the back of the truck and go fishing in a beautiful mountain lake.  We wanted to fish in the mighty Salmon River, but it was too muddy, so Williams Lake it was.   ** Don't freak out, safety experts, the kids only rode in the back of the truck from the upper parking lot to the handicap drop off at the bottom of the hill. They had a blast.**

I don't know many fishing trips that have their own cheering section, but we sure loved ours! Charlie provided a great soundtrack with his ever-present music.  Bear supplied him with all the rocks he could throw into the lake.  

Daddy helped Birdy out. She didn't have much patience for the waiting part, so she split her time between throwing rocks and fishing.

EJ loved it, though. I can't get over how beautiful it is there!

This guy broke his sad fishing streak (no fish for many, many fishing trips).  He caught 3!  Too bad they were all "dolly" trout- an endangered species so we couldn't keep any.  Given that we caught 3 dollies and only one rainbow trout, we have a theory why the dollies are endangered. They are pretty dumb :)  Maybe it is survival of the fittest at work?

The best part about this trip was hanging out with Uncle Mark. He was SO amazing and helpful and patient.  He didn't get much fishing done himself, because he spent so much time helping the girls (and Dave...).  It was great to spend that much time with him and learn so much!

FINALLY, near the end of the trip, Uncle Mark hooked a rainbow trout and handed the pole right over to EJ who reeled it in all by her self.  We were really happy to come away with a "keeper" and he was a good one!

This guy held a fishing pole for about a total of 5 min. The rest of the time he spent throwing the biggest rocks he could hold into the lake. This went on for about 2 hours and he was in HEAVEN.

Texodus: Our Idaho Falls Family Rocks

After our amazing Ethiopian feast, we headed north to ID to visit DMP's oldest brother, Don and his family.  These are some of my most favorite people in the world- I love my SIL Suzanne so much and I want to be like her when I grow up!   It was also really fun to hang out with their two youngest- formerly known as "the monsters"- now all grown up and graduating from High School and driving and stuff...

I was able to confirm a suspicion I've had for a while- Bear is Ryan's long-lost twin. I couldn't get Bear to not "cheese" for the camera, but trust me when I say that these two look alike- and it isn't just because of their monchichi hair cuts (Ryan TOTALLY missed that cultural reference proving that I'm really old).   When I joined DMP's family, Ryan was just a bit older than Bear. So crazy to see him all growed up! (Look, Ryan! No reference to wiping bums! Ooops- I blew it!)

We all got to spend time with Aunt Suzanne.  She is the best Aunt/Grandma hybrid- she let the kids eat a ton of cookies, bought them chocolate chip muffins for breakfast.  She spent a lot of time watching Bear play and being his audience.  We got to go to church with these guys. Suzanne is a RS president, too, and I was so blessed to hear her teach. It was special to see her "in action" and hear her testimony. We also got to hear Ryan bless the sacrament. The kids were thrilled that their big cousin was the one to do it- I don't think they have ever seen anyone they know bless the sacrament. As a side note, people were great and asked who we were.  DMP explained that he was Don's younger brother.  We realized too late we should have said he was the older brother, just to confuse them!

In addition to all the visiting, they fed us really well here. Uncle Don made some really, really yummy curry for Sunday dinner- the girls loved it!  He also set me straight on how Formula One drivers really are athletes and I stand corrected. They are at LEAST more athletic than pro golfers and baseball players :)  I love how the picture above proves that it doesn't matter how old you are or how tall you get, the "kid table" is all about relative age :)

All the kids loved their big cousins, but Courtney was the favorite.  She was nice enough to let Dave and I sleep in her room.  Birdy was in there getting dressed and she looked around at her room (which features a lot of pictures of cats and kittens- Courtney really likes them).  She said "I think she likes cats, Mom" (huge understatement).  Then she sighed wistfully and said "I wish she was my big sister!"  We walked home from church and Bear was really concerned that she wasn't with us and kept asking about her the whole time.

During Sunday dinner, Aunt Suzanne got a phone call, and Bear couldn't finish his dinner. He simply HAD to explore this relic called a "telephone cord".  Good thing Suzanne has the patience of a saint- he played with it for 20 min. while she was on the phone!

We also got to meet our new niece Livia on this visit. Cody got married last summer and we missed meeting her (and the wedding- darn being far away from everyone!).  She is really, really nice and told us funny stories about working at the zoo. We really like her and I hope they will come and visit us in TX someday soon! (hint hint)

Our visit was over too soon. We can't wait to see them next year!

P.S.  This giant 2 or 3 story high fountain/sculpture in IF always makes me laugh.  I think the eagle is one of the giant ones from the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit- check out its size relative to the mountain lion in the lower left...

Texodus: SL Temple & ETHIOPIAN FOOD!!!!

Last year, DMP and I really wanted to attend a live session at the Salt Lake Temple, but it was closed. We lucked out and DMP *barely* made it to UT in time this year.  Our awesome niece Nichole and her husband Kris agreed to watch the kiddos so we could go. 

We dropped the kids off with just enough time to spare to get parked and to the temple for the session (they only go every hour).  We rushed to the temple and I discovered that I had left my recommend in the car!!! DMP went all the way back and we barely missed the session by about 5 min :(.  As we were running late, I told DMP that if we can't make it to the session, I'd like to do initiatories.  After I was changed and realized I had missed the session, I tried to find him to coordinate.  I must have just missed him because he did the same thing- and even sent someone into the dressing room to find me. 

I figured we'd already kind of talked about what we were doing and I'd just meet him in the celestial room after.  I did two sets of names and he only did one and didn't think to go to the celestial room :)  So our long-awaited trip to the temple together was kind of a bust.  That's OK, though. I've been feeling like I needed to do initiatories for a long time now and I was really glad I did!

After the temple we went back to Nich and Kris' place to get our kiddos.  We wanted to take them out for lunch and we were THRILLED when Kris suggested Ethiopian.  We LOVE Ethiopian food- it was one of our favorite places in AZ.  As a bonus, Kris served part of his mission in Ethiopia, so he could tell us all about the food and culture and his mission stories.  

The food was abundant and AMAZING.  I just kept eating and eating- it tasted so good and I didn't have any room left in my stomach!  The kids liked it a lot, too.  EJ didn't care for the injera (sour bread you see in rolls and what all the food is on in the pic- think sourdough pancake/crepe hybrid) but she really liked everything you are supposed to eat it with :).  Bear really liked the white cheese, pureed chickpeas and spinach stuff. Birdy ate everything in sight and loved eating it with her hands.  It was my favorite meal in a long time and the company was the BEST.  I can't wait for next year!  Also- if you are in UT you should go. I forgot the name of the place, but I still have the card or maybe Nichole will put it in the comments :)

After lunch, it was off to see Uncle Don and Aunt Suzanne in IF.  Apparently the formula for a peaceful drive involves tons of injera and Rasta music.

Texodus: Cascade Springs 4th of July

We had so much fun on the 4th of July with our cousins at the beautiful Cascade Springs!

My kids looked so cute in their special hand made patriotic shirts!

Cascade Springs is one of my favorite places- so pretty!

The kids even spotted some fish!  When we were done looking around, we went home on the Alpine loop. The mountains were beautiful and it was a fun drive. Bonus: no one vomited (although Bear came close...)  Then we went home to a delicious cookout- complete with yummy sweet corn!

Texodus: Provo Freedom Festival

Cynj was nice and kept Bear one night so the girls and I could go to the Provo Freedom Festival.  We had so much fun with just Mom and the big girls!  I laughed when I saw the jumparoo above! Does anyone else remember ours from the sunny day house? Birdy loved it!

The girls got their hair done and got to make every craft!

The flip book people were there, so the girls made an awesome "Rock Star" flip book. It was great and we are getting quite the collection.

We ended the night with a big plate of tater twisters.  They were too salty (they salted them for you) but otherwise very yummy!

Texodus: Cousins + Cool Playground

 Heber has a cool new city park, complete with astro-turf! It is cool. Check out the merry-go-round spinning thing!

When it got too hot, these two found a shady place to play ponies.

Texodus: Squishing Stuff with a Train

You can't believe how much fun $3 in old silverware and some change + a train can be!  We took the CA cousins to squish knives, forks, spoons, and change with the Heber Valley Historic Railroad. 

Cubby shows off the silverware, all in a row and below, N carefully places pennies on the track.

Then we waited for the train... 

Squish! 

Our favorite is when the pennies leave an impression on the track...

After all that hot, squishing fun, Grandpa treated us to yummy Aggie Ice Cream at the cheese factory.  Look- Bear even found blue ice cream (mint blue chocolate chip- so good!).

Texodus: Adventure in Heber

 To kick off our "Day of fun in Heber", we decided to try some Heber kolaches.  Yes, folks, the "special" treat I reserve for people visiting us in TX can now be purchased in our hometown.  Awesome- just one more reason to NOT visit us.  But for the record, they were yummy, but not as fluffy as the ones we get in West (be still my heart) or near our house. So there.

After breakfast, the TX and CA cousins piled into a couple of cars and went off to the State Park to feed some ducks and geese.  These city kids had a blast and loved feeding them.

Then we went into the visitor's center to learn about the animals and rocks around the State Park.  The favorite exhibit by far was the "learn their footprints and poop" display.  It was gross/awesome.

Then we went to the Homestead to hike up to the top of the crater.  My stair-loving boy decided that it was too hot to climb stairs and insisted I carry him. Bek wisely stayed at the bottom with the little girls.

I love that the crater now has this bridge with the mesh-metal bottom so you can look right down into the crater. I can't tell you how much of my child and young adulthood I spent wondering what it would look like to do that!

He saw this statue and immediately did this. I love this boy- SO MUCH!

Next we went to take in the view on top of Memorial Hill.  Naturally, when faced with the top of a hill with beautiful scenery, you yell "MOOOOOO" as loud as you can to the cows below. 

Look! Beautiful kids and Mt. Timp!

Bek took the little girls home and I took all 5 (!) big kids to round out our trip at the "Train Place" a.k.a Dairy Keen for ice cream and to play on their train table. It was a fun morning in my home town!

Funny story- It was a little chaotic getting all 5 kids herded into the Dairy Keen and taking their various orders.  I must have looked a little flustered (and like they all belonged to me) because 2 different couples let me go in front of them to order. Awesome!