Houston 2010

I decided last minute to go to Houston again for Spud Harvest break since Rob was going to be in Denver for work.Just so you know, this is about the nastiest BBQ I've eaten, but I liked their sign.

We did a lot of shopping and not much sightseeing like we did last year. I just realized I never posted about my trip last year. Last year we went to Galveston, saw dolphins, the Blue Bell ice cream factory, ate out a ton, shopped, and decorated. It was very humid last year.

View from our hotel in Galveston-I didn't even try to straighten my hair here.

This year the weather felt perfect. We did lots of shopping and decorating. They have a huge house which I almost got lost in the first few days.

We made these Halloween signs

We made these decorations to hang in her music room.

All they need is curtains for this room to be complete

We also went kayaking which is always fun, until you realize you forgot sunscreen!

Little did Kim know, she did more paddling than I did...

Waiting for my piano lesson. Look at that burnt skin!

We ate some good food: Pufferbelly Restaurant, Red Mango, and Pei WeiAnd we got pedicures. I thought my feet were cracked and dry beyond repair but the lady did a great job. She had to use what looked like a cheese grater though!Jacob's billboard A familiar-looking mannequin in Old Navy

Thanks Kim and Jacob for treating me so nicely. It was fun!

State Fair

The whole family went out for the State Fair at the beginning of Sept. Of course the best part of the fair is the food! I ate so much junk. It was fun taking all the nephews/nieces to see the animals and giant pumpkins.

Carnivores!

Huge dairy cows

Chocolate milk floats

Caramel apple

Mixed berry funnel cake

Rob was a good sport and had a few bites of everything. He doesn't like sugary foods nearly as much as I do. I love going to the Fair every year! Growing up, we got Monday off of school for Labor Day and Friday off for Fair Day!

Huckleberry Finn

Ah, late summer in Idaho is so pleasant! The weather is finally perfectly warm, and it's sunny almost every day. The days are long, nights are cool, and everything is green. It can't get much better than that.

In August, Tamera, Kareena, Nicole, (sisters-in-law), our friend Melina, and I went huckleberry picking. There were tons this year since we went a little earlier than last year.

The smell of the berries is so sweet. This year I made syrup and huckleberry/blackberry jam. With the leftover pulp from the syrup, I made huckleberry muffins. They came out purple! Huckleberrying is becoming one of my favorite Idaho activities.

Other Summer Activities

One evening in July, the sky was an amazing orange and red color. We found out it was from a forest fire south of us. It felt like we were in a sci-fi movie.



For our anniversary, we invited Rob's siblings to join us at Rigby Lake a few miles south of us. It was a nice day to be in the water.

In August we went to Utah and drove out to the Manti temple. It was beautiful. It still has most of the original designs and decorations from when it was built. There were so many intricate details and bright colors everywhere. We had to park above the temple and walk through the grass trying to find the front door.

Some random sheep on the grounds. See the top of the temple?Then we finally went to see The Lion King! I was so excited. Hearing the music live was amazing. The costumes and props were incredible.
My cousin Jenny Jo and Aunt Anne got to join us.

The Capitol Theater was so old fashioned and pretty.

Ready to enjoy the show!

Arizona Trip

A day or two after Yellowstone, we hopped a plane to Phoenix. Rob got to pick the vacation since I'd been on a few without him. We flew right over the grand canyon both times.
We stayed at his grandma's house where she keeps the temperature at 80! Even I, who likes heat, was uncomfortable. But we always have a good time with her and Grandpa Joe.

We didn't want to just sit around all week, so we planned some fun things to do. We spent the 4th of July at his aunt and uncle's house and visited with the family. I thought it was so weird that they can't ever do fireworks there. Those Phoenix-ans are missing out on the best part of the 4th!

Rob took me to an AZ Diamondbacks vs. Chicago Cubs game. My first MLB game and it was a lot of fun. I had no idea everyone sang songs during the 7th inning stretch, complete with organ music! I was hoping we'd get on the "kiss camera" but we never did.

We had to eat hot dogs!

The best part was that we were in an air-conditioned dome for the entire game. The worst part was the drunk guy behind us who was so loud!
We drove up to Sedona to see our friends Nate and Kim on vacation from Hawaii (funny phrase), and to go to slide rock. It was beautiful up there and slide rock was a blast! I want to go again and again. It was entertaining watching everyone slip and fall on the mossy rocks. They don't just fall, they land flat on their backs. Somehow no one breaks anything. We saved $20 a car by hiking down the cliff.

We also got to see some old friends from my student teaching days-Melanie and Joseph. And Rob's APX days-Nate.

We met up with his cousin Brian at the Cheesecake Factory. We had gotten food poisoning at lunch at a Mexican restaurant but didn't know it yet (can you tell how sick I am in the pic?). I could barely eat anything at the Cheesecake Factory and I don't think I can go back for a while. I was puking and you know what-ing all night long. Then Rob was all day long.

We were so sick and tired but it was our last day with his grandparents, so we went to eat with them at their "old folks" restaurant. We were the youngest customers in there.
It was a great vacation, minus the sickness. I couldn't eat Mexican for the rest of the summer.