Fall Wrap-Up

In September, our friends Jenny and Steve just moved back from Hawaii and got to visit Idaho for a few days. It was great seeing them!

Rob was working in Colorado for the past 2 months and I got to spend a weekend with him in Denver. We went to Casa Bonita (for the environment, not the food) with his friend Johnathan. We ate at Macaroni Grill and Kelly's Cajun Grill, bought our Halloween costumes, and we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We got to see Rob's friends and people he went to church with when he lived there.

With Johnathan

It was a really fun weekend. I hadn't been to Denver in the fall before and it was gorgeous; colorful trees everywhere and the weather was nice. I didn't take any pictures though!

We decided to be Jessie and Woody for Halloween. It's always a lot of fun on Halloween when you're in the schools. The kids are so excited.

My pumpkin is on the left, Rob's the right

We also took our new pet/class pet to school that day. He's an African pygmy hedgehog named Pike. He's almost 8 months old. We've had him for about 2 months. The kids think he's the coolest class pet, so do I. He's really easy to take care of because he doesn't chew things, doesn't need much attention, he's quiet, and he sleeps all day. He is so cute!!

Class, settle down

While he's been out of town, Rob's been spoiling me by sending flowers to my school, so in the middle of the day I get a beautiful surprise.

This was to remind me of the fall colors in Denver-I love Gerber daisies and lilies

And this was just for fun

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!