an Idaho summer.

We spent a few weeks this summer living the Idaho life. Chris had the not-so-fun task of completing his dissertation revisions, finishing the house and packing up the truck (with the wonderful help of his parents), and driving across the country by himself. We left Michigan a few weeks early to get out of his hair and partied hardy at Mimi and Grandpa's house.

In Idaho we jumped on the trampoline a lot. Cousin Shay came to party two weekends in a row and the sprinkler under the trampoline was a hit. We went to soon-to-be aunt Sierra's bridal shower. We met beautiful new baby cousin Nora. We stared at the mountains. Upon our initial landing into Salt Lake City, my kids were amazing my the mountains. J and Q kept pointing and saying "woah, dirt!" and Carly kept saying for several days, "The mountains are soooo pretty!" We went to parks, had a pool day with Mimi, ate too much, and slept not enough. It was everything an Idaho vacation should be. During that time we also closed on our house, a 4 state transaction with the sellers in Texas, Chris in Michigan, me in Idaho, and the house/title company in Washington. It was a party.

It was so wonderful to be with my family. Living in Michigan meant missing a lot. Holidays and weekend visits and weddings and more. It was so sweet to be all together.

The main event was my baby brother's wedding. The day before the wedding we were all home, so we headed up to Scout Mountain for a day of hiking, hot dogs, and roasted marshmallows.

Saturday morning we were up early to get all fancy for the big day. It was a beautiful, though very hot, day. My shoes were making me want to cry before we even got to the sealing, but considering the bride had knee surgery weeks before her wedding, I decided to tough it out. The nieces and nephew looked adorable, and the bride and groom were glowing. I love weddings and temples and girls in white dresses and boys in bow ties and suspenders and yummy food. 

So really it was a perfect day.

John was obviously OVER it at this point and really wanted lunch.

I just love this picture. Such a handsome brother and his beautiful bride.

 The reception was a beautiful and fun party with lots of delicious food, music, and dancing. Sierra is Hawaiian and Samoan, so the reception was full of culture. Island culture is so beautiful, and now our white family can claim it as our own (right?). Brady embraced his newfound culture by making his mostly-white groomsmen (including Chris) do the haka. They were reasonably impressive until a group of 10 years old and under Polynesian boys showed them how to REALLY do the haka. But we danced and ate the night away and then dragged our exhausted selves home. Quinn was literally asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. It was a beautiful day.

Luckily, the partying and pretty girls in white dresses didn't stop there. The next morning, at 8:30 am church, my brother gave sweet baby Nora her blessing. Nora is painfully cute. You just want to eat her with a spoon. We loved getting to snuggle on her and be there for her special day. (The newlyweds didn't show up, but whatevs.)

It was a fun few weeks that went by too fast. We had a hard time without our daddy, and it was so sweet when he pulled up after his three day drive and we were reunited. But we loved being at Mimi and Grandpa's house. There's nothing quite like it.

Also, my parents have the cutest grandchildren ever.