Adios Elder Morris!

Although we had a blast in Boise, one of the biggest and most important reasons we squeezed our vacation in was to spend time with my younger brother Taylor, who was leaving on his mission to the Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo East, Spanish speaking). Let me just say that if you haven't gotten a sense of Taylor yet from my previous blog postings, he has a HILARIOUS sense of humor, is very smart and quick-witted, he is handsome, kind, and great with my kids. We LOVE Elder Morris!

July 24th was his talk in church, which he did a GREAT job on. He was confident, funny, and bore a really strong testimony. He will be such a fantastic missionary! After church we had some family and friends over for dinner which featured some pork tacos and rice and beans in honor of the DR, and naturally Whitney was coerced into playing the piano and singing for everyone.


BFFs! Lucy and Ellie enjoyed dancing to Whitney's music-- increasing the entertainment value ten fold.

After everyone left my Dad made a little campfire in the back yard so we could roast mallows and tell Taylor stories one last time.

And as a final celebration in honor of Taylor we lit some crazy fireworks from the 1950's my Dad found hidden in the ol' family cabin this summer. They still worked! (Fireworks not pictured; just the crazy people who danced along to a hummed rendition of "Stars and Stripes Forever")
Tuesday afternoon we headed down to Provo and stayed at Whitney's apartment. The next morning Taylor and my mom shopped for some last odds and ends, and then it was time to drop the new missionary off at the MTC. It was a mad house! There were TONS of new missionaries coming this week, which sure made you feel good about the future of the church when you saw all those faithful young men taking two years off from the world at the prime of their lives!

The baby has officially flown the coop!

Good bye Zachary's idol!! He will be Lucy's age by the time Taylor gets back, which is a little crazy to think about-- but I'm so grateful they have SUCH a wonderful example for an uncle!! Adios Elder Morris!!

A Little R&R in Boise

I decided I deserved a summer vacation between Jon's nonstop residency and the chaos of moving across the country (part 2) in August, so after the 4th of July the kids and I headed up to Boise. I figured with all the hard work ahead of him during this last big push to finish, he didn't need us around anyway.:)


We made it up to Boise on Tuesday evening with Whitney as co-pilot, and spent Thursday at the Boise Zoo, which surprisingly is really great. It's just the right size for little kids, and has a fun variety of animals--giraffes, zebras, penguins, bears, etc.


They even had a special exhibit of exotic butterflies that you could go walk amongst. They LOVED my mom's pink shirt and kept landing all over her-- I think we counted 5 at one time.

Lucy reeeally wanted a butterfly to land on her, and finally she got her wish. This little guy (dubbed "Spotty") hung around for awhile and made Lucy's day.

Zachary liked the "bugs" but liked the carousel even better. This was his first time at a zoo (at least that he can remember, he was just a baby in Philly)-- so he was super excited about all the animals.

After the zoo we headed over to the "Boise Fry Company" for lunch which was featured on the Food Network show "Diner's, Driv-In's, and Dives" for its crazy and unique french fries and dipping sauces.

They have every kind of potato you can imagine-- Russet, Yukon Gold, Purple, Sweet, etc., AND they had duck fat fries which I'd been dying to try!! Then they also had sauces to match-- Curried Pear, Blueberry Ketchup, Southwest Chipotle, etc. It was fun to mix and match different combinations.

Their motto is that burgers are "On the Side" and fries are the entree, and I'd have to agree. The burger was just okay. They should work on that and they'd really have a foodie hot spot!

Whenever we visit Boise we make sure to visit my grandparents out in Meridian (about 20 min. away) and Lucy loves to go see all my Grandma's pretty things. This time she let Lucy pick some jewelry!

Enjoying some local Mexican food. Yum!

Ready for church with Bishop TomTom!

Lucy is obsessed with the "Pinkalicious" book (which Whitney has and we don't), so Auntie Whitney decided to make some pinkalicious cupcakes for Lucy to try.

Mmmmm, Zachary liked the pinkalicious cupcakes too!


The number one thing to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house? SWIM. Lucy literally swam for 4 hours a day-- you should see the tan lines. She became a little fish and went from only swimming with a life jacket, to swimming completely ALONE in the shallow end and with floaties in the deep end. She would jump in by herself, go down the slide by herself, and swim across the width of the pool holding her breath. Amazing. Zach LOVED the water too, and just bobbed around the pool in his little suit. Best past time ever!

No comment. Still don't know how he ended up naked and eating lunch outside?

Friday my Dad wanted to take the Lil' Naughties camping, so we settled on Grand Jean campground up by Stanley, ID (about 2 1/2 hours from Boise), where the Sawtooth Mountains dominate. The scenery was breathtaking!


It'd been a cold, wet winter and spring so everywhere was lush and green. Idaho is so pretty, but especially so when you've been livin' in a brown desert for a year.

"Helping" (or hindering, depending on how you look at it) Tom-Tom set up the tent. Despite the recent barf debacle my Dad was still game to take them, so I relented since we usually have better luck with the Camping Gods when he's around anyway (he's practically one of them).

Because the river was still so high this summer the main hotsprings were covered, but my dad (being the illustrious mountain man that he is), found this secret, secluded hotspring off the beaten path. Could you ask for a better back drop?


Lucy and Zach definitely enjoyed a nice long soak in the warm water (they were already covered head to toe in dirt).

Our yummy dutch oven dinner of BBQ chicken and aus gratin potatoes. Then we got ready for the campfire and the roasting of S'mores!

That evening my cousin Missy and her kids came up to camp with us, and Lucy quickly made friends with Ellie, who is 5. They were two peas in a pod the rest of the time we camped and Lucy begged to hang out with Ellie every day.

Bright and early we woke up the next morning to a Mountain Man breakfast that even Zachary couldn't refuse!

After camping we rushed home Saturday to get ready to host an 85th birthday party for my Grandma and Grandpa Charlie. I have the most wonderful grandparents (in fact, Lucy is named after my Grandma) so it was fun to be around for a celebration in honor of the them.

All the Morris great grandkids (minus 2 or 3) in the hot tub!!


Sarah P came up to Boise (from Boulder City, NV) with her kids Friday night, so seeing cousin Eva and baby Sophie was a fun surprise for Lucy and Zach.

Zach and Mom at the pool party!


Whitney decided we needed to have a birthday party in honor of the all the birthdays we miss by living so far away from each other. She planned a super cute birthday party celebrating EVERYONE, and the kids totally dug it.

We played tag, balloon popping races, Twister, Ring Around the Rosies and Whitney even had prizes for everyone. Then she busted out a pinata.

Watching the kids trying to break open the pinata was not only hilarious but also slightly dangerous-- but hey, who doesn't love a pinata?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to EVERYONE!! Whitney is the cutest. Auntie. EVER.

Thursday night we decided the girls were definitely in need of a much deserved GNO (Girl's Night Out), so we left all 4 kids with Grandpa, Taylor and Devin so we could head out for dinner. We ate at Bardine-- a little restaurant in the historic Basque part of downtown Boise.

Kobe Beef Steak Sandwich w/ Rosemary Ausjus and Sweet Potato Fries! Um...YUM.

My mom got a Bruschetta salad with homemade croutons which was awesome too. It was great to relax and eat in peace and enjoy the great weather.

After dinner we headed to Murphy's restaurant for their famous mud pie (this is just one slice) which was HUGE and enough to share with all four of us. Delish!

In fairness the next night we let the guys off for a Boy's Night at the Boise Hawk's baseball game. We decided to walk over to Delsa's for some homemade ice cream, which the kiddos thought was a great idea.

All three cousins crammed into the bike trailer ready for a ride home!

Saturday morning we headed over to a local park to watch the guys play soccer (Taylor's all-time fav) and then spent the rest of the day getting ready for Taylor's farewell party that night and his talk on Sunday.