It's Official

Although, I have MANY (around 980!) pictures from our vacation with my family, I figured my next post should confirm the rumors! Jed and I have decided to move home September 3rd!!!! It's quite a long story, but there has been much planning with Jed and his parents of going into business together and eventually taking over the family farm at some point, we just weren't sure when the right time would be. All sorts of doors have opened and shut out here for Jed, which all seemed to point us in the direction of NY sooner rather than later. October seemed like the right time for Jed's parents, but since we had all the weddings between October and September, it made sense to move home before all of them and save money on plane tickets. Our heads are still spinning, but it is exciting! However, both of us are truly going to miss all of the people out here and I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I will definitely miss the state of Idaho. (Trust me, no one is more shocked than I am). Somewhere along the way, I started setting down some roots here and got a tad attached. Snuck up on me! And as most of you know, change is not my strong suit! But we are trying to keep moving forward and being much closer to family and friends will make the transition much easier! See you all soon!

Boys and Their Toys

To be continued....

July 4th, 2009

Having no family out here around holidays generally means no plans. So, on the 4th, we decided to take another road trip to the southwestern portion of Idaho. It was quite the trip.....Jackpot, NV (a town of casinos ONLY) out to some of the most remote parts of Idaho.



We drove to Jackpot, NV to try to find somewhere to eat. Unfortunately, in NV, the only places to eat are also casinos. So we grabbed a quick bite and got back on the road. George Jones anyone?



It was the first casino I've been in. Lots of bright lights....and smoke.....*cough*



This is the Salmon Dam, I believe. We were back in Idaho here.



Izzy loves traveling with us!



I don't remember what lake this was, but Izzy wanted to get in!



Then we drove down in the canyon to these rivers.



Izzy Marie and Jed by one of those rivers.



Down in the canyon







Comforting....



So pretty



We searched and searched for "Murphy Hot Springs." It turned out being the name of the town down in the canyon, but we were told they did have a hot spring, it just wasn't maintained. We finally found it and what a disappointment! This was just a hot pool of water filled with algae. Ew!



The view on the way back out of the canyon. That's Elk Mountain in the background.







We seriously were a long way from anywhere. I've never drove so far into nothingness!



Izz being a good girl....for a second. Then she went back to bugging her buddy, Anthony.



Salmon Reservoir



Another canyon....Idaho has a lot of canyons!



Jed looking at the reservoir....a tad close to the edge, I might add!



So, of course, he likes to torture me and get even closer! Ugh!



Our little family



Then we made it back for the fireworks show in Twin Falls



Happy 4th of July!

Grilling in Style

As I previously mentioned, Ma and Pa B. got both Jed and myself a grill for our birthdays. And once you see what we were grilling on, I'm sure you'll know why we are so thrilled.






We picked the grill up from our local Lowe's and Jed decided to assemble it himself.







Raja helping her Dad....or at least keeping him company! :)



Looks complicated



Getting closer.....



This look is saying, "I wish I had just paid the ten dollars for them to assemble this thing." :)




Our little Coleman grill we were using. It's terribly dirty!



It's not pretty, but it did the job.




Tada! Assembled....(this was the next day). Then we, of course, wanted to use it, so we took our new propane tank to get it filled and it needed to be purged first, but the kid didn't know how to do it so we couldn't use it. :(



On July 4th, we found a place that actually knew what they were doing and got our tank filled and used our new grill for the first time!



The first things to be grilled.....brats! Yum! Cooked perfectly with no flare ups! Infrared is way cool!!! :)



Jed is a happy boy when he's grilling....especially on this grill!!! :) So much better than our Coleman!


Thanks again Mom and Dad!

Guess who turned 25?!

Jed Daniel did.....on June 26th. Yay for insurance discounts! :)






The peanut butter chip brownies I made and took to him at work. It says 'Happy B-day' in peanut butter chips....in case you didn't figure that one out.



All the presents



Birthday dinner! Chicken spiedies, shrimp cocktail, and stawberry banana jello!



Jed and his birthday balloons. I put a balloon out on the mailbox during the day, hoping he would drive by the house and see it. Unfortunately, we got a dust storm that afternoon and it blew away before he saw it. :(



Time to open presents! He's thrilled about his shorts and new dress pants! :)



And slippers! (Izzy chewed his last ones up, ugh)



Hmmm....what could be in this little, perfectly wrapped box????



A new watch! :) (to replace the other one I bought him that he lost, ugh)




This is actually a birthday present for both Jed and myself from Ma and Pa B. It's a new grill!!!! (pictures to come!) I wrapped up a picture of the grill with a picture of Jed and I next to it, haha!



The birthday card from Raja...hahahaha! This is such a Raja face.



The birthday card from the other kitties (in NY!) was too perfect. In case you can't read it, it says "Look deep into my eyes and repeat after me, "The dog must go...the dog must go." Hahaha!



Trying to light 25 candles without burning down the house or my fingers.



Jed smiling!!! :)



This was called "Simply Sensational Strawberry Shortcake"....and it was sensational! (if I do say so myself!)




Yum yum!


Happy Birthday Jed Daniel! I love you!