Sun Valley

All of my family took a long weekend to spend together in Sun Valley, Idaho. The weather was absolutely gorgeous--mid 80's, no humidity. Sun Valley is a beautiful area and we appreciate more and more the grandeur of "real" mountains. In Virginina, they mistakenly call anything resembling a small hill a mountain! I loved spending time with my parents, sisters and their families. I was struck with the thought more than once that my sisters had both married very well. Andy and Adam are the perfect husbands for Steph and Heidi--they are patient spouses and attentive fathers. I'm glad they joined our fam!

Here are some of the highlights of our time in Sun Valley:

Heidi organized a "Minute-to-Win-It" game night. We laughed and laughed and found most of the challenges beyond our reach.

By far, the most entertaining game was one where you attach a banana to some yarn that then hangs in between your legs and attempt to "swing" the banana forward so that it hits an orange and rolls the orange across the finish line before your competitors. When Heidi told my mom the game was called "How's It Hangin'", she said, "Oh...my!" I thought we would never stop laughing!

Adam challenged the brothers-in-law, Dan and Andy, to a round of "How's It Hangin'". I'm not sure who came up victorious, but I know we have a lot of black-mail footage from it!

Do you recognize any of these imposters? The horse-back riding outfit in Galena came complete with cowboy boots, chaps and hats for all.

                                                    The Wagstaffs are lookin' good.

                                     The Kotter clan tries to leave their big-city life in the dust!

We took about an hour-long ride through a nice mountain trail. Serene. Peaceful. Back to nature.

                      Sydney was a natural for her first time on a horse! The horse's name was Happy.

                                               

We rode the gondola up Bald Mountain where we enjoyed an impressive view of the whole valley.

                                                  Yes. It was WINDY on top!

 Saturday morning Heidi, mom and I took the little kids to a sprinkler park while the adventurous folks went white water rafting.

                             Steph's crew: Drew (10), Tasha (13), Katya (16), Steph and Andy

                     Heidi's fam-dam:Heidi+ 1 on the way, Adam, Bronson (2), Campbell (4)

                         My bunch: Logan (10), Sydney (7), me, Dan, Ethan (4), Mikelle (13)

                                                Mom and Dad with all of their grandkids.

We had a family church service on Sunday morning with the permission of Bishop Wagstaff. I thought it was wonderful to share our faith and testimonies with each other. I hope my kids and their cousins can feel the strength that comes from a family unit, all striving together to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

                            On the way home, we drove through Twin Falls, ID and saw the temple.

We also stopped at Shoshone Falls. It was more impressive than I thought it would be. The vertical drop was reportedly higher than Niagara. Can that be true?