Labor Day Weekend

We went camping with friends up in Riggins, ID for Labor Day and we had an ABSOLUTE BLAST! Good weather, good friends, good food, and INCREDIBLE s'mores! Lara bought some seriously huge marshmallows and we had fun roasting them over the fire. Here's Matt after he took a bite:
And me mid-bite. I felt like a little kid again because I couldn't help getting it all over my fingers and face.
Gavin and Anna around the fire, getting lunch ready.

Gavin decided he wanted to swim across the river and climb the mountain. He's so adventurous!

You can barely see him across the water, but he's there.

It was such a fun trip. We've really missed our friends Matt and Lara since we left DC, so it was nice to meet up again. It was fun to see the Kirkham's too.

We had a really nice campsite neighbor who let us each take a ride on his 4-wheeler, and they showed us how to pan for gold and let us use their equipment. It was hard work, but we did get a couple of flakes of gold--real gold--right there in the river! It was fun to learn. I had one whole speck of gold in my pan and I was pretty proud of myself.

Well, we're back in Idaho again. It was such a wonderful summer and I definitely miss the east coast, but I'm glad to be around family again. It's good to be back.

Gavin and I have had lots of fun the past few weeks. Now that we have STUFF again (we lived in an unfurnished apartment all summer to cut costs and simplify) we have taken a couple fun camping trips. The first one was up around Idaho City. It was gorgeous. We camped by the river and enjoyed exploring and looking for wildlife. The fish really liked Gavin and kept biting at his legs. There is a video at the bottom. Even though I loved and miss the lush greenery of Virginia, Idaho is beautiful too...even if Boise is a desert. :) Here are some pictures from our little trip.

Gavin was adding to a little dam someone had built.

Despite all the rocks and twigs and stickers, Gavin is still barefoot. But that's a given if you know him. :)

Gavin is the best person to go adventuring with! I get excited over every little thing I see and he just laughs and gets excited with me. I'm so grateful to live in such a beautiful world with so much to see and discover, and to have such an incredible person by my side to discover it with.

It's hot outside! But I LOVE IT! Bring on the 90 degrees and humidity baby! Gavin, on the other hand, is not such a fan. Here's some funny pictures of him trying to stay cool.

Outside the Washington DC Temple--it was very bright!

Popsicles and cold water bottles. I love summer!

WASHINGTON NATIONALS GAME, 8 ROWS FROM ALL THE ACTION!

Matt got free tickets so he and Lara took us along! They have been the best tour guides and friends we could have asked for! Thanks so much Matt and Lara!

The excited group! The boys could hardly contain their excitement. Gavin about cheered himself hoarse just for the little boy who threw the opening pitch. :)


Me and Lara!

Washington DC has been AMAZING! There are so many things to see, so much history to learn and be reminded of, and so much fun to be had. I have not been the best at taking pictures...but here are a few showing things we've seen.

Korean War Memorial. It was beautiful, a wonderful tribute to those who served. We had a great guide who gave us a 20 minute lesson on the events surrounding the war, some points of the war itself, and how the memorial reflects those things. For example, there are 19 soldiers representing the branches of the military (some for the Navy, AirForce, etc). On the wall there are pictures etched in the outline of a mountain range and you see the reflection of those soldiers on the mountains. With the reflection, there are another 19 soldiers, 38 total, symbolic of the 38th parallel. My Grandfather served in the Korean War so this meant a lot to me.

Gavin squinting in the sun outside the Capitol Building. We have since wisened up and wear sunglasses.

Outside the Washington DC Temple.

Finals are over! Gavin and I are headed to Washington D.C. in 1 week! We are looking forward to fun adventures, new opportunities, and a great externship experience for Gavin. I'm especially excited because my parents are buying my little brother plane tickets to D.C. as a graduation gift and we are going to have a blast seeing as many sights as we can pack in to a week.

This weekend Gavin and I took a quick camping trip to Elk River. We found a great little campsite, had a fire and s'mores, and enjoyed using our tent we got for Christmas. It was a beautiful place and it was so nice to get out of town for a little bit and enjoy nature! We hiked to Elk River Falls, saw some deer, snails, weasels, possibly a chukar?, and some rednecks. :) Being married is so much fun--it's so great having someone with me who's up for any adventure at any time.


A scripture that we read earlier this week has been on my mind every day and especially this weekend:


Alma 30:44

But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

Our tent! We love it and kept finding awesome things to say about it clear down to the convenient piece of velcro on the rainfly...yes...we were very excited about our tent! :)

Gavin making breakfast. Sausage, egg, and potatoes. It was delicious! We were also very excited about the new camp stove we got last summer and just now had the chance to break it in.

Family...you all should understand the great significance of this picture. :) Cool snail huh?!

Craziest mushrooms I've ever seen with my own eyes.


Elk river reservoir. It was beautiful!

April came and went so fast, it's hard to believe it is already May! April was full of fun--we enjoyed a visit from Gavin's parents: John and Mary Lou where we had fun with a little bbq out in the wind (there was a little bit of sunshine!) and a hike around Kamiak Butte, took a quick trip to the driving range, and enjoyed listening to hand bell concert put on by one of the local Methodist congregations here. It was a quick trip but we were glad they came to see us!

Gavin celebrated his 27th birthday on April 29th. Thanks to our friends Jenny and Melissa he had a fun little pizza party to celebrate. Gavin's parents bought him a guitar case and guitar tuner and I bought him a Japanese book ,"The Narrow Road to Oku."

We have weeds taking over the outside "yard" area in the front of our apartment. I decided to utilize some sunshine we had last weekend and start cleaning it up!

I found all sorts of fun things amidst the grass and weeds: 3 foreign coins, all from different countries, and a snake! Gavin caught it:I didn't want to get too close. :)