When we moved away from Idaho last year, we really thought it would be a couple years until we came back for a visit, but with my Dad’s health how it is, we decided that it would be a priority the next few years to get out to Twin to visit and help out.  And so when we finally got to Idaho, it was a blessing and relief.  (And I found it pretty fitting that you can barely read the sign through our bug spattered windshield – ha ha!  Typical of Idaho in the summer.)

My parents were so happy to see us, and we were so happy to see them.  You would think that after having us live with them in their little house for a year, they would have been happy to be rid of us, but that wasn’t the case.  We have all missed each other very much.

And I have missed getting to spend so much time with my mama.  She is one of my very best friends.

We were also so very happy to see Kevin’s parents.  We stayed with them for our week in Twin Falls, and it was really wonderful. I loved looking up at the temple when we were in their backyard, and the kids loved getting down to business, playing with all their favorite toys.

One of our very favorite pastimes, is sitting in their back yard, talking with Kevin’s parents, and just being together.

And Arthur was so excited to have all the special attention from Grandma Valerie, and may have discovered a new favorite book :).  She is always happy to read to him.

Time with their grandparents also meant lots of fun playing games together, whether it was Grandma Valerie or Grandma Lynn, they had so much fun :).

Being in Twin Falls, also meant lots of golf for Kevin and his dad.  They were able to get out three times, playing at Highway 93, Jerome, and Kevin’s home course of Canyon Springs.  They were able to get out with some old friends as well, which made it even more fun.

The kids had the best time playing with the pipeworks or the other great things at Grandma’s.  Arthur especially loved the kinetic sand, especially since the pipeworks were a bit hard for him to use.

They also loved playing in the little Harry Potter room under the stairs.  Fun times!

And of course, there is always the traditional car washing with Grandpa Dennis.  Arthur was a good helper, and loved getting very wet.

Every day, we spent time both with my parents and Kevin’s parents, which was wonderful.  One evening, I came over after the kids were settled, and talked to my parents in their front yard while I weeded their flower garden.  Another day, I came over and grilled steaks and made dinner, and we all played and spent time together.  It was great :).

I also tried to do lots of helpful projects for my parents, including cleaning their vacuum cleaner.  As I was cleaning, I discovered a clog, which may have been caused by one of the toys my kids had in their house.  Oops.  Hope it hasn’t been in there the whole year ;).

While in Twin, we also made sure to get yummy food from some of our favorite places.  I had been dreaming of the cookies from Sips ever since we moved away.

My favorite place in Twin Falls, though, is the temple.  One morning, Kevin and I went with my parents to do a sealing session, which was truly wonderful.  And the morning that we left, Lily was able to go and do baptisms with one of her cousins.  It was such a special thing.  And truly, I loved sitting in the back yard and just looking at the temple – with the sunlight on it, the sunset reflecting on it, and as night fell and it lit up like a beacon.  So amazing!

Something that has been on Lily’s bucket list for the longest time, was having a lemonade stand at Grandma’s house.  They even have the pipeworks that make the perfect stand.  And so we picked the day – Saturday, since there would be the most traffic near the temple that day – and the kids built the stand, made an adorable sign, and then made the lemonade.  And they priced it to sell at $0.25 a cup.  Soon, they were set up for business and ready to go.

Not sure how many customers they would get, I started the ball rolling by putting it out there on social media and by texting my family.  Their first customers just happened to be some people driving by, but we got some special visitors as well.  Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Roy came by, and Lily’s old friend, Janie, came too.  It was so much fun, and they even made some good money :).

There were other little adventures during our time in Twin as well.  Arthur even got to help Grandpa Dennis mops and hose off his tent.  Pretty cool!

He also got to spend some quality time with Grandpa Roy.  truly, he was in heaven being back with his grandparents again.  And we made sure to spend time with both sets of grandparents each day.

On Sunday morning, Grandpa Dennis made pancakes for us all for breakfast, and Arthur was so excited about his Mickey Mouse pancake – so fun!

Before church, I took the opportunity to take pictures of the kids with Kevin’s parents.  And living where they live, why not get one in front of the Twin Falls Temple?

I love that they are having these opportunities to strengthen bonds and make memories with their grandparents.  After getting to spend very little time with my grandparents when I was young, and having all of them be gone by the time I was in my teens, I feel even more strongly about building these relationships.

At church, Lily was especially excited to get to see all of her friends and old leaders.  When she was hugging Sister Taylor, it almost made me cry in gratitude for the amazing people that were put in our lives during the year we lived in Twin.

Monday was project day.  Kevin and I, along with the kids, headed to my parents’ house to get some work done.  Kevin went to work on the yard – clearing out the huge garden area, which had been full of weeds three feet high.

And I went to work on defrosting the freezer for my mom.  We finished the freezer so quickly, that we immediately went to work on her garage.  We took down every tote that was up high, and by the time we were done, five hours later, we had taken one trip to Deseret Industries with donations, had two large garbage cans and 4 giant bags of trash, and had emptied ten large storage containers.  Wow!!!  (Next year, we can go through the Christmas boxes.)

We also were able to have Lily and Derek help Kevin’s parents with a few things, like cleaning baseboards and cleaning out window wells.  When we weren’t busy with one activity or another, the kids were playing with the toys in Grandma Valerie’s basement.  Arthur was especially taken with the sensory pin thingy, and was pretty funny with the action figures.

On Monday evening, we decided to have an early Fourth of July celebration.  We started things off with roasting marshmallows and eating yummy s’mores.  Arthur managed to get his entire body coated in melted marshmallows.  Oh well.

After the s’mores, it was time to play with fireworks.  We started things off with the poppers.  I think we could have only done those, and the kids would have been happy.  And Arthur was gifted at finding ones that hadn’t popped, and getting them to do it. After the poppers, we lit off our larger fireworks, and everybody had a great time.  We didn’t have anything super fancy, but it didn’t matter – we had a blast!

On the actual Fourth of July, we headed out to Buhl to watch the parade.  Dressed in red, white, and blue, and with American flags in hand, we were ready for the fun.

Things started off with some flyovers by some small prop planes, which was really cool.

And then the real parade began!

The kids loved it, in spite of the heat.  I think it helped that people kept throwing candy at us, and we kept letting them eat it ;).  They also loved seeing all the floats and horses.  My favorite part was the fancy tractors.

The rest of the day, we took it easy, cleaned up, and started packing for our drive home the next morning.  Derek finished off Hogwarts Castle, which he had been building with legos throughout the week.  Pretty cool.

I did spend a little of the afternoon with my parents and sisters, but we had lots of work to do to get ready for our drive home – prepping food and packing, packing, packing.   And Arthur had to finish thing off the way our week started, with reading “A Fly Went By” with Grandma Valerie.  It was the perfect way to bookend a wonderful week in Idaho.

We felt so blessed to get to spend this time with our parents, and it was worth every hour in the car to get there and back.