On Sunday afternoon, my sister Holly picked Arthur and I up in Harrisville and headed to Twin Falls. We had a great time talking and catching up in the car. One crazy thing was as we were driving over the Idaho border, there was a wildfire raging. It looked pretty new, and although it wasn’t too large yet, was spreading with large flames. Crazy! It was actually really close to the highway, but I didn’t get pictures of that part.

When we got to Twin, it was so wonderful to see my mother, and it was especially awesome because my little brother, Matthew, was also visiting. I hadn’t seen him in years, and it was so great to talk and catch up. On both Monday and Tuesday morning, we went on morning workout walks together, which was awesome. One of them we did on the canyon rim, and the other was on my mom’s road down to the corn field, and both times we saw the sunrise.

On Sunday evening I also got to meet my nephew Paul’s wife, Ava, as well as Holly’s grandson. It was really fun to spend some time with them, especially because they actually live in Kentucky, but are just visiting family and staying with her parents in Boise while Paul is deployed.

The thing Arthur was most looking forward to for this trip was to spend time with cousins, especially Westin (who although he isn’t a blood related cousin, has always been an amazing friend to Arthur, ever since his mom, Sharianne married Stuart). With Matthew’s kids in town as well, the cousins were off doing all sorts of things, and so Arthur didn’t get to spend a ton of time with them, but he loved the moments that he had. I wish I had pictures of all the times he played with his cousins, Joseph and Sammy, whether it was playing in the sandbox, going to the city pool, or even going rollerskating. Good times!

On Tuesday, my amazing sister Cheryl, and her husband Scott, came to visit for a few days, which was so awesome!! They are leaving on a mission to Honduras in October, and so it will be the last time I get to spend time with Cheryl before they go. I had so many wonderful moments with Cheryl, but my favorite part was going on morning walks along my mom’s street, talking, getting exercise, and watching the sun rise each morning. I am so blessed to have her as a sister!!

She even spent some time playing games with Arthur, which he loved. Not only that, but she brought food for us to have for dinners, since we couldn’t use my mom’s oven because the AC was out and it would heat up the house too much.

On Wednesday, my mom, Cheryl, Heather, Scott, Arthur, and Joseph all went to the Burley Temple. The boys performed baptisms with Heather watching over them, and the rest of us did inniatories. (This also allowed us to see more of this brand new temple, which we hadn’t been to before, including spending time in the Celestial Room.) It was so wonderful to attend the temple, and I am so grateful I was able to do it with family.

That night, the sisters who were in Twin Falls (we missed Wendy) went out for Chinese food. We had such a great time talking together, and it was so wonderful to have times like this with my mom and sisters.

The next morning, we had a “Sisters Brunch,” with just the four of us, and it was great! Holly hosted and made crepes, and the rest of us brought things to go with them. It was such a fun morning together.

On Friday morning, Holly and I went on a hike along the Snake River. It was really beautiful, even if it was a bit more strenuous than I am used to so close after chemo. Her girlfriend, Mel, came with us, and so I was able to meet her. My favorite thing though, was reminiscing with my sister and being in the gorgeous canyon.

Throughout the week, I also had the blessing of getting together with good friends. My dear friends from high school, Ashleigh and Jill, both happened to be in Twin Falls at points during the week, and they came by to talk and catch up. It was wonderful!! Oh how grateful I am for dear friends, even after 30 plus years. I was also able to spend a few hours with one of my all time favorite teachers, Mary Lu Barry. We talked and talked, and could have talked forever if both of us didn’t have places we had to be. She made such a difference in my life, and I am so grateful that I have kept in touch with her all these years.

(On a quick side note, when Ashleigh was visiting, she could tell that I was not doing well because of how hot my mom’s house was. I don’t think I mentioned yet that, not only was it a crazy heat wave in Twin Falls with temps in the 100’s, but my mother’s 30 year old AC unit died, and so the house was overwhelmingly hot. Add to this that I was only a few days off chemo and so was cooking from the inside out, I was feeling horrible – migraines, no sleep, excessive nausea, etc. Well, Ashleigh offered to go to Costco and pick up the single room AC unit my mom was thinking about getting, and not only did she pick it up, but she and her father installed it in the room I was sleeping in. The rest of the house was still hot, but it made a massive difference and was such a huge blessing!!!)

One of Arthur’s favorite parts of visiting Grandma Lynn, was the chance to play games and watch fun movies with her.

And although they didn’t do it every day, he also loves the chance to read with her, just like he did when he was little.

Arthur and I also got to spend some special time with Kevin’s parents, which is always wonderful. In fact, on Friday night, he had a slumber party there, and then he was able to help Grandpa Dennis with some yard work in the morning before it got too hot outside.

On Saturday morning, it was my last chance to take a morning walk in Idaho, and so since I already had to drive over by Dennis and Valerie’s house to drop off Arthur’s morning meds (which we forgot to send with him), I took advantage of being at the part of the trail on the canyon by their house which goes by the Perrine Bridge. It was as spectacular as usual, even if the river was extra low because of the drought.

On Friday evening, we had the special treat of my cousin Debbie and her daughter Olivia come and visit. They stayed until Saturday afternoon, and I loved getting to catch up, since it had been years since we had seen each other. Not only that, but she is in her own fight with cancer right now, and just had a double mastectomy to get rid of her breast cancer. (Such a blessing that it was successful!!). I am so grateful she came to visit, and I am so blessed to have such amazing family and friends.

Saturday night was our last chance for a movie night with Grandma Lynn, and Arthur picked “To Catch a Thief.” Unfortunately, the crazy schedule, time change, and not sleeping well because of how hot my mom’s house is, finally caught up with him and he fell asleep five minutes into the movie. Oh well. We borrowed the movie to watch when we get back to Texas. (He watched a lot of older movies while we were there, but the one he was most excited about was one he heard referred to on “Sleepless in Seattle” and had been wanting to see – “An Affair to Remember.” My mom was skeptical about what he would think, but he loved it.)

On Sunday, after attending Sacrament meeting with my mom, we came home and finished packing, and then Brent and Marilyn saved the day by picking us up and bringing us back to their house in Utah. (My sister, Holly was originally going to take us, but it fell through.). We had such a lovely and relaxing evening in their home – they really are like family. We especially enjoyed the air conditioning 😉.

The next morning we were up crazy early and they took us to the Salt Lake Airport to fly home. It was a difficult trip out west because of how I was feeling because of my treatment, but I am so glad I made the sacrifice to go. it was worth all the hard.