I was finally able to get my pictures up from our impromptu trip to Alisha's in Idaho. Blogger wasnt' my friend last week, but alas, I tried again and whalaa...it worked! Some how it didn't dawn on me mid-winter break was creeping up quickly and I would have a big, long, week with kids at home and no plans. So, we made plans...big plans to take a trip to St. Anthony, Idaho to visit Alisha and crew. It was me and the 4 little ones (I'm not sure Audrey appreciates being grouped into the "little ones" category, oh well.) It was a long drive (about 12 hours), but we broke it up a bit on the way out stopping near Spokane to spend the night with my sister, Dana. We had a fun girls getaway! In the pic above, little Sydnee (Alisha's youngest) who just turned 2 decided it was easier to carry her boots while getting some shut eye. Natty is wide eyed and bushy tailed and enjoying her stroller ride which she doesn't get to do much more these days. Almost 3 year olds are too big for strollers (says Mom)
Lunch at TGIF! Can you get a smile out of this brood of girls? Silly faces are much more fun!
Audrey and Alisha's niece, Kayla are the same age and haven't seen each other for about 6 years. We enjoyed sharing stories of Kayla as a little girl hanging out at our house in Seattle. They had fun together and even bought the same pair of shoes on their own (calling me and Alisha on their cell phones to try and figure out how much it would cost with tax). Kayla is living with Alisha now and is a great help at home.
The mischevious 2 year olds had such a blast together. Sydnee even lit a fire under Natty to get her to start potty training. THANK YOU SYD! We didn't get a pic of Alisha's new puppy, a cute and sweet hound dog. But it did spur up those yearnings of mine for a Mt. Bernese...check out the next post!
We stopped at the new Rexburg, ID temple on our way back home. It was a cloudy, foggy morning, but the snow and white sky made a nice setting for a beautiful temple. It sort of stands all on it's own on a high hill. We could see it from the highway as we were driving in to St. Anthony. I'm so happy we took the time to see it up close. The girls wanted to go inside, and I told them if they wanted to someday, they could! It was a great trip. We missed seeing Alisha's husband, Zeb who was on the road, and her other daughter, Katie who was at her mom's house. Soon they'll be adding a boy to the mix...Alisha is due in June. I didn't really think I'd be a grandma at such an age, but the girls sort of encouraged "Nana Jolie" while I was there. Hmmm, not sure I'm ready for that yet!
We are so proud of you, Audrey! Love you!
Becky and I did a little driving around to see the aftermath of the flooding in our area. What we saw was pretty amazing. It is incredible how powerful water can be. The house picture above reminded me of a place I went to when I was a little girl. All of you Oregonians will surely remember Enchanted Forest, a small amusement park of sorts near Salem, based on Nursery Rhymes. I think it is still open today, I took my kids there a few years ago. One attraction is based on the rhyme "There was a crooked man" (There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile, he found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse. And they all lived together in a little crooked house.) You get to walk through a little crooked house and it sort of feels like you had just spun around ten times to get that feeling of dizziness.
This is the garage of the little green house. Thank goodness most people evacuated the area before the river crested. No one was hurt. 
The Snoqualmie River has crested and is flowing wherever it can. This is a local RV park and these are the bathrooms! (or were the bathrooms...might need your scuba gear to use them now!)
Hwy 202 from Fall City to Snoqualmie. This is Becky's bus route...maybe she can get there with a canoe today?
...to Grandad and Grammy's in Redmond, OR. It was a quick, last minute trip which cured our cabin fever due to all the snow we had in Seattle. We took the long way around because Snoqalmie pass was closed. We went over Mt. Hood in Oregon and learned that passed also closed a few hours after we crossed. We felt blessed to have found a safe window! Such is life on the passes during the winter...it's a gamble!
We played Bingo, we played Hearts, we played No Peeky, we played the Wii (at Uncle John's and Aunt Sandra's, who live nearby) and played and played even more. We did take a break to head out to the Prineville Reservoir to scout out our camping spot for a summer vacation and almost got blown away, the wind was so strong!
4 bugs snug on the rug
"Over the (Columbia) River (Gorge)". What a view! We stopped to look on our way back home.
We stopped at Washington's version of Stonehenge, The first WWI monument.