Idaho with the Parson Family

Being in Idaho is a little different now that my parents aren't there - I almost feel like I should claim Utah as home now that my parents and all but one sibling live there. (And the fact that we lived there for 4 years before coming back east.) But when we finally got to Idaho it did feel like home. I just LOVE Idaho!

 We stayed the night with Franci and girls (three nights actually). This is Aubree and baby Lucy.

 Ellie and Suzie

 BYU-I

 BYU-I greenhouse that Aaron helped build when he was a student

 Aaron with a former classmate, Mary, who now works on campus

 Mill Hollow Frozen yogurt. A pretty regular place to visit while I was in college. Aaron and I went on our second date here (I think).

 Ponyback riding with the cousins. Thanks to Aunt Anna! (Don't you love Sarah's riding boots and helmet?)

Saying goodbye to my home. It was a little weird to be there and not be able to go inside. 

While in Idaho we went up to Kelly's Canyon to the location of our first date. It was SOOOO beautiful! It smelled like camping (minus the campfire) - tree sap, wild flowers, dirt, rain. This was our first time being back since we got engaged.

 This is "the tree". Aaron's initials were already carved in the tree and I added mine when we were engaged. (Our initials are the 3rd ones down.) I think I'll share the story of "the tree" in another post.

 It had already started to rain when I took this picture so you can't see the view behind the girls. But you just have to see it in person to really see the full beauty of it. GORGEOUS!!!

We had a family dinner the Sunday we were in Idaho.

 Heidi (friend), Carly, Kaylie (cousin)

Curt and Shawna and their family came to the dinner as well (they're like family). It was so good to see them.

We surprised Aaron with an Avenger's ice cream cake since he would be home alone on his actual birthday.

We went to West Yellowstone on Monday. West Yellowstone reminds me of going to Burlinton, WY as a kid. We went to the candy shop and Christmas shop. 

Daddies and Girlies

 We spent the night in Island Park at the South Sawmill Lodge and Reunion Center. Built and owned by our brother-in-law, Josh, and his family. This place is so awesome and HUGE! (You can look at more pictures of it and see more info about it here: http://www.southsawmill.com)

 We went canoeing the next day. As we floated there on the beautifully calm water all of my senses were stimulated! The mountains were muted but majestic in the distance, the tall grass along with the colorful wildflowers clung to the banks, and at one point a baby moose stood grazing by the side of the river. The evergreens stood tall, giving off their sappy fragrance against a backdrop of fresh mountain air. All the while birds serenaded with the sound of rippling water as accompaniment. My heart was overflowing – this must be what Heaven is like! Being there was chicken soup for my soul.  I just love Idaho and being in its beautiful wilderness.

 We took turns jumping into the paralyzingly freezing cold water.

 And we saw Wolverine while we were there too ... oh wait, that's Aaron's little brother, Troy. ;)

We headed back to Utah right after this canoeing trip to get Aaron to the airport. Once he got back to CT he was pretty homesick without us and we missed him the last week we were in Utah. But, I guess it's a good sign when you miss someone so much!

The Westerly, Rhode Island Branch

Back in March it was announced that we would be splitting and rearranging some wards in our stake. Part of the rearranging included a brand new branch in Westerly, RI which our family would be a part of. We didn't get approval on a building to meet in, so a few weeks later we found ourselves in the beautiful water-front home of our branch president, and it has been our branch meetinghouse ever since.

The first Sunday was awesome! There were only about 50 of us, and here we are meeting in a home! I think we all assumed that it would be very different - even a little weird. But the Spirit there was so strong and sweet - very familiar.

And here we are on that first Sunday! I think we're probably the first congregation with a dog in attendance - ha ha! (She's a very well behaved dog)

There are usually about 45-50 in sacrament meeting - 18 kids in the primary and 4 youth. With so few of us, we definitely do our fair share of teaching and speaking. Aaron is in the branch presidency and I'm in the Relief Society presidency.

The wooded drive to church and the view of the water (this isn't unique here in New England though)

The view from sacrament meeting (usually there are more sailboats out)

Our church "parking lot" and the Parker's Rolls-Royce.

Since being in this branch we feel even more strongly that the Lord had a hand in bringing us here. The Westerly Branch has been on the horizon for a long time, they just needed more people to get it started.

A Very New England Weekend

We had such a fabulous weekend as a family! And I realized last night that everything we did this weekend were things that we only could have done here in New England. It's pretty great to live here!

Friday evening - Misquamicut Beach with the Jensens, Kitleys, Garretts, and Sister Missionaries (in this mission the missionaries are allowed to go to the beach when invited by members - just no swimming). The kids and adults alike had a great time! (Sadly, no pictures.)

Saturday - We went to Newport, RI for the first time to see the Breakers Mansion. It was Cornelius Vanderbuilt's extravagant (extravagant is actually an understatement) summer home. It was such an interesting tour. I would call this home the epitome of "conspicuous consumption" and "the gilded age". We wish we could have spent more time in Newport - a very beautiful and very New England town.

You can't tell how huge this gate is without someone standing by it - it is 20 feet high!

The Breakers Mansion is 65,000 square feet! 70 rooms.

This is the "play house", built for the two Vanderbuilt daughters. It is just as beautiful inside (not quite as lavish) and everything in it is an exact 2/3 scale of the big house. 

Look at their backyard - what a view!

Saturday night - Westerly Chorus Summer Pops at Wilcox Park. They had the Newport Orchestra/Symphony (I don't know the difference) accompany them. And they begin and end with the Newport artillery firing off their cannons. The music was wonderful and the weather was perfect. The last number of the program was the Star Spangled Banner - the whole audience (about 23,000!) stood with hands over hearts to sing with the choir while fireworks lit up the sky. Any time I sing that song, whether at church or in an audience like this, I feel so deeply grateful and proud of our American heritage - I had chills up and down my whole body as I sang!

Sunday - Church in our little branch at the President's home on the ocean.

Phone Photo Updates

Our camera is lost (as well as my gym shoes and sweats and two shirts of the girls' - I think they've all disappeared to the same place, but I don't know where that is). So, I've been using my phone to take pictures. Here's our life lately - in low definition (maybe I should make all the pictures square to look like instagram photos and then it will actually be cool instead of low-quality).

 Aubree's legs are finally long enough to reach the pedals on her trike and bike. Maybe the training wheels will come off her bike this summer. Aubree is usually found with a backpack or purse of some kind. She fills it up with bows, coloring supplies, books, and a spare pair of panties.

 Carly (below) and Ellie (above) had their spring concert for school.

 Almost every time we go to the Boston Temple we go to this park a couple miles away. Last time we spent about 5 hours at the park! We've only actually been in the town of Boston once or twice (the temple is in Belmont) but I just love the Boston area and I'm so glad our temple is there so we get to go there every month or two.

We have a membership at the YMCA and they were offering a free family Taekwondo class this spring term. (This is a phone photo courtesy of Aubree.) The girls have always wanted to try some form of martial arts, so we thought this would be a good way to try it out ... for free! I'm glad we did this free class, because come to find out, the girls don't really like it all that much. But we're going to stick it out through the whole term - today is our last class. One thing is for sure - learning a new skill usually isn't very fun until you get good at it.

 My parents moved out of my childhood home (another post about that coming soon - I hope) over Memorial Day weekend. I was so sad I couldn't be there so we decided to make our Memorial Day busy and fun so I wouldn't have to think about not being at home. We went to the beach (and drove past Taylor Swift's new home), had a BBQ, and watched What About Bob. It was a fun day.

 Chocolate Harvest Cake. I've had the recipe for this cake sitting in a folder for about two years. Even though it's definitely a fall recipe, I was finally feeling the motivation and craving to make it. Isn't it pretty? It was yummy too - but I think I'll wait until fall to make it again ... in about two years. :)

 Ellie had her dance recital. This was her first year doing dance - she and Carly have always done gymnastics in the past (and Carly stuck with gymnastics this year). So, this was the first dance recital I had been to in a long time. It brought back such great memories of when I was in dance. I loved the the excitement and nervousness and rush of adrenaline that came with performing. The end of the year recital was always so fun - it felt laid back because it wasn't a competition, and a little bittersweet because it was the last performance of the year.

 Another beach day with Aubree while the big girls were at school.

 Carly and Ellie have made about 47 of these fortune teller thingys - this is one of the miniature ones. So far it has been foretold that I will live to be 100, I will win something soon, and I will fail in a school project.

 A few months ago Ellie stuck a branch in the ground to trick me into thinking a tree was growing there. After she took the branch out they continued to mess around with the little hole making it bigger and bigger - big enough that they could stick their entire leg into it. Finally a few weeks later Aaron decided to fill up the little hole they made and when he put a shovelful of dirt in it, the dirt just whoosh - disappeared out of site. It was then that we realized the girls hadn't made the hole, but actually discovered a much bigger hole in our backyard. When the excavator came he told us it was the old septic hole - about 5 feet across and 9 feet deep. Well, he covered it up and we are so grateful that the girls didn't ever fall in and get hurt.

Dear Mom and Dad,

These are a couple of things that I have in my house that remind me of you:

These encyclopedias that I inherited from you a couple years ago. I have memories of asking you questions Dad, and if you didn't know the answer (or if the answer got us thinking of more questions), then we would get out the encyclopedias. They also remind me of you because you are kind of like an encyclopedia yourself - you know all sorts of things about all sorts of things. :) It makes you a very interesting person to talk to - and you are a great conversationalist!

We have lilacs just like these in our backyard and they smell delicious! I have some in a vase on our dining room table and it makes our home smell like heaven! They remind me of you Mom because I know how much you love lilacs and flowers in general. I always liked to go flower shopping with you so we could make centerpieces for your tables. It made me feel good that you trusted me and thought I was a good enough florist to make these arrangements for your home.

I love you!
Camile

Spring Break ... a few weeks ago

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous as I anticipated the break this year. I made lists of things to do and mentally prepared myself for crazy fighting and hearing things like "I'm bored!", "She's copying me!", "You never let me do anything!", and other dramatic exclamations. (Maybe this is totally weird, but sometimes my own kids make me nervous.) Basically, I was just praying we would all survive spring break. And guess what? We had a great spring break. Maybe it's because I had these low expectations, or maybe it's because I made a list of things to do, but it was good. And now I'm not so nervous for summertime! Here are some pictures from the week:

Aubree was helping me make a treat

Carly took this picture of me reading a collection of Robert Munsch stories. (btw, I really am not a fan of his writing - it's mostly nonsense without a moral... usually.)

Carly looked up online how to play kick the can. I totally remember having night games in our neighborhood or being at my Grandma and Grandpa Henderson's house and playing that game!

Below are some pictures at Wilcox Park by the Magnolia tree (taken by a friend)

Ellie - 7

Aubree - 4

Carly - "8 - and I'll be 9 in four months" (that's how she answers whenever anyone asks her age)
I LOVE this picture! It's a perfect photo-description of Carly - climbing a tree and reading a book.