To warn you from the start, I have posted LOTS of pics because we did LOTS of stuff! I actually had a hard time deciding which ones to post but since this blog has become a bit of a scrapbook/journal/mass letter to family & friends please be patient with my huge post.
OK, so we left Phoenix and drove to Idaho. I hate trying to drive the 12+ hours straight so we stayed the night halfway in Utah. Once we arrived in Idaho we were staying at my parent's house but if you can believe they weren't even there. I know, crazy huh? We missed them SOOOOOOO much and were super grateful for them letting us crash their house while they were out of town themselves. We really weren't at their house all that much anyway so I probably would have been sad with such a short visit if they would have been there :)
While we were there Robert had to do his traditional "dig" in their garden. One year we visited and to keep him busy my Mom let him dig a hole and he loved it so much he has to do it every time he visits, except the dead of winter of course.
So here is Robert digging in my parent's beautiful garden. Don't you just love the view!!! Wow, if we could all be so lucky to see such a sight while sitting on our back patio!
This is how deep he was able to get! That is his shovel's handle! So I had to stop him before he hit China :) 
With all that wet mud Robert was diggin' up, Briella put it to good use and made herself a beautiful mud pie. Surprisingly, she only got her hands dirty! That's my girl :)
While in Cache Valley, we were able to have lunch with Brady's Aunt Marie and Grandma Ruth Skidmore. It was fun visiting with them and can you believe Grandma turned 97 this year! Wow, I want to look like that at 97!
After that it was time to go to the Reunion. We had tons of fun renewing relationships with cousins, aunts, uncles and Papa Shaw and Grandma Bonnie. We had lots of fun tubing down the Portneuf river. We were going to go to the lava hot springs & water park but I guess everyone else in the entire state of Idaho had the same idea, so... we just went tubing twice :) But it was fun and were able to get up close and personal with a muskrat which freaked out a few of the kids ... and their moms :) I didn't get any pics of the tubing, which makes me sad but oh, well..
This is of all the Grand kids (in attendance) with Papa Shaw and Grandma Bonnie in the center.
Brady is it the back row in the green with the glow-in-the dark reflectors on his shirt.
After the reunion all the Skidmores that came all went for a hike up Logan Canyon to Tony Grove. We hiked around the lake then had a picnic lunch. It is always fun to hang out with family and watch the kids be such good cousins to each other.
This is all the grand kids (except baby Britton and little Zack) following Nana down the path. They were crusin' so fast that they left all the rest of the adults in the dust. Which might have been not so much an accident as a relief on the parent's part. So...Thanks Nana for taking the kids for a while!
The wildflowers up the canyon were so beautiful. I tried to take some pictures of them but with my crappy little point and shoot this is all I got. But it reminds me of what they were like in real life.
After our hike and picnic we went back down Logan Canyon and stopped at Rick's Spring. It was one of those places I remember stopping at when I was a kid and wanted to show my kids too.
Brady and the kids had fun making their way across the rocks to this big one in the middle of the spring.
They then kept going across to check out the little cave on the other side. It is just a little one that only goes back a few feet but they felt adventurous.
After the cave we decided to take the back way home to my parent's place in Idaho. We followed the cub river through some amazing scenery. Once again I wish I had a better camera to capture how beautiful it was. This is a huge field just full of wildflowers. The wonderful smell just surrounded you as you drove through the field. It was a fun drive, slow going most the way but definitely worth the time to see.
After our time in Cache Valley we headed south to Vernal, Utah to check out all the dinosaurs. We went to the Utah Field House Dinosaur Museum. It was great for the kids, lots of hands-on and informative stuff. Not just bones.
Briella loved this exhibit. She was unearthing a dinosaur with a paintbrush. She didn't want to leave.
Here is Robert, Janessa and Briella realizing how tiny they are compared to a Dino.
After the museum we went for a drive to check out some more amazing scenery. This is on the way to Dinosaur National Monument just outside Dinosaur, Colorado.
This is on that same drive, we found another little cave. This one had this huge rock that looked like it was wedged between the mountain and was just waiting to come crashing down and smash some unsuspecting tourist, or sweet Innocent family. SO, I made everyone get out of there real fast, and my entire family thought I was being a bit nuts.
At the end of our drive was the Green River. We took a little while to cool off and chuck some rocks. To completely dispel any hope the nearby fishermen had of ever catching a fish on that day :) The kids had fun floating out to a little island to find some colorful rocks as souvenirs.
The next day we were in Moab, Utah. The weather was a bit "iffy" but we took our chances and rented a boat and went rafting down the Colorado river. We had a little rain, a little sun and a LOT of fun.
The seven mile stretch that we went down was mostly slow-going so we jumped out of the boat and just floated down river.
The views were once again, AMAZING. This picture shows the oncoming storm that made us a little nervous but not so much as to stop our fun!
"The adventurous Skidmores!"
Here you can see the rain. We found that it was actually warmer in the water than on the boat as it was raining on us. So we just kept floating.
Here we found a perfect spot to pull over and have a bite to eat.
After all that fun we figured there wasn't much else to do but go home :) On this trip we not only got to check out lots of beautiful canyons & rivers but we were also able to stop at 3 different temples. It wasn't our purpose, we would have been able to stop at lots more if we wanted to, but just on our way we were able to see... 
Logan Temple
Vernal Temple and
Montecello Temple.
Wow, all that fun and now I get to go nuts school shopping and packing up my house to move. Boy, I think I need another vacation :)
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