Idaho Firsts

I had to step over my broken heart to start writing this post.  I am still just devastated about the fact that we lost our camera and all of it's contents on our return trip.  Most of my sorrow has to do with all of the "firsts" of the girls that were captured on there.  I am realizing it doesn't erase the memory.

First Room Service
We were stuck overnight in Phoenix and the girls got to experience their first room service.  Cheese burgers, fries and milk in bed at 1 am!  Mom and Dad each got a beer to go along with this fine meal.  We were famished but the girls thought it was such a novelty that it made it fun for all of us to be chowing down in bed.  Plus, it was delicious!

First Play with Mommy's Friends Kids
We stayed overnight with my friend Cathy and she had her beautiful granddaughters staying with her.  These granddaughters also happen to be my high school best friends' children.  It was so bizarre to see mini me's playing with mini Katie's.  The girls all got along and it was wonderful seeing Cathy and the girls.

First Visit with Great Grandma Zella
My grandmothers house always meant love, fun, warmth and food.  It was such a pleasure to see my kids interacting with my grandmother.  She was tickled to see them and kept them busy reading to them, singing to them and playing games with them.  Her love and bag of tricks seem to be endless.  The girls were truly spoiled seeing so much family and playing with their second cousins.  There was a revolving door at my grandmothers house, she must have sent out a memo to the family.  It was flattering that everyone would want to come and see us.  I was proud to show off my family and proud to have my girls there for my grandma to show off.

First Visit to the Shack
This was true not only for the girls but also for Jake.  The Shack is my dad's hunting cabin near Sun Valley.  Sitting at 7400 feet in the Sawtooth Mountains it is a beautiful place to visit and just unwind.  Shack time moves very slowly and there is lots of running around outside and exploring.  We visited the horse pasture next door.  Learned the difference between horse poop and cow poop, one is flat and squishy and one is round.  Visited the outhouse, it's a two seater!  Threw rocks in the stream and played in piles of dirt.

First Fish
This is a big one, Grandpa Denny bought Sophie her very own Disney Princess fishing pole so he could take her for her very first fishing trip at the Shack.  What a novelty that she gets to fly across the country for her first fishing trip in Idaho!  Anyhow, my dad was great with her and we got many lovely (now mental) pictures of them walking hand in hand, each with a pole over there shoulders through the brilliant yellow willows.  The two of them got all settled in and within one minute of putting her pole in Sophie had her first bite.  By the end of the hour, she had reeled in a rainbow trout and a brook trout.  I couldn't really tell who was more pleased, Sophie or Grandpa.

First Visit with Cooper and Paige
Two of my girlfriends from high school and college live in Boise and each had babies this past year.  The girls got to visit with the new little one's and imagine what it would be like to have a little sibling (hmmm, crazy house anyone?).  Kelly and Jennifer both look great and their babies are just beautiful. 

Thanks to everyone for making our visit such a special one.  We tried to squeeze in as much as we could and every bit of it was wonderful.