We are going to Grandma's house...what fun it's going to be!

FUN IN THE SUN!
We were in Boise during the heat wave...100-108 degree weather the entire time we were there. Shocker to the system! So, of course, we should play in the water. The kids had so much fun, I wish I would have recorded the giggles. It warms my heart when I hear their laughter and watch them play together. Grandma even joined in for a bit (to convince McKay it was worth it to run through the water).

they were playing follow the leader and got themselves all lined up in order, I love seeing the clan like that.

he was so excited to be doing what the big kids were doing, but wouldn't dare go through the water-yet.

proud moment, look how close he got!

this is where the giggle needed to be recorded.  He was so happy that Grandma was willing to run through the water with him. He would run up and she would kiss his forehead and they were off again.

they all cheered for this spoiled little man.

PICKING PIE CHERRIES
We headed to my Grandma's house to pick pie cherries.  Everyone got a bucket and got their hand in the tree and attempted to pick the ripest cherries they could.  This was a first for my family, we aren't usually in town when these are in season.

the crew

checking to see if she has enough treasure

picking from the ground...the ladder came out a little later

after they dumped their buckets they decided to "clean" them out.

the reward after an hour. yum!

We continued our adventures throughout the weekend, but seemed to forget the camera each time. We attended my cousin's wedding reception. I'm so glad she chose a place with shade.  The 105 degrees melted us in the sun, it was more tolerable in the shade.  She was beautiful!
We had a one-day family reunion on my dad's side of the family.  We enjoyed time chatting, eating, playing in the water, watching the kids soak each other, and devouring hand churned ice cream.  We also had family pictures taken, but again, the camera was forgotten.
Part of the trip was to attend church with my parents.  I found out after I had arrived that one of the "little boys" I had babysat all through my high school years was speaking prior to leaving on his mission to Argentina! What?!?!! I am NOT that old-I refuse to let it be.  However, I was so thrilled to find out that I would be able to witness this miracle (see, his family wasn't members when I babysat, it's the best story).
The most memorable part of the trip however, was the very beginning and the very end...you see, I drove myself and the kids over on Thursday and as we drove into town the car overheated-it was fun to be stuck in 5p traffic 5 miles from our destination, let me tell ya.  Jake arrived the next night (he hitched a ride with my sister and her husband) and fixed what seemed to be the problem.  Sunday night we decided to leave later in the night (9pm) to avoid the heat as much as possible and hopefully find that they car had had a fluke "accident" on the arriving trip.  We had just gotten on the Idaho Falls junction and saw this enormous fire on the hill, we weren't paying attention and the car overheated, badly! It was 12:30am. Oh what do you do at that time?  We had roadside assistance, so we called-they don't cover as much as we needed.  By now, it's 1:30am. What do we do? We can't walk anywhere. We don't want to pay a taxi times 2. So we call our dear friends and wake them up.  They were more than willing to help.  They brought a trailer to tow the van and their suburban to tow our family.  By 4:30am we were safely in our home, borrowing our friends car. We were to be at Bryant's baseball tournament at 8am, he and I were only 10 minutes late.  We left everyone else home to sleep as we had all been awake during our special outing.  We found out later that morning the car was dead.  Repairable, but dead.
...to be continued...