Road Trip 2014 | Whirlwind Weekend In Idaho

The first weekend of our visit to Utah was actually spent in Twin Falls, Idaho. My youngest sister, Tressie, wanted to go to Twin Falls to hear her college roommate's mission farewell talk. The wee ones and I are always up for an adventure so we said we'd tag along. I mentioned this trip to my best friend KJ and plans started to formulate. KJ and her crew are about 9 hours away from Twin Falls, which sounds like a lot, but we are typically 22 hours away from each other. And that is assuming that traffic is good and no one has to go potty. 9 hours felt so darn close that we had to take advantage of the opportunity to get our kiddos together. So, KJ, her husband and their 4 little boys loaded up and headed east as we headed north and we met in Twin Falls.

KJ and I have been lucky enough to see each other almost yearly for the past few years, but our children had only met once before... and that was back when we each only had two children and Beebs was 4 months old. None of them really remember meeting. This time, we created some solid memories that my girls and most of KJ's boys should remember for years to come!

We started by meeting up at the Twin Falls temple as it was an easy meeting spot. The wee ones all touched their first temple and we came up with a game plan for the afternoon. We started with a quick Costco run to buy the fixings for dinner then headed to the "Niagara of the West", also known as Shoshone Falls. After viewing the falls, we found a fun lake where we ate and played in the water. It was my girls first experience swimming in a lake (naturally occurring bodies of water are a rare and exciting thing for us desert dwellers!) and they L-O-V-E-D it. After the lake, my parents headed to our hotel room with my little ones and KJ's husband took their little men to do some exploring so KJ and I could go to the Twin Falls temple together. Heaven I tell you. There are few things in the world more peaceful than sitting in the temple with your best friend. Really, the only thing that tops it is sitting in the temple with your spouse. It was so good to just relax and feel the spirit together.

 

After the temple, KJ and I parted ways for the night. I crashed hard once I got back to the hotel. It had been a pretty exciting day after all!

The next morning, the wee ones and I attended the farewell with Tressie and my parents. It was by far one of the most incredible Sacrament meetings I have ever attended. Kenya (Tressie's roommate) did a fantastic job on her talk, and the other speaker was amazing as well. Kenya's talk has given us a new family gem that my children will eventually get sick of hearing- "happy, happy, sad, sad". It's a quick and easy reminder that happy (good) choices will ultimately lead to happy consequences and sad or bad choices ultimately bring about sad consequences.

After the farewell, we had lunch with Kenya's family, then the wee ones and I headed to a nearby park to spend a little more time with KJ and fam. The park was a lot of fun. The children had a blast on the cool horsey swings and carousel. Then KJ's husband set up their slackline and all the little ones took turns walking along it while KJ and I did our best to enjoy each other's company. (Difficult task with 7 little ones running in every direction, but I absolutely loved that our children had the chance to grow their friendships that afternoon)

We put off parting ways as long as we could, but eventually it was time for KJ and Sean to head home and for the wee ones and I to pick up my parents and Tressie and head back to Utah. We snapped one last picture of KJ and I with all the children then said our goodbyes. It was far too short a visit, but oh how I love that our children were able to meet and play and get to know each other. Beebs often asks about "KJ's little boy with the red hair" and both girls ask when we get to see their new friends again. Unfortunately, it will be awhile before this sort of meet up happens again... KJ and Sean just received word that Sean has been accepted into the University of Hawaii's pharmacy program, so they are heading across the ocean in a few months time. It will probably be many years before all of our children have the chance to be together again, so I am extra grateful that we were able to pull off this whirlwind weekend in Idaho.