Sunshine and Summer Time

It's been three months since Paul and I were married, and it's been a great summer!

We went on several drives to explore this beautiful corner of the world.

This is the Henry Store in Henry, Idaho.

  It's not summer without a roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, 

but since we don't have a fire pit we had to improvise.

One Sunday the power was out for over 8 hours, so Paul and I played Scrabble. This is the first (and probably the last) game of Scrabble I will ever win.

We watched Monster's U at the Idah-ha Dive-In Theater.

 

Paul does not understand the appeal of the drive-in.  It's like sitting next to a bunch of annoying kids in a regular theater...except mosquitoes can bite you.  Also, Paul thought it was a Drive-Thru theater, and was hoping to get a burger and fries.  Instead he got stale popcorn and expired Swedish Fish. Tara, on the other hand, loved it!

  We went to Lava Hot Springs a couple of times with some great friends.  We floated the Portneuf River, played some intense water basketball, and ate some delicious Thia food.

On this particular trip, I decided I was finally going to overcome my fear of jumping from high places.

 

 I did the walk of shame instead. 

But it did make jumping off of the high dive much easier.

“I've always believed in savoring the moments. In the end, they are the only things we'll have.”
― Anna Godbersen 

The Cotten Clan

A couple of weekends ago, we went to Island Park with the entire Cotten clan.  We ate too much food, laughed too hard, and stayed up way too late.

On Friday, went to Nevada City, a ghost town and living history museum in Montana. A train took us from Virginia City to Nevada City. The kids LOVED it. We enjoyed the world's largest, public collection of antique music machines, panned for gold, talked with Whiskey Jo, and ate cinnamon rolls made by Miss Lindsey.

This was my favorite music machine. I wish I could have gotten a better picture, but it was too crowded in the museum. 

This horse is the original horse model used in the saddle shop. It was used much like a form.

 

There was a pretty extensive collection of old wagons.

 The girls didn't quite know what to think of Whiskey Jo.

Two story out house?

Unfortunately, my camera only lasted a few hours. On Saturday we floated the river and went to Seven Brides for Seven Brother at the Playmill in West Yellowstone.

My family has been going to Island Park every year almost as long as I can remember.  It is one of my favorite places, probably because of its consistency.  Big Springs is always beautiful and cold, Mom always makes white chocolate trail mix, ice cream from Aarowleaf in West Yellowstone is always delicious, the coyotes howl every night, and every year our family grows.

Last summer my brother Reed invited Paul to come to the cabin with my family.  It was the fourth time I had seen Paul and first time I spent more than just a few hours with him.  It's been an incredible year, and I look forward to many more!

Yellowstone July 2012

Neighbors

I think we have some of the best neighbors anyone could ask for. I've gone outside early in the morning or in the middle of the afternoon to find these guys just relaxing.

The Joys of a Small Town

I used to think I grew up in a small town until I moved to Soda Springs. Although Rupert only has a population of about 5,000, within 15 minutes of my house there were several luxuries I took for granted. Wal-Mart, numerous grocery stores, five screen movie theater, JC-Penney, at lease 4 different pizza places, and the interstate just to name a few. 

Soda Springs has a population of about 3,000 and is the largest town in an hour radius. It is an hour drive to Pocatello or Preston and one and a half hours to Logan. There are two small grocery stores, Alco, Family Dollar, two hardware stores, and a one screen movie theater (but they do have a drive in!).

Last night Paul and I decided we wanted to go bowling.  When we pulled up to the Geyser Bowl, the parking lot was empty.  We walk in and Paul declares we would like a lane. The girl behind the counter says we can't. I was quite puzzled because we are the only people in the place besides the two girls behind the counter.  They then explain that we can't bowl tonight because the only people who know how to run the bowling alley are out of town and only the grill is open. Disappointed, we order our pizza, even though they were out of olives. (The bowling alley is the only place in town to get pizza.) While we waited I was hoping to get a candy bar.

 

On the plus side, the pizza was super delicious! 

Formation Springs

 Living in Soda Spring definitely come with its draw backs such as having to drive an hour to the nearest Wal-Mart or a very limited selection of restaurants. Soda certainly makes up  for it with its little charms. 

I can't believe this is in our backyard. God has blessed with a beautiful world.  I am so grateful to live in such a gorgeous corner of the world. 

 

The entrance to Formation Cave. 

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/ibt/site.aspx?id=SE28

Welcome to our Blog

We are officially joining the blog-o-sphere!  Today is our one-month anniversary, and to celebrate we decided to start to blog of our adventures, hijinks, and shenanigans.  Boo-yah and enjoy!