Utah/Idaho trips continued

We had a great time on our trips, but we are glad to be home. On the way back we had to change planes in Phoenix and, unfortunately, our flight to Austin was delayed. We didn't land until after 1:00 am and then we had to pick up Blue from the people who were watching her. We didn't get home until about 3:00 am! Luckily, Cannon fell asleep on the flight and easily transferred (without waking) in and out of the baby bjorn, car seat, and into his bed. Cannon was a champ this whole trip! He did great on all four flights. He was actually awake for most of our returning flights. He loved to look out the window as the plane was landing and the pressure never seemed to bother him.

In the middle of our Utah trip, we drove up to Idaho for my dad's family reunion. The reunion was held at a resort on the Snake River in Hagerman, which is just past Twin Falls. The drive from Salt Lake was about four hours and Cannon slept most of the way. My dad and some of my cousins rented RV's and the rest of the people stayed in tents. We actually stayed in a cute little cottage just down the road. That was nice to have our own space and Cannon slept fine in the pack-n-play. The cottage was set next to a creek and there was a swing on our porch. Cannon LOVED to listen to the rushing water. The weather was perfect and it was so relaxing.

On the way back to Salt Lake we took a couple of detours. First, we stopped at a lavender festival. A family out in Buhl, Idaho has a lavender farm and once a year they open it up to the public to harvest their own lavender. There was also a live band, lunch, lots of shopping, and lavender ice cream! Yes, lavender ice cream! I never expected that it would be so delicious! Apparently you can cook with lavender so we bought some seasonings and BBQ rub. I used the seasoning last night on crock pot chicken and it turned out so yummy. The funniest thing happened after I ate the lavender ice cream. Later on when I fet Cannon, his breath smelled like lavender!

After the festival, we stopped at Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls. Ryan said that they are taller than Niagra Falls, but not as wide. We realized what intersting land Idaho has. It looks flat and it seems as if there is nothing, but then all of a sudden when you drive down a road it opens up! There are lots of gorges and hidden rivers that you can't see from the freeway.

It was nice to see lots of family and friends during our visit and it was fun to show off Cannon.


Grandma and Grandpa Rees' home in Wales, Utah.


We spent a day visiting with Ryan's grandparents.


Ryan's sister Kylene with Cannon.


Ryan and I did a session at the Manti Temple while his grandparents and Kylene watched Cannon. Cannon did not behave very well for them. He fussed a lot unless they held him in the exact position he wanted. When Ryan and I got back, he was the happiest baby ever! He smiled and cooed and played and didn't fuss at all. I guess he missed us!


My handsome husband when he is clean shaven. He has now decided to let his beard grow in for awhile.


This was my first time at the Manti Temple. Ryan was able to get one of the workers there to show me one of the spiral staircases which was really neat to see. It is such a beautiful temple! All the temples have a good feeling with them, but this temple felt uniquely different to me. Probably because it's one of those historic temples. I got the same feeling at the Salt Lake Temple.


My sister Juliann with Cannon. My sisters had so much fun playing with him everyday. It was a nice break for me and Cannon had fun with them too!


With all the driving and traveling, Cannon was such a little trooper! Here he is on our way to Idaho.


Ryan and Cannon enjoyed time on this swing that was next to the creek.


This was the creek right next to our cottage.


This is the view from the back porch of our cottage. We also had our own hot tub in a separate room enclosed by screens (the bugs stayed out, but we could still hear the creek and get the breeze).


This is the head of a baby beaver that lived near our cottage. Every morning he would come out and work. He used this moss for his project.



This is me petting a white sturgeon at the national fish hatchery.


Cannon slept through our visit to the national fish hatchery. For some reason this picture makes his lips and eyebrows look huge!


Ryan took a hike with my cousins and their kids one morning. I stayed back with Cannon, which ended up being a good thing because Ryan said there was no shade on the hike. I think this is called Malad Gorge.


Cannon is my dad's pride and joy! He loved showing him off to all his relatives.


Here we are on the Snake River. There are several waterfalls along this part of the river. We never swam in the water. I made it in 1/3 of the way, but that's because the water was 58 degrees! I am used to Texas lakes. Water below 80 degrees is too cold for me!


Lots of my cousins have kids and we always found lots of baby stuff lying around. Cannon enjoyed hanging out in this contraption. You can't see it from the picture, but it is springy so the baby can jump. Obviously Cannon is too young to jump, but his feet did reach the ground.


Two of my cousins' kids, Shade and Ashley, loved to hold Cannon. Despite the look on Cannon's face, he really didn't mind it when they held him.


Here I am at the lavender festival with my delicious lavender ice cream. For those of you who knew me in high school, you know that this would have been a dream come true for me (for those of you who didn't know me in high school, I was obsessed with the color purple).


Here we are at Shoshone Falls. Cannon was actually awake for this activity. He hates wearing hats, but the sound of the water was enough to put him at ease.


Another picture of the falls.


As we were leaving Shoshone Falls, we noticed the temple and decided to take a quick drive by it.


When we got back to Utah, we stopped at my Uncle Dave's house in Park City for dinner. This was our sad attempt to get a picture of all the boys. No one wanted to cooperate!


Keep trying!


Okay, good enough! Pictured here is my Uncle Dave with his boys Alex (almost 5) and Ben (16 months), Ryan, Cannon, and Eddy.


We went to my Mimi's (my grandma) house and Cannon got to meet my other aunts, Jacque and Leslie, and Nino the dog. I wanted to get a picture of Cannon with my grandma, but she wouldn't let me that day because she wasn't wearing any makeup. We stopped by here house before we left for the airport, but Cannon was asleep the whole time. So I guess we'll have to get a picture next time.


We took JJ to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. That temple is the same design as the Twin Falls Temple. Cannon was nice enough to sleep through everything.


Cannon has two new things he likes to do. 1) Sit up against the couch. He thinks he so cool! 2)Try to fit both of his fists in his mouth. This usually occurs during his bath. I will have to get a picture of it.

Now that we're home, we are trying to get back to normal. Unfortunately, Cannon's acid reflux has become worse. For the first time in two months, he woke up several times last night. Actually, he woke up at midnight and couldn't go back to sleep until after 3:00 am. Ryan and I took turns, but it ended with me feeding him. I was hoping he would sleep in, but he woke up at 7:00! This is very unusual for him because he has been going eight or nine hours between his feedings. He now has a new prescription for Prilosec, so hopefully that will make a difference. I also think that his schedule has been thrown off from all the traveling. We could all use some sleep around here!