Memorial Day 2011

Hill Family Ranch House - Daniels Idaho

We celebrated Memorial Day with a big trip to Idaho and Utah to visit, essentially, every family member Brian and I have:) It was wonderful!

We started the trip with a family reunion in Malad, ID with my dad's family. This was spectacular, in my book, as I hadn't seen my cousins (or any of their children, for that matter) for at least 3 years.

Boat races at the ranch, with cousin Tyler

The children loving the swingset that my Grandpa Hill built.

Cute!

We were only in Idaho for 2 days, but they were days filled with friendships, laughter, games, food, memory sharing, and plenty of memory making. My favorite part was being able to see cousins and family that I hadn't seen, as I said earlier, for years, but being able to sit down and chat and laugh with each other as though we were picking up a conversation from 5 minutes ago. Isn't family wonderful that way? We LOVED it.

The week continued with family parties and the like at Brian's parents' home, where we stayed for the rest of our vacation. We were thrilled to see so many family members that we miss, all the time. We are so grateful for all of the people who went so far out of their way to see us while we were there -- we have the best families (according to us, of course).

We made a point to stop at my old school while we were in state and it was beyond wonderful to see so many old and dear friends, catch up, see so many of my old students, and to walk those fun halls with my own kiddos. I even taught Charlie to walk on the blue line - it's the teacher in me, I guess ;) My years teaching were wonderful ones that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I was thrilled to be able to go back and remember them so closely, for even a short afternoon.

Love this school. I always tell Brian that we need to move back when the kids start school, because they HAVE to go there.

A few other highlights of the trip include Brian and I going on dateS; our walk around BYU campus with the children; our evening with the Roundys; our day in Logan with the Kaspers; and above all, seeing the kids play with and love their cousins. We've decided that cousins are really REALLY good things. Our kids need some local ones.

Charlie, Kiley, Kaleb, Lucy

You know, Brian and I were awe-struck as we drove home at what a wonderfully full, fun, and jam-packed vacation we had just finished while at the same time coming home so rested and refreshed. We don't know how that happened, but we can't wait to go back and try for the same result again. THAT is our kind of vacation.