Idaho to Virginia with some stops in between.

Well I posted the video, but my blog didn't keep it up... so here is a link to my Shutterfly share site with the slideshow of some of the marvelous wonders we saw on our drive to Virginia! Thank you to everybody that helped us get out here!!!

USA Trip!

Tribute to a friend

This is Jake's grandpa Earl Wilcox. For the last three months I have been privileged to sit beside him and hold his hand every day after work. We shared stories about our lives with each other, told jokes, and talked about the world together. He passed away last Saturday and today we attended his funeral. I could write a paragraph about why he was special to me and why I loved him, but it can be summed up in one sentence. He was an amazing man.

My "other" family.

We had this blanket made for Jake's grandparents for their birthdays. 

He will be greatly missed, but I like to read this poem to remind myself that we didn't say goodbye today. It's more of a see you later.

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says: "There, she is gone!"
"Gone where?"
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear the load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: "There, she is gone!" There are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: "Here she comes!"
And that is dying.
~Henry Van Dyke

Christmas Crafting

Shaunie gets the credit for this one because she saw a similar craft like this on a blog somewhere. She saw a cute Halloween one, but we wanted to do a Christmas one. So we went to Micheal's and pick out some fun ribbons. It turned out really cute, and I wish you could see how glittery and shiny it is but pictures do not do it justice!!!!

Yes, this little gem is hanging up in my room and it will remain there until Christmas! I am very proud of it!

Something that made me laugh today...

So a few months ago I asked Jake to make me a bagel with honey nut cream cheese on it when I was getting ready for work since we had just bought the cream cheese the night before on our grocery run. When I got done doing my hair, it was of course time to leave, so I walked into the kitchen and to my surprise I see a bagel sitting on the counter with honey oozing down the sides of it. I was really confused and slightly disgusted, so naturally I said, “Ew Jake what is that?” and this was his response, “Don't look at me, you are the one that said you wanted honey NOT cream cheese!” Oh man- you can see why I just about died laughing. I couldn't even talk for a good 3 minutes so I just reached into the fridge and showed him this: 

 He started laughing and said, "Oh, I thought it was a little strange of you to be so specific about wanting honey -not- cream cheese!" I'm pretty sure I was a little late to work that day because Jake and I just sat there and laughed for a good while. I love that man. There's never a dull moment when we are together.

Hanging with the Rowleys

A few weeks ago Chelsea and Rhet planned a trip up to Idaho so Jake and I met them up at our uncle's house. Its always a good time when we are together because Chels is one of my best friends! 

Chels found the secret to Uncle Joe's cooking.

Chelsea's first catch!

With all these summer posts people are going to start thinking the only thing to do in Idaho is fish...

We took the Rhino out one night and Jake searched for jackrabbits to shoot.

You just don't see these kinds of views in Virginia.

While the boys went out to play...

...Chels and I played with the kids and did a little Just Dance on the Wii!

Camden is getting so big!!!

He is the most snuggly baby in the world.

Kyler stole Cam's shade and you can see Chels trying to keep the umbrella out of her face. ha

Kyler loves boats!

Rhet might have had the catch of the day.

Can't wait to go down to Santaquin, UT next week to see you guys again!!!

Island Park, Idaho

Jake's maternal grandparents bought some land on Bill's Island years ago, and the cabin is now one of my favorite places to go in the summer here in Idaho. We are going there again tomorrow but we went a few weeks ago and had a blast.

This is Grandma Peterson. I love that her shoes and accessories always match her outfit. 

We made tin foil dinners and Jake made his into a goose in the back corner

Here's Shaunie and Garren. We always like to go riding around the Island with them.

It's a good thing we stink at hitting golf balls off the dock because half the time we can reach in the water and get them back out!

Notice that the crawdads they just caught are on the ground now...

While I was taking pictures of this ugly thing, the ones still in the net started crawling all over my feet- not cool.

Earthquake Lake.

What was left of one of the houses after the quake.

This would suck!

Jeepin' with Garren.

Makes me want a Jeep!

Nothing like taking a couple hours to float down the river. It was beautiful!

We love having fun :)

Jake's super lucky FIVE leaf clover

Summer break is worth the crappy paying job!

Working as a paraprofessional at an elementary school isn't making me rich, but it pays the bills and I get a few months off during the summer! Totally worth it. Jake has a 7 week break from school so we are enjoying the time we have to just be together all day everyday for the first time since we've been married. We've been having a blast and we are really trying to take advantage of all the beautiful places in Idaho because this is the last summer we will be here for awhile.

Jake fishing in the Snake River (it's in his parent's backyard)

He's turning me into a country girl.

We only caught one fish the whole afternoon but Jake's cousin Nate was there to help us bring it in.We went home and threw it on the grill and that is the first trout I've ever eaten.

But before we went home, Crit found us and Jake showed the boys how to sink themselves into the mud. Nate kept yelling, "The mud is getting in my crack!" haha.

That's me on a fifty all by myself. I'll be a dirtbiker yet!

In my in-laws backyard... it's beautiful.

Making tshirts with spray paint!

I had to use a whole small roll of tape to get the design I wanted on the back and front of this shirt!

 We try to plan out something fun to do every day, and so far we've been doing a good job. Two days ago we went to Fall Creek to go fishing and they have a really pretty waterfall there. Jake's grandpa taught him how to creek fish which is completely different then regular fishing. We had a blast with our friends Brandon and Maya Burk and every one of us caught something!

Fall Creek.

That's the little creek we were fishing in and Jake caught the first little trout.

Me and Maya are pros now.

Even Brandon caught one!

Last night we ate all the little fish we caught which is a pretty big deal because this week was the first time I've eaten fish! I'm not crazy about it but I'm going to keep trying it cooked different ways until I find a way that is delicious to me.

Another Summer adventure we've had is being a part of the Rexburg Farmer's Market. We've been making small pieces of furniture for fun so we put in an application and got accepted to sell.

This set up was a little sloppy so we rearranged everything after the picture was taken.

And this is our official name. Wilcox Woodworking. 

Thanks to my sister Erica we even have our own business cards! (which I need to get a picture of because she did an awesome job on them!)

My favorite pieces that we make are these children's willow chairs.  We make little ottomans to go with them and kids LOVE them!

We've also spent countless hours shooting, blowing things up with tannerite (yes it's legal), swimming, and kayaking.

I think Jake is a little bit of a redneck...

When the rivers were flooding Jake's backyard was a perfect place to kayak in!

and this is a couch that we obliterated with gasoline and tannerite. I think only 1 cushion survived the explosion.

And that about sums up daily summer activities.