Memorial Day Weekend: Ashton, Idaho

This past weekend Steve and I made the 5 hour drive to Rexburg to go camping with some of our married friends over the holiday weekend. We hadn't been camping since September of 2012 and have missed it a lot so we thought it would be fun before this baby comes.

We got to Rexburg Friday night and of course the first place we had to stop was Karie Anne's. Karie Anne's is an Italian Ice/Custard stand and it is pretty much the best stand in Rexburg (let alone anywhere)!!! The best thing to get there is their Gelati which is Italian Ice, Custard, and more Italian Ice. It is so good!!!

Saturday morning we had some maternity pictures taken by Paint the Sun Photography (the same gal who did our 2nd Anniversary pictures). I'm patiently waiting to see how they turned out! I can't believe that this baby will be here in 2 months and we'll soon be getting newborn pictures done for him. We headed out to Ashton later in the afternoon (30-40 minutes outside of Rexburg) to start our camping trip. We went with two other married couples and Brett (his wife was at a wedding in California so he was solo). Steve's friend (Brett) in-laws owns a cabin and some land in Ashton, ID and that is where we spent the rest of the weekend. The land they own sits on a lake so we enjoyed time on their dock fishing/jumping in the lake, kayaking/canoeing, played sand volleyball, played horseshoes, had campfires, played ladder golf, etc. We didn't stay in the cabin because the electricity and plumbing are off, but the whole point of the trip was to go camping outside and that is what we did. We set up our tents right when we got there and played around on the land. I don't think we would have gone camping without an air mattress and that was definitely a lifesaver especially at 7 months pregnant (glad we found one on sale at Cabela's a few weeks ago). For dinner we decided to forego making hotdogs and we all went to Frostop Drive-in down the road. They have really good homemade root beer and really good huckleberry shakes. We ended the night with a bonfire until it started raining.....the boys found something else to do which included catching wild rats/mice.

This is by far my favorite picture from the trip

It seriously felt like we were at a resort! I love this place!!!

Sunday morning we all got up and made breakfast burritos over our camp stoves (so good). We then decided to go to Warm River to feed the fish. There is a part in the river where you can't fish, swim, or boat so there are always lots of fish to feed. It was a lot of fun and they were all hopping of out the water to get the bread.

Steve and I

All the guys

L to R: Michael, Steve, Dan, and Brett (the 3 on right all lived in the same townhouses when they were single and Michael is from the same city Steve grew up in). They are all married now, crazy how time flies. 

After feeding the fish we went on a small hike up the road. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to see the scenery around. It is so beautiful up in this part of Idaho.

After our hike we made one last stop at Lower Mesa Falls and then turned back around towards our camp spot. The rest of the day we just enjoyed the land and camped again that night. The weather was so perfect and I even surprisingly made it without getting burnt (thank you sunscreen). At night it was also a perfect temperature and only got down to 45 or so degrees.

Playing sand volleyball

Polly caught the 1st fish (15 inch Rainbow Trout)

Steve kayaking

Steve and I canoeing. I was really reluctant at first because the canoe had a small hole in it and was letting in water. I don't know what I would do if the canoe flipped, but I grabbed a life jacket and went out hoping things would be ok, and it was. 

Kayla and Polly canoeing

Kayla and I. It was so good hanging out with her and the other gals for the weekend! 

Monday morning we all packed up our tents and played one last game of sand volleyball before heading back to Rexburg. We hung out the rest of the day with the Greenwood's, made our last stop at Karie Anne's again, and then made the drive back to Ontario later that afternoon. This was probably the best Memorial Day Weekend I have ever had. It was good to go camping and spend time with friends we love so much.

Aside from all of the fun we had I would like to thank all of those men and women who have served our country and who are serving our country today. They don't receive enough credit for what they've done/are doing. I love the country I live in and the freedoms we have.

Lava Hot Springs Weekend

This past weekend I had all weekend off for work so we decided we would take advantage of it and go do something not in Rexburg. We were thinking of going to Jackson Hole, Wyoming but it was going to be really expensive and we've been looking into Lava Hot Springs so we decided to go there. We left Friday after Steve and I got off work: it was only about a 1 hour 45 min drive and we got to the campground. The owner of the campground was the sweetest little LDS lady and basically her and her husband have a ton of beautiful land and let people camp on it for a small charge. Before we left we made sure they had some spots left and she told me it wasn't your typical campground: you have tons of space and you aren't really close to other people. We thought it was perfect and I was really excited for the night. Here are some pictures of the area we camped on and their land:

Steve went fishing in this river but didn't have any luck :/ I loved these 3 little waterfalls on the left picture (you can only see two of them but they were so pretty)

We camped there for the night and it was perfect. The only down side was that the campground was not too far from the road so it was a little hard to sleep. There was a fire ban in Idaho at the time and think there still is so we couldn't have a campfire but we cooked breakfast over the grill and it worked perfectly. We got the the Lava Springs Waterpark the next morning a little after it opened and it was so nice. It was a big waterpark with huge slides, olympic diving platforms, and a pool (obviously). Some pictures of our day :)

The slides were so fast and the platforms gave me a little thrill but it was well worth it. I kinda felt like a little kid again :) Steve went off the top platform which was 30 ft and I was too chicken and only went off the bottom one- which was still high

Before we went to the waterpark we saw these ads all over town for a rodeo that night we were there and thought it would be fun to go. It was so much fun!

I really enjoyed spending a weekend alone with Steve. I feel that we have grown so much as a couple over the last 8 months and will continue to grow the more we spend time together as a couple. Married life is so fun and I wouldn't change anything. We leave to go to Washington in about a week and we are super excited. Some things we have planned are boating for Labor Day, a Mariner's game, Craig's graduation party for graduating the Marine's boot camp, and a lot more. The next semester is creeping up on me and I only have about 2 1/2 weeks before I start school again. Steve will be off track and working full-time. Thank you for reading my wordy blogs all the time I hope I'm not just rambling to myself.

Camping, Fishing, and Cliff Jumping

This weekend we have had a lot of fun hanging out with our good friends Drew and Taylor! They are such a cute and genuine couple and am so glad we had the time to go and do things this weekend.

Steve getting the car packed up. He had so much on his back/hands and I just had to take a picture!

We went to Beaver Dick Park (5 min outside of Rexburg) and went camping and fishing! It was so much fun! The weather was perfect- no wind/rain/not cold! We went fishing for about an hour I ended up catching 5 small fish and Steve caught 2. Then we ate really good grilled chicken sandwiches for dinner. The food while your camping is seriously the best, it has to be just the campfire smell to it or something.

Steve fishing, the ground he was standing on was seriously pure mud and very hard to walk on.

Like I was saying, very muddy. He grew a few inches with all the mud!

This fish was so tiny but it was my first fish of the day!

Another one of my fish!

Steve's fish, he was so happy!

Had to take a picture of us! I love him, he makes me so happy!

In the morning we went out fishing again and I ended up catching two more fish, we kept one of them and baked it at home. It was about an 8 inch trout (very small) and was actually pretty good. Later in the afternoon we went cliff jumping at Ririe Lake (about 15 min from Rexburg) with Taylor's old roommates and friends. I have never been cliff jumping at Ririe Lake and it was really fun. The water was so refreshing and I actually got somewhat of a tan too! The cliffs were only about 20 ft high and the water was super deep. We barbeque'd while we were down there and had a really good time. I didn't take my phone down to the lake so I didn't get any pictures but maybe I'll copy some from those that took pictures.

This weekend has been so much fun, but now onto a 3 page essay on a book for a class :(