Back to a Place Near and Dear to My Heart...

So I have learned that I will only wireless Internet access for 1 or 2 days over the next two weeks. That sucks because I won't be able to upload pictures from my camera to this thing or facebook. I will also be hard pressed to upload any videos (Sorry Kim). However, for the next couple of days I will be able to update the blog, even though there won't be any pictures. I am hoping to upload the pictures Monday night when I am spending the night in a hotel. This will only happen if they have wireless Internet. So everyone keep their fingers crossed.

Today started out with us waking up crazy early at Vickie and Dan's. I actually woke-up at 5:30 in the morning, only to notice that Ellie was not in bed next to me. Talk about a sheer moment of panic. I soon realized she had either fallen out of, or had gotten out of bed and was sleeping next to the bed. So I went from sheer panic to utter relief in about 30 seconds.

Once we woke-up, I packed the car, and then Ellie woke-up. I was hoping this wouldn't happen so she would sleep most of the way to Boise. However, she didn't. So we stayed for a few minutes so we could get some breakfast. All Ellie wanted was some baby tomatoes from Vickie's garden for breakfast. Vickie picked and washed a bunch of tomatoes, put them in a tupperware for us, and then we hit the road.

We took about 4 hours to get to Boise. About halfway there, the scenery changed from this arid emptiness to beautiful forest. The best part of getting out of Oregon, and into Idaho was the fact that the speed limit changed from 65 to 75. This meant I went from 71 to 82!

Once we got to Boise, we stopped at the temple which is right off of the freeway, and took our pictures. Boise is prettier than any pictures I have seen of it, but it isn't anywhere near my top 10 of prettiest temples. I also learned it is difficult to get a good picture of that temple. Honestly I was not happy with any of the pictures we got from there, but I felt like my hands were tied. I bet if Dad were there he would have figured something out.

Anyway... we left the temple and ran over to Idaho's largest mall for lunch and some shopping. The shopping consisted of me getting a pair of pants and a shirt for church. I brought a pair, but I left them in Portland at the dry cleaner. I had been unable to pick them up Thursday, so I am hoping my mom will be able to, and bring them back. Even if she doesn't I will have clothes to wear for the next couple Sundays. Once that was all done, it was off to Twin Falls, which was about 90 minutes away.

The Twin Falls temple is gorgeous. We were able to get some good pictures and it was a beautiful day, so that was great. The only bad thing was that it was a very windy day in Idaho, so Ellie and I don't have the greatest hair in the world, but I don't know that I have ever had great hair. After that it was off to Iona!

It took us about 2 hours to get to Iona, and since it was such a beautiful day, I decided to stop by the Idaho Falls temple and get some pictures. We had to go about 0.27 miles out of our way to stop there, so I thought it would be worth it. Unlike Boise, I think Idaho Falls is one of my favorite temples. Granted my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were all sealed there, so I am a little biased, but I think it quite beautiful.

After that, we drove into Iona, had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, and I visited with my grandparents for the rest of the evening. It has been nearly 8 years since I have last been here, which is at least 7 years to long. This part of Idaho isn't necessarily anything special to look at. However, the great thing is this is where half of my family is from. Just thinking about coming here, and then being here has brought back so many wonderful memories (Ben running around the house barefoot in the snow, playing at the Dennings, the Christmas parties, going to Great-Grandma's house, the trips to Palisades). I am so grateful that I can bring Ellie here to a place that is so special to me. Hopefully one day, she will be able to come back and experience things that she will remember for the rest of her life.

So there you have it. Ellie's first night in Iona. Tomorrow is church and the Rexburg temple. Monday is Swan Valley and square ice cream cones! Today's stats 604 miles, 9 hours, 3 temples, 2 grandparents, 1 new state and the start of a fun weekend.