Open House Opportunity and Fishing Fun

My dad and sisters Hannah and Kayla took a whirlwind trip from Texas to Idaho last week that may or may not have been centered around the BYU football home opener. Lucky for us, we got to see them. First, we met up in Brigham City to see the temple open house. Then, onward to Idaho to see the crew there and enjoy dinner out. Afterward, we roasted marshmallows around a fire and pondered such things as the Sasquatch and Cindy's and my history of dancing inside spandex bags. Saturday was all Grandpa-treat. He made us pancakes, then busted out the fishing gear he brought all the way from Texas. My kids (notably Josh) have been excited to fish with Grandpa for a while, so this was a treat. And then gone that night . . . a whirlwind.

The temple in Brigham City is gorgeous, and I felt very grateful to have a chance to bring my kids to it. I still remember going through an open house in Dallas when I was very little, and hope that the rare chance to actually go inside a temple will leave an impression upon my children.

Water is a kid-magnet.

Josh and Noah were VERY excited to sit by Aunt Hannah and Aunt Kayla on the bus. After  sitting by them on the way there, they made big plans for the way back. Apparently Josh told Hannah that his mom only lets him wear cool underwear, and attempted to show her. On the bus to the temple. Sweet.

The whole crew in front of the temple.

This picture cracks me up because it illustrates the beauty of taking pictures with kids.

Aunt Hannah bought the kids ice cream cones on the way to the fire. Amazing night.

Andrew's excitement at finally getting one is adorable. Just today he told a friend that he got "ice cream and marshmallows in a fire."

You can barely see the roaster Josh is holding, but you can tell he's having a great time.

Matching monkey-outfit boys all ready to fish . . . or to walk around the reservoir for a couple of hours.

Josh was one of the first to start fishing. He was SO excited to go, and it started out pretty relaxing for him.

Andrew was super proud of the "cup" he found.

Beckett and Andrew said they were "making dinner" as they played around in the dirt. 

Kristen and Lissy love eachother

Noah is an adoring big brother

Josh was still going strong an hour later - but sunk to his knees in mud.

Sophie caught a fish . . .

Noah caught a fish and Sophie offered to hold it for the picture . . .

Check out Braden's boots. Yeah, they're down there.

Noah caught another fish . . .

After messing around for a few hours, Andrew decided he'd try his hand at fishing. He caught one right away.

 . . . then he caught another one right after that.

At this point, my dad and Josh had been fishing for about 3 hours. Josh had been fishing almost the entire time, and was the only one who hadn't caught anything. Hannah, Lissy, and I were sitting in the dirt feeling a bit hungry, but we didn't want to leave until Josh caught a fish . . . We held our breath with each cast. He got many, many bites, and eventually . . .

Josh caught a fish! He was extremely excited. The next day he was in the shower and I heard him singing, "I caught a fish, yeah, I caught a fish, yeah . . ." THANK YOU, Grandpa!