Sawyer & Kaija's Utah Trip

Sawyer and Kaija went down to Utah for a relaxing few days. They stayed with Kaija's Aunt and Uncle and had a great time. Part of what Kaija got Sawyer for Valentine's Day was a fish spa experience. They did that while they were down there. So fun! They also went to the Utah Symphony, ate at yummy places, and played games with her family. 

The fish spa! Look at all the little fish eating their toes!

All done! Thanks fish!

Sawyer's first symphony!

The Utah Symphony!

Nothing makes Sawyer happier then a giant plate filled with french toast. They ate at Joe's Diner, Sushi Burrito, and Chipotle- all firsts for Sawyer.

Sushi Burrito

Playing games with Kaija's family. I think this was piranha uno.

Awe, aren't they cute!

2nd Semester BSU Trip!

We decided we are going to try to go to Boise to visit Bailey at least once each semester. Last semester we went for homecoming and watched a great football game. This semester Mark and I went over for a BSU vs. Utah State basketball game. So fun!

We got there Friday afternoon and took Bailey shopping to restock her fridge. Then we went downtown and had dinner at the Boise Fry Company. They serve good burgers and all different kinds of fries with about 10 different dipping sauces. Fun place! At the beginning of the semester, Bailey went with some friends to this old arcade and loved it. She has been dying to take us there. That's where we spent the rest of our night. For a total of $10, we had 2 hours worth of great entertainment! They have all the old school video games. It has the same low lights, loud music, and feel of the old 80s arcades. It was so fun! We played Pac Man, Ms Pac Man, 1942, Q-bert, Donkey Kong, Track and Field, Etc. 

On Saturday, we hiked the Tablerock trail (not the same one we do over the summer). It's a popular trail that goes up to a cross on the mountain and overlooks the whole city. It's really pretty in the Fall (that's when Bailey did it last semester), but we had snow! We hiked up, took pictures, and then ran down. After that, we had lunch on campus, and then went to the basketball game. It was intense! Boise was losing the entire game (usually they were down about 10 points). They rallied in the last quarter and came back and tied the game with about 2 minutes to go. We were dying! Then they went ahead for a while. Utah State came back and tied it up with 15 seconds to go! Ahhhhh! It went into overtime, and Boise lost. They lost it on free throws. BSU just couldn't make them! Such a fun game!

We hung out on campus, shopped in the Bronco Shop, and then went back downtown to have dinner at Fork. There was an hour wait, so we found the cutest little bookstore to shop in while we waited. We got a couple books and an awesome puzzle that I'm super excited to do.

Sunday morning, we toured the capital building. Bailey went to a thing on campus about women in politics, and really liked it, so she was excited to go to the capital. Now she has a goal of sitting in a house or senate session before the semester is over. We walked through downtown in the rain, had lunch on campus, and then headed home.

Bailey with her dorm fish, Bonnie and Clyde.

The arcade!

Bailey playing Q-bert.

Pac Man!

This brought back so many childhood memories!

Tablerock-it's the mountain behind them with the cross on it.

On top of Tablerock, overlooking Boise.

Basketball game!

So fun!

Buster was fun to watch! He can dance!

Tied with 2 minutes left!

Tied with 15 seconds left. BSU lost in overtime. :(

The capital building.

A replica of the liberty bell.

The building is so pretty!

The House or Senate chambers.

It was a quick, but fun trip! We love visiting Bailey to help break up her semesters!

February Snowshoeing

We did two awesome snowshoe adventures in February. Both of them were new to us. We could only get two in because the other two weekends were our 'Soup in the Snow' run, and a trip to Boise to visit Bailey.

Mesa Falls:

We snow shoed to Lower and Upper Mesa Falls. It was awesome! It was our longest snowshoe hike so far, at around 11 miles. We hiked along the rim so we were overlooking the river most of the way. We came to the lower falls first. It's so pretty in the winter! We kept going to the upper falls, and it was so worth the extra mileage. It looked so cool!

The Lower Falls

Overlooking the Lower Falls.

Lower Falls

The river at the Upper Falls.

Upper Mesa Falls

I love the rainbow!

The mountain across from the falls looked so cool. It was frozen from all the mist coming off the waterfall.

A video of the falls.

Upper Mesa Falls

We had a clear, beautiful day!

Cave Falls Area:

We tried a new trail up by Cave Falls in Ashton. At first we decided we didn't really like it. Once we realized we had been hiking on the wrong trail the whole time, and got on the right trail, we liked it a lot better. So the second half was great! Now we want to go back up there and try the 3 loops we were supposed to do, but on the right trail. I hope we have enough weekends of snow left to try it in March. Otherwise it'll be the first on our list for next season.

Valentine's Day

We had a fun Valentine's Day this year. It was a little different not having Bailey around (I always made her a fun breakfast), but I sent her a package to show the love. I left everyone's gifts on the counter for them to get first thing in the morning. Mark and I went to lunch to celebrate, and the rest of the day was business as usual. 

Bailey's package!

Sawyer got chocolate covered almonds, and the best sloth socks.

Mark got me a cupcake and a cookie.

I got Mark movie passes. We've been having fun with our weekly lunch dates, so I wanted to get us something else to do together. Now we are going to go to a movie once a month, and alternate who picks each time.

Even the puppies felt the love! :)

I made napoleons for dessert, but not until a few days later. They were super easy, and so yummy!

Happy Valentine's Day!