Road Trip & Friends

On Wednesday, October 12th we took off on another road trip for Jonny & Emilee's wedding that would be in Rexburg, Idaho on Friday. We decided to take it a little slower rather than just driving straight through and got to see some beautiful scenery along the way. I loved seeing the beautiful Teton mountains, and we got lucky enough to see two huge golden eagles. They were actually sitting on the fence, and then flew off to catch an animal. They were beautiful!

The trip was a little rough on Emily. She still isn't a huge fan of long road trips and was so excited to be out of the car when we finally arrived in Idaho Falls. In fact, it was painful to try and get her in her car seat for any amount of time over the entire following week! She would just fight and cry. Poor girl.
We were so excited when we found out the wedding would be in Rexburg, because we have some very dear friends who live in Idaho Falls, and it gave us the perfect chance to go visit and spend the night with them.

Jeff and I first met the Rhinehart family right after we were married. They were kind enough to let us stay with them while we looked for an apartment in Philadelphia. We quickly became good friends and over the next few years we spent many happy times together. We would frequently have Sunday dinners, birthday parties, and date nights. Jeff and I loved their kids and have some fun memories of babysitting and playing. At that time they only had Tanner, Madsen, & Camilla. I have some darling pictures that I need to pull out sometime. Jacob was born in January '04 and Ella was born a few months after. We said goodbye to them when they left in the spring of 2004 and although we kept in touch, we hadn't seen them since Brad graduated from optometry school. So we were beyond excited to have the chance to see them on the trip. We met up with them at the park on Thursday afternoon and got to see Tanner, Madsen, & Camilla at their cross country meet which was so fun! We headed back to their beautiful home afterwards where we enjoyed a yummy pizza dinner and lots of catching up. The evening passed way too fast.
Emily loved having some big sisters for the evening. Camilla, Ella, and Anna were so sweet to her. They had a blast playing with the puppy, and with other games.
I still couldn't get over how grown up all the kids are. I loved spending the evening together and watching the kids have so much fun together. I only wish we lived closer and saw each other more than once every so many years. It was a good excuse to let the kids stay up late playing together before they all had to go to bed though.
Brad and Heather are such wonderful, amazing people and we feel so fortunate to call them our friends. Heather is one of my very favorite people and greatest role models. She has such a fun personality and an amazing talent of making everyone feel loved, happy, and appreciated. Exactly the type of person I hope to be someday. The time wasn't long enough- it always goes by too fast when you're with people you love- but we were grateful for all the time we had and hope it won't be too long before we can see them again. We love you guys!