Falls Creek

On Tuesday I went with my trail riding class to Falls Creek. I was really excited to ride again because I missed last week's class. I was so disappointed that I wasn't there last week, so it felt really good to be riding again.

On the way to Falls Creek, we saw river otters and a pelican. Both ocean-type animals that were hanging out near a river in Idaho. My teacher said that seeing river otters is a really rare thing. They were so cute.

The ride was beautiful. We rode through the woods, most of the ride. Also, the weather was perfectly warm and Captain was mostly well-behaved throughout the day.

While we were riding, I started thinking about ticks. We were in a pretty heavily wooded area, so I started to become worried that maybe a tick would drop on me. I asked the teacher, "If a tick bites you, can you feel it?" He said no. Then he told a story about how he was on the same ride we were on a few years ago and he found 20 ticks on his back. Just on his shirt, not biting him.

I was concerned. When I came home, I took off my over shirt to find... you guessed it, a tick! It was crawling up my arm. He hadn't bitten me yet. So I screamed and flicked him into the sink and turned on the water. Then I checked myself about 50 times to see if the tick had any other friends that had gotten around to biting me. There weren't any, thank goodness. I think I would have cried if I had found one.

Despite my close run-in with the tick, this was my favorite day of Trails so far.

The river otters

This horse and his rider fell into the river. Yup.

Lots of cows. 

Boise

For Memorial Day weekend we went to Jacob's aunt's house in Boise. I was expecting to have fun, but we had a BLAST!

On Friday afternoon we left home and drove the five hours to Boise.

When we arrived, we saw both family members we haven't seen since the wedding and also family members that I have never met before. I met Gris, who is Aunt Vicky's silly chihuahua mix. He is hilarious. McKinsey and Peanut offered to do my hair and makeup, so I spent some time in the bathroom with them while they made me pretty. I loved it.

The rest of Friday night we spent time talking to Jacob's family, eating, and cuddling with Gris.

Look at his tongue sticking out!

Gris is wrapped up in the blanket.

On Saturday Jacob and I went shopping with all his cousins. We ate in the food court and then shopped at Forever 21. (The boys sat outside the store on a couch for most of the time...) I shopped around with Peanut, mostly. I bought a long blue Aztec-looking shirt, an undershirt, and an African-looking black and white scarf. They are all really cute.

A strangely-placed door that Jacob thought was cool.

Peanut didn't want me to take a picture of her.

After shopping, we went to a graduation party thrown by a friend of Jacob's family. We ate, talked, and some people played volleyball. (I did not. Which shouldn't be a surprise to most people who know me. I stayed inside and talked with Alex.)

People playing volleyball. 

Also, Jacob, Peanut, McKinsey, and I were given a tour of their farm. There were miniature ponies, chickens, pigs, and lots of cows. We had a lot of fun petting them all.

This calf was sucking on my jeans. 

Peanut with a cuddley calf.

Kinsey with her favorite mini pony.

After the party, nine of us went to see "The Avengers." I was really excited to see it. I felt like the movie had the underlying theme of using only green energy and I hate it when movies try to push any one opinion. But whatever. I can look past it because the movie was really, really cool. Lots of action.

We spent the rest of the night just hanging out and we went to sleep really late. Of course.

Peanut took "ghost" pictures of me.

On Sunday we didn't have church until 1:00, so we were able to relax, talk, and eat breakfast/lunch slowly. I wish so much that Jacob and I had church at 1:00 PM at home. It's brutal waking up for church at 9:00 AM on a Sunday morning. It really is.

After church, Mama Bert and Aunt Vicky cooked in the kitchen for hours making the family a delicious dinner. There was a lot of food to make because there were just so many dang people. (There were 16 people there by Sunday.) We ate good Southern cooking and it was delicious! And of course, we spent the rest of the day eating and talking. Jacob, Jason, and Peanut played piano for, like, three hours. They came up with a "monster" song, which contained "rawrs" at different parts.

On Monday morning people started leaving. : ( McKinsey braided my hair into a fishtail braid. It was beautiful.

Jacob and I stayed the latest of all the guests, talking with Aunt Vicky, Uncle Ken, McKinsey, and Mama Bert. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend.

I love Jacob's family. I had so much fun over the weekend. I felt so welcomed and loved by them. I especially love Mama Bert. She is Jacob's grandma. She will be going on another mission soon. Jacob and I want to do everything we can to have a guest house or extra wing of our house so that Mama Bert can come live with us whenever she needs to or wants to. She is so much fun to be around. She is the most loving, caring, and selfless person I have known. I just love her.

Jacob and I keep saying we wish the weekend hadn't ended. We wish we were still in Boise, eating too many sweets and staying up late talking with his family. I hope we can go back to his Aunt Vicky's house very soon.