Silverwood Amusement Park August 2020

 We stayed in Idaho one more day after riding the Hiawatha Bike trail so we could go to the Silverwood Amusement Park.  I was a little nervous about getting COVID 19, but we decided it was worth the chance.  We had a fun day together as a family at Silverwood. It isn't Disneyland, but it was still fun.  Silverwood has rides and a water park.  The kids had a great time together. Neil spent a lot of time making sure everyone had water on the hot day.  Aaron loved the rides. Aaron and I rode the boats with water cannons several times. Aaron loved the little airplanes he could make go up and down.  It was a fun day and no one got sick after being there. Hooray!!

Here are some pictures from our day in Silverwood:

Riding the Hiawatha Trail 2020

 In June 2015 I attended a Relief Society training in Billings. As part of that training, Elder Vern P. Stanfill of the Seventy gave a talk.  As part of his talk, he shared a recent experience of riding the Hiawatha Bike Trail. His story intrigued me. As I was taking notes I wrote that I someday wanted to ride the Hiawatha Bike Trail.  I went home after and told Neil that I thought it would be a wonderful experience to take our family to ride the Hiawatha Trail.  

I was very surprised and excited when a few short months later I heard Elder Stanfill talk in October General Conference and he again shared his experience of riding the Hiawatha Trail.  I was so excited that I already knew the story and had heard him share it personally.  I really loved his talk and was once again excited to someday ride the Hiawatha Trail.  Here is a link to his talk entitled Choose the Light:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2015/10/choose-the-light?lang=eng

I never really thought we would get to ride the Hiawatha Trail, but I really wanted to.  I looked up information online and thought about getting to ride the Hiawatha Trail.  In 2019 Neil and I went to the Hiawatha Trail and walked part of it.  We walked through the Taft Tunnel that Elder Stanfill talked about.  It was a wonderful experience. I told him that I thought the kids would really like to have the experience of riding the Hiawatha Trail someday.

In 2020 our planned family vacation to Disneyland was canceled due to COVID 19. We talked about doing something as a family and decided we would go to Idaho and ride the Hiawatha Trail.  Neil did some creative thinking to figure out how to get the tandem bike, bike cart, and 5 other bikes in the back of the van so we could ride without having to rent bikes.  

Our adventure almost took a wrong turn when we discovered the motel rooms we had booked in Idaho turned out to be in Indiana.  We got it all straightened out and got new rooms in Idaho before we left. 

We left on Sunday after church and drove as far as Butte, Montana.  Emma, Neil, and I went for a walk through the Butte historical district while the others stayed at the motel.  

Monday morning we got up and drove the last 4 hours to the Hiawatha Trail.  It took a bit of work to get all the bikes up and going. Julia and MaryAnne decided they would be the shuttle drivers instead of riding bikes. They dropped us off and drove down the mountain to wait for us at the bottom. I thought Aaron would have fun riding in the bike cart, but looking back on it he probably would have enjoyed waiting in the van and watching a movie more.  

The Taft Tunnel is right at the beginning of the trail. It is 1.6 miles long and very dark.  I was kind of nervous about biking it, but did alright.  The boys went ahead of us and when they got to the end of the tunnel they came back and found us.  It was fun to see how much they were enjoying the experience together.  We didn't think to put the cover down over the kids in the bike cart when we started the tunnel and they ended up very muddy. Aaron wasn't too happy about getting mud flicked on him.

Here are some pictures from when we finished the long tunnel:

There are a total of 10 tunnels and 7 trestle bridges on the trail.  As I biked through the 2nd tunnel I thought my light wasn't working as well. It wasn't as long as the Taft tunnel, but I sure felt like I couldn't see very well. When I got out I realized I hadn't taken my sunglasses off.  I guess we can do things to hinder the light in our lives.

It was a beautiful day to bike the Hiawatha trail, and I truly loved the experience together. Thankfully the 15 mile trail is mostly downhill (at least if you only go one way). Matthew won the award for biking the most miles because he came back up the trail to find us after he finished.  I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to experience this as a family.  

Here is a link to read more about the Hiawatha trail if you are interested.

https://www.ridethehiawatha.com/the-trail

4th of July Clogging 2020

If all of the craziness in our world today clogging on the 4th of July continued but was different this year.  There weren't nearly as many people there to watch, which was fine with me.  We missed Bethany being there to clog with us. I think it is the only 4th of July (except while she was on her mission) that she hasn't clogged since 2004.  That is a lot of clogging in Cody.  It was fun to have Romney Andreasen come up from Utah and clog with us. We worked hard throughout the week to get her caught up. It really helped me be more prepared to perform.  

Lydia really grew a lot this year as a clogged. She gained more confidence.  It was fun to dance Cotton Eyed Joe together.

After the parade, we went and bought a carton of ice cream and ate the whole thing at the park before going to perform. Romney pick Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream. It was yummy!

Well, clogging is done for the summer because there isn't a fair to perform at this year.  Maybe next year things will be back to more normal.  

Almost too pretty to eat

This summer I have been having the kids work in teams to take a night to cook dinner.  MaryAnne and Julia team up on Wednesday evening.  Julia is usually in charge of cooking dinner and MaryAnne is in charge of a dessert.  We have eaten some really yummy desserts on Wednesday nights.  Last week MaryAnne made a chocolate mousse cake.  It looked so pretty and so much like the picture in the cookbook. I don't often have food look as good as the cookbook picture.  It was Rebecca's birthday so we said that it was a birthday cake for her.  It was almost too pretty to eat, but we ate it anyway. It tasted even better than it looked!

It has been fun to have the kids cook. At least once a week they know there is something they like.  They do a good job and it lets me have time to do other things.  I think it has been a good thing all the way around.

Heart Mountain Hike 2020

Matthew and Joshua decided they should go hike Heart Mountain because Joshua had never done that.  Neil and Dallin went along. Neil is the guest writer for this post.  I think this hike was about all Joshua could handle. Matthew and Dallin didn't even seem sore after the hike. 


"I tagged along with Matthew, Dallin, and Joshua in hiking Heart Mountain this week. We started out early before it got too hot and had a good morning. It was the first time Joshua had ever hiked Heart Mountain. He did a great job and didn’t complain, even when he was getting tired. I think we wore him out though. The most excitement of our trip occurred when we were getting close to getting back to the car when Joshua and Dallin both stepped about a foot away from a rattlesnake by the side of the trail. It rattled at them and slithered into a nearby sagebrush. It sure got the boys' attention! Thankfully no one was bitten but it was kind of cool to see. We also saw some deer, pronghorns, butterflies, birds, and a few mosquitos. It took us about 12,500 steps to get to the top and then only about 10,250 steps to get back down. It is an incredible view on top of Heart Mountain as you can see in a long way in all directions up on top."