DAD VISITS MCCALL (October)
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| We have perfected the biking selfie! |
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| Beautiful weather for a bike tour of our small town! |
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| Samuel designed and built this cabinet as a way to store the tables more efficiently. It is named "Thompson Room." I am constantly amazed at his ability in our own home to make everything run more efficiently, a trait that I do NOT possess! |
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| Dad wanted to visit Samuel at work. Here he is at his desk :) |
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| In front of Samuel's work |
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| We probably got more joy out of getting huckleberry ice cream than Dad did. |
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| Dad got to help out with chopping wood! |
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| All those years that I dressed up like a lumberjack are truly a joke now that I married a true lumberjack. And you think I'm joking? This is serious business, y'all. |
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| The weather was not entirely cooperative but it did not stop us from taking Dad kayaking/paddleboarding in Payette Lake. He was such a good sport and we outfitted him in head-to-toe rain gear :) |
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| Here he is! And Samuel is in the background on the paddleboard |
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| Baby's first ultrasound. We're a little excited. Just a little! |
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| A picture of Samuel studying for the PE exam. Not posed, actually |
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| Corn mazes are nothing to take lightly. We got lost in this thing for over an hour! It was in the shape of Jimmy Kimmel's face, ha! |
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| A hike to Lake Blanche with Nicole - huffed and puffed the whole way up. |
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| One of my goals lately is to learn how to cook amazing Asian food. This is a start! AMAZING |
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| My Korean cooking teachers :) |
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| Dinner & game nights with the Schultzes :) |
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| We celebrated our one-year-since-first-date anniversary by hiking Grandeur peak again! |
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| We even ate boiled eggs at the top like we did on our first date. |
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| Samuel, returning all of his books that he used to study and take the PE exam. I made him pose like this, lol. |
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| One of my favorite activities is a leisurely bike ride through town. |
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| Having pad see yew (sp?) & pad thai at Sawadee in honor of our first first date. Ok yeah we're sentimental. |
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| A hike up Frary Peak! Worth the climb & view! |
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| Fav hiking buddy 4 life |
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| Ensign peak strolls. |
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| Swimming & Korean food trucks with Catherine! Paid for it after with serious digestive issues. I'm sure you wanted to know that! |
THANKSGIVING IN MOAB & COLORADO!
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| Moab explorations with Angela & crew |
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| Samuel and I both agreed that this was such a relaxing couple of days with the Hays. |
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| A hike up to Jeep Arch with the whole family :) |
On to Colorado...I didn't take a ton of pictures with Samuel's family. I'm not at the point where I feel like I can whip out my camera selfie-style without feeling like a millennial. We enjoyed some awesome hikes, wonderful food, competitive strategy game-playing with the Thompson nephews, ultimate frisbee fun, Star Wars movie nights, naps, socializing, and exploring. Samuel's parents' home is run on solar, geothermal, and water energy, designed and built by Dad Thompson. It is always super enlightening to spend time with S's family because it helps me understand him better.
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| Exploring Samuel's childhood playground - a Colorado field with old, abandoned houses and wells :) |
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| The whole family enjoyed a beautiful hike in the Colorado canyons. I forgot the name of this place but it was awesome! |
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| I mentioned I loved hay bales and he indulged me in getting a picture :) He's the best. |
BACK TO SALT LAKE CITY
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| Celebrating Cathy's birthday with waffles & blueberry breakfast! So glad she was available! |
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| Blowing out the candles on her dirt cake :) It has been so fun to have her nearby; we are really going to miss them. |
BACK TO WINTERY MCCALL
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| Huckleberries are my spirit animal. Syrup here pictured. |
Winter in McCall is SO magical. It is like nothing I have ever experienced, and although I feel some trepidation in embarking on a four-month-long cold winter, I also feel a lot of excitement as I get to experience something I never have before! It is also especially magical for me because it is the time that I feel in love with Samuel last year. I especially love it later in winter when all the trees sag with feet of snow. I am looking forward to getting into more snow sports like snowshoeing and cross-country skiing this year! Samuel is the best teacher and lights up when it snows.
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| A walk through Ponderosa Park. |
Tree-cutting in McCall :)
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| We cut down this tree by one of the remote forest service buildings for our Christmas tree. Samuel was eyeing it at one of his inspections he did on the building earlier this year when he realized it would have to be cut down because of its closeness to the building. It has a wonky trunk & we decided it was symbolic of our first year of marriage (still moving up but a little strained at times, haha!) We LOVE it. |
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| Baby bump is definitely making itself known & is now warranting the touches of random strangers. :) |
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| The Rampton and Jones girls that we cut down our tree with. |
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| The Jones & Rampton boys (+ Samuel). It was a FUN group! |
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| Locations for cutting down trees are always really secretive- you have to discover them and people don't share their locations with you. I'm pretty sure we won't be looking anymore though! |
