The Haverdinks Visit

Marlon and Cora and family were just not here long enough to do everything we had on our list to show them, so we had to keep them busy the few days they were here.  We love that they visited over a weekend so they could worship with us and meet our church family since that is why we are all the way out in Boise, Idaho. 

Here are a few of the big highlights:

Grandpa treated us to frozen yogurt in the Village Saturday night.

We hiked Table Rock on Memorial Day along with the rest of Boise. (Marlon did this after he biked Camel's Back with one of our friends from church...and the rest of the bikers in Boise)

We took a day trip to Stanley and could not have ordered more perfect weather!  This excursion included a picture stop along the Payette River...

One of the State Park workers told us the river was up a foot and a half from the day before due to snow melt.  Unfortunately, this just doesn't capture how fast the river was moving or the roar it was making.

...a pit stop at the Lowman Ranger Station...(we've got proof the Suburban made it to Idaho!)

...a dip in the hot springs...

The upper pool was too hot to swim (115 degrees) and the high river covered the pools at the bottom.  The kids were able to find a small pool to enjoy, though.

...a photo opportunity in front of the Sawtooths...

These little flowers were so cute!  I had Lydia put her hand by them to give perspective to how small they were.

...and lunch and a hike near Stanley Lake.

We ate lunch at an empty campsite right at the shore of beautiful Stanley Lake.  I almost wished we had brought camping gear and stayed the night!

I knew the hike would be a little soggy because of all the snow this winter, the cool spring, and now finally a few warm days.  We did not get nearly as far as we wanted on this hike.  Walking over snow is one thing, but walking on fallen logs to portage the small lakes that had formed on the path was another.  We had a beautiful view and made lots of memories, though!

We actually took this exact same hike on our first trip to Stanley in October of 2014.   This picture was taken then.  Note how different the mountains look in May vs October!  

 The above highlights don't include all the other precious little moments of cousin time:  Settler's and other game playing, virtual reality fun, water balloon fight, late night glow bracelets, Nerf gun wars, piano duets, and Rachel's snuggle time with Smokey.