Going HOME!

The palouse!  This is where my family moved to (Pullman, WA) right before I started high school.  This is where I went to college (WSU) and met my Mr. Right.  This is home!

After I got married, my parents moved to Moscow, ID...which is only 8 miles from Pullman.  They are still on the palouse and we love going home!

My FAVORITE spot in Moscow is the arboretum.  We always spend some time there.  My mom and I like to go there in the mornings to run :-)

 (Arboretum)

We also went to Moscow's public pool.  The kids LOVED it!

 And of course we hiked Kamiak Butte.  I have a GAZILLION memories from my high school years of Kamiak!

  My Mom & Dad :-)

 There is a play ground that the kids always play at after the hike:

So there's this little stone house that you can see from my parent's back deck.  There is no road to it.  My parents explored it a few years ago and we asked to go see it.  Doesn't that house look so content and in a perfect spot?

 

 We walked through thick long grass to get there...

 The sun was close to setting so I couldn't help taking a ton of pictures in the orange light!

 This is looking out the front window!

The floor in the house was weak and missing in spots so we had to be careful walking around, and of course we wouldn't let the kids go upstairs.  We wouldn't call it move in ready, but Aaron and I are considering it :-)  It's our dream home!

 

 

After our visit on the palouse we headed out,

stopping by Ferdinans for ice cream of course...

 (I love that I caught Violet in mid-sneeze!)

...and drove to Kennewick, WA.  This is home too!  Aaron is from Kennewick and I grew up (until I was 13) in a small town just east of it.  Aaron's parents have a pool so we swam, swam, and swam some more!

This is Rylie's infamous "pencil dive"!  She did it over and over and over again.  So funny!

Kaeli is our fish.  She is a natural in the water!

 Aaron and the cousins!

 And Violet, our little skinny-dipper!

 I love Sara's goggles!  Too cute!

 Sammy is just chillin'

Aunt Kiera (Aaron's little sis) has horses.  The kids loved going with her in the evenings to feed and brush them.  They also got to go riding!

 (Duke & Tally)

 I see little cowboy & cowgirls in the making!

While we were there we went to Jessica's (our niece) baptism.  I was so bummed we didn't get pictures of her, but here is a snap shot of our family at the gathering afterwards:

 (Can you believe everyone's eyes are open and looking forward and everyone is SMILING!!!  Amazing!)

We loved our trip HOME and wish we all lived closer!  It's worth the 11 plus hour-drive!!!

Love y'all!