4th of July and Camping....

So.. This year marked the FIRST 4th of July EVER that I was not in CA. It was also the first time in 4 years I didn't go to the Howard's BBQ :( I missed it, but still managed to have some fun up here in Idaho. On the 4th, we headed over to the Rexburg Parade. This marked my first small town parade and it was really a lot of fun! All the little kids were really cute and we got a ton of candy thrown at us (some of which we had to fight for). We had a lot of fun making our own parade commentary with Steph and George and then we went and BBQed hamburgers with them for lunch... thanks guys!

When Bryce and I got home, we started packing up to go camping with some couples from the ward. I wasn't super excited to go just because I had a lot of school work to do, but I had fun. We drove about an hour to the base of the Teton Mountains (which is actually Wyoming) and found our group nestled in the trees next to a raging river. It was beautiful! We hung out, made tin-foil dinners (delicious), and then drove into town (Driggs) to watch fire works.

We had heard that this Drive-in theater, "The Spud" was having a fireworks display. so we drove over there and at first it looked like we were going to have to pay to get in. Come to find out, it was completely free and they were showing "Walle" afterwards, also free of charge! What a deal! We eneded up not staying for the movie, but the fireworks were sweet.

The next morning, Bryce talked me into going on this hike to "Table Rock Mountain" which is way up near the Tetons. I figured I'd be alright (bum ankle and all) until about 45 minutes into the hike, my friend Karen, who was with us, said that it was a 5 HOUR hike to the top....and then you have to come down. I would never have come if I had known that! Anyways, we're marching along the trail and the we get to a river. We could see where the trail picked up on the other side, but this river was seriously RAGING. We looked all over for a place to cross.....nothing. So the boys decided to try and build a bridge. However, their idea of a bridge was three unstable logs.

This is what they wanted us to do...



NO WAY was I getting on that thing! One couple made it across, but Hannah and I weren't budging! Our husbands complied and turned around with us while the other couple treked on... Later, we ran into a park ranger who told us you couldn't ever get to Table Rock because there was still a bunch of snow... so we didn't feel so bad about not crossing the river. :)

P.S. Today is Melissa's Birthday and wanted to give her a shout out because she is so wonderful and I love her lots! It's also Michelle's B-day (they're twins) and I absolutely adore her too! Happy birthday ladies! Hope you two had a great day!