2012 Summer Trip -- Visiting With Friends and Fun in Salmon, ID

After our week with Beckcy and Ramona, Lee flew back into Seattle. Lee had set up a BBQ in the park with some friends from high school. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of those who came. :( It was really fun to meet everyone, though! I think Lee's effort with the BBQ got his classmates going toward planning an actual 20-year high scool reunion. Hopefully he'll be able to make it back up for that!

We spent our last night in Seattle with Lee's good friend Tom Young. He and Lee became friends in 9th grade. He has three children also, including a daughter who is just a month younger than Melissa. Melissa is normally scared around men she doesn't know, but she loved Tom! Tom's daughter, Emme, was nice to share him. :)

 Here is a picture of Tom and Lee with their kids: Abby, Emme, Jackson, Morgan, Melissa, and Brynne.

Our last stop in Seattle was to Jack and Barbara Jenkins' home for another reunion. We got together with a bunch of friends that were in the same young adult branch at church as Lee and I. I was really excited about the number of people who were able to make it and had a great time visiting with everyone!

We stopped at Lee's sister Katie's house in Ellensburg, WA long enough for a good night's rest and a quick hello in the morning, and then we started on our journey to Salmon, ID. Then we stopped in Spokane to have lunch with Lee's dad, Trout. He took us to a restaurant that is in an old train car, which was a lot of fun. I LOVE this picture of Grandpa Trout and Melissa!



We also stopped in Missoula to have dinner with Shyra Scott, a friend of ours who used to live in Salmon. She is such a fun person and it was SO good to see her and have a chance to visit, even if it was a quick visit!

I wish we would have had time to visit all our friends in Seattle, but we didnt' have enough time this trip. Although we did make arrangements to get some ice cream at the local grocery store with Bob Shine, a guy Lee flew with at Salmon Air; and we also ran into Bob & Kelly Wilkins, Lee's bosses at the end of our time there. The majority of our time was spent making the most of play time with our friends Danny & Ruth Cockrell and their family. We went swimming in the local pool where Ruth tried to get in some Melissa-time:

 Ruth's son Jacob (and one of Jacob's cousins) took Lee bridge jumping, which was tons of fun to watch! I love zooming in on the picture below to see Lee's face! :) Lee mostly kept right up with the two young bucks he was jumping with -- even trying a few flips and tricks.

Lee and I both love Salmon and dream of moving back there one day. Great people and laid back living!

Oh How I Love Salmon, ID...

We lived in Salmon, ID for two and a half years. Even though we moved three times while there (long story), that's the longest by far that we've ever lived in one town. We made lots of good friends, and the girls and I were able to see lots of them on the way through. The Stokes family was one of the first families we met when we moved there. They have four beautiful daughters that my girls absolutely love. Only two of them were home during this visit (Carrie and Sarah), and we got a picture of my girls with them:

I didn't get many other pictures with people because I saw most of them at church. The girls and I were in church from 9 am til 4 pm (with only a break for lunch in the middle) trying to see as many people as possible.

We also took a little time to see Loryhl Davis (who I worked for a little bit in Salmon) and her kids, Katie and Kayla. They used to take my girls riding horses a lot and were planning on raising my kids up to be rodeo queens. We ended up moving, but my girls still always talk about riding horses with Katie and Kayla. They were nice enough to take us riding again. Here's Brynne with Kayla:

And here's Morgan with Katie:
When we left Salmon, we drove to Moscow, ID to stay with my Uncle Dave and his family. I hadn't been to his house since I was younger, so it was nice to stop there. He took us on a tour of Moscow and my kids got to play with my cousin Tara's kids. It was a beautiful drive to get to Moscow from Salmon, and it was a nice stop on our journey.

When we left, my Aunt Laura was nice enough to pack us a picnic lunch (yes! saved from the McD's dollar menu!). We stopped by the Columbia river to eat it. It was beautiful and would have been really enjoyable except that it was nearly 100 degrees out there. We ate fast and then opted for air conditioning.