Idaho oh Idaho

Well folks, it's that time of the year again. The time for all Seattlites to rise triumphantly from the ashes, pull our Chacos out of storage, and maaaaaybe even crack a window. This is the moment we've been waiting for for the past nine months. Time to flee to the mountains, lakes and beaches for 16 sunny hours a day. The three glorious months where we have the best weather, the lushest lawns, and the lowest utility bills of anyone in the country. This is it! Except, not for the Ottleys. We have headed to what has (probably) been described as Southeastern Idaho's Premiere Summer Destination. That's right, you guessed it...we're in Pocatello. 

Adam is required to do a two month rotation at an away site through his residency program. There are six different sites throughout Idaho and Washington and well, here we are. I've never been to Pocatello before and don't know much about this area, despite having been 2.5 hours away from it for four years?? I set my expectations pretty low and, as these things usually go, I've been pleasantly surprised. I mean, there's a CAFE RIO! And a Costco with no lines and a playground that blows any Seattle playground out of the water. And speaking of water, there's a water park. Also, a zoo, a pretty good library, and most importantly a Cafe Rio. And if that wasn't enough, we have a constant stream of motorcycles and trucks driving by our apartment every day and Anders basically can't even handle it. Our first day here we went to Costco (duh), and when I pulled him out of his car seat he started whipping his head all around saying, "truck! truck! truck! truck!" So there's a little something for everyone here, I suppose.

But let me backtrack a tad. We had originally planned to break up the drive to Pocatello over several days but Adam's grandpa passed away and we realized we'd have to make a more hasty trip to Ogden for the funeral. The thought of sticking my squirmy toddler in his car seat for 13 straight hours was pretty unappealing to me so Adam drove and Anders and I flew in for the funeral. We spent a really nice weekend remembering Adam's Grandpa Hodson and seeing lots of immediate and extended family.

 Sitting on Great-Grandpa's tractor

 Saying goodbye to Grandpa's barn. Adam has lots of fond memories from this place. Sadly, the house and barn will mostly likely be torn down in the near future so this was probably Anders' only chance to have this experience.

We spent Sunday afternoon walking around Temple Square
 and touring the Conference Center.

And by "we" I mean this portion of Adam's family. Missing three siblings, two spouses, and seven grandchildren. Yup. It's crazy town when this family gets together.

Grandma and Grandpa with their "London babies" (one of whom is actually named London). These are the three grandchildren born while they were on their two year mission to London. It will be interesting to see how many are born during their 18 months in Denmark. So far no one is pregnant, but I told them I'd have a baby if it meant we got another free T-shirt out of the deal. haha! No, but seriously.

Before heading to Pocatello we stopped in Provo for a day. We visited with friends, did a food crawl of all our favorite restaurants, stalked our old apartments, experienced the Provo Rec Center, and took a tour of campus. Adam hadn't been back to BYU since my graduation five years ago! And more importantly, how has it been five years since I graduated college?!

 

Anders, lover of outerwear (and balls), couldn't have been more thrilled with this too-big, not at all seasonally appropriate sweatshirt. We had to pry it off him once we got outside and were afraid he might have a heat stroke. This kid!

 Adam was hoping to catch one more glance of the TA lab where he spent many hours molding the minds of BYU co-eds. Wish granted?

Apparently I sucked at taking pictures in Provo so we'll just move right along, fiiiiiinally, to Pocatello!

Anders models our very on trend couch.

Riding a fake triceratops at the library. Serious business.  

Like I mentioned, Pocatello has this amazing playground that's designed specifically for handicapped children. Meaning, lots of ramps and lots of stuff low enough for Anders' to play with. Brooklyn's Playground, I think I love you.

And that's about all there is to say so far. We're looking forward to lots of fun weekend trips and I'll be sure to post more about those. Anders and I head to Virginia in four weeks and I'm thinking the time is going to fly by.