Seaside, Oregon

We took a 5 day road trip with our friends to Seaside, Oregon. It was our first time to the Oregon Coast. After a long 10 hour car ride, we were so excited to see to our beach house. It was the perfect getaway-I'm sure we'll do it again in the future. We were able to find sand dollars, crabs, build sand castles, and excercise all along the sandy Oregon Coast. The water is freezing, so we didn't do any swimming, although at the aquarium, Jake got his fair share of water. There was this seal, named Raegan, who soaked Jake by splashing him everytime Jake threw him a little fishy treat. It was so funny, we couldn't stop laughing. One day we decided to go on a hike to a lighthouse that was just across the OR/WA border. And of couse we had to support the Dairy Industry by visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory, which was along Highway 101. We couldn't leave without cheese curds and ice cream-so delicious! Our trip was just what we needed, thanks Austin and Keely for the a nice summer break!

It's crazy how far you have to travel to meet up with your neighbors! We visited and did a little shopping with Lyle and Kelly one afternoon.

Sawtooth Relay

This last weekend Jake ran in the Sawtooth Relay. It is a 63 mile race from Stanley to Ketchum. It's a pretty big race, there were over 300 teams. Jake and five of his friends from work have been training for the past two months. Jake did great and because he was the youngest he had a tough leg too, up Galena Summit-the mountain pass between Stanley and Ketchum. I was the team's volunteer, but I didn't have to do much besides direct cars for a couple hours. At the end of the race there was a huge party at the park with tons of people, music, and free food.

This race was a great opportunity for us to go camping too. Sun Valley is such a pretty area, it kind of reminds us of home. Even though there were rain clouds taunting us, we were able to stay dry and have a good time. We cooked good food, played cards, and went exploring. We also drove up to Redfish Lake near Stanley. It was a little chilly outside, but we still enjoyed the drive and also went to a fish hatchery nearby. The scenery is so beautiful, we want to go fishing up there some time. Later that afternoon we walked around the shops in Sun Valley. I was such a lucky girl because Jake ended up buying me some new sunglasses for my birthday. Our friends from Twin, Austin and Keely, joined up with us later that night. We had a fun time and are already planning our next camping weekend.

Love the Outdoors

We had such a fun weekend! The cool part was that the whole thing wasn't even planned, we were just being a young sporadic couple. We went motorbiking in Paradise Valley, camping in Challis, and fishing on the Salmon River. I don't know how we fit it all in, but we did and it was a blast! After several attempts, Jake finally conquered this beastly hill.

Neither of us had ever gone steelhead fishing before, but Jesse and Kyle did a great job coaching Jake through the whole process. This was Jake's first steelhead.

Night Skiing

We wanted to enjoy the last of the winter months before spring so we went night skiing at Pomerelle, a ski resort about one hour east of Twin. We got there around 4:00 PM so we were able to get 2 hours of daylight skiing/snowboarding in before they flipped on the huge lights that lit up the mountain. After watching the Winter Olympics for the past two weeks, I guess you could say that we were itching to test our own skills on the snow. It was kind of funny to see Jake immitate "Speedy" Peterson on every jump he hit. I gave him a perfect 10, for the Kunz family gold medal! The snow was great, which was really strange seems how 6 miles away there wasn't a snowflake on the ground! We had a good time and were able to get our moneys worth, that's for sure!

Shoshone Falls

Now that we're all settled in our new apartment here in Twin Falls, we decided that we should take a look at Shoshone Falls. Jake hadn't ever been there before so he was pretty excited. We walked around the trails and learned that it is referred to as the Niagra of the West. There's more water running over the falls right now because of the early spring run-off. Despite the blue skies and no snow, it was still pretty chilly outside yesterday afternoon. We both grew up in Teton Valley, one of the most beautiful places on the earth, yet we found it kind of interesting to think about how Shoshone Falls can be just as gorgeous, just a different kind of beautiful.

When we were up in Driggs visiting over the weekend, we decided to enjoy the snow a little. It was our Annual Husband/Wife Snowmobile Ride. We got together with our friends and cooked tin foil dinners up in the mountains. Normally Jake and I can put together a good tin foil dinner, but this time Sid and Tracy trumped us with their steak, potatoes, and carrots. To top it off, Tracy made some awesome cookies! Riding double on the snowmobile in the mountains is sometimes challenging when you have to side hill or go up a steep slope. In fact, I couldn't hang on tight enough to Jake in a couple of spots, so I got dumped off. He'd have to turn around, then come pick me up and hit it again. We look forward to this every year and lucky for us it was another perfect day in Teton Valley.

Stastna Cesta

I finally had a reason to get a passport! We took two weeks off from work and went on a vacation to Europe. We visited Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. My favorite place was Prague; oh, I can't wait to go back one day! We saw the history of Berlin, went rock climbing in Germany, rode trains through the country, toured kings' and queens' castles, ate traditional Czech cuisine, explored secret caves in the mountains, went to the Scottish Games, experienced the busy life of Prague, walked across Charles Bridge, saw the presidents of both Germany and the Czech Republic, relaxed at the spa, cruised the cobblestone streets by tram, ate at least one Studenska chocolate bar a day, went to a karaoke bar, shopped :) and spent all of Jake's money, walked through more churches and cathedrals than I can even count, and enjoyed every minuted of it! Jake loves Europe and really wanted to take me there. Spending time away from our school, work, and cell phones gave us the opportunity to grow closer and fall in love all over again. It was such an enjoyable experience, but two weeks didn't give us enough time to see everything we wanted to see. Oh well, I guess that just means that we have to take another vacation to Europe some day.

Girls Camp

As you can see I haven't posted anything since April, well it was about that time that I became the Girls Camp Director for my ward. Our ward was in a bind because something came up and the original director was moving. So I had to hustle to get things all planned and in order before June. That's right we went during the first part of June when all the weather knew how to do was rain! Luckily we had a couple afternoons of sunshine and cabins. Sometimes it is nice to get done with girls camp week so that the rest of the summer is open for other fun things. We had dutch oven dinners and good traditional breakfasts, mmm...probably one of my favorite parts about camping. The girls were so awesome and I'm going to miss them! They really made me feel like a teenage girl again. We stayed up late playing games and snacked on food as if we were royalty. I don't think any of them ever complained about preparing meals, and they were always asking "What can I do to help?" Along with the girls, I had amazing leaders who would bend over backwards if I asked them to. All in all, the experience was so fun and I learned a couple things that would improve girls camp next year.

We painted little wooden cars one afternoon for hospitalized children for a craft/service activity. They turned out so dang cute!

I hope I never get too old for Girls Camp!