Marathon Trip

Mr. Giovannoni has a goal of running 4 marathons in a year. This weekend he completed Marathon number three in Ashton Idaho.

We decided since we were already out and about that we were going to try to make this road trip a fun little vacation for our family.
Early Friday morning we loaded up the car and headed up through Idaho and on into West Yellowstone!

Friday August 27, 2010
We only had a few hours to spend in a place that needs at least a weeks worth of time, but we made the most out of what we could. We arrived at the lower basin geysers first so we stopped to check out Fountain Paint Pots.
The picture at the top really did look like a boiling pool of paint! It smelled like rotten eggs too, but I was awed at the vast amounts of color and scenery, what an amazing world we live in!
Next we headed to good Old Faithful.

After Old Faithful erupted we hiked around the area,
taking in all of the other mud pots and geysers in the area.
The colors and sheer variety of nature were awesome, no two places looked felt or smelled alike.
With only a few minutes to spare before we had to head back to Idaho for the pre-race dinner (which we had already paid for) I made Mr. Giovannoni take me to Sapphire Pool and I'm really glad he did, it was absolutely beautiful!
Doesn't it make you think of paradise?
It's so deceptive, who would think it was a boiling pool of water, it looks so inviting!

There were a million other places in Yellowstone we wanted to go and see, but we ran out of time. So we reluctantly headed back to Idaho.
On our way out of Yellowstone we ran into a small traffic jam and here is why,
I never realized just how BIG bison are!
Other than a fox, and a few geese here and there, this bison was all the wildlife we saw on our short trip.
Yellowstone really is a fantastic place! We can't wait to go back and spend a few days there taking our time, instead of rushing around!

Saturday August 28, 2010
Marathon Day
Dylan got to race down the finishing stretch with his Dad!

Way to go Babe, you got number three in the bag!
I think it's really fun to watch marathoners cross the finish line, I'm always surprised to see the variety of people who actually finish a marathon, it's inspiring.

Alivia snuck in on Dad and Dylan's after marathon picture.
After the marathon Mr. Giovannoni drove us up to
lower Mesa Falls, so we could see where he ran.
Right after we got back in our car from the Falls it started to rain something fierce!
Luckily the terrible terrible hail storm didn't hit us until after we were out of the canyon. I don't think I've ever been out in a storm like that. The hail just pounded and pounded our car, I thought for sure we where going to have to send our car to a repair shop after that storm!
After the storm settled down we headed back down to our Hotel in Rexburg, where the kids and I were looking forward to a nice relaxing swim in our hotel pool.
Our plans were cut short though, when we put our toes in the pool and realized the thing wasn't heated! It was FRIGID!
So we did our best to get our swimming fix by hanging out in the hot tub for a few minutes.
We had also planned to visit Bear World later that afternoon, but the weather never cooperated.
I guess we will just have to put that on our agenda too, for the next time we head out that way.

After a little down time at the hotel, we all headed out to Firth Idaho to do dinner with our friends Anna and Jake.
Their place was so cute, I could totally see myself happy as a hen living out in farm country like that. They were so nice to have us over and Anna's ham and wild rice soup was really delicious.
Thanks Anna and Jake for having us, it was fun!

Sunday August 29, 2010
It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun.
We decided to drive our kids past a few of Idaho's temples on our way home.
First up was the Rexburg Temple.
After which we headed to the Idaho Falls Temple.
They were both Beautiful.
I especially loved looking out on the river from behind the Idaho Falls temple.
I also loved that under each tree at the temple grounds they labeled what kind of tree it is.
I'm nerdy like that!

Mr. Giovannoni drove the entire trip without complaint, even thought the reason I came along was so I could drive and he could rest. The kids were pretty good too.
I feel really lucky and quite blessed that we got to go on this marathon trip and that we all stayed safe and happy.

5 Months Old

Dear Isaac,

You have brought me nothing but JOY these last 5 months. Oh how I love you!

4 month highlights
You started eating rice cereal at 4 and a half months,
because YOU were convinced you HAD to have it....
and I gave in because you looked at me just right with those big blue eyes.
You are pretty darn good at eating the stuff too.

Your bottom right tooth made it's grand entrance,
and your left one isn't far behind.

You are still happy and social and good natured most of the time,
although on rare occasions we get a glimpse of a determined and fiery temper.
Although, you wouldn't be a child of Mr. Giovannoni and I's if you didn't have a fiery temper and stubborn disposition at least some of the time!

Second Grade

Watch out Mrs. Jimenez,
here comes Dylan!

Father and Son

I wasn't at this particular event so I can't really blog much about the actual events that took place, but I can say that this very event just goes to prove the love of a father for his son.

Dylan and his dad attended our wards Father and Son(s) camp out.
I guess sleeping in the car works just as good as sleeping in a tent!
They hiked to Donut Falls too.
Dylan, If you ever question whether your father loves you, just remember that he totally crawled out of his comfort zone to take you to this!

Dinosaur Land

Last weekend Derik and I took the kids on a little get away.

Dylan is really interested in dinosaurs right now, so we decided to take him back out to Dinosaur Land in Vernal Utah.
The last time we went Dylan was just a toddler. Most of that trip turned out pretty great, except for the major trip "ruiner" we experienced when we drove off with my brothers camera still on top of the car!

We loaded up our little Mazda 5 on Friday morning and hit the road. The kids were great the entire 4 hour drive and the Mr. and I got to have a few great conversations. We stayed at the Dinosaurland KOA again, we really like it there. They have a pool, a miniature golf area, a playground for the kids and on Friday nights they blow up a screen and play a movie for all it's guests. They even do a pancake breakfast on Saturday mornings.
My Brother Nyles was even kind enough to lend us his 6 man tent, because our 2 man tent won't do the job for our family anymore. Thanks so much Nyles! I had to laugh though when we pulled the tent out to set it up I noticed one of the main poles had been snapped. After some pretty ingenious Jimmy-Riggin Derik and I got the tent put up.

Our kids really do love to camp.

This just happened to be Isaac's second straight weekend of camping in a tent and sleeping on the hard ground, he did pretty good for not having his own bed and air-conditioning!

After we set up the tent we took the kids to the Utah Field House of Natural History to see the dinosaur bones exhibits.

Couldn't resist this shot of Livie pouting, I think we have one of Dylan doing the same thing on his first trip here.We'll call her the Pout-tee-a-saurus

And I think we'll call this one the get-out-of-my-face-a-saurus
And this pictures proof that the Mr.-a-saurus really did come along!
After the museum we hopped back in the car and drove around Vernal.
We had to stop and get a picture of our kids at the Vernal Temple!
After which we went back to camp and enjoyed some time in the pool.

My kids favorite part of the whole trip was the pool. They LOVED it!
Dylan told us this was the BEST vacation ever!

On Saturday the Mr. went for a 20 mile run, after which we went to JB's for a breakfast buffet. Then we headed back to the pool to cool off.
Part of the reason why we go chose to go to Dinosaur Land this past weekend is because the Uintah County Fair was going on down there as well.
So after our swim we headed down to the fair
The kids got to be farmers
and milk some cows
After which they got to redeem their vegetables and milk for a little treat at the end.

I loved looking at all the quilts and photography
And the kids loved the decorated cake table
Once we finished with the activities at the fair we took the kids to get an ice cream.
Then the Mr. dropped Miss Livie, Isaac and myself back off at camp and he and Dylan headed off to the Demolition Derby.
Sunday morning we packed up our little camping spot and drove home.
It really was a quick trip but I think we all enjoyed almost every minute of it!
I'm thinking we will have to do this again next year when the Dinosaur Quarry is back open!