Kristie and I decided to drive up to Idaho for the long weekend to hang out with family and spend some time away. Lacey had just finished competing (and kicking butt) at the State Track meet at BSU when we arrived. We really wanted to be there for it, but I couldn’t get out of work on Friday. Luckily mom and dad Tanner recorded the races so we still got to watch them that night.

Ever watched track events in slow-motion rewind? I’m telling you, it’s better than the real thing. Try it.

Sometimes I oversimplify and poke fun at track just to tease Kristie. She did track all through high school (where she still holds school records!) and loves it. While Kristie sees track as a complex discipline that requires skill, strategy and stamina, I’m thinking, “does this actually require a coach? just run faster than the guy next to you!” But, I readily admit to my ignorance–one could oversimplify any sport (i.e. Soccer, Step 1 of 1: Kick ball in net).

Anyways, Saturday morning Cole and I dug a bunch of dirt out of a window well to try to find where water was leaking into the basement. The process required one of us to be down in the hole filling up 5-gallon buckets with dirt while the other hauled them up with rope and carted them away to the garden. It was good manly work that probably went a long way towards improving our shirtless physiques. The rest of the day was spent doing yard work, jogging, hanging around and just enjoying our time to relax. That night we watched The Village, which I’d actually never seen before, and enjoyed it. It sparked an unusually long discussion about ethics that got the whole family involved.

On Sunday we went to church and ate a terrific home cooked dinner. It was so nice to be around family. Later on we had a bonfire the fire pit in the grove of trees out behind the house. It was so warm and cozy that we ended up dragging out 5 sleeping bags to sleep out under the stars.

On Monday, the Wagstaff’s invited us over for a Memorial Day BBQ/pool party, which was awesome, despite the sudden torrential downpour that arrived halfway through the event. Here’s a picture of Chase Wagstaff, me, Kristie, Lacey, mom and dad after getting out of the rain (I wish Cole were in it too, but he was the man behind the lens)

It was hard to leave (as always).