Gramma Carol and Grandpa Ford

Labor day weekend we packed up the van for an All American voyage up to Yellowstone. My kids had a blast. We brought a little grill and marinaded some veggies and chicken on the kabobs. Fantastic!! My oldest, Sami, and I stayed up and watched falling stars. She was mesmerized. We promised the kids that we would see some buffalo. We only saw one lousy buffalo barely on the way out. Usually there are a ton. Yellowstone was only phase one of the trip. Phase two was going to my cousin Melissa's house in Rexburg. Her husband Derek and I went fly fishing and pulled about 20 out of the drink on Saturday. A couple were even almost as big as my finger. It was fun though. Phase three is the traditional fair time in Blackfoot at my grandma and grandpa's house. Words can not describe the joviality that occurs when we step foot on that 150 acre farm. When I say we I mean all my siblings, cousins, aunts, no uncles, nieces, nephews, etc... We have so many traditions when we go there that they are hard to count. The big one is going to the Eastern Idaho State Fair. Watching people at the fair is our favorite sport. An occasional picture of a mullet or something else spectacular is fair game. Arm-wrestling, hypnotists, alligator wrestlers, monkeys that ride donkeys, are just a few of the fantastic things we have witnessed at the fair. I could write a book on the things we do at Grandmas. To name a few: Bocce tournaments, fourwheelers, swim in canal or Snake River, make movies, eat, eat and eat, drink unlimited supply of Coke, farm dinners and breakfasts, trap racoons and skunks, pick corn, watch movies, play Atari, and much much more. We have been slowly collecting photos of the farm for posterity. Here are a few more to add to the quiver.