1st on the agenda: RIDES!
Ashley & Daddy in the Haunted House!
Peyton on the Flying Swings!
Ashley brushes the cow's butt...
Peyton (wisely) brushes the cow's shoulder.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Idaho State Fair 2008
Ashley & Daddy in the Haunted House! Peyton on the Flying Swings! Ashley brushes the cow's butt... Peyton (wisely) brushes the cow's shoulder. 
Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!
It rarely gets over 100 degrees in Boise, but it's been pretty hot lately. This is a picture of some candles in our backyard. : (
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
DINKs
DINK = Double Income No Kids
Jeff and I had the opportunity to remember what it was like before we had kids when we sent them to Utah for two weeks (one week with Grandma Judy and one week with Grandma Chewy). I won't lie, it was nice. On Saturday we met my mom half way in Burley and turned over control of the kids to her. Then we spent the afternoon driving through Sun Valley and Stanley. On Sunday we rode our bikes downtown and had a nice dinner at Asiago's. I think we ate out every night that week--at least, I don't remember cooking--it was either eat out or eat cereal.
Our good friends from Salt Lake, Kim & Dan, came up the next weekend for some Boise fun. We did a restaurant tour downtown on Friday night stopping at Piazza di Vino for appetizers, Pair for drinks, and Berryhill & Co. for an extremely delicious dinner. We even did some shopping along the way! On Saturday Jeff took the guys hiking in the Boise foothills while Jen slept in (another benefit of not having kids around). After breakfast we took the raft down the Boise river--it's much more mellow when Peyton and Ashley aren't there to douse us with water! Saturday afternoon we took an excursion to the Idaho wine country - yes, we have quite a collection of vineyards only 30 minutes from Boise. We capped off Saturday night with dinner at Barbacoa--Dan tells us there's a cheap taco place in Salt Lake called Barbacoa--fortunately, the Boise Barbacoa is fine dining at it's best (somewhere we couldn't go with kids!). It was a great weekend - I felt like a real adult - and it was great catching up and visiting with Kim and Dan. Thank you for coming!
While the kids were gone our friend Carolyn asked me what we would do with our time; "watch R-rated movies!" I said. Hey, not X-rated, just R-rated. Well, we did go to see Batman / The Dark Knight and it was rated PG-13 (although it should be rated R). Very good! Man, that Heath Ledger was scary. And Christian Bale can be my Batman any day.
After our guests left and we ate out at all the "grown-up" restaurants we could think of, we started missing the kids. A lot. We're used to having Peyton crawl in bed with us every night and snuggle so there was an obvious void every morning. And it was eerily quiet when Jeff and I ran out of conversation and there was no Ashley there to laugh/scream/cry. I left work early on Friday and sped to Kaysville to pick them up (Jeff had to work 'til 5:00 and I didn't want to wait for him!) I cried when I saw the kids and I think I made Peyton cry, too! We three were pretty mushy and clingy those first few days. By Sunday both of the kids just wanted to see Daddy and by Sunday night we were a family of four again. I think even Charley was glad to have them home (Figaro couldn't care less).
Moral of the Story: Absence Make the Heart Grow Fonder!
Jeff and I had the opportunity to remember what it was like before we had kids when we sent them to Utah for two weeks (one week with Grandma Judy and one week with Grandma Chewy). I won't lie, it was nice. On Saturday we met my mom half way in Burley and turned over control of the kids to her. Then we spent the afternoon driving through Sun Valley and Stanley. On Sunday we rode our bikes downtown and had a nice dinner at Asiago's. I think we ate out every night that week--at least, I don't remember cooking--it was either eat out or eat cereal.
Our good friends from Salt Lake, Kim & Dan, came up the next weekend for some Boise fun. We did a restaurant tour downtown on Friday night stopping at Piazza di Vino for appetizers, Pair for drinks, and Berryhill & Co. for an extremely delicious dinner. We even did some shopping along the way! On Saturday Jeff took the guys hiking in the Boise foothills while Jen slept in (another benefit of not having kids around). After breakfast we took the raft down the Boise river--it's much more mellow when Peyton and Ashley aren't there to douse us with water! Saturday afternoon we took an excursion to the Idaho wine country - yes, we have quite a collection of vineyards only 30 minutes from Boise. We capped off Saturday night with dinner at Barbacoa--Dan tells us there's a cheap taco place in Salt Lake called Barbacoa--fortunately, the Boise Barbacoa is fine dining at it's best (somewhere we couldn't go with kids!). It was a great weekend - I felt like a real adult - and it was great catching up and visiting with Kim and Dan. Thank you for coming!
While the kids were gone our friend Carolyn asked me what we would do with our time; "watch R-rated movies!" I said. Hey, not X-rated, just R-rated. Well, we did go to see Batman / The Dark Knight and it was rated PG-13 (although it should be rated R). Very good! Man, that Heath Ledger was scary. And Christian Bale can be my Batman any day.
After our guests left and we ate out at all the "grown-up" restaurants we could think of, we started missing the kids. A lot. We're used to having Peyton crawl in bed with us every night and snuggle so there was an obvious void every morning. And it was eerily quiet when Jeff and I ran out of conversation and there was no Ashley there to laugh/scream/cry. I left work early on Friday and sped to Kaysville to pick them up (Jeff had to work 'til 5:00 and I didn't want to wait for him!) I cried when I saw the kids and I think I made Peyton cry, too! We three were pretty mushy and clingy those first few days. By Sunday both of the kids just wanted to see Daddy and by Sunday night we were a family of four again. I think even Charley was glad to have them home (Figaro couldn't care less).
Moral of the Story: Absence Make the Heart Grow Fonder!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Grandma's
I found this poem when I was looking through a picture album my Grandpa gave me a while back. I wrote this after my freshman year in college -- my mom, Leo, Harley, and I took a trip to Nebraska and weaved our way back to Utah through Sturgis and Yellowstone (you have to love family trips to Sturgis!). Anyway, I wanted to share it because it basically says it all about the summers I spent in West Point, Nebraska, with Grandma and Grandpa.
Ahhh...vacation. A vacation to Grandma's house is like no other. Someone at work asked me why: “Because it's Grandma's, duh," I said. Some people just don't understand.
Grandma's is fried chicken and mashed potatoes, peach pie, and favorite desserts. It's frozen chocolate chip cookies dipped in morning-old java and all-you-can-eat french toast feasts. At Grandma's, the scale is hidden in the bathroom cupboard and the pounds you gain are laughed at and not cared about.
Grandma's is crisp clean sheets and falling asleep to chirping crickets after a nighttime bath. It's patio picnics and Grandpa's flowers and crimson radishes from his garden. With Grandma's comes West Point and brick-lined Main Street, Smitty's, and Graybeals. It's the essence of small-town life and the idea that gold is wrapped in a green husk.
jro 7/25/96
Ahhh...vacation. A vacation to Grandma's house is like no other. Someone at work asked me why: “Because it's Grandma's, duh," I said. Some people just don't understand.
Grandma's is fried chicken and mashed potatoes, peach pie, and favorite desserts. It's frozen chocolate chip cookies dipped in morning-old java and all-you-can-eat french toast feasts. At Grandma's, the scale is hidden in the bathroom cupboard and the pounds you gain are laughed at and not cared about.
Grandma's is crisp clean sheets and falling asleep to chirping crickets after a nighttime bath. It's patio picnics and Grandpa's flowers and crimson radishes from his garden. With Grandma's comes West Point and brick-lined Main Street, Smitty's, and Graybeals. It's the essence of small-town life and the idea that gold is wrapped in a green husk.
jro 7/25/96
My Grandma
My grandma passed away a couple of weeks ago and I will truly miss her. She was a very special person and one of the strongest women I've ever known. I'm at peace knowing that she was warmly welcomed into Heaven after a life living God's word. Grandma--give Grandpa a big hug for me and know that I love you both very much!
View the OBITUARY
Banks Family Reunion in McCall!
The stage was set July 9th for 5 days of family fun with the Banks in McCall. I sent Jeff and the kids up early to spend quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Chewy...even Great Grandma and Grandpa Banks made the trip for the 1st part of the week. You have to love Idaho!
I hopped on the Greyhound on Wednesday morning to see everyone and join the fun. We spent some time at the hot springs, on the beach at Payette Lake, on Daddy Warbucks' (Larry's) boat, and on the raft (North Fork Payette - Cabarton run). We even had family shirts and a talent show! For more fun pictures and stories check out Erika & Justin's and the Hess family's blogs (they are so much better at this blogging thing than I am!)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Meyer Family in McCall!
The Meyer Family reunion was a blast, even without my brothers in attendance. My mom and Leo made the trip along with my niece, Kylee, who is so beautiful at age 13 that she must take after her Aunt Jenny. We headed up to McCall on Friday night and stopped at the Banks Cafe for dinner--not long after that we had to stop so Jenny could hurl. Oh, family road trips. On Saturday we took the kayaks and rented a canoe to take up the North Fork Meanders on the Payette River. Yes, Jeff made us paddle UPstream! Peyton was in his own kayak for awhile and did pretty well. Jenny and Kylee took a turn in the topo duo and just kept paddling in circles! Grandma Judy decided she wanted to try the kayak to see how hard it was (didn't she notice Jenny and Kylee going in circles???)--she decided it was harder than it looked. Then Jenny had this "great" idea to get in the topo duo with Grandma Judy--as if the trip with Kylee and watching my mom struggle wasn't foreshadowing enough. We attempted to get around a fast-moving current about three times before Jeff said to head back to the nearest beach for lunch. By this time all our attempts to paddle upstream in the current had caused us take on a lot of water (no, we didn't wear kayak skirts for our "leisurely" trip up-river). So of course it was a **tch to paddle with all that extra water in the boat. And as soon as we got a little tipsy, the water sloshed around and made us go a lot tipsy, and we were about 6 feet from shore when a "a lot tipsy" suddenly meant "tipped over" in the 10 degree water. Damn it was cold! I couldn't stop laughing, though! It was the best part of the whole trip to see my mom and me try to swim out of an upside down 50-pound kayak! I have to mention here that my mom swam straight for shore but I, being the wife of a kayaker, kept hold of my paddle AND the boat and swam to shore with all my gear in tact. It was about 15 minutes later that we realized the camera was in my lake-soaked life jacket. I decided not to try and turn it on--I laid it in the sun and watched the condensation under the LCD screen get steamy. When we got back to the house I put in the oven at 100 degrees for about two hours and now it's as good as new! Our pictures we had taken didn't even get ruined! I'm a genius. Here are some of those miracle pictures.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
New Videos Posted to Youtube Channel
...and we've made these private, too (you just can't be too careful!) To view, go to www.youtube.com/kayakjj and logon as kayakjj with password boisebanks. Enjoy!
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