Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Lots o' Lakes

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, huh? We've been keeping ourselves busy winding up (for our big trip) and down (tying up commitments) at the same time. One of the many things we want to do before our trip is to go around and spend some quality time with all the family, and we did just that over the 4th of July weekend in Sun Valley.

sun valley july 2008

Amy (Jeremy's sister) and her partner Gerry met us there, along with Martina (one of Jeremy's best friends and the only groomswoman at our wedding) and her husband Chris and two adorable daughters Anya (4.5 years) and Taryn (14 months). I didn't really know Chris and Martina very well before this trip so I was very happy to get to know them. Their oldest daughter, Anya, took an immediate liking to me (hint: I had lip gloss) and wanted to be by my side the entire trip. Pretty cute, if you ask me:

sun valley july 2008

As is the norm with all Hermann visits, we spent most of our days outdoors. There was a short walk the afternoon we got in, at the same place we went cross-country skiing just a few short months ago:

sun valley july 2008

The following day, we headed up to Red Fish for a lake day. There were some fires in SV last year and the Forest Service was still clearing some brush from the beach that we wanted to hang out at. So road access was closed to that area...fortunately, industrious Randy found a guy with a speedboat to haul all of us and our kayaks out to the beach, which we had all to ourselves, minus a few really nice Forest Service peeps:

sun valley july 2008

sun valley july 2008

Sweet little Taryn, who has just started walking, had a blast at the lake...though as the day dragged on without her nap she began to get a little loopy. But she still had a big smile for the camera, even when the day cursed her with The Dirtiest Little Face Ever:

sun valley july 2008

The next day we went for a hike up to Silver Lake...it was a big hike but we brought the kids and Anya made it the entire way all by herself. We were all very impressed...seriously, it was a tough one!

sun valley july 2008

sun valley july 2008

sun valley july 2008

We ended our trip with a hike from Pettit Lake to Alice Lake (we saw a lot of lakes)...but we left the kids at home for this one. Though technically a lot easier than the Silver Lake hike, it was a loooong one...we were hiking for about 10 hours! This hike involved two river crossings...

sun valley july 2008

...a couple log crossings...

sun valley july 2008

...and lots of mosquitoes. But we ended up here:

sun valley july 2008

And saw stuff like this:

sun valley july 2008

sun valley july 2008

As always, we had a wonderful, relaxing time, ate really yummy food, and enjoyed wonderful conversations around the dinner table. I was happy to spend some good time with Amy and Gerry and get to know Chris and Martina better. They are really committed to their parenting and it shows in their two wonderful daughters. It was really fun for Jeremy and I to see the type of loving dedication they have towards their family and they are really great models for us when we begin to think about starting our own...

sun valley july 2008

sun valley july 2008