You can't capture it on film!

I spent this last week up in Idaho for a family reunion. It was the first time in 15 years that my mom's side of the family has all been together and we had a great time. We were in the Sun Valley area which is where I grew up. It is soooo beautiful up there and I tried in vain to capture it on camera. As pretty as the pictures are, they can not compare to being in the fresh mountain air, smelling pine trees and being surrounded by nothing but God's creation. It is simply majestic! My brother, Tim and I were talking about how much more we appreciate growing up there now that we have left. It really is a beautiful place to live. Growing up in the same small town for your whole life also means that pretty much everything is nostalgic when you go back. It was a week full of sentiment and I loved every minute of it! 

We took a gondola ride up Baldy (the ski mountain), and had lunch at the restaurant there. This is one of my favorite views and makes me really wonder why I was so anxious to leave Idaho as soon as I finished high school! Doesn't this just look like the ideal small town to grow up in?

Another day we drove over to Stanley Basin and went white water rafting up the Salmon River, yes, I said up - unlike most rivers, it flows north. Since it is filled with snow runoff it is also freezing! We stopped midway for a quick dip and it was so cold!!! 

This picture is of the Sawtooth Mountains from the top of Galena Summit. I have travelled the world and seen countless breathtaking scenes, but this one still remains one of my favorites. Again, the picture doesn't do it justice!

One of my favorite things about Summer in Idaho is that the sun doesn't set until about 10:00 pm. When I was a kid, I hated it on the 4th of July. We couldn't start fireworks until it was so late! But on vacation, it is great because the days are so long! Here is a picture of the sunset I captured the other night. I love the sunset over the ocean, but I miss the sunset over the mountains. It is so pretty!

Yesterday, we took the kids and walked them around Sun Valley. We watched the ice skaters rehearse for the Sun Valley Ice Show which actually starts tonight so we didn't get to go. I told my niece, Ashton, about when my cousin, Michelle and I were her age, we skated in the Sun Valley Ice Show with Dorothy Hamill (who was an olympic gold medalist in the 80's) She wasn't all that impressed but she did enjoy watching the skaters. This is a picture of Baldy that I snapped while we were out and about. It is much prettier in the winter but it isn't too shabby in the summer either. 

The week went by fast and now here I am sitting in a hotel room in Boise. Tim and Malee are out grabbing us some food while I am here with my sleeping baby niece, Isla. We will all get on a plane tomorrow morning and fly to our respective homes, miles away. It will be months before we see each other again. Times like this make me wish we lived 100 years ago when the norm was for families to live and die in the same community. There is something so unnatural about saying goodbye to the most important people in your life. 

The last (and best) picture is of my dad and my two nieces, Isla and Ashton. I want to steal both of these girls and bring them home with me but my brothers vetoed that. Selfish boys! 

All in all, it's been a great week! Now... back to reality.