Anniversary trip to TWIN FALLS??

The boys always have more fun with Grandma!

Dad finally had a winning idea for an anniversary. He arranged with Grandma to take the boys and reserved the nicest room in the Manti House Inn. The plan was to go down to the Temple where it all started. We'd spend time at Fat Jack's Pizza and the Basin Drive-In as well. We might even squeeze in a hike or a drive up the canyon if the weather permitted. We were all set and it was all a surprise until Dad checked the Manti Temple schedule the week before. The cleaning had been extended by two weeks and the temple was closed! We had to cancel all our plans. Luckily there was no financial penalty.

That left us struggling with a new plan. We immediately looked around at which temples we could visit that we hadn't already been to. As we looked, Twin Falls seemed to make sense because it was close to Grandma and had a temple. In addition, we'd never seen Shoshone Falls or Twin Falls, so at least there would be a little adventure. Beyond that we didn't have much of a plan.

We dropped off the kids at Grandma's house on Thursday afternoon of Fall Break. They were happy to be at Grandma's, but they were a little skeptical of what we were going to do without them. "Mostly kissing," we assured them, and they lost interest quickly. Then we cut across the state to Twin Falls. Grandma and the boys had a ton of fun, and Melanie showed up with her kids, so with Steph's family there were plenty of cousins. They went to a pumpkin patch and also to a kid's play place. Grandma was enjoying them so much that she decided to keep them right on through Monday, which was a work day for Dad, but a day off for the boys.

Stephanie had fun burying children in the corn pit.

Not the face! Not the face!

Dax was fully buried.

There were really big slides, too.

Seth got a little sick from sitting in the back.

Everyone went to see Grandpa at his office.

"We went to a family fun place with a rocket and a rocket hat." ~Seth

The boys picked out REALLY BIG pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

Meanwhile Mom and Dad had a nice time in Twin Falls. We really liked the Perrine Bridge. We stood under it and listened to the cars rumble by overhead. We also enjoyed visiting Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls. These two are drastically different. Shoshone was donated to the city as long as it would be used for the enjoyment of the citizens. It is beautiful and pristine, surrounded by a massive park. Twin Falls was used for a power plant. The fall on the right was dammed and the fall on the left runs between 8 am and noon and all day on weekends. It was pretty sad to see the way Twin Falls isn't a real waterfall anymore.

Perrine Bridge spans the canyon.

It's pretty cool to hear the cars thunder by.

The water was really green.

It looks like something you'd see someplace important.

That narrow point is where Evel Knievel tried to jump the river.

Look how relaxed Dad looks without the kids around!

There were some cool vistas from the canyon's edge.

Shoshone Falls was worth the trip.

It's a massive cluster of cascades.

Dad has to take the selfies. He is a pro!

Twin Falls used to have two waterfalls. You can see where the right side has been dammed up.

This chute can be turned on and off. Luckily, we caught it when it was on.

We were afraid we were going to get chased off the power plant property, though.

The middle day of our vacation was rainy, so we visited the temple in the morning. It was really nice. The people in the small temples are so friendly, and the temple was small. They asked us to be the witness couple before we even got past the desk, and later we found out there was no chapel. Instead we sat in the ordinance room for 20 minutes in silence. It was really nice to just sit and enjoy the peaceful spirit. After enjoying a leisurely session, we did a little shopping and then hung out at the hotel. It was nice to go at a slower pace and not feel rushed. We don't really do restful vacations, so it was good for us. We came home Saturday in time for Stake Conference, but we didn't get the boys back all the way until Monday. It was a unique anniversary trip, but we loved being together.

It was really windy at the temple, but the rain stopped for a picture.

This is temple #33 in our book.

All the selfies were washed out. Dad needs to work on that.