So I will give you a play by play (as far as I can remember... it already seems like TOO long ago!). Warning: Lots of unimportant detailed information!
Thursday morning Rachelle, Whitney, Amy, Tabitha and Myself all caught the 8:15 flight to SLC. During our 1 hour layover we picked up my sister Emily (from Lehi) and flew to Spokane, WA. Kim's best friend Lizzy picked us up at the airport and we headed to Kim and Tom's house in Coeur d'Alene Idaho (45 minute drive) for the surprise...
We had many different and all good ideas of how to surprise her, but we finally settled on having Rachelle go to the front door and surprise her while we all sneaked in through the garage down into the basement. After a 15 minute tour, Rachelle and Kim finally came down to see Kim's basement and SURPRISE! We popped out of her craft room! She had initially thought it was a little weird that only Rachelle had come to surprise her, and even said "it's only you?", as if one sister wasn't enough? It's a good thing we were all downstairs waiting :) Really though, she just thought it seemed more likely that a bunch of us would be there instead of only one... and she was on the right track!
(Just teasing Kim ...she doesn't even remember saying that :) So anyway, after hugs and a few happy tears (what do you expect with so many related women in one room?), we settled in and then headed for birthday dinner and a Southwest-Mex restaurant. The food was great and the company was amazing! We only embarrassed ourselves a few times. Once was while singing Happy (belated) Birthday to Amy as loud as we could... then the staff caught on and brought her out a birthday hat and free dessert while singing AGAIN to her! I thought for sure she was going to figure out some way to divorce our family while still staying married to Chris.
We left and were on our way to Kim's B.F.F Lizzy for cake and ice cream. Little did she know that it was ANOTHER surprise party with all her friends from Coeur d'Alene. We played "Oscar Night" where everyone brought a 2-3minute clip of their favorite scene from a movie. And after we watched them all, we voted on the best one! I wish I could download all of them and make a compilation of the movies. Some were romantic, some were classic, some were passionate, and some were just darn right-pee-your-pants-funny! Movie clips included Funny Farm, The Cutting Edge, Goonies, Black Sheep, The Notebook, Dumb and Dumber, A home video of Kim and Tom when they were first married, and many more! I highly suggest this for the next party that you have! Tom bought prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. It was super fun!
Friday we went on a fun little hike near downtown C.D.A
followed by thrift store shopping and Hudsons Famous Hamburgers for lunch.
I drove home with Lizzy (Kim's friend), and we stopped at the county fair to pick up some of her families famous Elephant Ears. They have had a booth at the fair for quite a few years now, and all the family donates their time and works all the shifts for free. Well, not really for free. The money they earn goes into a missionary fund for their kids. From what I can tell, their kids (who are still small children) shouldn't have to pay much out of their own pocket! Super Sweet Family Unity! But back to the Elephant Ears... They are sooooooooo yummy! They roll out dough into huge thin circles and deep fry them and coat them in cinnamon and sugar. (Lizzy's husband Tim, Tim's father behind me, and Myself holding a raw E.E)
That night after a trip to Costco to buy a t.v, and then to Fred Meyer for some essentials....
Yes Kim is using a cane and trying to look as if she needs to.
We played a "guess who" name game that of course had us all laughing hysterically by the end... "Steve Young"!
Saturday we woke up at the crack of dawn (9am), shoveled down breakfast and we were at Hayden Lake by 9:30.
It was 80 degrees outside and the water temp was around 69, but it felt great! Everyone tried at least one thing in the water. I tried wake boarding first, which was a body killer! I felt so tired after only a few runs. But then I tried wake surfing. here is the video my sister took on a digital camera. It was SO fun. It makes me want to try real surfing except that I hate salt water and I'm sure it is a million times harder!
followed by thrift store shopping and Hudsons Famous Hamburgers for lunch.
I drove home with Lizzy (Kim's friend), and we stopped at the county fair to pick up some of her families famous Elephant Ears. They have had a booth at the fair for quite a few years now, and all the family donates their time and works all the shifts for free. Well, not really for free. The money they earn goes into a missionary fund for their kids. From what I can tell, their kids (who are still small children) shouldn't have to pay much out of their own pocket! Super Sweet Family Unity! But back to the Elephant Ears... They are sooooooooo yummy! They roll out dough into huge thin circles and deep fry them and coat them in cinnamon and sugar. (Lizzy's husband Tim, Tim's father behind me, and Myself holding a raw E.E)
That night after a trip to Costco to buy a t.v, and then to Fred Meyer for some essentials....
Yes Kim is using a cane and trying to look as if she needs to.
We played a "guess who" name game that of course had us all laughing hysterically by the end... "Steve Young"!
Saturday we woke up at the crack of dawn (9am), shoveled down breakfast and we were at Hayden Lake by 9:30.
It was 80 degrees outside and the water temp was around 69, but it felt great! Everyone tried at least one thing in the water. I tried wake boarding first, which was a body killer! I felt so tired after only a few runs. But then I tried wake surfing. here is the video my sister took on a digital camera. It was SO fun. It makes me want to try real surfing except that I hate salt water and I'm sure it is a million times harder!After 4 hours on the lake, we went over to Anew Start: rejuvenation center.
(A friend of Kim's is part owner and gave us a great deal)
We had a detoxing foot bath (everyone's water started CLEAR and after 30 minutes of detoxification, it looked like Amy's)
(A friend of Kim's is part owner and gave us a great deal)
We had a detoxing foot bath (everyone's water started CLEAR and after 30 minutes of detoxification, it looked like Amy's)
infrared massage bed (the white wand you see on top was used to target areas of that were in pain or that you may have strained)
infrared sauna (picture taken after it had cooled off)
butt jiggler (don't know the official name but a 10 minute jiggle is supposedly the same as 45 minutes of jumping on a trampoline)
They had also had a large spread of food for us to eat during the 3 1/2 hours we were there. It was amazingly relaxing!After Papa Johns for dinner, we hung around Kim's house eating cookies, playing cards, and watching the Olympics. Of course no day was ever complete without watching the two youtube links below AT LEAST 10 times.
Grape Stomp
and
Climber
We all woke up sore on Sunday morning and made it to Stake Conference. After which we ate a quick bite and left for the airport around 1:30 and were on our way home. It was a little hard to navigate through the airport and plane since we were all ACHINGLY SORE from the day before. But the bottom line.... IT WAS SO MUCH DANG FUN! I love my sisters (including in-laws). We always have so much fun! I can't wait for the next laughfest!
