we anticipated our trip to idaho for a long time, and finally, in mid-september, we boarded a plane at dulles at an ungodly, early hour and headed west. we ended up in salt lake city, rented a car, and after a super long day of traveling (including a visit to the golden spike national historic site in utah), we finally met up with matt, naomi, and ginger in hailey, idaho. they were the reason for our journey, and it was so great to finally see them.

we spent a little more than a week hanging out with the idaho spences. we spent a lot of quality time together. the kids got to play, a lot. and the grown-ups got to talk, a lot. we did some fishing (another post to come from dave about his super-secret adventure with his bro). we did some touring. we did some rock-throwing. we spent a great few days at the gorgeous redfish lake near stanley, idaho. we did some hiking.

but the best part of the trip was simply spending time with our family. phoebe, jackson, and ginger became good friends quickly, and really enjoyed being around each other. and that’s priceless.

and the second-best part? on the way home, we spent an overnight in salt lake city, where we were reunited with molly’s high school friend karyn. she showed us around salt lake (including a great hike up ensign peak, where we got a super view of the city) and she and molly caught up on the many years since they last met (over some awesome mole at a tasty mexican restaurant).

all in all, it was a wonderful break from the everyday. thanks to matt, naomi, ginger, cooper, camo and simon for inviting us into your home. we hope you all can come to maryland some time and soak up our sites soon. and best wishes to karyn and justin, as they prepare for their wedding in december! hope to see you both again soon (definitely in less than 15 years!).

at the end of february, we all took a wonderfully relaxing trip to florida to visit dave’s parents. we spent about a week in stuart, in mostly sunshine-filled weather. it wasn’t warm by florida standards, but it was warm enough for us, after surviving the blizzard(s) of 2010!

we had a great trip full of experiences! phoebe took her first airplane ride. jackson, dave, and kurt enjoyed circus sarasota. we visited the palm beach zoo and reconnected there with the limberts (who used to live in frederick). jackson got in a lot of swim practice. marcia helped molly begin to learn to sew. we visited jensen beach, the children’s museum of the treasure coast, and checked out rescued sea turtles at the loggerhead marinelife center of juno beach.

we had such a wonderful time, in fact, that it’s taken us almost a full month to go through all the photos and choose our favorites! so, our apologies for not updating this blog sooner. but we think these photos were worth the wait!