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!).

the second leg of christmas 2009 was spent in doylestown, with the spences. we arrived late on christmas eve, just before santa paid a visit. we had just enough time to write out our note to santa and leave him milk and cookies, and carrots for his reindeer in our new plate set (thanks aunt amy and uncle nick!).

it was a special year at the spence house for christmas, as dan, cassie, and alex white joined us to celebrate the holiday for the first time in many years. we were all so glad that they could be there, so we marked the occasion with a big family photo.

we all woke up early to open our presents from santa. phoebe seems really excited about that bib she got!

jackson could hardly believe his pile of presents! what was in that giant box?? (a playmobil circus tent, just what he asked for!)

aunt naomi was more than happy to pal around with phoebe for the weekend. they’d never met before, but were fast friends!

despite the sour expression, jackson did love all his presents this year!

jackson didn’t really want to open any other presents once grandpa and daddy got the circus tent set up.

cassie and alex enjoyed the show, even though they had to wake up early to see it!

matt had a good time buying presents for dan. driving goggles? where does he find this stuff??

grandpa liked his new shirt (“Grandpa since 2006″) — he plans to wear it in florida.

portrait time again! dave, jackson, molly, kurt, phoebe, marcia, matt and naomi

it’s always great to have susan and her mom, chris, over for christmas dinner. the ladies looked lovely yet again!

nine years ago (christmas 2000) we took a photo similar to this one of all the babcock grandchildren. and my, how they have grown since then (see original photo below)!

(clockwise from top center in both photos) alexander, matthew, daniel, david and cassandra