Parades, Pedicures & Priesthood Blessings- Days 2 & 3

The 2nd day of the trip was jam packed with as much fun as Ann, the kiddos and I could cram in. That morning, we went out to Hayden to the Hayden Days Parade. And just to show you how small town and redneck (forgive me, but I speak the truth!), here are some pictures:

So, it starts out with cool floats. But, don't let them fool you...

They had donkeys

And yes, my friends, those are ponies all dressed up looking like princesses

And then came the camels, because we have a plethora of camels in Hayden, Idaho

Of course, they couldn't forget the 20 old and crazy looking cars

So, let's not sugar coat it... it's pretty crazy, but I know the kids loved it. It was short, sweet and had Smokey the Bear! It just doesn't get better than that, right?! :)

Emma and I at the parade

Ann at the parade

That afternoon, Ann creamed me at Canasta and Farkle and as soon as Tyler got home from his hiking/camping trip, Tyler, Ann, me and the kids all went to their ward BBQ and I got to see some of the other friends I'd made while living there. It was so good to see Jaylyn, Mike, Joyce, Barb, etc! And everyone actually recognized me! See, when I lived there, I wore my hair dark brown all the time and only let it go back to the natural blonde after I'd moved back to Idaho Falls. So, last year when I went to visit, no one even knew who I was. This year, everyone came up to me and said it had been "SOO long" since they'd seen me! I laughed pretty hard.

When we got back to the house, Ann and I stole away for some girl time. We went shopping, got a yummy treat (ok, you caught me... we got a couple!) and went for pedicures! Ann had never experienced just how wonderful it is to be pampered like that and now, sorry to say to Tyler, she's hooked! She got a smurf blue color with cute white flowers. Here are mine:

Turquoise with yellow flowers and pink centers

Church the next day was interesting because the ward was pretty 50/50 with people who had known me from before I'd moved and people who were new to the area and had never met me before. So, it was really fun to be walking down the hallways and have one person come up and greet me talking about how it had been "years" since they'd seen me, and the next second have someone else walk up to Ann and I or Tyler and I and ask if I was Ann/Tyler's sister. Our reaction: "Yup, she sure is!" Too funny.

That night, I asked Tyler for a priesthood blessing. I had gotten one from Andrew before I left so I could travel safely and all that, but I've always had this close relationship with Tyler and Ann and where Tyler is like a brother and I don't have a priesthood holder in my home, I knew I needed to take that opportunity. A lot of people will get Father's Blessings once a year, I knew I needed to get a Tyler's Blessing. :) It was incredible. I won't talk about it much here, but I just want to say that I am so grateful for men in my life who uphold and magnify their priesthood responsibilities. I can only hope to endeavor to deserve a man with such greatness.

It was so good to see my wonderful friends even though it was such a short visit. I sure love them. I can't wait for them to come visit me (we are hoping in November!) because we always have such a fun time.