Rexburg

One of the main reasons we wanted to go out west was to see Rexburg again.  It was my home for 3 1/2 years and Ben's home for 16.  We really wanted to show them BYU-Idaho, our two apartments, the hospital where Lily and Skyler were born, and just the town in general.

First we wanted to walk around campus.  Parking was a problem when we were at BYU-Idaho, but oh how much worse it has gotten.  We had to park in the temple parking lot.

Okay, first world problems.... 

We had to walk through the campus gardens and show the kids where Ben proposed to me.  We both were recovering from the flu when he proposed.  So we ate the super fancy dinner he made and then we went home to bed.  Ha!

We went to eat lunch at the super fancy MC.  I mean, seriously.  These students have no idea how nice they have it now.  There's a Chick-fil-a in there.  A CHICK-FIL-A!!!

We went to the bookstore and spent a lot of $$$ because Ben and I will do anything to convince our kids that BYU-Idaho is the greatest school on earth.

Then we went to go and visit the Jeppesens.  Matt was Ben's best friend in Jr. High and high school and college.  Ella and Thad took over the camera and Ella got this great shot of Thaddeo.

Ben with Matt, Rita, Amanda, and baby Paisley.

It was so good to see them again!

We had to drive out a little to Sugar so that the kids could see our very first home from when we got married.  This is The Ghetto Shack.  It has a very warm spot in our hearts.  It was a one bedroom house with 7 foot ceilings (Ben had to duck in doorways).  The toilet growled and often had hobo spiders hidden under the toilet seat.  The clear shower curtain often showed hobo spiders hidden behind that as well, which you never saw until you were actually in the shower.  The oven, stove, and microwave were all connected in a fabulous avocado green combo from the 60's.  We rarely used the spin dial microwave for fear of radioactivity.  We had virtually no counter space and so we often had to cut potatoes on a cutting board on our lap on the sofa.  The design of The Ghetto Shack was so bizarre that we couldn't actually get a sofa inside of it because of the weird winding hallway.  So Ben had to saw it in half and get it in through the back window.  We didn't have trash cans, so we used a large plastic tote to keep our trash in until we took it to the dump.  The tiny dogs from next door often squeezed through a hole in the fence and came to tear apart our garbage.  Once I had to throw away an old fish, and since it was Rexburg, it froze in the trash.  I watched that little chihuahua try to get through that little hole in the fence with a huge trout in it's mouth, hit the fence, and got thrown on its back.  The house had tons of leaks and we could feel a breeze at all times in the house.  Our electric bill for this tiny little house was $200/month during the winter.

In other words, we have a lot of stories from this house and I never want to forget how amazing it was.

When we were getting ready to have Lily, we moved to Andrew's Place simply to give Lily her own bedroom and to get away from the hobo spiders.  This was the biggest upgrade ever.  We thought we were living the life.  I still have such fond memories of this apartment and how spoiled we felt living there.  It was the best apartment ever.