Oh What a Wonderful Weekend!

So, going to ward temple night definitely has its many benefits - but let's be worldy for a minute and I'll share with you some of the recent benefits of our last ward temple night. :) Sadly, it wasn't very well attended - which is actually pretty normal for any student ward in Rexburg during a break between semesters. Needless to say we had the rare opportunity to have some almost one on one time with our very busy dear bishop. While we were talking he invited us to come out and ride his horses "sometime" so we asked if the following Monday would be okay (this happened on a Thursday evening). I don't think he was expecting such a rapid scheduling but we made plans and left for the temple with our bellies full of tasty pizza and fruit punch (I might be exagerating on the "tasty" part but I think Michael thouroughly enjoyed it) and the anticipation of a fun day off for me and actually doing something not laundry/shopping/housework related. Oh - I was one happy girl!

So then Monday rolled around and it rained. Well, maybe that's not the right word - IT POURED!!! Buckets, sheets, cats, dogs the whole nine yards. But we decided that we could survive and headed to Idaho Falls anyways. Needless to say I was bummed and was singing "Rain rain go away" in my head all morning and Michael well - he was in heaven. I don't know how many times he told me, "this reminds me of Washington" or "I miss Washington" or something to that affect. I decided that I could be grateful for the rain if it makes Michael and the farmers happy.

Bishop and Sister Sparks made us a great breakfast - blueberry waffles, eggs, and cow sausage from her dad's ranch. Yum! Just what we needed on a damp (or drenched) rainy day. They were getting ready for a trip to California so Bishop saddled up Felice and Buck and pointed which direction to go and we were on our way.

Michael and Felice had a great time .... once they figured out who was boss. (I'm not sure if they ever really did ;) Bishop warned us that she'd be a handfull and when I asked Michael which one he wanted he chose Felice - so we spent a good chunk of time waiting for them to get acquainted. (Michael may have been more patient with Felice than I was with the both of them). But we had a good time anyway :) Buck and I probably could've wandered the hills behind the Bishop's house for hours but Michael and Felice were ready to call it a day (and we had shopping to do in Idaho Falls etc. etc.) p.s. sorry there aren't any pictures of me and Buck - can you guess who had the camera? :)

After we had finished riding, the Sparks' let us pick some raspberries to take home. Let me just say - this process is so much easier when its a little chilly and rainy and there isn't a bee in sight! We came home with some pretty tasty berries!

What to do with all these yummy berries? I made buttermilk raspberry cake with vanilla icecream. It was absolutely delicious - it *almost* tasted like hot cobbler from the dutch oven - almost. I'm not so sure if I added enough sugar, or maybe some of our raspberries weren't quite ripe because every once in a while we'd get a really sour bite - maybe next time I'll add a little more sugar and actually use a round cake pan (that I don't own - haha) instead of a round casserole dish. Probably would make a HUGE difference and I bet the center still wouldn't be gooey after an eternity in the oven! We used the rest of the raspberries to make a raspberry vinagrette this past weekend when we had a pot luck BBQ with the neighbors, pretty tasty salad if you ask me! :)

More to come soon! We have pictures from Northern Idaho with Mike's family that I need to add. Just trying to stay on top of things ... I know - I know, failing miserably! I don't have to work this Saturday (that's a first with the exceptions of Holidays/Vacations in probably almost a year!) Oh to stay home on a Saturday, a luxury that I never knew until now.

Wishing you all the best!

p.s. Don't tell Michael but I've already started putting a few things together for Christmas - can't wait! :)