The Crown Jewel of Idaho

We just returned from a week at Priest Lake, which the locals call the "Crown Jewel of Idaho." I honestly think any large amount of water surrounded by mountains is such an amazing gift of beauty from our Heavenly Father that I could never pick just one as the "Crown Jewel," but Priest Lake is a treasure to our family because of the memories we've made there over the last 6 years.

This year we got a little adventurous and decided to teach Ally and Nicholas to water ski. A big task for 2 inexperienced parents. Unfortunately, they take after their mother and didn't get up. Here's a picture of Nicholas getting ready to say "hit it!"

Aren't those skis suppose to be perpendicular to the water???

My grandparents also came up. My grandpa LOVES to read with the kids. I'm so thankful for his patience. Here's a pic. of Natalie and Grandpa reading on the hammock. Note Natalie's outfit: I let the kids pack their own suitcases this year. When I opened hers, I found 2 swimsuits, a swimsuit cover up (which she's wearing) and A LOT of Barbies. What more does a girl need???

We also went on a 6-mile hike to Upper Priest Lake. This portion of the lake is only accessible by boat or on foot. It's so pristine. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the lake, but here's a picture of us on the trail. If I did a close up of our fingers you'd see the purple stains from huckleberry picking. Yum - homemade huckleberry ice cream - another family tradition at the lake.

Here's some more pictures from our week at the lake:

see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Natalie Kayaking

All smiles

Adam - tube extraordinaire. I kept telling my kids they were "totally tubular" - it's so great to use those 80's sayings!

non-skiing siblings - maybe next year??

And, last but not least, here's a picture of the cabin where we stayed. We use to stay at another cabin nearby, but met the owners of this cabin last summer. They offered to rent their cabin to us this year, something they've NEVER done before. The owners are a cute retired couple who feel their days of maintaining a lake house may be numbered - enters our family who is dying to buy a lake house. To make a long story short, we're hoping when they decide to sell, they'll sell to us. It's a perfect fit for our family, there's lots of room for friends, and it's across the street from the lake rather than right on the water, which means it's less than a million dollars! :-) We're waiting patiently . . . .

Main cabin - sorry it's hard to make out through the trees.


Back yard of main cabin

Guest cabin next door