Mark, Jared and I went on an early morning walk the next day and loved the weather. 62 degrees and zero humidity was so pleasant. They live in a developed neighborhood with sidewalks and pretty yards which is a treat for us and on one section of the sidewalks someone had written out lots of inspirational notes and pictures. They were fun. We ate breakfast together and then they left for pickle ball lessons (pickle ball is so big out there) and we got ready to head up to Idaho.
Our first stop in Idaho Falls was the Disc Golf Course near the Idaho Falls temple. Most of mine and Mark's courtship took place on this disc golf. Disc golf is cheap, active and fun so perfect for poor college students. We actually packed discs with us so we could play there with Jared and Lydia. The course is still really nice and it was really fun to play there with them. So many good memories. We only did a few holes and had fun dodging (or not dodging depending on who I'm talking about) sprinklers. Other stops in Idaho Falls included Reeds Dairy for ice cream and chocolate milk and the green belt in front of the Idaho Falls temple. The first 5 months of our marriage we were still at BYU-Idaho and most of our weekly dates involved going to the temple and it holds a special place in our hearts. It was a great place to spend a few hours.
We dropped our stuff off at our Air BNB in Rigby and drove up to Rexburg. We had plans to meet old friends from Cairo and later an old roommate of mine. We met the Penrods at the BYU Idaho gardens and loved visiting with them. They are posted back at Cairo and were there until COVID made them evacuate. It was great to hear about how things are going there and the other posts they have been assigned to. They told us that they had 20 seminary students!! That is crazy, there were 6 or 7 when we were there, all expats and now many are locals. There are Egyptians, Sudanese and Expats. It was fun to reminisce about our Egypt days.
As we were walking to the gardens a faculty member came out of the Taylor building and let us into the building which was so nice. Only the Manwaring Center is officially open due to COVID so it was a bonus to get to go in the Taylor building as well. Mark and I both had classes there (all religion classes take place there) and attended multiple firesides in the Taylor chapel. Its a beautiful building. There are plenty of new buildings and changes on campus but it was still BYU-Idaho and felt just the same as it did all those years ago and it filled me right up. The gardens have really expanded and Jared and Lydia loved exploring them. They both loved BYU-Idaho and said they would be happy to go to school there. It was really fun to show them around. We ended up visiting the campus twice we all loved it so much. We stopped this first day and then stopped again on our way home from Yellowstone.
BYU-Idaho Gardens: Lots of good studying, thinking and roommate hanging out time spent here those four years.
These willow trees were the edge of the gardens back then and there is so much more now. My roommates and I definitely held a roommates photo shoot here one semester.
Fun to see them in these spaces.
Happy to see this still there. Mark attended Ricks the last year it was Ricks and I got accepted to Ricks and my first Summer term it was Ricks then switched to BYU - Idaho that Fall. Fun to be the last and first class of each.
Joseph Fielding Smith Building,where Mark and I had our history classes for our major.
We met my old roommate Linda and her family for dinner at a local park which was really nice. The kids had fun running around I tried not to stress too much about all the kids that were there. They have stayed in Rexburg and love it there, it is a fun little town. Rexburg has really grown in the last 15 years and it was crazy to see all the options available now. We had not been back for over 10 years and it was nice to hang out there.
Rigby: Two stories
Mark's Dad grew up in the Rigby/Lewisville area. Our Air BnB was not far from his Grandma Spencer's house/farm there. His Uncle David lives next door to his Grandma's old house. Mark wanted to take a trip out to the Lewisville cemetery for a family history moment and as you drive out to the cemetery you go right past both houses so he decided to spontaneously stop by his Uncle David's house to visit. His Uncle opened the door and said, "I should know you, you're a Spencer." We visited inside for a while and then they took us over to the cemetery. It was a beautiful little cemetery full of their ancestors. It was so lovely for Mark to get to visit with them and it made his Uncle really happy. Jared and Lydia enjoyed hearing a few stories and wandering around the cemetery. The sprinklers came on about half way through and that made them really happy too. It was such a good spontaneous stop.
Mark and his Uncle David Spencer at Grandma (Lenora) Spencer's grave.
Our Air BnB host turned out to be the brother of the RS president of our ward. When he found out we were from Charlottesville he asked if we happened to know Sheila Blight. We said we did and then he told us she was his sister! They took a picture together and Mark sent it to Sheila and she loved it. So crazy and so fun. We had such a nice time being in the Rexburg area and are so glad we got to go.
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