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Ethan Sulik and Idaho

Throughout Glo's mission, Ethan Sulik (her boyfriend before her mission) wrote her.  I'm not sure how often he wrote her (I doubt he wrote her when he had a girlfriend), but he was definitely a support to her.  Flowers from him arrived at our home the day she got home from her mission, and she was only home a few days before she called him.  While I couldn't hear the details of her conversations with him over the next few weeks, she would come downstairs energized and happy after talking to him.  He wanted to come out to Michigan to visit her before she headed back to school, but she didn't think that would be the best idea.

So, since we had some time after moving the girls in, and before Glo started her RA job, we decided to take a trip up to the Grand Tetons and stop in Idaho along the way for Glo to reconnect with Ethan.  A huge problem was that Ethan wouldn't plan anything--he just kept asking Glo what she wanted to do, and I hope we can all agree that girls having to plan dates is the stupidest thing.  I mean, it's okay occasionally, but after not seeing each other for 18 months? I would think he would have some serious ideas. So, on the way to Idaho, I had Glo look up drive-in movie theaters.  Idaho's COVID cases are growing by 340%, so I didn't really want Glo going anywhere super public, but staying in a car seems like a pretty safe bet.  Jaws was playing at 9:45.

Idaho is a revelation.  Glo told me that it was pretty much "just Utah", but it actually isn't Utah at all.  It's lovely with its "amber waves of grain" and rivers and sky for miles.  Glo, thinking that things might become permanent with Ethan at some point, and knowing that he probably won't ever leave Idaho, said, "I could live here."  Yeah, so could I if I had to live in the West ever in my lifetime.

We pulled into the hotel, and Ethan picked her up just minutes later to take her out to dinner.  We didn't see him at all which was good because Hannah has a very spoiled relationship with him.  I just prayed that they would have a nice time.

Meanwhile, I had made plans to visit an ice cream truck up in Rexburg.  Our friends, the Carlsons, have a son who has opened a truck.  I follow Jeremy and his business, Crispy Cones, on Instagram, so I thought it would be fun to throw a little support his way.  First though we had dinner at probably THE best Texas Roadhouse I've ever frequented (and golly, we've frequented a lot of them!), and then we drove the 30 minutes up to Crispy Cones.

Yes, the product is tasty--the traditional spiral cinnamon-covered bread is delicious--but I sure would like to pull up my bootstraps and help Jeremy make his business even better.  I couldn't read the sign on the ground at all, and even when I could, it didn't make much sense. His workers, while kind, were kinda ditzy. And it was a horrible mess to eat which drives me crazy because I hate food on my hands.

Afterwards, we were driving back to Idaho Falls, and I remembered that we needed to find a post office so Hannah could send her postcards to Zach.  Well, the post office happened to be just a few blocks from the temple and the Snake River, so I convinced Hannah to get out at night and walk a couple of laps around the temple grounds.

Boy, it was a sweet feeling being close to the temple again.  I try not to think too hard about how much I miss being in the temple because it just makes me so sad, but seeing it so close....yeah, I look forward to the day the temples open again.  Hannah and I shared some of the sweet moments we've had in the temples over the years.

Glo was back soon after we got home, and she had had a great time.  There is a familiarity with Ethan that will be hard to replicate with anyone else for a long while.  He had asked to hold her hand during the movie, and she had said "yes" (cue eye roll from me).  Honestly, I was just glad it hadn't been a BAD date.

The next morning, we left for the Tetons.







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