Solar Eclipse 2017

I can't believe summer is OVER! I can't believe how much we packed into one summer!! Every year I get excited for summer to come when I can have the kids home, and we can enjoy family and fun for three months. And every year I get excited for the summer to end and school to start. This year was no different. Still, we decided to have one last hurrah before the kids started back to school. On Monday, August 21, a full solar eclipse was to be visible throughout several states in the US. One of the states was Idaho...and one of the places of full totality was Idaho Falls! Lucky for us, Stan and Kristi graciously invited us up for the event. Since it was the last weekend of summer, we decided to go up for the full weekend so the boys could play with their cousins. All the boys, including Jonas, had a blast! The older boys pulled all-nighters, had paintball wars, and played ultimate frisbee. Jonas simply loved all the attention he got from all his siblings and cousins. I loved the fact that there were so many people to look after him so I got a break! Jeff and I had fun with Stan and Kristi too. It was nice to just chat and catch up on life. Plus, we were able to attend the Idaho Falls temple together and go out to dinner one night. Finally, Monday rolled around and the big event was imminent! I have to be honest, I initially didn't think too much of the eclipse. I was grateful for the opportunity to see it, but I thought it would have been ok if I didn't. Boy was I wrong! I have never witnessed such a mystic event! Of course the eclipse took over 45 minutes to reach totality, but once totality hit it was surreal! I don't even think I could describe it. The majority of us sat on the back patio and would occasionally look at the sun (with our solar glasses) to see the progress of the eclipse while the boys (both old and young) played ultimate frisbee. Once time got close for totality, everyone stopped what they were doing and watched. The sky got dark. The temperatures dropped. It was almost like night in the middle of the day...then it happened! Totality! The moon completely covered the sun! The only things visible were a slight ring around the moon and some solar flares. For more than a minute, we experienced night. The stars came out. The horizon looked as if the sun had set. It was other-worldly. Jonas even got to witness the event. I know he won't remember it, but he talked about it the next day so I know he too felt how incredible the experience was. Then just as quickly as it came, the moon moved on and the eclipse started to wane. What a way to end the summer! I would say it was even worth fighting the hoards of traffic to go home (not my favorite part of the weekend though). Just as the moon eclipsed the sun, school has eclipsed the summer...only it won't be as short in duration as the solar eclipse. Still, it was an awesome Summer 2017!

You can just barely see the bright star to the right of the sun.

Summer is over!