A Little Bit Country and a Little Bit Rock 'n Roll

Mostly rock 'n roll. I'm talking country in the sense of land...not so much the music. Off to our country roots! My dad was raised on a farm in Tetonia, so we headed up there and spent the week playing like mad.

August 6:
Our first day was spent grocery shopping, traveling, and getting to Tetonia for a bbq that evening. We got the kids to bed and watched a show using Jared's projector....felt like we were in a theatre. Thanks Jared.

August 7: A three hour tour?!
We decided that today was the day we were going to do our family picture. We weren't sure where we were going to do it, so I offered to scout out the area on my morning run. I found this awesome dried up riverbed with trees on both sides that I thought would be perfect....until we made the trek down there. The bottom of the river was, of course, just smooth round rocks. Makes it hard to walk on....regardless of what shoes you're wearing. And especially hard to put stools on. I still thought it was a good idea, despite all the complaints. Sorry about your ankle Rach. ;) The pictures turned out great, though. I don't have them, but I'll post one of my parents....just to give you an idea of the genius behind this back drop.

After the picture fun my Dad took us on a tour of his childhood. For those of you that don't know, my dad had this adventure-filled "only read about it in a book" kind of life growing up. I'm not kidding. Stories from being chased by kids on horses threatening to kill him, to stories about life in a two room log cabin with his parents and 7 kids. We went to the farm that he grew up on where my Great Uncle Frank and Aunt Ivy live now. My dad's house is no longer standing, but part of the original horse barn is still there. Wish we still had property up there. It's unbelievable. My dad would sleep under the stars during the summer, just to get out of the house and give everyone some space. I'd imagine I'd be looking for some space myself and would've done the same.. It's amazing to hear his stories and see where all these things took place. It just feels like he grew up in a totally different world than I experienced growing up. Loved it, Dad! Thanks.

We left the tour and headed up the canyon for a picnic. It was a beautiful area. The kids had fun adventuring with their Uncle Roy. He taught them to eat wild flowers and ants. The kids thought it was great....their mothers had some different thoughts on the matter. ;)

The rest of the day involved four-wheeling, free-time, naps, and food.

August 8th: The River Wild
We headed over to Jackson first thing in the morning for our river rafting adventure. Roy took two shifts of kids down a class 2 stretch of the river. They had a blast. Mom and Dad went on the first run with the youngest kids. I was so happy they went...wasn't sure if they would or not. Mom didn't want to get wet, so Roy gathered some clothing from his river bag and I gave her my sandels...and this was the end result. Poster girl for river gear, for sure. Cute, Mom. After their runs a few adults and a few daring children came with us down the more intense stretch of the river. (Jared, Sam, Roy, Camille, Matt, Cade-7, Rachel-10, Jonah-8, and me) The kids were awesome. We had been specifically prepped for the rapid called the Big Kahuna-even though it's considered a class 3, it's pretty big. As we approached we hung back for a second to watch as a much bigger raft went through it. The raft folded like a taco in the middle of the rapid, which made everyone a little more nervous going through it... especially with little kids. We thought we were almost swallowed up in the rapid as all of us felt pretty much submerged....but we came out of it just fine. Didn't lose one person out of the raft. Rachel took her place as the watershield on this particular rapid-front and center...Cade's preferred spot. Rachel decided after that rapid that Cade could have his spot back. Can't blame her...but Cade couldn't get enough. The more water blocking with his face, the better. He's a riot. Jonah stayed our steady little paddler right behind his dad. He almost decided not to come on this stretch of the river, but we're so glad he did. You were awesome, Jonah. I should say that Jonah and Rachel were awesome paddlers. ;)

We were happy to have made it through this trip without losing one person out of the raft. We had so much fun. We got home, ate some dinner, and went to bed. It had been a long and exhausting day.

August 9th: Fish, Loch Ness, and Nike
My brother-in-law, Scot, is a fisherman extraordinare. He found this little pond and helped get everyone set up with poles for fishing. The kids had a great time. There were several fish caught on that little excursion. Jared was fishing with his kids and I witnessed Rachel reeling one in and holding it. Worthy of note for me because I have issues with holding live fish that flip around in my hands. No thank you.

Fishing was followed by free time and Lydia's birthday celebration. Lydia turned one during our reunion, so Suzanne made this awesome cake of the Loch Ness Monster. The kids loved helping her decorate it. And Lydia loved eating it. Very messy...as it should be with a first year old cake.

After dinner it was off to horseback riding. I used to go up to Tetonia a lot with my old roommate, Cortney, because that's where her family is from. We'd go horseback riding and do all sorts of fun things up there. Anyway, I talked to Cort's parents and asked if I could bring the family over for some horseback riding fun. They were so sweet and so willing to have us come. My favorite horse, Putt, wasn't there, but Nike was so that's the one we rode. The kids thought it was really fun. I used to ride horses a lot with Cortney. She was a barrel racing champion years ago and started training me to ride in the Jackson rodeo a couple years ago. Never got to, but it was so fun learning how. Anyway, after I had led all the kids around on Nike, Linda insisted that Brent go get the Bridle and let me take Nike for a ride. It had been 2 years since I had ridden a horse like that, but it was so fun. I didn't look graceful on it by any means and was gripping onto the saddle horn with one hand the whole time I was riding...which you're technically not supposed to do-But seeing as how my life was on the line, I took some riding liberties. Nike really took off. I loved it. And I loved my little nieces telling me that their favorite part was watching me ride. I felt like a rodeo queen. Hopefully I didn't look like one. (My hair does have the potential, though. )

August 10: Ready to Run
Sadly enough, the week was over for a couple of families. The Matt and Suzanne family, and the Camille and Sam family packed up and headed out that morning. Before they left we were able to gather all of the grandchildren around my mom and dad for a quick pic. It was a serious workout getting them to sit...or even just stay in the frame of the picture long enough to take it. (Not mom and dad-they were very cooperative. It's the kids I'm talking about.) The rest of the day was free for us to do whatever. We drove up to Targhee, but they were only allowing people in for this bluegrass festival they were holding that evening. I was bummed. Instead, we went a little ways up Darby canyon...dodging running cattle along the way and found a fun stream for the kids to play in. So peaceful. The kids were having fun trying to cross the stream on rocks and logs popping up out of the water, but their goal of not getting wet didn't last for long. Luke ended up strattling a rock and just sat there laughing. Jonah and Luke were having jousting fights as they each balanced on a rock. I was thoroughly entertained as an audience member.

Every place is beautiful up there. I mean in Tetonia, Driggs, Targhee area in general. One of my favorite parts of this whole trip was being able to get up every morning and go running. The air was so crisp and cool, the trees were beautiful, the mountains were beautiful- everything was just so theraputic. With everyone leaving that morning I didn't get to run until later that day. All still stands....except for the crisp and cool part. It was pretty warm by the time I went running that day. I got back around dinner and was met by the kids blowing bubbles with Mom (Grandma) on the front porch. Luke came running over to me, gave me a hug, and said, "I missed you so much." Made my day. I took one of my headphones out and put one in his ear and kept one in mine. We had a little dance party, the two of us....dips and all. My sister snapped some pics of us-the purple face is just a side effect of running later in the day. Don't worry.

August 11: On the road again.
We cleaned up and headed for Boise. Nothing like a 5+ hour car ride. It was nice to get home. I flew out the next morning. Sad to leave. I love having my family around. Thanks for the great week Mom and Dad. It was perfect!


*Please excuse the pictures....and really this post isn't done. My computer is being crazy and I can't tell what pics I've posted and which ones are where. It needs some maintenance. But at least I'm catching up. ;)