Dive Tackle

Most of the day was spent doing laundry and taking Maysen and Stockton to the dentist.  We stopped by Iceburg on the way home.  Very exciting.

I was thinking about our river trip.  I forgot to write about one of my favorite memories.  Apparently on the trip down the river with Rachel's family, Mike pulled Brett into the water.  Mike was in the ducky and did a pirate sneak attack on Brett.  The first time down the river today both Mike and Brett were in the raft.  Brett (after getting the okay from Sharon) tried to push Mike in.  Mike was able to resist for awhile. Wrestling training coming in handy.  Eventually Brett got Mike over, but Mike held on and Brett followed him into the water.  Brett got pulled back into the raft first and was telling Mike that now they are even.  Brett was sitting next to me as Mike got pulled into the front of the boat.  Mike barely touched the raft when he launched himself across the boat and dive tackled Brett out and back into the water.  It was so funny!  Mike told Brett that the count reset every night, so now they were even.  Mike brought up our GoPro to Idaho, but we forgot to bring it on the river.  I would have loved to see that tackle from Mike's perspective.

Day on the River

Sharon is super nice.  She lets us stay at their new lodge, lets Bubs and his family stay at their cabin, then spends all day on the river so we could have a day to remember.  Steve and Sharon are so selfless.  Today was so fun!  I did both runs today.  I don't know if I have ever done that before.  The first one I got to just sit and enjoy.  Christen and I took turns being the hood ornament.  Wow!  Water sure goes up your nose doing that!  I went throughout the first few, but Christen really got pummeled going through Kahuna and Lunch Counter!  I kept telling her the big waves were over, but she kept getting hit again and again. She secretly loved it though.  John and Sam were in the ducky.  John fell out at Kahuna.  We pulled off to the side and threw him a rope.  I think.  Anyways, I know we docked there because Mike (Smith) and Stockton scaled the rock ledge where the photographers were then walked down a tiny cliff and went through Kahuna again.  As swimmers.  No boats or anything.  Mike said it felt like going through a dishwasher.  When they came back Mike (Millburn) and Bubs went and did the same thing.  That was fun to watch.  We then made our way to jump rock.  Brett did a silly looking dive.  It looked like he was going to belly flop, but he dove right at the end.  Stockton did a reverse and it looked awesome.  Stockton said it is hard to spin wearing a life jacket. Yep, hard to spin, but I'm glad he had it on!

Brett, John, Mike, Christen, Stockton

Stephanie, Mike, Sam, Bubs, Ange

Mike and Christen had to start heading home after the first run was over.  They weren't with us long, but I'm glad they travelled so far to be here!  School starts for them this Thursday.  Sam and Ange also headed back.  Brett was planning on switching with Rachel, but she decided to stay and help Cassie with the kids.  The transition took longer than we expected, so that was helpful to have Rachel stay.  Maysen and Jorja were also there watching the kids.

The second run was smaller.  Bubs and John were in the ducky. Stockton and Brett were lead paddlers.  My dad and Matt were next with Sharon and I behind.  Steve was guiding the boat.  That was fun!  I haven't been down the river with him in a long time.  Steve let Stockton 'be on the stick' two different times.  Stockton did great!  I tried that last year.  It is a lot of pressure!  We hit the first big rapid straight on. Double Draw.  My dad and Sharon were thrown from the boat.  Sharon said my dad went bowling and knocked her out.  They were under the raft for awhile.  Steve did not like that at all.  Sharon had a great time, but felt bad for worrying Steve.  Sharon said it was her first time under the raft.  I remember a giant wall of water hitting me from the side.  I saw Sharon go over out of the corner of my eye.  I think I threw my paddle at Steve.  He needed one because his was gone.  I was yelling "Swimmer!" while fumbling for the throw rope.  At least I remembered everything and was able to get the bag ready and hand it to Steve so he could throw it at Sharon.  It didn't last long but was extremely intense! My dad was pulled in first, but it took awhile to get to Sharon.  She came in with one paddle, but the guide paddle was lost down the river. I tried to make a grab for it once, but I couldn't reach it and I remembered being told not to go in after equipment.  Anyways, that was crazy!  We were able to finish the run just fine.  My dad got to sit in the middle and enjoy the journey because we were short one paddle.

Kahuna was fun.  We hit it great, then turned around and watched Bubs and John go through it.  They hit the first wave straight on.  The second wave they hit perfect as well, but the ducky folded over like a taco and John was washed out.  It was the craziest thing!  Bubs found a picture of it online.  John had no chance on that one.  He got back in the ducky super quick though and we just headed on down.  We stopped at Jump Rock again.  Brett went off and did swimming strokes in the air while he was diving.  Funny!  Stockton did another reverse for Steve.  It looked amazing!  There were a lot of people stopped there, so we didn't go up again.  While we were in a calm part of the river we heard sirens.  Awhile later we saw a life flight helicopter.  That's not good.  We watched the helicopter land on the road right above us. Traffic was stopped in both directions.  Later we found out that two people died in the accident.  One was a seven year old boy from Virginia.  Now that is devastating. n I'm glad we were able to have a safe trip this year.  People got hurt, but nothing permanent.

While we were on the river, Mike (Smith) and Jorja were busy making dinner.  Jorja got this recipe from Oakcrest and wanted to make it at the cabin.  She did a fantastic job.  We had ice cream and cones for dessert.  Luckily Sam had already bought ice cream Anne could have, and the cones didn't have any dairy in them.  Yay!

Stephanie and Anne

John and Cassie got packed up tonight.  They are planning on leaving super early.  Everyone is splitting up again.  This trip went by super fast.  I hope we can get together more often.  I loved every second of being with my family!

Cabin Time

We left the lodge this afternoon.  I followed Sharon around for a couple of hours and bothered her with my chatter.  That was fun though.  I tried to help people pack up and clean.  We had it easy because we were in the motorhome.  My dad, Cathy and Max were in a cabin.  John & Cassie were in a cabin.  Brett & Rachel, Matt & Sam were in the lodge. Bubs and his family have been staying at Sharon's cabin.  We left around 10:00 for our cabin.  We took Anne with us.  She liked that.  My kids helped Cassie, Bubs, Matt and I watch Brett's kids and Foster. Foster is from Rachel's side of the family.  Brett and Rachel were on the river with Rachel's family.  It was a long day, but we managed. Mike and Ange went on the river as well.  Mike and Ange rode in the ducky and loved it.  Bubs made a delicious dinner.  I played games with my brothers.  It was a good day.

Stockton

We stayed up until close to two in the morning playing Scum, much to Matt's frustration.  Stockton loved it.  John was so good, but finished the game as scum.  Cassie finished as king.  Matt didn't understand the point of the game.  Stockton thought it was the best thing ever.

Jorja's on the Snake!

I can not believe I did not take one picture today!  What a blog fail! Especially since today was amazing!  I was a bit worried because it was projected to rain all day.  It drizzled a little, but for the most part the weather was perfect.  Sharon took us river rafting down the Snake River today.  We started at West Table and we ended at Sheep Gulch.  I always forget which one is which, so I thought I would write it down. This was Jorja's first time river rafting.  She got to be the hood ornament.  That means she was the front of the boat crouched down, no paddling.  Some of the raft companies have them sit on the edge. That is just crazy!  Maysen and Stockton also came.  It was the first time paddling for both of them.  Maysen was really worried.  She thought the paddle would be ripped out of her hand.  She told Mike that if she was depended on for paddling the boat was going to go over for sure!  As we pushed off I turned to look at her.  She had tears in her eyes.  Jorja was also really scared.  She didn't know what to expect.  I told her she didn't have to go, but she would probably regret it if she didn't go.  Turns out all three of my kids loved it.  Maysen was surprised you don't get as wet paddling as you do a hood ornament. She stayed toasty warm in her wet suit.  Jorja hit the first wave and turned around with a giant grin on her face.  The grin stayed in place for the next two hours!  Jorja's hands were pretty cold when the ride was over.  Maysen, Stockton and Jorja all went belly whomping. Stockton was the best at it.  Jen and Becky also came the first run down.  Mike had his go-pro, so he got lots of film.  I'm just not sure how to get it on here.

Maysen, Stockton and Jorja went back to the cabin for the second run. They watched Jack and Preston.  Nate watched the little ones for the first run.  The second run down was just as fun as the first.  Jen pushed Nate in once she got the go-ahead from Sharon.  Sharon had us pull over at Lunch Counter.  There Mike, Nate and Jen all got in as a swimmer and floated through it.  Wow.  I didn't have any desire to get in the freezing cold water, so I was in charge of the raft.  Worked out well for me!

What a beautiful, exciting day!  Thank you Sharon for giving so much of your time to letting us have this experience!  Awesome.  Once we were back at the cabin Mike made a ton of spaghetti and Texas toast. We played Telestrations for awhile.  Sharon stayed with us because there was no room for her at her cabin.  She is so generous.  We went to bed pretty early by cabin standards.  It was about 10:00, so past my regular bedtime.  I was exhausted.  Having fun is sure a lot of work!

River Rafting

Today was spent at the cabin!  Half of our group left early to go river rafting.  Rachel, Ange, and I stayed and watched the kids.  (Matt and Sam got to go together, so did John and Cassie)  Luckily we had Maysen (who focused on Anne) and Jorja (who focused on the toddlers) to help us.  They were great!  We did really well, with a few moments of chaos!

They got back around lunch and switched with us.  The afternoon boat was me, Maysen, Rachel, Matt, John, Bubs, Ange and of course, Sharon.  It was a crazy ride.  A giant tree fell right in front of us. Freaked Sharon out.  I guess newly fallen trees are super dangerous.  I will have to look up the pictures because Lunch Counter was crazy fun! I bet there are some good ones there.  We stopped at the jump rock. John, Ange and Rachel all jumped.  Ange jumped for the first time!  I had no desire to jump because it is incredibly scary to climb there.  I did it last year and had no desire to do it again.  We were getting rained on for the rest of the ride, but it was really fun!

We came back to find Mike giving 4-wheeler rides to just about everyone.  Cassie said he was out there for 2 hours straight.  The kids all flocked to him because he gave the most fun rides.  Sorry Brett, Matt and Bubs, that is according to the kids.  Not my kids, but all the little kids that would run to Mike and treated the others like leftovers.  (I'm sure they were okay with that.)

Anyway, I have lots of pictures in random order.  My camera was uploading them weird.  I tried to work with it, then just decided it is what it is.  Here is our Monday:

 Mallory with Elsa hair.  I have this picture twice.

 BRANDON!

 Larkin, Preston, Blake, Mike, Skye

I had to give Lincoln a lesson in photo bombing.  He loved to stick his hand in the camera and say, "Photobomb!"  After awhile that becomes annoying.  I explained to him what a real photobomb was.  Solved that problem for the rest of the trip!

Lincoln's photobomb

More and more kids kept adding themselves to Mike's 4-wheeler.  It was pretty funny.

 Preston, Larkin, Blake, Trevor, Mike, Skye, Mallory

 Preston, Larkin, Blake, Trevor, Mike, Skye

 Bubs demonstrating to Lincoln a photobomb

 Larkin, Preston, Blake, Trevor, Mike, Skye, Mallory

 Cassie with Trevor & Brandon

 (Ange & Matt) John

 Skye, Mallory, Blake, Mike

 Brett, Preston, Larkin

 BOYS!

 Mallory, Brett, Jorja, Skye

 Preston, Larkin, Blake, Mike

 Trevor & John

 Lincoln & Bubs

 Preston, Lincoln, Blake, Mike, Larkin

 Marie, Brett, Mallory, Skye

 Skye, Brett, Marie, Trevor, John

 Mallory, Brett, Jorja, Skye

Grace and Anne are less than two months apart.  They look so much alike to me.  I took way too many pictures of them together.  I couldn't help myself!

Grace & Anne

 Anne

 Grace & Anne ~ Anne loved exploring Grace!

Abby got so sad because I wouldn't let her use Jorja's toothbrush.  She fell asleep on the middle of the floor.  She slept for hours!  I was thinking, "I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that tonight!"

Abbs & Bubs

Ange gave Ella Elsa hair.  The other girls were so impressed!  Especially Mallory!

Mina, Ange, Ella, Sam

 Ella

Ange giving Mallory Elsa hair

Mallory & Ella ~ Mallory is so happy about this!

Mallory ~ she even let me take a picture!

Anne & Maysen

Stephanie & Brandon

LOTS of kids on Jorja

I see Lincoln, Blake, Marie, Larkin & Skye

Preston, Jorja, Mina

Jorja LOVES this girl!

Preston, Jorja & Mina, Mallory

I stayed up until 1:30 or so playing Dominion with my brothers.  So much fun!  Poor Bubs and Ange, their kids were up so late!  I am at a really good stage of life.  My kids are so easy.  I don't want this stage to end.  It's amazing how quickly my family is growing up.  I'm not ready!!!

West Table to Sheep Gulch

Ella lost a tooth this morning.  She was so excited about it!  Adorable!

Ella

Stockton LOVES babies!  I love watching him playing with Amelia. Love that kid!

Amelia and Stockton

Abby loves playing with Jorja.  I'm surprised I didn't get any pictures of them playing together.  Abby calls her, "My Jorja".  Matt was sitting on the couch next to Jorja and Abby was so mad at him!  She burst into tears crying, "My Jorja!  My Jorja!"  Matt moved and Abby sat next to her as happy as she could be.  Maysen would want to do something for Abby and she would say, "No!  My Jorja!"  Haha! It was awesome.

Today we spent most of the day on the river.  Sharon is so nice to allow us this opportunity.  We found out at the end of the day that Sharon had been sent a Cease and Desist order.  She is not allowed to run the river for profit.  Sharon never charges anything.  She is so far in the hole if they added up everything Sharon provides and receives nothing in return.  They said that they would throw her in jail if she didn't stop running the river.  The park rangers just can't believe that Sharon does this because she loves sharing the river with others.  She loves the river so much it is ridiculous they give her so much grief about it.  Sharon does try to take everyone down who wants to go, so she practically lives here during the river season.  I guess the park rangers can't believe that someone as awesome as Sharon even exists.

Anyway, we made two runs today.  Maysen and Stockton came with us on the first run.  I was wishing they were there for the second run also. We hit the waves a lot better.  It was so much fun!  We also stopped for some cliff diving.  It is super scary climbing up the cliff.  I got half way up and decided it wasn't worth it.  You had to belly crawl on a super small ledge.  Then you had to lean over and catch your life vest.  Mike did it, but I was content just to watch.  When we finished the second run Sharon asked us if we wanted to Belly Whomp.  We had never done that before.  Sharon turned over the raft.  Four people used paddles and splashed water on the raft.  We then ran down the ramp and used it as a slip and slide.  It was pretty fun.  I got a ton of water up my nose the first time.  Whoops.

Stockton

 Maysen, Matt and Stockton

 Maysen and Stockton

 Stockton, Mike, Maysen, Stephanie
(Matt and Lauren in the background)

 Stockton, Mike, Maysen, Stephanie
(this time Bubs is in the background)