The Snake River

We just returned from an awesome white water rafting trip at the Snake River. The water flow was record high. The river was running fast and high which made the rapids incredible!!!  Brent and I stayed back from the first run while the rest of the group went down. Brent hiked down to the river at a rapid called Lunchcounter to take pictures of our family.  Before the family got there he practiced on a few other boats. Lunch Counter is notorious for being big in high water. So in REALLY high water, it was like we had never seen it.  These first several pictures aren't of my family but they're awesome. So enjoy while you witness the incredible Snake River!

Glad I wasn't on their boat!!!

I think the dude in the skins is wishing the same thing

It's all fun and games....

until your boat hits a wall of water

and folds your boat in half

and your raft lands on top of you

Bummer

Begin epic theme music...

Enter my family

Enter 10 foot waves

Look at the picture below. My dad is on the left in the back with the sunglasses. Doesn't he look profesh? He has been doing this for 30 years. :) Same with my Mom in the front on the right. She's been doing it for 40 years. She may be a bit crazy, I mean she's got a fused spine and has MS, but somehow she did 3 river runs this time around.

You can see my two sisters Emily and Jenni in the front on the left

Brent's sister Heidi is the one screaming, "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!" You can't see the curling wave, but you can see the looks of terror/delight going into the rapid.

They made it!!! They were awesome and pioneers. We've never been down the river to my knowledge with flows this high. Little did they know that there were new sets of rapids ahead that were even more fun than Lunchcounter! Rock Garden used to be a bunch of shallow water with rocks sticking out all over.  Now it's a huge set of rapids similar to Lunchcounter. Oh man, it was a blast.

Were you wondering what happened to those people who flipped? They had to climb to the highway and wait for a ride to pick them up.

This view gives a nice feel for the size of the river

Brent saw three out of ten or so boats either flip or spill their occupants. Amazingly, our little family beat the odds and avoided any flipping or spilling during four runs of the river.

Coming tomorrow... pictures of the other portion of this trip. Unfortunately no pictures of Brent and I on the river. No one volunteered to use our camera and take pictures. Not sure why... ;)

Hiking the Mormon Trail

A few weekends ago we really wanted to go on a hike and decided on the Mormon Trail and invited my sister to come along with us.

Chico picked these flowers and I said, "Oooh, are those for me!?"  and he said, "No, the doats".  Nice.

So you know how all the water has been high this year? Well, it kinda flooded a lot of this trail.  For the first 20 minutes or so I was able to keep my shoes dry but it became apparent that it was a pointless effort.  So we trudged through that freezing cold water and had fun.  

It was great having Em along. She's so great with my kids and we of course had fun talking the whole way up and down the trail.

Beavers are awesome.  Look at that tree above that they've been working on.  Then a few hundred yards later we came across a sign. Wonder how long it took before the beaver figured out it wasn't a tree?

I might just be framing this next picture.

We finally let Chico wade in the water near the end too. He had a blast.  Hiking with Chico has been a real learning experience for me. I've been realizing how much patience Brent has, and how much I lack.  I'm trying to learn to be patient like Brent.  I'm so glad I'm married to such an awesome man and father.

just chillin'

I love when Brent breaks out the camera to capture the cuteness of our kiddos. 

Chico has been smothering Nelmo quite a bit more now.  It is amazing how patient Nelmo is with all of this. We have to keep a close eye because often we'll find Chico pinning Nelmo's face underneath a blanket and Nelmo is just laying there letting him do it. Chico also tries (and suceeds) to carry Nelmo. He hefts him by standing behind him and putting his arms underneath Nelmo's armpits and lifts him up. He's also tried doing that around his neck which causes great alarm and fear and screaming from Mommy saying, "No don't EVER do that!!!!"

My latest decoration changes...

The colored hemp balls were created and sprayed by me. The tan and brown ones were found at Walmart. As were the flowers that I arranged in that pot.  The pot and basket were both DI finds. Maybe it looks dumb but I like it. :)

Chico's "new scout shirt". I was getting my scout shirt on one day as I prepared for Webelos and Chico asked me, "where is my scout shirt?".  He got this new shirt one day and he deemed it, on his own, as his scout shirt.  I got this on clearance at Kohls, a heck of a lot cheaper than a scout shirt would have been. :)  He wore it to church one day and told all the ladies in nursery that it was his new scout shirt. I guess he really likes it! :)

Oh Nelmo, you crack me up with your cute faces.

Our "neighbor doats" recently had some babies.  They are "SO DUTE!" and we just love standing at the fence feeding them.

Nelmo even fed one of the goats accidentally.  He was holding a weed in his hand and the goat reached it's mouth through the fence and started pulling on the weed.  Nelmo held on tight to that weed and didn't let it go.  The goat pulled and the weed ripped in half.  Then Nelmo lazily put his half into his mouth.  He's got quite the grip!

But THIS goat has caused some wild adventures for us.  She reaches her little neck under the fence and somehow gets the rest of her body to follow.  Then she's stuck on the other side of the fence than her baby.  She's okay for a while because she's just chowin' down on the weeds. But then when she realizes she can't get back she starts freakin' out.  We have the best view of the goats of any of our neighbors, in fact, we have a better view than the owners of the goats. So we feel it our responsibility to help get her back in when she gets out.  Which has happened several times lately.  Brent has had some exciting times chasing down this goat.  Let me tell ya, they are fast! The first time she got out a couple weeks ago I thought I'd help and with a bit of trepidation I peaked my head behind the garage and she bolted down the lane at me and I had to jump out of the way right in time for her to ram the fence with those horns of hers.  I think I might have startled her because she's usually not aggressive.  Just a crazy wild goat trying to get back to her baby.


Nelmo is just getting cuter every day.  His brown eyes and now light brown hair just kill me.

Oh and I love his two toothed grin!

Definitely looks like his daddy. :)