We got to go to Idaho this year for a Forbes reunion. Meme and Drew's cousin Annie Mae came with us too. Before I jump in, this post needs a disclaimer. I hardly took any pictures this week because we had listed our house right before we came and were reviewing/accepting offers during much of the family reunion, so I was not 100% present. But, such as I have, I give to thee.
The reunion was at a fun place called the May Family Ranch near Challis that had just come under the new ownership of an admirable little family. Here's a good view of the spot...
...taken by these two early morning running brothers...
...who like to wear matching shirts.
There was a beautiful lawn for games...
...and taking pictures,...
...pavilions for doing activities...
...and slurping cold watermelon,...
...and an amazing waterslide. The video I wish I had is a scene that still plays in my mind, months later. Jessie and Paula are standing at the bottom of the slide taking pictures and all of the brothers and brothers-in-law are coming down the slide in a swift and mighty train. The tidal wave they produce when they hit the water completely envelopes Jessie and Paula. All are soaked. Priceless!
There were a lot of mountain bluebirds in the area, which are always a joy to see!
One of the days of the reunion we went white water rafting down the Salmon river with White Otter Outdoor Adventures. Grandma Paula stayed back with the littlest people which made for a much less stressful float for us. We had the best guide who taught us all about, well, everything: the salmon, the forest, the wildlife, the history of the bridges, rafting, etc. He was awesome.
The river was gorgeous. It was such a thrill to be in rapids again!
Please admire pregnant Melanie. This girl. She is funny!
It was a beautiful valley, but I don't think it would have been as peaceful when the stamps were operating. It reminded me of Poldark. Mining is messy.
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| Aside: I am cracking up looking at this picture because the way Grandma Paula is walking is Rafe's default pose--holding onto the elbow of his other arm behind the back. |
But nature has a way of reclaiming things. I saw a sego lily in the wild for the first time ever in one of the fields there.
After Custer we piled in the car to drive to Redfish Lake for a picnic dinner. I fell asleep on the way and when I woke up I thought for a second I had died and gone to the Tetons. The kids immediately waded in the crystal clear water, and Drew was kind enough to trade me his shorts for my skinny jeans so I could go for a swim myself. He looks rather dashing in them.
I wish I had a picture of Daniel cannonballing off the swimming platform, but I do not. I do however have this gem from the park in Stanley where we went to watch the fireworks that evening. He had a bet with Camille about growing hair out.
Here's one of Marcus showing Melanie how much he loves her.
We played around on the playground while we waited for it to get dark.
Marcus and I tried a game where you had to go all the way around the inside of the jungle gym only touching certain colors of bars. He's a much better climber than me. After a little while, a storm blew in, so we got a pre-fireworks show.
The next day we tried to take a nice siblings picture, but some brothers kept tickling sisters and I think this is the best one I got.
Here is Merrick being so "helpful" while everyone packs up all the gear.
The brothers' families all stayed a little longer for kids to get their fill of the slide.
We were going to go eat at the Sunbeam Cafe that all the river guides had raved about the day before, but sadness of life! It was closed.
And I nearly had a terrible injury there. I was hopping across the stumps that lined the edge of the parking lot, being a large child, when one rolled out from under me. I came down hard on my knee (as large children do) and think I probably would've broken my leg, but the stump I landed on was rotted and gave way to perfectly cushion my fall. It was a close thing. We backtracked along the road a bit to grab some food at the Sawmill Station for one last lunch together before we all hit the road again.
We stopped in Pocatello on the way home to visit the Richardsons and take a tour of their new place. They are busy, busy getting their yard established. The kids ran wild in the construction sites outside...
...and in the play room downstairs.
We stayed there two nights. The kids camped out on the squishy carpet in the basement.
Endless sleeping arrangement possibilities!
This Brock baby.
I love him.
He's so cute.
They're ALL so cute.
We miss them so!
We saw Joel off to work in the morning, then loaded up for the next leg of our trip in Utah.
...hangin' with Colette...
(in all the strange ways)
...snuggling Jasmine and Theo...
...eating delicious things at Melanie's house...
...playing with her baby toys...
...and going to Otterpoparama!
I love this house in the summer. This tree was having a hard time in the spring, so Isaac gave it a haircut. It looks good with a bob!
There was also some milkweed volunteering in the front beds this year. It's so huge!
We went to the Provo Rec Center a couple times with Aunt Haley. One of the times Rafe had a twin. Hurrah for Costco swimsuits.
We watched England lose their world cup game in a shoot out at the Edwards' house. They were devastated. We sidled out after the game ended and Portia joked after us, "Just leave us in our misery!" in her awesome accent.
We also got to go up the canyon with Aunt Marilyn and some Webster cousins.
Drew came back to Utah to run his Spartan race and brought us the produce from our garden back in Albuqueruqe. Such amazing peaches this year!
The people on the other side of the fence happened to be playing Kubb as well.
Drew sported a mustache for a few days after shaving off the Spartan chops. I think he looks like a British Imperial officer.
We went around and everyone picked a word to describe us for our birthday. I wrote mine down, because I appreciated them.
Mel - strong
Mom Paula - beautiful
Jake - curious
Haley - inquisitive
Colette - inclusive
Rafe - friendly
Justin - smart
Isaac - inspiring
Drew - adventurous
Vivien - kind
Dad Mark - deep
Mom Brunsdale - gift
Daddio - creative
What else? Haley, Colette, and I went for an open water swim to train for our upcoming triathlon. We swam in Wallsburg Bay and it was surprisingly warm.
Annie had a weird skin reaction at some point, I think to some sun screen.
She's always had sensitive skin issues, ever since she was a baby. Oh look, Rachel's in the back of this picture. She and Will came to visit us one of the days. Will made some really tasty blistered shishito peppers that I need to try to make because I would like to eat them again.
We had brought Jet and Bella to Nana and Papi's house on our way up to the family reunion (Melanie had very kindly agreed to take care of them for me for the next few months that were going to be chaos). When I came to drop them off, the floor of the chicken run still had some feed/junk in the bottom of it that had gotten wet in some recent rain and was supporting a grand colony of maggots.
We scooped it all out into the compost pile and lined the bottom with some paving stones that were sitting around. However, I did not do a good job covering all the dirt, and Jet exploited my mistake several times. One of the times she dug a tunnel into the Luntz's yard and was living her best life frolicking on the lawn. Another time she dug under the hutch ramp and made herself a den in the cool earth beneath the paving stones.
Unfortunately, she uncovered a nest of baby mice in the process that had to be dealt with. Pets are so fun.
On one of our Utah days, Drew and I got to climb Pfeifferhorn with Haley and Colette. We went the Red Pine Lake route.
It was gorgeous.
I was a little bit sad because we weren't allowed to get in the lake, but it was chilly and windy, so not too sad.
Walking across the ridge sure got the adrenaline pumping in a few spots.
And then once you've traversed the ridge you see Pfeifferhorn rearing up and you think twice about if you really want to summit. It's very steep.
But we did it, and were glad. It's an incredible view!
"I don't KNOW why I CAN'T think of AAAAAAANYthiiiiiing I would rather doooooooo than be wasting my time on mountains with youuuuuuuuu."
It was an early morning for Drew. All mornings are early for Drew.
I have four more unrelated pictures. One: all the lips of my children. I had them try to guess who was who. It was a way to quietly kill time when we arrived at church half an hour early by mistake.
Top to bottom, left to right: Viv, Merrick, Annie, Rafe.
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