Star Valley, Wyoming

I know I've said this recently about another place we visited... but there is hardly a more beautiful place in the world than Star Valley, Wyoming. (Hour south of Jackson). My family gathers there every August for the fair and the raspberries! My dad grew up there, his sister still lives there and my grandma is in the care center there. We stay in some darling cabins in the mtns. Bald eagles soar around the fish ponds, the kids roam and explore and Darren reads on the porch. It is truly close to heaven. Saturday we floated the rapids through the alpine section of the Snake. My dad and cousin braved it in an inflatable kayak. The best part being the moment when they realized they weren't going to make the eddy above big Kahuna - they wanted in the raft for the big one! Shock and true fear appeared on their faces, one of th but they made it to the right and did just fine. Big Kahuna was huge this year and I begged Darren not to hit it because my mom was in the raft (she is not comfortable in even still water) but gratefully he didn't listen because we had a great hit and it was her favorite part!

Y not Tri?

Last Thursday we went to Boise for the Y not Tri triathlon. The race is intended to get people to try out triathlons, it is for kids, and beginners, but even seasoned triathletes compete. The distances are 1/4 mile swim, 6 mile bike, and 1 mile run. Justin and Brady each did the whole thing and Paige competed on a team with our neighbors, the Heiders, as their runner.
This is the Heider/Smith team. The pond in the background was where the swim took place. They swam all the way around the buoys in the distance. When we first got there Darren asked me privately, "Can they swim that far?" I knew they could, but open water is a little intimidating. Good thing they are fish.
Paige and her runner friend who competed on a team with her sisters (also our neighbors, we have the coolest neighborhood ever).

Justin on the dock getting ready to enter the water. Notice the size of the other kids in the race. The category was 19 and under. My heart was pumping at this point, could they swim that far?
Brady coming out of the water running to the transition area to put on his bike gear. He was the first one in our neighborhood out of the water...and he was the one I was worried about! Notice again the size of the "kid" beside him.
Brady exiting the transition area to ride his bike, Justin is right behind him. Darren was yelling at Justin to help Brady pull his shirt on, it was hard having to just be a spectator! We weren't sure they totally understood what they were suppose to do. I guess they have heard us talking about it enough (they refused to come watch the Spudman this year, boring they said) Both boys exiting for the bike ride.

This is afterwards. A little tired and hot? It was over 100 degrees when the race started. We were so stinking proud of them!
Paige coming in strong to the finish line!
Justin coming in to the finish. He was the first one in the neighborhood in, even ahead of the teams!
Here comes Brady. It was so much fun watching them and cheering them on! It is so cool to see your kids do "hard things" and then watch them feel the sense of accomplishment afterwards! It has been fun to have Darren get into tri's with me this year. (Even though he comes in at something I've been working at and makes me disgusted with how good he is,- although I can still beat him back to the dock when we swim the 1/2 mile at Dierkes, though I'm sure not for long). We enjoy swimming and biking together, (joy isn't usually what I feel when I bike with him though, it's more of a puking kind of feeling) but it is a nice getaway to do together. I'm not great at triathlons, I'll never place in my division, but something about it is addicting. It helps to keep me going, setting a goal, it feels good at the end of a race to know you accomplished something difficult, something you have had to work at. The fact that on the run you would rather just keel over dead than continue, just makes it that much more rewarding when you finish! (Sounds inviting, doesn't it?) Something about doing "hard things" is more rewarding than the easy stuff. Maybe it just gets you stoked up to be able to take on the rest of life and all the crap involved with it. And watching the kids do it was so much fun! So I ask you this, why not tri?

Twin Falls Temple

Michelle and her kids came to visit Twin after moving (totally ditching us) 2 1/2 years ago. They couldn't believe how beautiful the Temple looked sitting there as they turned the corner onto Eastland! We went on a tour with them, it is very fun to be in the temple with family and friends. Having the temple here has already been such a great experience for our family. What an exciting time to live in Twin Falls.
Shel has been my friend since Kindergarten. We were cheerleaders together in high school, roommates at Ricks College and then we ended up marrying guys who were roommates! They lived in Twin for about five years, then moved to Utah. I still feel bitter when I drive by her old house!

Surfin' Shoshone

The wave in Shoshone is running and we had to take our friends to do it. They started off above little rapid and floated down for about 20 min.
Little ducks all in a row.

The wave at the end is the funnest. Kyle jumping in.
Ally's job was to stand by and look cute.

Trevor caught the wave.
Kristen is proving she is brave by doing new things whether she wants to or not! She is tearing it up on the boogie board.

Brady could surf for a year and not come off. We have to kick him off so others can have a turn.


Kristen contemplating making the jump! It is very intimidating to stand there and jump into a billowing wave of whitewater four feet below!

Now the story gets good. Shel is trying to live up to her famous statement "I'm tougher than you think." She is really thinking hard about this one.
Trevor is telling her what she needs to do. Still thinking.
Thinking again. Getting all dialed in to jump.
Trying sitting down to minimize the distance to the water.

And she's in! Shel is still tougher than I thought! You can't come to Idaho without swimming in a canal at least once. We're glad to have such willing friends!

When Dad Goes Shopping

This is what happened when I sent Darren and the kids to Walmart.
Justin has been saving up for a shotgun for a long time.
Learning how to use the BB gun was a family affair.
Darren is thinking "what have I done!" Where did we get her?

Lower Milner

We floated the Lower Milner section of the Snake a few weeks ago when Troy and Cody were still with us. Murray took these pics for us, since we were lame and forgot our camera.
Justin ran up and did a back flip before we could even blink.
Paige finally jumped.
Darren and his seal launch. He and Brady kayaked. It was a fun but very swirly level. Brady had a pretty good swim but stayed calm and got right back in his boat and finished strong.
Brady jumping. That black thing is his spray skirt (it keeps the water out of his kayak)