Highest in Idaho

Darren and the boys climbed Mt. Borah, the tallest mountain in Idaho. 12,662 ft.

Brady and Justin on Chicken Out Ridge. On the other side of this ridge is a vertical drop. They're glad they didnt' chicken out.

A Century Later

Saturday I accomplished a goal I set for myself at the beginning of the summer. I rode my bike 100 miles. Actually, it ended up being 110, but who's counting? I was! And so was my behind!

Grandma and Grandpa Smith took the kids, and Heather and her kids to Nat-soo-pah for one last summer campout. Heather took these pictures for us, more of her work can be seen here.

A Needle Pulling Thread

Paige has talents in areas that definitely did NOT come from me. She sewed this skirt at a class at the Quilt Barn. It was a mom and daughter class. Thankfully I have friends that are nice to me. She went with a friend and her friend's mom.

Paige is good at sewing and actually enjoys it. I actually can sew. Not well, but I can do it. I hate it. OK, hate is a strong word, but you get the picture. I love that Paige is creative, and has an eye for color and decorating things. She is a very perceptive young lady, so much so that sometimes it is a little frightening. I love her to pieces.

Perspective

How do I even begin to write about the six days we spent on the Main Salmon?

We dove head first into the trip

Reading at Reed

Girl power










Brady kayaked like a maniac





Brady has nice people in his family. Or are those work horses?

Sand in the hair, and everywhere, is sort of a requirement on river trips.

Due to having a kayaking family, I spent a lot of the river miles like this. Just me, myself, and I. Someone has to be the responsible one and carry stuff like food, water, shelter...

Paige and Zachary


Darren and Brady

We also did a little of that.

We made sugar cookies (or is that sand?)

Photo at Polly Bemis Ranch. Thanks Heather.

We also did a lot of this!

So glad to have Heather along for cool pics.

While looking at pictures from our trip the consensus is WE WANT TO GO BACK! Paige told us she would start calling the ranger for a permit tomorrow.

Everything is better on the river. River food is amazing, river time doesn't matter, river entertainment is home grown. Do kids really need anything more than sand and water? What matters on the river is what REALLY matters. Food, shelter, water, relationships, survival, finding a place to sleep that night. All "wordly" worries seem worlds away.

While pulling, and pulling and PULLING my boat, (oaring by pointing the boat at the obstacle and trying to row away from it) carrying Paige and all our gear, away from a huge hole that threatened to swallow us whole, I suddenly didn't care about the color of my living room, the decorations on my wall, the way my nails looked, the amount of money in my bank account. The river forces me back to basics. Something I strive for all the time, but seem to lose focus of. I decided I needed something to help with my focus.

So this time I brought my river glasses home with me. When I look through them, I gain River Perspective.

River perspective grounds me in the basics. I feel strong and capable. Big worries become what they really are- temporary glitches. Except of course the big nasty holes, the real things that threaten to harm important things, and those things are worth the worry, worth pulling with all my strength away from, leaving me grateful that I'm alive, and confident that we can get through anything.

Plus, river glasses make you look really cool.

Sawtooths

This is our annual picture taken in front of the Sawtooth Mtns. after church in Stanley, ID. Who doesn't love wearing Chacos to church?

Uncle Chris and Brady are up to something.

It worked! Which one is Huckleberry Finn?

Darren on the Bungee Board.

A Rock and a Soft Face

Who knew there was a rock in the Toilet Hole at 4500 cfs? Not even Darren, the Murtaugh guru. He had Justin go in there on purpose to practice rolling his kayak in the current. Thank goodness for helmets, but I think we need face guards.

When Justin swam out of his boat, Darren went to rescue him and was surprised to see a bloody face come up and grab the end of his kayak. Justin was in good spirits and got back in his boat. You have to get back up on the horse, right?