More Murtuagh

I just had to post more pics of the Murtaugh.

Darren and Brady watching Neil.

It always feels better to be at the BOTTOM of a rapid watching someone else come through, rather than at the top.

Darren, Brady, 13, Justin, 15, and David.

First time kayaking the Murtaugh required David to be along. One boater for each boy! David and Justin stuck together. It is David who gave Justin his new nickname, Zen Master.

Paddle boaters, most of who swam at least once on this trip!

Neil, who took a little teeny, tiny swim in the middle of Pair of Dice :)

Island at Pair of Dice

Sew Fun

Sewing is fun. To some people! Paige loves it and my cute sis in law was kind enough to help her sew some adorable boots while we were visiting! I sent Paige to the fabric store with my debit card so they could get everything they needed. I was happy to watch kids while they did so! I knew it would take them 1/4 of the time to find what they needed than if I took Paige myself!

I'm glad to be related to talented people!

Garden

The kids and I planted the garden this year. A huge black cloud was forming in the west as we started. We pushed on, not wanting to stop once we had started. We probably should have stopped. We joked that the carrots and radishes would probably come up on the cliffs; we think more seed blew away than went into the ground.

It has not been a beautiful, well kept garden this year. In fact, there are certain people I hope never see it, they would faint at the sight of so many weeds. But it has produced a lot for us! Not so many carrots or radishes, and the rock chucks ate a ton of it when it first sprouted. They ate a lot of the corn, all of the beans, and a lot of the squash and cucumbers. You might notice the live animal trap in the back ground of the picture. It didn't help a lot. The kids shot a few of the little varmints, but not soon enough!

We love artichokes and tried a plant just for fun this year, it did great! We are eating potatoes and corn like crazy right now, and I will have plenty of tomatoes for my marinara sauce!

Our fruit trees started to produce this year. We got enough peaches to eat, the next tree is about ripe...I already canned 16 qts.....more to come!!!

Don't judge a book by its cover, or a garden by its weeds!

Cross Country

We are so lucky this year - all three kids in the same sport! Same practice times, same meets! I am a lucky mom!

Magic Mtn. is always the highlight of the cross country season. It is a dang hard meet, they run right up the ski hill!

Little Paige took 10th place out of about 65-70 middle schoolers. She is also one of the youngest! Her knee has been hurting her so she has to sit the next meet out. She's OK with it, but I am bummed! She is doing so well!

Brady did awesome, 17th out of a TON of boys. I'm not sure how many, but more than the girls!

The high schoolers run a 5K. Justin was in the top 12 all the way up the steep part, passing people right and left. Then on the flats his stride just doesn't match up. He is growing so fast, but some of those boys are 6 ft. already! He did awesome!

It was so fun to have a racer in 3 of the 4 races! Darren and I manned the food and water station during the girls HS race.

I get so excited when they race, and a little competetive. But mostly I'm just glad they are participating in such a healthy sport, with such nice kids.

One of the teams had a funny T-shirt. "Life is short, running makes it seem longer"! As I ready myself to head out on a run, I totally agree! ARGH!

Lazy

Paige really wanted to go camping for Labor Day. We were feeling lazy. So we did campout in the backyard. Paige was totally thrilled with this.

We cooked Dutch Oven around our fire pit.

Good old river menu food - poppy seed chicken and dutch oven potatoes, onions and carrots (all from our garden).

We even slept out on the deck. Don't ask me how long I lasted out there....Hey, my bed was only 10 feet away, it was just too tempting!

It doesn't take a lot to make kids happy. We really enjoyed just being together, kind of "away" from the world!

First Day of School

School didn't start until Sept. 6 this year! Loved the extra two weeks with my peeps!

The paper with the grade on it is a tradition since Justin went to Kindergarten. Justin loves it as you can tell...

When I was trying to get the boys to cooperate and do this picture Darren was getting his truck to go to work and I turned around and put a finger to my head...like kill me now.... he was just laughing and getting out of there as FAST AS HE COULD. Teenage boys are kind of ornery. Someday they will appreciate that I was their mom, I'm just sure of it!

Murtaugh Madness

Darren's paddle sticking out of "Knuckles"

Brady coming up on it.

This is the second time the boys have kayaked the Murtaugh. This is a huge deal. This stretch of the Snake is world famous, but only runs when there has been a good snow pack. It is severely out of the ordinary that it is running 4800 cfs in August.

I'm glad the boys had a summer to boat and sharpen their skills to prepare for the Murtaugh. Darren first kayaked it at 15. Brady has had a goal for a few years that he wanted to beat his dad and do it at 14. Well, he beat it and did it at 13! He almost waited until next year, he was so nervous and wondered if he should really attempt it this year. It was no small decision to do it.

The first rapid munched him and he seriously questioned why he was there. I was told he had the scared deer in the headlights look most of the time - BUT HE DID IT! He has the skills or Darren would never have taken him. When he first saw me afterwards he looked like he was going to start crying, it was such an emotional release. I don't think we realized how bundled up by nerves he had been that week trying to decide if he was ready for this! I was really impressed with his ability to seriously evaluate his own skills, not like some of his age who tend to exaggerate their abilities for the sake of their ego.

Justin's new nickname is "Zen Master". A boater friend of ours said before any big rapid Justin would just go "zen" and do it. They say he is amazing.

I'm a proud mom, in case you couldn't tell. I did teach them to roll their kayaks, afterall. They may not remember the hours I spent at a friend's pool with them, hauling kayaks in and out of the car, Paige in tow, so they could practice. I'm so glad they love it as much as their dad does. Glad they have a passion for it, for something. Makes life worthwhile, you know?

When they start running the North Fork of the Payette's of the world, remind me that I wanted this, would you?