{Labor Day Weekend...Version twenty-ten}

We have got to be the luckiest kids on the planet, seriously.  My parents' planned vacation did not disappoint!  We spent four wonderful and beautiful days canoing below the Grand Tetons, making memories and learning lessons.

Friday, September 2nd
We packed up our car (with four sleeping bags, two duffle bags of clothes, and diapers...it's about all we could fit!) and headed to Pacific Creek/Moran Junction (just below the Jackson Dam) to meet up with my parents.

We put back in the water (my mom took Kortlen) and met us down the Snake River.  I wish I would have had my camera, despite the risk of getting it wet, because the MOST beautiful view of the Grand Tetons was around every bend of the Snake River on this day. The water was relatively smooth. We did a 9 mile stretch from Moran to Deadman's Bar.  We had two people per canoe, and five canoes.  Tanner and Taylor got to pick which canoe they rode in, and sat on the bottom, in the middle.  They were quite the troopers!  They didn't even complain about wearing a personal flotation device (pfd).  The river was really low, and in some parts (if we didn't navigate right) we had to get out and push for a few yards over 5 or 6 inches of water.  It was relatively calm, and we had to learn to work together, as a team. Some of us struggled with this, but in the end, I think we all realized we were just going to zig-zag for 29 miles if we didn't figure it out, and quick!

Saturday, September 3rd
We put in at Deadman's Bar, and I was the 'driver' this day.  I knew it would be a long 10 miles for our crew, but didn't know how long it was going to be waiting for them at our destination.  It was a bit chilly, so everyone had on hoodies under their pfds.

This next picture could have easily been the last picture I took of my sweet boys and loving husband...but angels were watching out for my family, and especially for my little Tanner.

I took my time taking pictures of these grand mountains as I knew I'd have at least 2 hours before having to pick up the crew down stream.

I wandered through the Craig Thomas Discovery Center, which is VERY cool.  They had a neat relief map of Grand Teton National Park and surrounding areas (I am my father's daughter, remember?  And I love looking at maps), videos of rivers in the floor, a one minute geological animation about the formation of the Grand Tetons (pretty spiffy) and equipment from different decades used to climb the magnificent mountains and much, much more.

Around the time I was to meet my family, I grew increasingly impatient as the time dragged on.  After a few commercial tourist groups from rafts had docked and were leaving in their own vehicles, I felt prompted to ask a nearby couple if they had seen a family with five canoes in the area they were floating.  The couple looked at each other and then me, and told me they had, indeed seen this group, and that they were going to be a while yet getting to this landing.  As I inquired why, they explained that they had some problems but that everything and everyone looked to be okay.  I learned that two women and a boy about the age of five had sunk their canoe, and the group was trying to get the canoe out as they passed, and juggling passengers to get everyone to fit into the remaining four canoes.  I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized that my mom and sister and Tanner had been the ones to receive the frigid welcome into the glacial waters, and their canoe was swallowed by the beautiful Snake River.

My Sister, Stephanie, recounts what happened:  We were heading for a ginormous fallen down tree with it's huge roots in our way and we decided which way to paddle a little too late. As we were pushed perpendicular to the river and into the roots of the tree, the water forced the canoe to capsize with the hull in the roots and us being pushed by the water into the canoe.

Mom was pushed out of the front and to the left of the tree and I was being pushed to the back of the canoe. Tanner was in the middle and the water was pulling him down. I wasn't sure what or where Mom was, but as I saw Tanner go down, I grabbed his life jacket and the paddle and we headed for another branch or tree that was caught in the roots.

I never went under the water, as it was only 3 feet deep. I set Tanner up on the log and calmed him down. As I was calming him down, I decided to wait for Ryan and Katelyn, who were upstream from us about a mile. A few minutes later, they came around the bend and quickly docked the canoe in the rocky beach about 15 feet from us. I Carried Tanner across to his Dad and we calmed him down some more.

Tanner was freezing so we stripped off his wet sweater, life vest, and swimsuit and put him in Katelyn's and Ryan's warm sweaters to get him warm. It took him a while, as he was very shook up, but he got dry and a little bit warmer.



After over an hour of trying to get the canoe out, and to no avail, we left without the canoe. Which still happens to be up there.

After I finally settled down, we got a report to the rangers, and we headed back to camp to eat lunch (three hours later than expected) before heading into Jackson for the evening.

Everyone had tickets to the Playmill, but I opted out for my little family, not wanting to spend the money on tickets only to sit outside with three tired and screaming boys.  Instead, I sat at the only laundromat in town to wash (without detergent) and dry everyone's wet jackets and clothes while Ryan took the boys with everyone to the shootout at the town square.  While everyone went to "The Fantastics", Ryan and I took our boys to the Rec Center to go swimming (aka: take a bath).  Despite the traumatic events earlier in the day, both boys jumped right in!  (And since we've been home, Tanner has LOVED the water, even laying down in the tub to wash his hair!!!)


Sunday, September 4th
Most the family went to the Cunningham Cabin at 6 am to hear the elk bugle, but our little family stayed snug and warm in our tent.  When we couldn't sleep any longer, we opted for hot chocolate and a blazing fire.

Where's the baby?

There he is!

Breakfast on Fast Sunday while Camping....(in our defense, the first thing my brothers did at camp, was break out their laptops.  LOL!)...watching netflix on the campsites wifi.  We're terrible.

We attended Sacrament Meeting at the local ward in Jackson, and returned to camp for hamburgers and corn on the cob.

Tanner was cracking us up with this huckleberry soda...

And Kortlen, doing what he does best!  Sleeping...

Then we loaded up, again, to make the two-and-a-half-hour drive into Yellowstone National Park to see the new visitor's center.  See pictures HERE on their site.  Structurally, the building was beautiful and modern.  But like my dad said, "why didn't they take all the down timber and build a beautiful building with it?"  We weren't there long, but did venture over to the Old Faithful Inn.  If you've never seen it, it's beautiful.  I want to know who had to scout out all the beautiful trees to build this out of!

We stopped off at Mormon Row on our way back to camp (along with 4 other pull-overs, threatening our children that we would sit until they quit picking on each other, which we did, turning off the car and waiting, sometimes for as long as 10 minutes!) to get the famous "Barn with the Tetons" picture...well, it was pretty dark by the time we arrived, and so it ended up being a nursing stop for Kortlen.

Monday, September 5th
We quickly ate delicious breakfast burritos and packed up camp.  It was a joint effort on EVERYONE's part, and thanks to my fabulous sisters and sister-in-law, I was able to pack our stuff while Ryan helped the guys and they played with and held onto the boys.  And our trip wouldn't be complete without a snapshot in front of the famous antler arches.

Dad, to a couple passing by, "Hey!  You guys want your picture taken with the arches?"
Couple, "Uhhhh...Oh!  I guess so."
Dad, "Great!  When we've taken your picture, would you..."
Couple, "take yours?"
Dad, "Yeah!"
Couple,  "I see how this works,  I can connect the dots!"

Thus, a great family picture!  And of course, my dad ends up talking to them for a good ten minutes, finding all sorts of connections...nice couple.  :)

This particular morning was probably the coldest, but we were determined to put in the water one last time for one last hurrah.  We decided on Jenny Lake.  Because of the one canoe loss, and it being very cold, my mom, Katelyn, and I ferried across Jenny Lake with my three little boys while the crew beat us to the other side where we met up at Hidden Falls.  Tanner was absolutely CRUSHED that he couldn't go on the canoes (which I was VERY relieved that he wanted to get back in one).  It was simply too cold to get wet.

We were the most awe-some (literally) group at the falls.

I'm considering making Kortlen a onesie that says, "I hiked Hidden Falls and all I got was this onesie."  The sweetheart slept the. entire. hike.  LOVE him!!!

 ***Do you think this picture is Christmas Card Worthy?  

I think we've met the requirements of:  

One child making a face, one child not visible, multiple squinting eyes, and it was taken on a family outing.  Check out the awesome shadows on my face from my glasses.***

Additional fun pictures of the half mile hike (perfect for the little boys and a mama carrying her sleeping babe:

Turned out to be a lovely day, don't you think?! 

We had to make a stop for our very first square ice cream cones at the Rainey Creek Store...

and eventually made it home safe and sound.

The first thing I did when we got in the house was bathe Kortlen (the poor kid didn't have a bath (only his behind wiped!) for four days), gave Tanner, Taylor and Ryan haircuts, and made them all shower before heading to bed.  Well, they went to bed.  I did four loads of laundry.  And finally went to bed at 2 am.

In short, the weekend was a success, and we had a FABULOUS time!  Thank you, mom and dad, and also my wonderful siblings (Tricia, that's you, too!) for everything!!!