Labor Day in Sun Valley

 

We were excited to head over to Sun Valley for Labor Day Weekend.  Craig and I headed over early Friday morning so that we could hike another of the 12ers.  We had tried to hike Hyndman Peak a couple of years ago and hiked 11 miles to no where because we started at the wrong trailhead.  So this time we made sure that we started at the right place.  It took a little extra time to get to the trailhead because we got in the middle of some sheep herding, it was actually pretty cool to see, there was at least 1,000 sheep.  Once we got to the trailhead we quickly took off.  The first 3 miles were nice and easy and didn't take too long.  After that it started to get a little steeper and the day was getting warmer.  We took a long break under a tree at about 4 miles and took a few things out of our packs and left them there to lighten our loads up the steepest part.  We then were on our way to the peak.  We started working our way through loose rock fields before we reached the saddle and started the final ascent.  It felt like we were going straight up.  The rocks were all different sizes and none of them were connected to the mountain.  We would slip here and there as we slowly headed towards the top.  As we were heading up the last half mile Craig's quads started to really cramp on him, so we stopped for a while to let him stretch and drink some Gatorade.  One quad was completely locked out for a while.  After he could finally move again we started out again, but only a few minutes later both of his quads totally locked out and he literally had to catch himself before awkwardly falling into a seated position.  After about 10 minutes he still couldn't move and at this point we were getting nervous about getting him back down the mountain, since that is all quads.  So he stayed eating jerky and drinking Gatorade as I made my way to the top.  It ended up that we were only about 300 meters from the top, but I still think he made the right decision to stay where he was.  I was really concerned about getting him back down the rocky slope.  It was a beautiful view from the top.  It was so nice to get up out of all the smoke that was in the valley.  I made my way back down to Craig and waited until he felt ready to go.  We took off slowly down the mountain.  It was just over a mile of the rocky slope and it was the longest mile of my life.  I have never been so nervous hiking before.  I was so scared that Craig's legs would give out on him and he would just slide all the way down the sharp rocks.  We kept slipping and sliding, I ended up with a pretty knarly cut on my right shin and the palms of our hands were all scraped up. Over an hour later we made it down the treacherous part and then shortly after that we were back to the tree where we left our stuff.  We got our cooling towels wet in a pond and loaded our packs bag up and then made our way back to the truck.  Amazingly Craig's quads did fine on the way back down, meaning they hurt but they did not cramp anymore.  That was definitely a major blessing.  Both Craig and I and the kids with Stan and Diane had prayed that we would get back down the mountain safely and we know that was most definitely an answer to our prayers.  After loading back into the truck we headed into Sun Valley and met the rest of the clan at Smokey Mountain for dinner before checking into our AirB&B.

Saturday morning we got up and headed over to the car show.  We walked around to check out all the cars and then headed back to the condo until the car show was ready to start.  We went back to the car show for a while before the kids headed to the parade with Stan and Diane.  Craig and I grabbed some lunch and hung out at the car show until they were back.  We then went back to the condo to watch the BSU football game.  That evening we headed into downtown Ketchum to the Pioneer Saloon for dinner.  That night the kids went to the Ice Show with Stan and Diane.  McKay had never been, so he was pretty stoked.  Craig and I have been so many times that it didn't seem worth the cost.  Craig and I got a lot of stuff packed up and ready to go for our hike on Sunday.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed to the Sawtooths for a hike on our way home.  We went to Cabin Creeks Lakes.  It was just over 8 miles round trip and we got to see two pretty lakes.  There had been a lot of fires in the Sawtooths, but luckily these hikes were in a totally different area.  It smelts like a camp fire as we drove to the trailhead, but we hiked right out of that and it was nice and clear and a beautiful sunny day. The kids of course did awesome and luckily Craig's legs did just fine. We love seeing new beautiful scenery and being surrounded by the God's creations.  After our hike we drove home and got unpacked and got laundry going.  Monday morning Craig and Stan played a round of golf and then we met up at Stan and Diane's to swim and BBQ.  It was a great weekend spent with family and we always love sharing Sun Valley with the kids.

Summer Fun

 

We of course had an extremely busy and fun-filled summer.  The kids had a blast not being in school and not having much of a schedule.  We started the summer with our trips to San Diego and Southern Utah and then spent most of the rest of the summer in town.  We did make it up to McCall for a couple of long weekends to hike and spend time on the lake.  The kids had a few sports camps that they attended.  McKay went to the Eagle High school basketball camp, Brooklyn had a soccer camp with Eagle High and a volleyball camp with a club and then they both went to an HSB basketball camp together.  Brooklyn also had summer training with her new soccer club, Chica's. Brooklyn was a little nervous to head to a new club but we wanted her to finally get on a team that was her actually age group.  She made the "A" team for the Chica's 2013 girls.  She was pretty excited and she even knew a couple of the girls from school already.  Most mornings the kids headed outside to practice their basketball and soccer or football.  

We also spent a lot of time swimming and playing in the water.  The kids loved being with their cousins and swimming at either grandparents as often as possible.  We also headed to Eagle Island a few times and checked out the new Star Pond, we might even like this more than Eagle Island, it has a fun platform that you can climb and jump off of. We also got to the lake a few times with my Mom.  McKay decided it was time for him to try skiing,  I got in the water with him and he popped right up.  He only went for about ten seconds before letting go of the rope, but I didn't even care, I was just so happy that he was the one that suggested it and he just did it.  The first time there may have been a few nervous tears, but the second time he was ready to go.  I'm so glad that my kids love to be out on the lake as much as I do, it truly is a happy place for me and I have so many wonderful memories.  The last time out to the lake this summer I got bit by something, I didn't see it, all I know is that it was the most painful bite/sting I have ever gotten and my whole thigh swelled up and I ended up having to get on antibiotics because it got infected.  That was a fun few days.

Mid June the Moss family had a reunion.  We just spent a couple of days in Stan and Diane's backyard swimming, BBQing, and just spending lots of time together as cousins and family.  One afternoon they rented a big blowup obstacle course and we also took new family pictures.  The kids loved having all their cousins in town and they took total advantage.

This Summer Craig and I celebrated our 16th anniversary.  Craig took the day off work and we headed towards Twin Falls and the Snake River to do some paddle boarding.  We first paddled to Blue Heart Springs, the water is so beautiful and clear.  We then paddled down river, although it felt like up river because of the wind, to Thousand Springs.  We paddled around a little island and were able to get up close to the springs.  It ended up being about 6 miles of paddling in just over 3 hours.  It was truly beautiful. Nature is such a marvelous thing.  It was an anniversary well spent.

We had a great 4th of July per usual.  We hit up the parade in Star, Craig golfed, we swam and bbq'd and then finished the night with the Star fireworks.  I love spending the day with the people we love celebrating the country we love.

The kids and I were able to head over to Rexburg at the end of July for my Mom's graduation from BYU-I and for my nephew Mason getting home from his mission to Argentina. It was really nice that these two things coincided.  We drove over Wednesday afternoon and met the whole family at the Idaho Falls airport to welcome Mason home.  Thursday afternoon was my Mom's graduation. It was so great to see her accomplish something she has wanted to so long and worked so hard for.  I am so glad all of her grandchildren were there to see it.  The rest of the weekend was spent floating the river, playing at parks, going for walks, eating too much, watching movies and just spending quality time together.  These cousins have such a special friendship and I am so grateful for it.  I was also able to catch up with my friend Alisha who moved a few years ago.  It is always great to see her. We ended up having to go home Saturday afternoon, before Mason gave his homecoming talk, because Craig was getting called into the bishopric and set apart as a high priest Sunday at church.

We were able to get up to Starlight Mountain theater a few times.  We took the kids to see Sound of Music, Brooklyn and I then went and saw Newsies, and then Craig and I saw The Scarlet Pimpernel.  All of them were fantastic as usual.  Brooklyn finally got to cash in her birthday gift for her concert.  We went and saw Luke Bryan with Tiffany and Riaan.  It was over 100 degrees and I felt like I was melting, but it was so fun to experience that with Brooklyn.  She had a blast singing along.

We got up to McCall when we could, which wasn't as much as we would like, but we made the most of it while we were there.  Our first trip up was at the end of June and we did some scouting for High Adventure.  The boys were going to do some orienteering and Craig wanted to feel confident with it before sending the boys off.  We started at Granite Lake and then hiked to 3 different lakes (Ellis, Horton and an un-named lake) using the map and compass, about 4.5 miles round trip.  The kids had a blast bush whacking of course and the compass and map got us right to where we needed to go.

We then headed up to McCall on July 5th and spent a long weekend up there.  On our way to the cabin we hiked to Blackmare Summit which was 11.2 miles round trip.  This was the kids longest hike to date and they totally rocked it. That weekend we also spent time at the lake with the paddleboards and Stan's kayak and made sure we got hamburgers at My Father's Place and hit up Ice Cream Alley for the one and only time this summer.  Craig and I then also did another scouting hike for High Adventure, we hiked 10.5 miles from Upper Payette Lake to Granite Lake and back.  Luckily I didn't' have to do it with a big pack on!

Craig had a blast with the boys on High Adventure at the end of July.  The boys had some great experiences and Craig had a wonderful spiritual experience with his lost keys.  Craig is going to miss High Adventure now that he is the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric and works with the youngest boys.

Our last hike of the summer was another long one to Loon Lake and the wrecked WWII airplane.  We did this the first weekend of August.  It ended up being 13 miles round trip and we had to do a lot of bush whacking to get to the far side of the lake where the crashed airplane was.  The plane was really sweet and I couldn't believe how well it had been preserved over the years.  Brooklyn had started to not look so great as we were hiking in and when we got to the plane I could tell she had a fever.  The poor girl felt awful and didn't want to eat anything, but sadly we had another 6.5 miles to get out.  We gave her some IB Profen and decided to head back around the other side of the lake that was a little bit longer, but didn't have the bush whacking.  We did our best to keep her cooling towel wet and cool and Craig and I took turns carrying her pack.  The IB profen definitely helped but you could still tell she didn't feel great.  There may have been a few silent tears shed as she was hiking, but she was a good sport and made it all the way out.  We also spent another day on the lake and had fun paddling up the river on the paddle boards and kayak.

We were able to get to Roaring Springs with the kids free passes and then they cashed in their Christmas kids from Nana and Pops for a day at Roaring Springs and a day at Wahooz.  They were able to go both times with Audrey and Camden which made it even more fun.  We also went bowling a few times to get out of the heat.

Here's a few more random pictures from our busy summer.  I thought I was going to be excited to get back to a routine with the school year, but honestly nothing had slowed down, just a different kind of busy.  It was a super fun summer and we packed a lot in, I feel like we barely spent any time at home, but that means that we created a lot of memories and that is what is most important to me.