A Rafting We Will Go!

So, we finally made it to the Snake River after a cancelled trip two weeks ago. Here are A LOT of pictures to exlpain what went on while we were away!



Lisa holds little Rachel. No, Rachel DID NOT ride the rapids this year...maybe in about 8!


Justin LOVES the inflatable kayak. I love pictures like this, and this...


Tee hee hee!


He did finally make it back into the kayak before he hit Lunch Counter.


Our friendly moose across the river getting a little drink of refreshing river water.


I have to laugh really hard at this picture. This is my bro-in-law, Gus going over in Big Kahuna. If you look closely, you can see his dorky jester's hat in the waves. I am pretty sure it was still atop his head, too.


This is the last trip down the river. I am on the front with my brother, Jeff. This was by far the BEST we hit Kahuna this trip. Now, you will see how my sis-in-law, Ann and I got our ride...


Yeah, we pretty much just sunk into the river before we came out of it. I honestly thought we were going over!


Ann and I both got knocked into the drink by the second wave. AWESOME!!!


Still on the way out of the raft.


Both Ann and I were hanging on for dear life. That river is a lot bigger when you are in it!


Yup, still hanging on!


Ann gets pulled in while I am STILL hanging on to the chicken line.


Finally! I tell ya, it was awesome, scary, funny, intense etc. When I got back in the raft and started paddling again, I felt something on my left arm. It hurt when I rubbed it against my life jacket while paddling. I looked and saw the start of a bruise about three inches in diameter. Well, like I said, it was the START of a bruise. Here is what it looked like two days later!




Me and my HEMATOMA! Yuck, huh? I am sure it will still be around when we go rafting again next weekend with all the kids. Let me tell you, it really hurts!

Here's a little funny from the trip. As you can see, my family always weare goofy hats when we go down the river. We are quite notorious around them parts. On our last trip down the river, I was choosing out my hat to wear on the raft. I picked out a great elf hat with bells and EVERYHING! It didn't have anything to keep the sun out of my eyes, so I put it on over my ball cap. I turned to Ann and actually asked her if that looked dumb. My sis-in-law Liz smirked and said, "You want to know if it looks dumb?" Well, okay, I guess it wouldn't have been as great if it didn't look dumb, right?

So, that's our trip. Thanks to my dad for taking us all down the river. Thanks to Joe and Liz (and Brigham) for going with us. It was great to spend some time with you guys while you are here. Thanks to Ann and Angie for arranging all the food for us while we camped. And last but most certainly not least, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU to Mike and Jeri and their girls for keeping our three older kids while we were off galavanting. WE LOVE YOU!!!