E.O.Y.V.E

The title of this post stands for "Every Other Year Vacation Extravaganza." Every other year all of my immediate family plus my cousin and her family goes on vacation together. This year we chose Island Park, Idaho. We rented a cabin that was big enough for all of us and spent the week enjoying each others company and the great outdoors. Here is what our days consisted of:

Saturday June 18
We spent most of the day in the car driving up there. These three got to ride with Granny Jo and Grandpa.

Sunday June 19
We celebrated Fathers Day by going to church and having a steak dinner.
Hayden working hard on her Father's Day questionair.
Carson loves his Grandpa and even learned how to say "wheeler" from seeing grandpa's four wheeler in his trailer.
Making sure Carson doesn't get any peanut butter treats.

Monday June 20
This wasn't a very good day for me. I started feeling sick in the morning and it gradually got worse throughout the day. By mid afternoon I was bedridden and missed out on a lot of fun things. My cousin Myken also got sick. I think we had the same thing, but unfortunately her lasted longer than mine.
About 20 miles before you get to Island Park there are a couple of really pretty water falls.

She's so tough!
Chris got more than he bargained for carrying Carson around! :)
So Pretty!! I absolutely love this area!!!
Cute boys!
The first day the kids came into the cabin saying Hayden was bleeding on her neck. Sure enough she was bleeding in about ten different spots. Everyone started checking their kids and all of them had bites on the heads and necks. We figured out it was nat bites. From then on we made sure they were always wearing bug spray.
This group is called "Joni and the In-Laws." They went running the first day and then I think the group disbanded. :)

Tylers birthday party..which I also missed. Sad! :(
The big 1 year old with his little Mama!

Tuesday June 21
Yellowstone Day. Luckily I was feeling better and was able to enjoy Yellowstone.
The whole gang waiting for Old Faithful to erupt. These girls all got a long so well. There was hardly any fighting or bickering. Hayden loves her cousins so much!! She pretty much wanted nothing to do with Colin and I the entire week.Old Faithful was really cool.
We saw a lot of wildlife. This picture is of one of the two grizzly bears we saw. We also saw bison, elk, moose, big horned sheep, antelope and a wolf. The only thing I didn't see that I really wanted to was a bald eagle...maybe next time!!
We got cut off a few times by these guys.

Wednesday June 22
We mostly just spent the day around the cabin.
We all pitched in and rented a Razor. It was fun, but I think we all prefer four wheelers.
The kids went on a bug hunt. This is what Hayden found.
We had a home run contest...me and Sandi won!!

We also had a fun Frisbee Golf game that my Dad put together. I was asleep until it was my turn so I didn't get any pictures. Scott was the winner and took home $50!!

Wednesday evening was the much anticipated Talent Show.

Colin baffled us all with his magic tricks.
Carly dazzled us with her whistling.
Hayden made us laugh with her patriotic tribute to America.
My parents amused some of us and made others cry with an award winning skit!
Whitney wowed us with wolf facts.
Brian impressed us with his juggling skills.
Denim showed off his IPad.

Thursday June 23
The day I was sick some of our group hiked down to a waterfall. Since Colin was a good husband and stayed home to take care of me, we both missed it. So Thursday all the guys, me and Sandi went back to hike it. It was kind of a scary hike and a couple of parts were really steep, but we made it down and it was totally worth it. We were basically standing on top of a huge waterfall.
This shot really shows how close we were to it.

We also hiked over to a an old railroad track. This is the view from there.

When we got back, the whole group went out to a place called Big Springs.

Heidi and Brooklyn

These two had it made in the shade.
We had to make Big Springs a quick trip so the guys could get back and watch the NBA draft to see what team Jimmer was going to. I don't think this picture is really from that day, but I think it works well to represent it.

Friday June 24
Friday went back up to West Yellowstone and spent the day. We went to the Grizzly Bear and Wolf Discovery Center. It was cool to see bears and wolves so close up. It was really fun to be there that day, because we were celebrating Whitney's birthday and she LOVES wolves.


These two pictures are of the adults enjoying the Children's Program.

Kids being silly at lunch...Hayden was a little too silly and had to sit with Mom and Dad.
This is a rare picture...not because of the bear in the background, but because Tyler is actually smiling.
Crosby on the other hand never stops smiling.
When we got home we had a little party for Whitney. She turned 8 and will be getting baptized next week.

Saturday June 25
We cleaned, packed up and headed home. But not before taking more pictures!
All the Grandkids. L to R...Nicole, Carly, Ava, Maris & Tyler, Heidi & Carson, Brooklyn, Hayden, Whitney and Crosby.
All the Guys...Denim, Crosby, Scott, Mike & Tyler, Colin & Carson, Chris and Brian.
All the Ladies...me, Shelly, Joni, Nicole, Carly, Ava, Maris, Heidi, Brooklyn, Hayden, Whitney, Myken and Sandi

Here a few random pics:
These three had a lot of fun riding together...I dont know if I can say the same about the adults riding with them.
Brooklyn and Heidi getting their pose on!
Three little pees in a pod. Hayden never strayed too far from these three and even they are so much older than her they always make her feel like she is a part of their group. I am so thankful that she has such great older cousins to look up to and follow their example. They are great girls!!!
I think this is her "bedtime" face.

Meet My Family:
The two who started it all. They have been married for 36 years and are still going strong.

My sister Shelly and her family...Nicole, Heidi, Scott and Tyler. They live in Oregon and we only get to see them a couple of times a year, so we have to take advantage of every minute we are together.
My brother Denim, Sandi, Ava, Crosby and Brooklyn. They bring excitement and fun to whatever we are doing!

My brother Chris who orchestrated this whole vacation!! Good job Chris!

My cousin Myken, Brian, Maris, Whitney and Carly. We have so much fun with these guys are so happy they want to be part of our family.

And last but not least...Us!

On the way home we stopped at Hill Air Force base.