Wouldn't you just know it!!!

After spending the night on the top of the mountain, and after that preceeding day having a flat tire on the pickup, we awoke to find that we had another flat tire and now no spare! So we hummed and hawed around until we finally decided to try a spare from Russ's truck and it fit!! Miracle!!
But now our truck wouldn't start....dead battery.....and no jumper cables in any vehicle! So what to do now...

Thankfully we had Ken "McGiver" with us. He devised a plan to jump the batteries with a pine cone, cigarette butt and an empty beer can. No just kidding, but he did come up with a plan that worked. Hurray...now we can all get home together instead of in stages.

From the Canyon, to the Mountains.....

Not only did the family take some time to enjoy the canyon at water level, we also took them to the top of the canyon to enjoy some of the mountain scenery. Here Kristyn, Logan and Thelma see what it looks like over the edge.If you know where to look you can see the town of Joseph OR from the top.

The crew picked their way along the edge exploring........the wild flowers are artfully displayed this year, as we had a great wet spring. Beautiful!!That night after we set up our tents on top, we had a campfire and roasted a few marshmallows and told ghost stories by the fire, and also did alot of star gazing.You can see the tent city in the background.Sunset on top is spectacular. We had a bit of smoke in the atmosphere that had blown up from the south which makes for fantastic sunsets.
We had made it through the night, all present and accounted for. Over a big pot of oatmeal and coffee we visited somemore.

Wouldn't you know Russ would find this the morning after.....probably a good thing!

Labor Day FUN

Sarah and Jessica
Over Labor Day this year, we did our annual river fest with Melissa and her friends. We get out on the boat as early as we can an kayak, fish, eat, play games, and drink beer.

Dirk and Sassy and Dirk and Sarah on the rock relaxing.
Emily, Sassy, Hazel, Piper and me. We were finishing lunch and as you can tell, you don't even put your pole down to eat.
Sarah's sister Nicole joined in the fun this year. It was her first on the river and hopefully not her last.

Tyler is thinking about something.......hummmm......probably how he can talk someone into throwing him another beer since he is so far away from the cooler.


This year, because the parade in Halfway was on Sunday morning instead of Monday the kids all went up for the parade and to scope out what was happening at the fairgrounds. Jessica, Sarah and Melissa ventured a ride.

But this is the kind of fun that we really come to the river for.

Rafting with the fam-damily

The Brother and Sisters and families went on a raft trip down into Hells Canyon. This is pic of Ken at the info site at the launch.The road to the dam and launch site is quite spectaclular. As the family winds their way into the canyon the sun is beginning to creep down the western canyon walls.On the rafts.......

Happy 25th to Bob and Thelma

Also, while the whole family was visiting, we were able to celebrate Bob and Thelmas 25th anniversary. Congrats to both of you.

Time with the family on the river

While visiting, many fish were caught....(just so you know, this is the only fish Kristyn caught :{ )
...some extreme rock diving occurred......
....Hazel got many many rides on the kayak, thanks Keana.......
....some sunshine got soaked up and so did a few worms......
.....but first we had to gather up some grade A garden bait.....worms, worms, worms.....
....and for those who were more interested in games, a few games of blongo filled the time.

The Stromers are coming, the Stromers are coming...

This summer we were blessed with being able to have all of Terrys brothers and sisters and their families visit to celebrate Annettes big 5-0! We had a wonderful dinner at Cornucopia Lodge. It is a beautiful location to hang out and have dinner, and we had the whole place to ourselves!!