So like FOUR months ago, during the summer, my mom's side of the family had the annual family reunion in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I was so beyond stoked. A week and a half between two of the most amazing national parks in the country? With 24 of the most kickbutt awesome people on the face of the earth? Um, pretty sure life cannot get much better.
We stayed in the coolest lodge in Teton Village, dubbed the "Blue Moose Lodge." Cause apparently people like to steal ideas from the British and give big houses their own names. We loved Ol' Blue. She was good to us. Plus she had amazing, huge windows and an exposed wood interior that I fell in love with. The evenings were spent here playing intense Hearts tournaments, making meals together, tye-dying shirts, watching the Olympics, putting on a family variety show, and competing against each other in a Conger family Iron Chef competition.
All 24 of us were divided into teams for the week and were assigned jobs each day, such as dinner preparation, dinner clean up, and the like. These were also the teams we competed with in the family games. To be honest I don't even remember what our team name was or what we put on our banner, but all that matters is that we won best design or something in the Iron Chef competition. Vanilla pudding pie with a chocolate pudding lattice top, complete with berries. Check it.
Teton National Park was stunning. About 20% of the pictures within iPhoto at this very moment are of the Tetons. I have some serious deleting to do. But none of the pictures I have can parallel the experience of standing on the floor of the valley and looking up at these 13,000-foot peaks of granite. Running/biking along the awesome trail with those big guys right in front of you was so cool. Just a few days before we left home to drive to Jackson, Dad had summitted Grand Teton with some of his climbing buddies. And he brought back rocks for me. [: They were beautiful! I wish I had taken pictures of them. They were gorgeous. Full of biotite and muscovite flakes, little pieces of iron pyrite, and just lots of metamorphosed granite. They blew my mind. The fact that I holding in my hand pieces of the the mountains, which were made of rocks that had been reformed kilometers below us ages ago and then were pushed up to the surface and eroded over even more ages and ages is so amazing.
Guys. Earth is flippin sweet.
1- Biking along the lovely paved trail along Moose Wilson Road. 2- A gorgeous day we spent hiking in the Jenny Lake area. 3- Hidden Falls 4- Jenny Lake 5- More hiking! 6- Guys. Moose are huge. Holy cow. They are so stinking cool.
A few days were spent in Jackson Village, looking through touristy shops and getting our old-fashioned, saloon style family pictures taken. Seeing everyone from my grandma down to my three year old cousin dressed as Indians, cowboys, and saloon girls was very entertaining.
Another adventure in Jackson was the alpine slide at the Snow King ski resort. It was insane fun and the biggest adrenaline rush I've had in awhile. We loved it so much that we laid the money down and went twice. Yeah. Sometimes we allow ourselves to get hosed if it's really really fun. And it was totally worth it.
After blasting down a mountain on a wimpy plastic scooter, I thought I had the whole no-fear thing down pat. Then we went white-water rafting. You can't tell in the picture, but I was legitimately scared. The last time we went rafting things didn't go so well and my lil bro and I ended up in the water and separated from the group. Needless to say I still had some issues after that. So... wasn't super thrilled about going again. But I figured after almost ten years it was time to give it another shot. So I did, and it was CRAZY fun. Gut-dropping-ly terrifying at some points? Yep. But so worth it. It was definitely a highlight of the trip. I want to go again soon!
Grandpa is hardcore. Class 5 rapids? Psh. Easy.
The coolest experiences were yet to come, though. No adrenaline rush or gorgeous hike can compare to the fun and fulfillment of learning more about your ancestors and people whose choices determined where, to who, and into what circumstances you were born. The main purpose for our family reunion this year was to go on a heritage tour of the sites in the Rexburg, Idaho area that are connected to our ancestors on my grandpa's side. John William Hart, my great-great-grandfather whom the Hart Building on the BYU-Idaho campus is named after, was pivotal in the development of what was then Ricks College. When it was threatened to close during financial trouble in the 1930s, he worked his rear off to keep it afloat. I can't express how cool it was to tour the beautiful campus and see what had become of his life's work, knowing that it wouldn't be what it is today without his resolve and faith in the school. It has grown so much from its days as a little community college, and now sees over 15,000 students enrolled per year. We got to tour the Hart building, the Manwaring center (also named after one of my ancestors) and the rest of the campus, including the breathtaking BYU Idaho Center. Holy moly. If I went to school there I would be in that building as much as possible. It is incredible!
My ancestors rock and so does BYU Idaho.
The day was full of old stories, old houses and lots of time together and being
thankful for each other and the people who came before us.
Other days we spent hours on the river with our kayaks. We relaxed as we floated along the meandering bends of the Snake River with pelicans, mergansers, herons, and muskrats. So peaceful.
One last thing I want to remember that we did in Jackson: the gondola ride! On our daily walk on one of our last nights we decided to go ride what is usually used as a way for skiers to get to the top of the mountain. Thank goodness they keep it running in the summer because oh man it was gorgeous. Jackson Valley is positively one of the prettiest places I have ever been.
Our timing couldn't have been better. We got to watch the sun set from the top of the gondola.
It was perfect.
All in all, Jackson was good to us.
And I left a little part of my heart there with the rocky peaks, winding rivers, green hills, and big bright sky. I'm in love with Jackson!
