Jackson Hole

I love Jackson. It's so beautiful. My favorite mountains by far in the West are the Grand Tetons, they are just amazing! Mark probably gets so sick of me oohing and aahing them our entire trip, but they are just so amazing. We had all day Wednesday to spend in Jackson. It's kind of tricky to figure out what to do with little kids. If I were there by myself, I would be looking in all the shops for sure, but kids aren't really into that. So we did a few shops, got a shake and then headed over to Teton Village. The kids loved it there. They had bungee cord trampolines that allowed the people to jump SUPER high, so the kids loved watching that. We decided to fork over the money and ride the tram to the top of the mountain. It was totally worth it, breathtaking! Maybe you can see why I love this area so much now.
After Teton Village we met the whole family for dinner and entertainment at a Dude Ranch. It was a lot of fun, good food, but we had to skip out on the entertainment because it was WAY past bedtime and my kids were feeling it. All in all a great day.

Surprise after all!

**Interrupting my trip posts to give some props to my man!**
Mark was going to do a surprise party for me this year and then he thought it got ruined. Little did I know he had another plan up his sleeve! What I thought was a typical GNO, turned into a surprise b-day party thanks to my lovely hubby and Mandy and Paige! I walked in to black balloons and all! THANKS SWEETIE! Love you! And thanks to everyone who came, love you guys!! We went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and I realized tonight that I also spent my 20th birthday at Macaroni Grill with a group of friends! Weird huh? Maybe I will have to start a tradition.
Here is some of the group. Unfortunately we forgot to take pictures until after some people had left. I know they are all basically the same picture but I love the progression of what is going on...

Nice happy picture

Mandy is doing something a little questionable...

Check out Paige's face as Mandy pinches her bum!

We all start realizing what's happening after Paige squeals.

And Kim does a superstar move!!!

Star Valley, WY

I was so excited to relive my childhood at Star Valley Ranch for my Carney Family reunion. My Grandpa Rex used to own a cabin in Star Valley when I was young. They built it so I have pictures of when I was probably 3 while they were building the cabin. I think they finally had to sell it when I was a teenager. It was heartbreaking because that cabin held so many great memories. I love Star Valley Ranch! It's gorgeous, there is swimming, golfing, horseback riding and it's close to Jackson hole and white water rafting! Such a perfect place to have a reunion! There was one HUGE cabin that most of the family stayed in, but my brother and his family and our family shared a little cabin since we have little kids. It was a riot! The cabin was shaped like an Octagon and only had one room so the acoustics were similar to the Tabernacle! Mark and I slept in the loft and Ben and Jessica slept downstairs (we put all the kids in the one room). Although we were on different levels, if they said anything it sounded like they were right next to us. The best though were the decorations. Indians and strawberries... interesting combo. We had a great time though. We white water rafted, spent a day in Jackson, swam, tried the famous Star Valley cheese and fudge and just enjoyed each others company. The best was when one night Rex said, "Mom, Star Valley is AMAZING!" I know buddy, I know. We also found out that Sam is deathly afraid of mosquitoes. That's why he is clasping his hands together looking scared in almost all the pictures, poor kid. I took a million pictures but I will just try and show the best ones so it is not overkill! OK, it still is a bit overkill...
Can you spot the deer in this picture, we saw 5 that night including a baby.

Best $230 ever spent

As I mentioned, while we were gone Abby stayed out in Payette at a kennel that also does training. Our friends had their dog trained there for 6 weeks to learn to hunt. We didn't want her gone that long yet or tp spend that much money, so the guy agreed to take her for 13 days while we were out of town. We will take her back in September for more training as well.
Let me just say, I am impressed. Seriously worth every penny and the hour long drive to get there! She is still our Abby and still has a spunky personality but we no longer have to fight her on everything. We used to use a Halti to walk her, not necessary anymore. She heels the entire time and sits when we stop. We also can tell her to sit in the house and she will do it immediately and not move until we release her! Our next project is getting her to COME since he wasn't able to work on that yet, but oh my gosh she is so much easier to manage! He also said she has really good instinct and did great with the gun and bird training he did with her. Pretty good for an unpapered, cheap dog!
This clip is when I picked her up. It's even more impressive because she hadn't seen me for 2 weeks. You can tell she is excited but she still listens and follows his lead. She isn't quite this good with us yet, but we are working on it.

30?!?!?!?!?!

We have been out of town for over a week and took a MILLION pictures so I have a lot of catching up to do, but first I have to give a nod to my amazing husband for making my 30th (yes I feel old) birthday fabulous! It was the day after we got home so I had a million and one things to do but because of him I got a nap and had a yummy dinner and games with our family. It was great! And thanks so much to Kristi for cooking an AMAZING meal! LOVE YOU GUYS!

Sam using my bow as an accessory
Mark is so good. He remembers me browsing through a Pampered Chef catalog and saying I wanted a salad spinner. Great gift!


3-0!!!

Mark is so good at picking out interesting flowers! I love these!

What?

You don't lock your kids in cages? At least he had a pink bone to play with.

Boot camp

Abby's headed to boot camp tomorrow! We are going out of town for 8 days on Sunday, so we found a guy up in Payette who will board and train dogs. He specializes in hunting dogs and Abby is too young for that, but he also does basic training as well. He told us he would take her for 10 days while we were gone to start her training! He called tonight and will be here in town tomorrow and is going to pick her up so we don't have to drive all the way to Payette on Saturday. YAY! I am so excited for her to get some real training in because I am tired of the craziness. On the other hand I am going to miss her terribly the next few days! It's not as bad as leaving a kid, but it still is rather nerve racking leaving your dog in the care of a virtual stranger for almost 2 weeks. GOOD LUCK ABBY! Do good so we don't have to send you back any time soon!

Fireworks!

Who doesn't love fireworks? Sam. Poor kid was afraid especially after there was a close call with some illegal fireworks down the street that started shooting at everyone! Rex wasn't phased in the slightest though and thoroughly loved all the fireworks. And amazingly Abby wasn't phased at all! Mark was quite pleased at her prospects as a future hunting dog! We started off with our little group doing the tame "kid-friendly" ones and then moved down the street with half the neighborhood to watch the amazing show! It was a great time and a great way to celebrate our country's birthday. At one point as one went way up high in the sky, Rex asked me if they were going to hurt Jesus. So sweet! I informed him that no Jesus was much higher than that and well protected.