RVF Summer 2010-Flaming Gorge

I am a little behind in posting this...

For our (somewhat) semi-annual RFV, we decided to head up to Flaming Gorge. Mattie's grandparents have a "trailer" in the trailer park near the Flaming Gorge Lodge. I use to word "trailer" loosely because it is more like a nice home/cabin. But technically it is a double wide trailer. Anywho...We began our trip with a late night drive with my Kelli which included a dead pig on the side of the road (sorry no photo), a real Wyoming cowboy complete with spurs on his boats, a hat and chew in his bottom lip, a conversation about uteruses (or is it uteri?) and a somewhat creepy drive in complete darkness on a road that we were not sure was the right one (it was).

When we finally arrived Friday evening and stepped out of the car I was reminded that there is indeed a Milky Way that is totally not at all related to the candy bar...the stars were...well...they were visible...to say the least.

Yes, this is the "trailer".

Saturday was our trip down the Green River. I would say that we went rafting because we were indeed in a raft, and there were paddles, but the white water was not really that white and raging. But it was a good time nonetheless.

The rest of Friday, and into the wee small of hours of Saturday were spent chatting about a variety of things including a baby in Australia that came back to life after being held by it's mother.

Jonah playing in the puddles while waiting to load our raft. Unfortunately what is missing is a picture of me doing the exact same thing. It's no wonder this kid and I get along like gangbusters...we have similar interests.

He hasn't quite got the hang of when to start the jumping...actually he has now...this happened over Labor Day weekend and our date was just on Wednesday. He got the timing right on Wednesday night.

driving to the river launch.

Getting ready to ride the river! Although I think float is a more appropriate word for the Green River. No offense to the Green River...I love it.

it is GORGEOUS. This picture does ZERO justice for this beautiful place.

Jonah and some of his biggest fans.

"Can it be?!" Jonah wonders, "Did Grrrm-pa just catch a fish on his first go at fly fishing???"

"He did! He did!" And then he threw it back...I will never understand "catch and release" Apparently there is a regulation on sizes you can keep...so that's fine...but if it is a fish you can keep to eat...then I say eat it!

"Yep, I am adorable and have each member of my family wrapped around my pinky. Figuratively speaking of course...my pinkies aren't that big...I'm only two."

Lunch and lounging...

...and napping. He actually feel asleep sitting next to me on the raft while we were still on the river.

Of course no RFV can be complete without a flat tire. But that was ok...

...because it gave Grrr-ma and Jonah a chance to go on a little hike...

and see a bunny rabbit...it is there I assure you...

...all while "soggy" (Jonah's name for Scottie) changed the tire.


All in all it was a great trip...as our Russell Family Vacations usually are! Oh and how could I forget to mention the food! Mattie made German pancakes for breakfast on Saturday and delicious sandwiches on the River. Then mama grilled salmon and halibut with asparagus and rice for Saturday dinner and to top it all off we found a campground and had AWESOME dutch oven chicken!!




thanks for the great vacation...

(thanks for the photo Mattie)

RFV 2010-Flaming Gorge Edition was a success!

Date Night

Tonight I had a date with the best lookin' fella in Salt Lake City. It was an awesome evening...mellow and entertaining...good eats...perfect weather...and the best company I could ask for. Don't believe me...see for yourself:

This is my date. His name is Jonah.

Jonah loved watching all the "fishies"...although he didn't love the "jellies" (jelly fish) and he zero desire to touch the star fish...he was happy to just look.

Finding Nemo...literally.

This picture was totally an accident...I wasn't even looking at the screen...but I think it looks awesome...although I wish I could take some of the light from the flash off his face. but still...a serendipitous photo. He was looking at the sharks and giant sea turtle when I took this.

Looking at a big "fishie"

Pushing this button to hear the noises that frogs make might have been one of the highlights of the evening for Jonah.

Jonah is quite the photographer. He took this one all by himself. We watched the penguins swim and jump in and out of the water for a solid fifteen minutes. He is TWO folks.

I will neither confirm nor deny that this is possibly what we ate for dinner. There is a waffle under there.

We decided to ride "the train" and walked through Temple Square to get there...but ended up taking an hour long detour because Jonah LOVES water and waterfalls ...and there are a LOT of waterfalls and a LOT of water on Temple Square.

Here is the first stop. He loved this "waterfall" and we watched it for a few minutes and of course he had to put his hand in to "touch it".

Playing in "more water"

"Touch it!"

I took this picture while playing in the water and then messed around with the editing tools in iPhoto. I love the moon...but not so much the spots on my lens.

In addition to water he also enjoyed the flowers. Kelli you should be proud...he is a nature lover!

But let's face it...it all comes back to the WATER! In any form. I splashed in that puddle as well.

Riding "the train"...aka Trax. He loved watching all the cars go by.

Seriously! Even with the binky he is the cutest fella' in town! Does life get any better than this? I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

I can't decide what the highlight of the night was for me...watching Jonah get startled by the shark as it swan right in front of his face, running away from the "Jellies", all the compliments I got on how cute "my son" is (props to you Mattie and Scottie), snuggling while waiting for "the train"...I think just spending time with Jonah was the highlight...I think he is my favorite person.

I love you Jonah! Thanks for the great date!

Happy 21

Today is my sister Kelli's 21st birthday. I think this may be my best limerick yet:

There once was a girl named Kelli
Who was really not all that smelly
she hiked with mad skills
and played the piano for reelz
I'm so glad you came out of mom's belly!


And this is dedicated to you:

the best advice I can give you for your mission and your life is summed up nicely in this song:
"But hold on to what you believe in the light
When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight"

Real Gems...

Once upon a time there was a girl named Brooke. She was very sleepy and wanted to go to bed. Her friend called her at about 9:30pm and they chatted for a little bit. During the course of this conversation Brooke could hear people gathering outside to move someone into the empty apartment below Brooke's apartment.

"Odd", thought Brooke, "that someone would move into an apartment at 10:30 at night...well...whatever...to each his own." As Brooke got ready for bed, the gathered group got louder and louder.

"hmmmm", thought Brooke, "I hope this noise doesn't last all night. It is after all, a Wednesday night, not a Friday or Saturday." As Brooke climbed into bed the noise continued. Without even straining her ear, or putting it up to the window she could CLEARLY hear the conversation of the people in the apartment below hers. She decided to watch a Netflix movie online to drown out the noise. Unfortunately that was a source of frustration, since every 15 minutes the streaming movie would stop and have to buffer again...whatever that means. This issue was due to the fact that her landlord had just got a new Internet service which he said was going to be better and faster....not so much

The movie eventually ended...it was about midnight and the people below were STILL chatting away and now smoking pot! REALLY?! In a non smoking apartment? UGH! During the course of all of this a few expletives may have left Brooke's mouth. Brooke finally put her headphones in and turned up the volume loud enough that she could not hear the folks downstairs, but it was so loud that it made it difficult to fall asleep.

Sometime between 12:30am and 1:00am Brooke FINALLY fell asleep...ONLY TO BE AWOKEN AT 3:50AM BY THE SAME DAMN NEW NEIGHBORS WHO WERE STILL LAUGHING AND TALKING AS LOUD AS THEY COULD!!! So Brooke put her headphones back in and turned up the volume and managed to fall back into sleep sometime between 5:00am and 5:30am.

This morning at 7:30am when Brooke's alarm went off she was not totally awake and thus turned off her alarm, unknowingly and woke up at 9:45 on her own.

the end.