This second stop was the catalyst for our crazy two week road trip: Pepa and Chase's graduation from BYU-Idaho.
To say I am proud doesn't come close to capturing my true feelings. On one hand you have my Dad, who opted out of college in his early years because of a lack of opportunity and an abundance of responsibility (namely, my mom and me). He had a full career that supported our family and retired at 50 before deciding to return to school to get his degree. Like most things in life, his dedication to schooling has been impressive, fierce and consuming. For the past few years a majority of his time has been spent with his nose in a book or eyes on a screen, working credit by credit until he accomplished something that he had always wanted to do: become a college graduate. (And one with perfect grades no less!) In a moment of career frustration a few weeks back I told James that he should go get a PhD and become a professor because we both know that teaching has his heart. He immediately told me that he was too old to go back to school. From the boy's bedroom ran Talmage, screaming, "Nuh-uh, nuh-uh!" all the way to the living room couch. "Pepa is JUST graduating from college Dad, and he's even older than you! It's never too late to go back to school." There are a million reasons for my kid's to look up to their Pepa and now we're adding this to the list. My Dad/their grandpa accomplishes life-long dreams--even when it's hard and maybe even past due. He's amazing, and not just some San Juan graduate anymore, wink, wink.
And then there's Chase, my baby brother, who changed his major what felt like a million times and considered quitting this college thing a time or two until finally finding his perfect fit in Construction Management and excelling like all of us knew that he could. He worked so hard, all with a wife and two babies at home, and came out the other side with a degree and a career that he can be proud of. I am so happy for him, what he accomplished and how much he has grown--this is big!
The graduation was the perfect excuse to drive just an hour up the road to Island Park, Idaho, a cute town on the outskirts of Yellowstone, for a McKee Family Reunion. We spent a day exploring the park, but other than that we played a lot of games, watched some Pepa magic, went on family runs and waterfall hikes and enjoyed each other's company. We're not a perfect family by any means--this reunion saw fights and disagreements, hurt feelings and wounded pride--but we love each other a lot, we are there for each other and we try our best, and that's something I appreciate and love. Real life Braverman's over here!
The very, very worst moment of this trip was during our first five minutes in Rexburg when a game of tag (luckily with neighborhood kids and not cousins) ended in a severely broken arm for Kai. It was a whirlwind of emotions and logistics but I'm so proud of how he, Ash and Logan handled the unexpected and especially how Kai didn't let the injury affect him for the rest of the reunion. That kid hiked mountains with his arm in a sling--he's a beast! He's had surgery now and will be wearing a cast for the foreseeable future and even though it was bad, I just can't help but be grateful that it wasn't worse and that his arm will heal up nicely. Thanks be to God and Doctors!
Our first stop was the park, which resulted in five minutes of playtime and then a ginormous hospital bill. The second stop was Big Juds--so delicious and way less eventful, though it's sad to be one cousin down in these pictures.
Coco latched onto Lucy and would not let go. She was absolutely obsessed with her cousin and loved that they could play princesses and family and pretend dogs together. Lucy was so nurturing to Coco and my baby girl just ate up the attention. It will be interesting to watch these cousins grow together--I hope and pray these two stay close! (Also to note, RIP pink knock-off Natives. This moment was one of the last they were seen. Where are they? Who knows! Coco-bird has made a sport of losing shoes in the most random places.)
Literal tears falling down my face. This moment is just so amazing!
"McKee's Show Up" is the motto James and I have given to my family, and it has proven true time and time again. We show up for the important moments and the little ones and it means the world to me. I'm so excited that we could all be together for this one!
Morning run views, oh my gosh it was beautiful. We saw owls and elk and dears and cows and I'm just so dang grateful that we didn't see a bear because I am definitely not the fastest in our group and I'd have been eaten for sure!
No big deal, just the view out the door of our cabin. Oh my gosh! Sure, I was terrified of the chipmunks and sometimes the silence but the views! I just couldn't get over them.
We drove to Mesa Falls and took a short "hike" to a massive waterfall that blew us all away. We were so close and it was so beautiful.
Monkey see...
Monkey do!!!
We played "Fear Factor Food" with things I found at our local Asian Market. Oh my goodness it was hilarious and the faces everyone made were just too good. To my astonishment, over half of this crew finished all of the rounds which included food like baby food, canned lychee, seaweed, wasabi crackers and fish bones. I can see this becoming a tradition, for sure!
This was the first time we had seen the cow grazing in our field and on first glance Jordan thought it was a bear and we all freaked out. But it was a cow, so no big deal, haha! Still amazed by how beautiful this place was, especially as the sun set.
Yellowstone and geysers go hand in hand.
Our family is tie-dye for, especially when we're sight-seeing around Yellowstone!
Of all the Parks we visited, Yellowstone provided the most interesting, other-worldly sights. The Grand Prismatic was top on my list of things to see and it did not disappoint. Those colors were so vibrant and knowing it was natural and deep and boiling hot was all so fascinating. I'm so glad we were able to hike to the lookout because walking around the Prismatic just wasn't enough.
Grammie is the coolest 70-somethinger around. She explored with us from sun up until sun down and never for a second complained or fell back or anything. She's a boss, glad I got those genes!
Oh, hey there Old Faithful. Nice to meet ya!
Junior Ranger triplets, reporting for duty.
After a full day in the Park we went to West Yellowstone and saw "The Music Man" in the Playmill Theatre. Oh man it was energetic and entertaining and Cora spent the remainder of our trip singing "Sha-poopy, Sha-poopy" much to her siblings' chagrin.
Jordan and James--the two who would definitely outrun the bear. Those boys are FAST!
Jordan, the Corn Hole KING! We did an adult tournament and a kid tournament, and Jordan was crowned King of the Adults. The absolute best moment of this tournament, however, was when Ash played Log and somehow creamed him (even though he's a Corn Hole Master and this was her first time). We were all stunned, especially Logan, and we couldn't keep from laughing!
Dad and Chase launched the coolest, craziest, highest rocket...and then it got stuck on a tree and popped. Boo! At least that first launch was a winner.
Minute to Win-it thanks to Meg and Mad. This picture cracks me up because Cora spent the whole minute completely still. She didn't get that oreo to her mouth and win the game, but she also didn't have to eat an oreo that fell on the floor like the rest of us!
Pepa has been taking lessons from a magician in Sacramento and he wowed us all with the tricks he has learned so far. And when I say wowed us all, I mean it. We were all shocked and so impressed! I'm still, weeks later, totally unsure how he pulled off some of his tricks. His response? It's magic! I love everyone's faces in these magic pictures. That's pure joy that you're seeing!
On our last night in Island Park James treated everyone to a Scoopy the Lion story, and it was one of his best if I do say so myself! Shoot, maybe we'll make our fortune turning those into picture books! As soon as we were done Lucy looked up at me and said, "Do you think he'll tell us another one?" He's a brilliant storyteller and I'm so glad we all got to hear one.
Last day, last run...boo! We are missing Meghan because she sprained her ankle on our run the day before. We missed her as we broke into someone's pasture and ran around their cows!
Family hug before all jumping in our cars heading for home (or in our case, another week of adventuring!)
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