Surprise Weekend at Jackson Hole

Matt called me when he was driving home from work on Thursday and said to me "Do you want to go see the Bar J Wranglers Saturday night?" He knew that was the right question to ask me. Not "Do you want to travel with the kids for 6 hours?" or "How about you forget all the plans you made for the weekend and lets go to Jackson Hole, what do you say dear?" No, he knew the Bar J Wranglers was the correct bait for me.

Friday night we headed out. We drove to Kemmerer, WY and stayed the night. The next morning we went to Fossil Butte National Monument. I loved it. I am not sure if the girls were that impressed, but I absolutely loved it.


50 million years ago there was a lake in Wyoming that was 50 miles long and 20 miles wide. It looked like Florida, so lush and pretty. They have found thousands and thousands of fish fossils, crocodiles, turtles, plants, insects, bats, mini horses, bla bla bla. Here are the girls with one of the croc fossils found there.

This palm frond was my favorite so I made them smile for this one. What an amazing fossil! Like I said, I loved this place.

Imagine this sagebrush place a teeming sea! Amazing! They made fossil rubbings, Kendal loved that part.

Salt River Pass - between Cokeville and Star Valley.

We spent some time Saturday afternoon at the Jackson Hole Visitor's Center. The girls charmed the rangers into bird watching with a scope from the balcony. Kelsey truly was interested. Kendal just wanted to feel the wind in her hair I think!

Here they found a few tadpoles and watched the ducks.

What is a trip to Jackson without a visit to the antler arches? Isn't my family so dang cute?

Kendal and I found Bigfoot. This is as close as she would get to him. I wanted her to stand next to him so I could get a good picture and she kept saying "but i don't yike it, i don't yike it." She was not impressed with Bigfoot.

Now the best part of the trip - a visit to the Bar J Chuckwagon. We met up with Matt's parents earlier in the day and went out there for dinner and of course, some 4 part harmony. We hung around about an hour before dinner and enjoyed the coolness of the shade and of the pretty valley. Dinner was wonderful, so was the singing, and so was Bryan Humphrey. Matt knows of my little crush on him, so I suppose I can express it here. They were great.

Little Emmitt, he wasn't as impressed with the Bar J Wranglers as I was. He must have had a tummy ache and I think they were a little loud for him. We spent most of the time right outside the door - cool air, a pacifier, and still a nice view of Bryan Humphrey. Oh yeah, and I could still hear that good ol' cowboy singing! Plus, Kendal was a little restless after dinner, so Matt and I took turns keeping an eye on her running outside the place like a wild child.

Matt, Larry, and Emmitt - right after dinner.

I had to change Emmitt's diaper so I went out where we could be alone and out of the way. Look at the swarm of little girls that came to see my Emmitt! It was so funny. They truly did swarm, but they must of have known something was a little different with him because they didn't come close until the diaper was snapped shut and his pants where up! Then they all oohed and awed over the "tute baby boy." Notice Kendal in the purple shirt staking her claim and telling all the girls how it is - he is her's!

Sunday we attended the Jenny Lake Bridge Ward for church and had a super time. I hadn't ever been to Jenny Lake. It was so pretty. It reminded me of our trip to McCall, Idaho and Payette Lake last summer. There is something about those high mountain lakes and the crisp air!

We had a super weekend. The girls and baby were pretty good travelers (thank goodness for the library and books on CD!), the weather was perfect, the company was great (thanks Larry and Ellen for a fun time), and it was just great to get out of town with my family. Thanks Matty.

Quirks

Matt tells me I have issues. I do, but doesn't everyone have their own little quirks? I like to have a few certain things my way in my house. Some people label that OCD. Why can't we call it CHS - clean housekeeper syndrome or something? Anyway, I will not rattle off my list of particulars - thank goodness. But I do want to share something a little weird. I am a little interested in numbers, but more importantly how long things last in my house.

When I get our electric bill, I look at how many kilowatt hours of electricity I use and divide it by 30 days because I like to know that number - how many kilowatt hours we use in a day and how much $$ we spend a day on electricity. (last bill about $1.52/day) The gas bill already comes with that number for me - how much gas we use in an average day. I know in my mind how much money per day our house costs us to live in - our house payment (every 2 weeks) divided by 14 days.

It isn't that I am majorly pinching pennies, I just like to know what that per day number is. That is one of my quirks, not necessarily CHS, but a definite quirk.

So here is one I did for the past few months:
I wanted to know how many loads of laundry I do. Plain and simple. I was interested in that number. So when I opened a new package of fabric softener dryer sheets on January 19th, I wrote that date on the box with a sharpie. I use a sheet in every single batch of laundry I do, so I know that it is an accurate number. Well, on June 13th I finished off the box. 120 dryer sheets and 145 days. Interesting . . . I do 120 batches of laundry in about 5 months. Or just to make it fun, .823 loads of laundry everyday. Not sure how that could happen, but that is the number I wanted.

Annual Strawberry Fields Forever Camping Trip

For the past 4 or 5 years Matt has been one of the veterinarians at the Strawberry Fields Forever Endurance Ride. It is a 3 day horse race/ride. Each day the riders and horses race a 50 mile loop. There is also a 25 mile loop. It is amazing to see all the horses and especially the horse trailers and rigs they bring up! WOW! www.strawberryenduranceride.com

Anyway, in the past we have gone up and camped with Matt during the ride. We did the same this year, but since it rained everyday and every night and I have a new baby, I only stayed over one night. Kelsey stayed up there from Thursday to Saturday night and helped her dad. She loves the endurance ride. All the riders and management people give her all the love and attention a 7 year old can handle! Kendal, Emmitt, and I went up Thursday and came home at 10:00 pm. We went back up Friday afternoon and spent the night and then came home Saturday around 11:00 am. We were supposed to go back up Saturday night, but the rain was a little too much for me, the baby, and the 2 wheel drive car!

Anyway, we had a super time. It was Emmitt's first camping trip and he did wonderful. He slept great and he loved watching the fire.

Derek and Austin came up Thursday. They helped me set up our tent and then we cooked hot dogs and marshmallows. That is Kelsey's favorite part. Kendal just ate about 10 'raw' marshmallows - no roasting for her.

Friday night the Proctors, Kim and Debbie, came up and spent the night also. They took their trailer up previously in the week to save us a camping spot. Thank goodness too, because the mountain was full! We cooked a delicious dinner of teriyaki pork loin, corn on the cob, and I forgot the cake mixes for the cherry cobbler. Darn it! Phillip and Andy also came up for the evening and it was a beautiful evening!

Here are my little campers. They love being outside and love the mountains. They were super kids.

Emmitt truly was a trooper. What a sweet little boy we have.

Saturday morning, Kelsey got up early to go with Matt. I slept until around 8:30 and the two lazy bones here slept until after 9:00. The pink pile on the left is Kendal and the sweet little one on the right is Emmitt. It was good sleeping, but I swear mom's never sleep well when camping! I was too busy making sure the kids were still covered up, the baby wasn't suffocating, his head wasn't cold, everyone was still warm, bla bla bla. Not to mention the hard ground!

It was a fun fun trip and hopefully we will get a few more in this summer.

Chappell Side Men

Happy Father's Day to all you men out there!

Here is a smattering of the Chappell side men in my life - I love them all!

My dad jokes that he could ride a horse before he could walk. Maybe it is partially true. He is a great horseman, patient and understanding.

He was a handsome teenager! No wonder my mom fell for him! Paps, you still are handsome!

He is actually VERY handsome and loves to see the world with my mom on their bike.

He is a great husband to my mom. After almost 40 years together they are still in love.

He has a great sense of adventure. We grew up doing fun outings with our dad, even a trip to do chores at the field could be fun with our dad.

He is a super amazing grandpa to my kids and all my nieces and nephews. He has AMAZING patience.

He knows how to have a great time and enjoys spending time with his family - thanks for that dad!

He can make, build, figure out, or fix, anything, and he is willing to spend some time to help his sweet daughters with their wild projects. He is selfless.

My dad can speak Kendalese and speaks it well, which really says a lot. He loves my children and is so great with them. He is the perfect grandpa.

My dad is a fun outdoorsman. He likes to camp, fish, hike, explore, hunt, be in the mountains, and actually farm ( I think he likes it anyway). He has taught his children to enjoy and also respect the outdoors.


My dad is the kind of guy that just gets things done. If something needs to be done, he will do it. He also has a fun time doing it and others like to be near him.

Cussing is in my dad's every-sentence vocabulary, but I remember the only time I heard him drop the big bomb. I drove his newly painted 1960-something Dodge truck into a railroad tie fence post. Being a know-it-all 15 year old, I honestly didn't know my dad knew that word! Anyway, one quick story. Back when I was in high school our ward used to have opening exercises before everyone went to Sunday School class. He was conducting one Sunday and this is what he said from the pulpit "... and our opening hymn will be on page (big pause as he was looking through his notes) oh hell, I don't know what page it is on, you can just find it when we start singing." It was so great.

Happy Father's Day Paps. You are the best dad any girl could ask for.

Here is the wonderful father of my children, My Matty. I love him and my girls adore him.

He teaches our kids about hard work and also having fun.

He is a caring and compassionate father to our children and loves them so deeply.

He not only takes care of our family financially, but he cares for us immensely. He loves his kids so very much and loves to be with them, either playing or working.

Thanks for all you do Matt Crane! Happy Father's Day, I love and appreciate you more than can be expressed.

Now a Father's Day wish to my brother Glen. He is also a great example of a super great father. He loves to be with his kids and is a great dad to them. He is a jokester and has sure passed that on to his son, but he also knows the value of hard work and knows how to get things done. My kids know that their Uncle Glen is the teaser and also the patient one.

And Happy Father's Day to Jared, my sister's husband. He is a fun and patient dad to his 2 sweet kids. He is the bucking bull of the kid rodeo, but also the guy that buckles down and gets to work. My kids know that time with Jared will be a good time and he will treat them like his own.

Enjoy your special day DADS!