Jonnae's Graduation Week

Jonnae graduated from BYU-I, so all of her family came to Idaho to celebrate. We had a fun few days with everyone!

On Wednesday evening we went to her graduation ceremony, where she gave a great speech.  

Cute little graduate!

Kim and Russ were here too, so it was fun to spend a few days with them. On Thursday we all floated the Warm River. We had 14 of us, but luckily went down with 17 tubes. Good thing, because three tubes popped along the way. We were mostly all hooked together, which probably wasn't the best idea. 😂 Manuvering around big rocks and other things in the river is not really possible with that many people hooked together. At one point I came unhooked from everyone. I was just floating down by myself ahead of the group having a good ole time, until I got stuck in a little cove. The water was stagnant right there, and I literally came to a standstill. I tried and tried to get back in the current, but it was not gonna happen. After everyone had already passed me and got to the take out spot, I realized I would just have to jump in and swim the last quarter mile or so. In I went, and I just held onto my tube and and swam. I'm sure they were relieved when they saw me round the corner swimming along side my tube. 😅 It was a fun float, and now I want to go back and do it in the kayaks. 

Some of our tubes all ready for us to get started.

The rest of the tubes.

So fun!

After the float we went to a park in Rexburg and had a big bbq. Mark was off work in time to be able to join for that.

On Friday, Kim and Russ helped Noah and Jonnae get all packed and ready for their move to Texas. That evening Kim, Russ, Noah, Jonnae, Sawyer, Amanda, Mark, and I went to dinner at Tandori Oven and then went out to Ririe to show them the barn and progress on our house. After that it was a trip to Dairy Queen for a treat and to plan our hike for the next day.

On Saturday we set off to hike Delta Lake in Grand Teton Park. Jonnae had it on her list of things to do before they left Idaho. It was a great day! We saw four bears on the way up. First there was a pretty good size black bear with two cubs about a mile up the trail. Then later in the climb I looked up and saw brown movement. At fist I thought maybe it was a person on a switchback above us, but then I realized it was a little brown bear walking above the trail. We watched it forage for a while, but it was always in the tall grass when I tried to get a picture, so no luck. The flowers were still in full bloom, so the trail was beautiful. I picked and ate huckleberries along the way. The lake was gorgeous, and we got there early enough that it wasn't too crowded. Noah, Jonnae, and I got in the freezing water. There is nothing better to refresh you on a hike than a dip in a freezing, mountain lake. It was a great day!

Cute mama bear walking away from her cubs. I bet she was going to take a nap.

The bear!

Heading up the trail.

The flowers were amazing!

Overlooking Bradly and Taggart lakes!
Jonnae-Noah-Russ-Kim-Tricia-Mark

Walking through hillsides of flowers.

You have to cross a couple boulder fields.

Delta Lake is gorgeous. It's the best color, and sits in a bowl right at the base of the Grand.

Love this hike!

Brrrrr!

The three of us went in the water!

Mark

Tricia

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Bradly and Taggart Lakes

Huckleberries!

Kim and Russ left on Saturday night. It was such a fun few days with them. We had our last Sunday night dinner with Noah and Jonnae, so that was sad. I'm super excited to see where the next few years takes them. They are headed to Texas for Noah's grad school. I feel like a fun little era is coming to an end. It's been a great four years having Noah live by us while he went to school. We're gonna miss them a ton (especially on Sundays). Onward and upward!