The very next weekend after driving south 5 hours to get to St. George, we drove north 5 hours to get to Island Park, Idaho. We had originally planned to spend the weekend with Brandon's mom Debby and his sister Brooke's family at a family cabin, but as it turned out, 1) they couldn't go, and 2) some other extended family members were already up there. The family that was there included (stay with me) Debby's cousin Dennis, his ex-wife Kathy, their two daughters Becky & Anna and their families, and Dennis' mother Helen, all of whom now hail from Oregon/Washington. Dennis is the current owner of the Williams family cabin. Debby's mama Leah was Dennis' aunt, and Leah's family has lots of fond memories of coming up to the cabin through the years. It's been some time since any of Leah's family has visited. Brandon hadn't been there since his early teen years. It was Brooke's idea to see if we could stay there, and Debby got the ball rolling by getting in touch with Dennis. Follow?
When we arrived we were greeted warmly and heartily by all those who were there, with the exception of Becky's husband Dan and older son Luke, who were suffering from a bout of the flu. They rallied, though, and by the next day they were back in action. Unfortunately, I then came down with the bug. Then Brandon did. Then Viv. Then Gavin. Ugh. Despite all that we had a truly fantastic time. We overlapped with the Williamses for the first three days, then had the place to ourselves for the last two days. We got our canoe wet a couple of times and the boys got to do a little fishing. My favorite part of the trip, by far, was getting to know these family members who I never knew existed. Helen is a pistol - she drinks coffee all day long then switches to margaritas at night. I don't know how old she is, but she looked (and acted) like she could have been Dennis' sister. Dennis and Kathy are kind, easygoing souls with enormous hearts. The gentle patience they showed their children and grandchildren was heartwarming, to say the least. Becky and Anna and their husbands Dan and Jacob are the kind of folks we would befriend and hang out with even if we weren't related. Getting to know them around the campfire in the evenings was a real pleasure. Along with Luke, who is 7 (I think?), Becky and Dan have twins Sara and Matthew who turned 5 in July. Anna and Jacob have two sons: Eli is 5 and Noah is a few months younger than Vivian. Gavin had a ball with the other kids and I had a ball watching them interact. I can't think of a more perfect mix of folks! We are so happy to have met them all and hopeful that we will have ample opportunity to see them and spend time with them again and again.
There are far too many pictures to put in one blog post. CLICK HERE to see them all!
