Rafting the Payette

Remember the co-worker I mentioned in my earlier post?  The Great Great Grandson of George Ferris.  His name is Glenn and he was super generous to take our family rafting last weekend.  We rafted the Cabarton stretch of the Payette. Glenn had taken Kendall and I two summers ago.  This year, he took the whole family.  Sidney was ready for her first rafting adventure.  

Here we are waiting for the others to show up.  We passed the time by trying out our rock skipping skills.

We stopped for lunch at a little beach along the river.

Here we are taking the plunge.  Glenn's wife Noni, took pictures of us as we went by.

The girls look half terrified and half thrilled.

I would say that "thrilled" won out.  They were begging for more.

A few of our summer interns joined us in kayaks.  Megan is an amazing young woman.  She did great maneuvering the rapids.

I love this picture of Arril!

It was a great day!  The girls fell asleep within minutes of getting in the car for the trip home.  Thank you Glenn, Noni and Gabe for such a great time.

Daddy-Daughter Trip to Yellowstone

While Kendall was spending her week at summer camp, I was on a trip for work.  So what did Kevin do?  He took Sidney on a road trip.  They went to see his brother in Billings.  Along the way, they went through Yellowstone.

Sidney had a great time and loved telling me all about it.  They saw some amazing scenery and wildlife.

Whenever I see field of wildflowers, I am always reminded of my Aunt Nena.  She used to take my sister and I on wildflower walks.

LOVE this picture of Sidney and Kevin.

Aunt Sherry and Uncle Roy had a park near their house.  The park had a merry-go-round.  It is not often you see these anymore!

Cousin Cody took Sidney fly fishing.

She caught a fish.  It seems to me that her smile is bigger than the actual fish, but isn't that what it is all about?

They have a huge sporting goods store in Billings called Scheels.

Inside the store, there is a Ferris Wheel.  Sidney and Daddy took a ride.  Fun fact, George Ferris is the Great Great Grandfather of my co-worker Glenn.  George Ferris was an engineering pioneer.

Kendall Goes to Camp.

Rebecca got ahold of me awhile back and mentioned that Hannah was going to summer camp for the first time this year.  She asked if Kendall would be interested in joining her.  I talked with Kendall about it.  This was the real deal.  They would board the bus on a Monday morning, spend the week at a camp in McCall, then ride the bus home Friday afternoon.  Wow!  Kendall was surprisingly a little hesitant.  She asked a lot of questions.  Once she was satisfied, she was ready to go.

Sidney and I helped her back her bags.  Sidney was very sad to see her go.  

David came by Monday morning to pick Kendall up.  Here are the happy campers

We did not get any calls home that week.  She had the time of her life.  They had chapel each morning and afternoon.  They swam in the lake, played capture the flag, ate a ton of great food, and told spooky stories at night.  Here she is with her cabin mates.

Birthday Gift and Backsplash

I know that I am spoiled beyond belief, but here is proof.  I had my 25th birthday (again!).  Kevin gave me a picture of a potting bench in my card.  A few weeks later, the girls and I helped him build it.  The following day, while I was at work, he took the girls to buy me some new toys for the bench.  Kendall and I have already managed to dirty up the tools.  Hey, isn't that what they are for.

Kevin has been wanting to put a glass tile back splash in our kitchen for some time now.  I was not enamored with the idea until I saw a few examples of how amazing it looks (Brandt's, Roy and Sherry).  Kevin's co-worker, Tim, came to help us out.  By "us", I mean Kevin.

Before:

After:

It turned out great.  I love how much it brightened up the area.

Trip to Pensacola

Awhile back Kevin was approached by an organization called Wishgranters.  They grant wishes to adults with terminal illnesses.  Kevin immediately knew what he wanted to do.  He wanted to go back to Pensacola, Florida.  He had went through aircrew candidate school 25 years ago in Pensacola.  He loved the area and had always wanted to take me there.  Doug, at Wishgranters, arranged for the trip.  We headed out of town for a week of fun and sun.  Grandma Terrell watched the girls, while Kevin and I went and acted like newlyweds.

To sweeten the trip (as if it was not already sweet enough), we received another great surprise. At my work, our investment company has brought together a group of leaders from some of their portfolio companies.  I have had the honor and privilege to be part of this Atlas Leadership Academy group.  When my fellow classmates learned of Kevin's situation and our trip to Florida, they arranged an amazing excursion for us while we were there.

The first morning after we arrived, my classmates had arranged for us to go on a Waverunner/Dolphin Excursion.  It was amazing.  We spent the whole morning touring the bay in Orange Beach, Alabama.  We first went out on a boat.  Then, we hopped aboard a couple of waverunner's while the boat captain led us around the bay.  

Orange Beach is known for it's large population of dolphins.  The dolphins come there to breed and teach their young how to hunt and survive.  We managed to find several dolphins.  Though, the pictures prove we just weren't fast enough.  I promise this is a dolphin and not a shark! 

We spent one of the days on the base at the Naval Aviation Museum.  It was absolutely amazing.  Kevin has been to the Smithsonian and believes that this museum was far better.  The museum was filled with "actual" historic items as opposed to "replicas".  The fact that we both love naval aviation helped bias our opinions.

Here is a picture of the Blue Angels pre-F18.

The fabulous F14-Tomcat.  While we were there, I had the opportunity to sit in the actual F14 that flew the last combat mission for this aircraft.

Here is the bell from the USS Saratoga, which is the aircraft carrier that David (Kevin's brother) had been deployed on.

Here is the S-3 Viking that George Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003, "Mission Accomplished":)

Me, showing my true sentiment.  I think the Blue Angels are super talented, but after hosting them at the Point Mugu Airshow once, I believe their egos are simply out of this world (sorry Mike Schurb).

We also saw the Marine 1 helicopter that flew President Nixon around.  We took pictures in front of the historic Pensacola Lighthouse.  Visitors can climb to the top.  We did not!

Kevin outside of his old barracks.

Parasailing, of course!

The captain decided to give us a little splash as we came in.

We had dinner and drinks at Red Fish Blue Fish.  The food was amazing the whole trip.  Kevin had seafood gumbo AT LEAST once a day, sometimes twice.

One evening, we had the pleasure of meeting an amazing couple, K'Lyn and Jason.  They had just moved from Boise to Florida six months ago.  K'Lyn was on the Board of Wishgranter's when they lived in Boise.  We dined at McGuire's Pub which was a museum in and of itself.

We are truly grateful for the people at Wishgranter's for making a dream come true.  We had a very memorable and very fabulous time!

What is Next?

A bit of an update on Kevin's treatment.  After we took the kids to Southern California, he went in for a CT scan and visit with his oncologist.  The CT scan showed that the tumors had not increased in size.  This was very good news.  The oncologist wants to give Kevin some time off this summer to enjoy family and do some of the things he loves.  The Doctor was originally  hoping to give him three months off, but would rather start back up in two months.  He does not trust the cancer.  When Kevin starts back up, he will be on a new chemotherapy regime.  It will be a combination of Taxol and Carboplatin.

For now, we are living life to the fullest.  We have been on a dream vacation with the girls to So. Cal.  Now, we are on a second honeymoon in Pensacola, Florida.  I will tell you more about that later.  My sister in law, Sherry, has dubbed this Kevin's song Fight Song.  Now every time we hear it, the volume goes a whole lot louder!

A Dream Vacation!

A few months back, our good friend Valerie organized a vacation for our family.  Honestly, Kevin and I were both very overwhelmed by the idea and a bit unsure.  However, last week, the dream vacation became a reality.  We were able to escape from the realities of life for a bit and enjoy some awesome family time!  We were doubly blessed that my sister and her family were able to join us.

 

We are so very thankful to the staff at Vallivue School District, Our Friends, Our Neighbors and Our Family for making this vacation come true.  Following are pictures (scaled down to be sure) showing all of the great things that we were able to see and do during our time in Southern California.

 

The girls passing the time at the airport.

 

The view from the balcony of our two bedroom, two bathroom condo (thank you Valerie). 

First stop, Kansas City BBQ where we visited one of the filming locations of my all time favorite movie, Top Gun!

Next stop Mission Beach.  Steph and Hallie were able to join us the first day.  Dylan and Jason flew in a few days later.

Kevin (yes, I am blaming him) talked Kendall in to trying her first "big" roller coaster.  This picture was taken just before she decided to shut her eyes for the whole ride.  I do not think she will be riding any more roller coasters for awhile.  The rest of the vacation, she was leery about trusting any of our ride recommendations.  Sidney on the other hand, turned into a crazy daredevil!

After the ride, Kendall still looking a bit suspicious.

All of the kids took right to the ocean.  Kendall loved boogie boarding.  In fact, she enjoyed it a bit too much for my comfort.  The ocean is a beautiful and powerful force. 

The girls!

We went to Coronado Island to check out some of the sights.  The girls had their first taste of Cold Stone Creamery.

We took a walk on the pier and were lucky enough to see this young man reel in a sting ray.

I have told the girls how I used to take the train from San Luis Obispo to Carlsbad to visit Kevin right after September 11th.  They have always wanted to ride on a train.  So we boarded the Surfliner at Old Town San Diego and rode it up to Oceanside for the morning.

Here is the man of the hour relaxing on the beach in Oceanside while Uncle Jason took the kids for a walk along the shore line.

While we were in San Diego, we went to visit our good friends, the Reed's.  They have a beautiful ranch in Poway.  We swam, BBQ'd and relaxed on the patio.  Gail introduced us to a fun game that resulted in Kendall winning $27 which she used for "mad money" on the trip.  My sister got this great shot of Sidney and I deep in conversation poolside.

We visited Disneyland.  We got there right when it opened and jumped in line for all of the "big" rides first.  Our longest wait time...15 minutes.  WooHoo!

We met Goofy.  Although to the girl's dismay, I keep trying to call him Pluto.

We found a roller coaster that was much more to Kendall's liking.  She refused to ride on it the first time, until Sidney reported back to her that it was not terribly scary.

The whole gang posed for a shot with Mickey Mouse.

Tea Cup "selfie".

Kevin made a side stop at Torrey Pines.  It is a beautiful course.

We toured the aircraft carrier, the USS Midway.

The girls were fascinated that I had been a mechanic on the F14 Tomcat.  Did I mention that it was the best fighter jet...EVER!

Kendall giving the launch signal on the flight deck.

Sidney sitting in the jump seat on the H46 helicopter.

Sidney posing with the cardboard flight deck crew.

And for my personal favorite, SeaWorld!

The girls were in awe of all the ocean animals.

They had a pet show with cats, dogs, and even a kangaroo.  Both of the girls were able to pet the kangaroo after the show.

The girls ran to get front row seating at the shows.  They were in the middle of the soak zone.  We found great seats just behind the soak zone.

Kendall down in front giving the Orca the splash signal.

Sidney sweet talked Kevin into taking her down shipwreck rapids.  They both walked out soaked and smiling.

The last day, we went back to Mission beach to relax and play in the sand.

The kids dug a very deep hole for Dylan to stand in.

This picture of Sidney sums up how the vacation went...SMILES.

The only time they seemed to slow down was in the car.

It was an absolutely wonderful time!  Again, a huge thank you to all of you that helped to make these memories happen!