Ft. Bridger Rendezvous

Our nearly annual Labor Day weekend in Ft. Bridger was quite enjoyable this year. Even if we did spend half of it dodging the rain! I waited last minute to get period dress clothing for myself and the kids, but with the help of my sister-in-laws and etsy we were able to dress up this year.  My plan is to start now for next year and maybe I'll be ready without the rush!

The rendezvous is held on the Ft. Bridger historic site in Wyoming. So, there are a few buildings that still stand we were able to take a look in.

There is a games event held on one of the days that kids' are able to participate in as long as they are dressed up in rendezvous clothing. This is the first year the kids were able to play. Pretty sure they didn't have the right clothes last year and I don't think I recall the games in prior years although they were probably there. Lex, Isabel and all their cousins had a good time playing all the old fashioned games.

Shane competed in a number of events and won lots of "trader bucks" to use in trader's row (vendors). But, his top event was the pistol shoot. He took 1st place!! The big prize is the black powder rifle, but that didn't go to any of the Jorgensen's this year. Next time, boys!

Lex, Kenley, and Dallin participated in the hawk & knife throw this year. They didn't win either, but it was about having fun, right? Just look at those smiles!

Grandma Leslie made this knot dress for Isabel's birthday this year and it fits with the rendezvous theme perfectly. She loves wearing it. She's doing an Indian dance in this picture.

Jorgensen Reunion

This family gathering appears to be a dying tradition. I'd say less than half showed up this year. One reason may have been that fires weren't allowed in the canyon this year. Another may have been the fact that the location hasn't changed in almost ten years. But, whatever the reason, it was still nice to see a few friendly faces that we usually only see once a year or in random Facebook updates. We didn't camp it this year due to the fire restriction, but did head up the canyon a few hours before the Saturday dinner potluck.

The kids really enjoyed this swing that's been tied to one of the trees at mile marker #13 for years now. I don't think I'd sit on it, but for kid-weight it seemed pretty safe. I think it saved them from a few hours of boredom.

While we were shooting clay pigeons, a guy & his horse came through to load up. Isabel couldn't stop staring at the horse.

I was not doing so well the first half of our afternoon shooting, but Shane gave me a few pointers and what would ya know? I started hitting them. What were the tips? Don't concentrate so hard on lining up the gun and the target, but go with your gut and follow through. It works!

Dirt & camping just go together. A fact I must accept.

Makes for some good picture-taking opportunities, though!

Not camping up the canyon gave me the ability to run in town every morning. The weather was perfect, as was the view.

I can't say that we weren't without any boredom some of the time. Isabel had many chances for naps and I took the opportunity to play around with some of the photo editing apps on my phone. I thought this one turned out nicely. Goodness, look at those lashes!

Another one of those "boredom" photo-editing sessions. I'm almost a pro!

If all goes as planned, we will be missing the reunion next year which may actually be at a new location. But, I'll take that chance. Shane & I will be running the Lululemon half marathon in Canada next year! Whoo-hoo!

Legacy Midnight 10K

I did this run last year as my very first 10K and loved it. I was surprised at how easy it was and that's when my desire to run more began. I ran this with Melissa & Amanda last time, but this year it was Shane and our friend Ray.  I invited all my sisters & their spouses to join us again, but we are all busy people so maybe next year because we are definitely doing it annually. It's just a fun run.

The Midnight Legacy 10K is held on the weekend of a full moon. It was definitely out lighting some of the trail for us.

Us post-race & still smiling!

Runners' post-race carb buffet. I thoroughly enjoyed a few of the PB sandwich bites. Love me some peanut butter!!

One of our friend's from CF22 was running her first half marathon and our other dear friend Jo (and her son) thought it would be so nice to surprise her at the finish line. So awesome!

Oh, would you look at that? I think that does show my name in 2nd place. Wow! That was a complete surprise! Granted it was only in my age group, but for not trying I'll take it!

Shane was happy to take his 7th place as well considering he didn't plan his pre-race meal very well. CF22's summer BBQ was just a few hours before and he probably ate a little more than he should have for needing to do a run a few hours later. Poor guy. He didn't puke, but he also didn't stop once. So proud!

 Oh yeah! I'm standing on that box and I don't care who knows it! I was pretty proud of myself!

And random self-pictures with my medal were taken all the way back to the car for proof. (There were five more like this.) Haha!

Wyoming Accident

What we had planned on being a nice, pleasant weekend in Wyoming started out a bit on the rough side. I was out for a run enjoying the beautiful scenery when I came home to a near empty house as Grandma Leslie had taken Lex & Isabel out for a ride on the ATV.

I was told that the boys (Alan & Justin) had gone to take care of the ATV because it had run out of gas or something. I thought nothing of it. Shane had run in the house for a minute & had a gut feeling something wasn't right. Just a few minutes later, I see the kids come through the front door and I could immediately sense something was wrong. The ATV had a mechanical issue & got stuck in reverse accelerating. Leslie couldn't control it and the speed threw the kids off the ATV. It seems Leslie was also thrown from the ATV before it rolled over her! Luckily no one was seriously injured, but everyone was pretty beaten & shaken up. They were all in tears as they came into the house. Isabel had two goose eggs on her forehead and road rash up her arm & a pretty hard hit on her hip. Lex had a nasty bruise on his thigh. Leslie got the worst of it with the ATV rolling over her. She was in a lot of pain all weekend and just felt terrible about what happened even though it was out of her control. Thankfully all have recovered since.

Drive-In Movie

I have wanted to take the kids to a drive-in movie over the summer for so long. It's been on my summer bucket list for years & finally we got the opportunity to do so with some friends who planned out the evening. We got to see the new Ice Age movie. It was perfect weather & the kids loved it.

A late night certainly calls for some of this...

We arrived a little early to eat dinner & hang out for a bit...

  

Isabel checking out the weather. We got close to getting sprinkled on, but not quite!

It's getting dark... we're ready! Bring on the dinosaurs!