Fall Travels

Fall has been a busy time here on Hods Hollow.  I have been harvesting and putting the garden to bed for the winter. It was a good year for mini stripped pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini and of course flowers. I cut the last of the roses before our first frost, not wanting to totally let go of summer. Fall roses are bigger, softer, and just a little bit faded when compared to their summer time glory. Kind of like me in middle age.

I have been spending quite a bit of time with both sets of parents, but especially John's mother. She had cellulitis and then a heart attack this fall and has been in and out of the hospital twice along with several weeks of 24/7 home care by her family. It has been hard to watch our parents age and makes me wonder what kind of an old lady I will be. Hopefully just a little more faded. . . and maybe softer.



I borrowed these pictures from Leslie's blog, they really capture the joy of the river.



Joey is still the best dog in the world! Just ask Owen.

In between the business of the fall season John and I have managed to get a few trips in, although not always together. We went on our annual Labor Day trip to raft the Snake River below Jackson. Clay, Leslie and Owen (who called me Grandma) came up from Moab and Stacey and Steve came all the way from Delaware along with Haley and Erin and her two boys. Also our friends, Mike and Jennifer Webb and their twins, Greta and Matthew. We also had three dogs, two puppies and Joey. She tried to keep up with the puppies and was so sore the next day she could hardly move. Alas, she is also getting old.

Again pictures from Leslie: we have a great family!

John went on a river trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon without me. I stayed home and watched the office so he could go. It was a raft, cast and blast trip, thought John was perfectly happy just rafting.

Does this look like a happy rafter?

A week after John got home Annie and I went to Rocky Point with Jayne, Dave, my sister Ann and Alison, Brandon and their cute son Russell. Colby and Jane Anne came down from Phoenix for conference weekend. You know what they say about a day at the beach. . . .



Sisters on the beach, what fun.



Cousins! Annie, Colby, Jane Anne, Alison, Russell and Brandon

And finally we just got back from our last river trip of the season: the Westwater Canyon of the Colorado. Clay wanted to celebrate his 30th birthday on Westwater and since Leslie was too pregnant to go he invited us!

Tice (home from his mission only 8 days), Melanie, me, John (doesn't he look handsome with a beard?) Thomas and birthday boy Clay



Thomas in his Kayak with our raft behind going through Skull rapid.

You have to look really hard to see Thomas' helmet, the waves were over his head!

It was a wonderful, beautiful, fabulous time. For some reason I was fine with the river even though I had never been on it and there were supposed to be some scary rapids, I felt no stress or fear. even when Thomas "went swimming" as he calls tipping over and falling out of his kayak three times in pretty big rapids. As long as I could see his helmet I was OK. Who wouldn't be with a view like this to calm her soul.