the grand trip...

i would have to say that this trip came very close to exceeding our honeymoon, for a few reasons:
1. it was longer
2. we had a little more money to actually do things
3. now having 2 kids, we could really appreciate the quiet
4. we drove our very fancy lavender town and country mini-van, who couldn't have fun in that?

we started out early monday jan 7 and dropped off the boys with dillon's mom, geraldine. they were so happy to be with her and we were so happy to send them off! we drove up to rexburg and had lunch with emily (my sister) and her husband of 2 months, kyle, at bajio (not as great as cafe rio, but it will do in a pinch.) then we headed up to the beautiful little town of driggs, idaho. on our way up the mountain to targhee, the clouds lifted and we got a glimpse at the majestic tetons. wow...that view will forever take my breath away. it turned out to be a rare oppurtunity because we never saw the tetons again the rest of the trip. so we were happy to be able to get a little peek.




that night, underneath a sky of falling snow, we took a horse-drawn sleigh up to a yurt (which is like a big round canvas tent) and had a steak dinner with dutch over potatoes, veggies, scones with honey butter and cheesecake. it was SO good. we were stuffed. it was so cool because the man who drove the horses (along with his son), cooked the meal right there on a little woodstove for all 13 of us in the group.it was neat. and we met a cute little family from georgia who had 2 little girls with them and the husband's 84-year-old mother, who was going snow-mobiling in yellowstone the next day! she was a hoot! i loved hearing their southern drawl. it was great! and the wife was an exercise physiologist! how coincedental! so we had lots to talk about. they were a lot of fun.


tuesday morning we woke up to more falling snow! perfect! we geared up and headed for the slopes. we had to do the bunny hill a few times so i could remember how to do it all again. then we headed for the dreamcatcher (the biggest lift) and went all the way to the top! it was gorgeous!! i wish so bad that i had my camera with me, because you could see the entire teton valley and it was quite a sight! but you couldn't see the grand because a snow storm was blowing in and after about 30 minutes, you couldn't even see 100 yards in front of you. it was nuts! the trees at the top were covered in snow. and it was blowing so hard that the snow was blowing horizontally! it was crazy!

we boarded all day long and every run was amazing. half the time we were in so much powder that i couldn't even see my board! it was incredible. i have never snowboarded in that much powder before and it was simply amazing. i could see why people are addicted to this sport. there's no feeling quite like gliding over freshly fallen snow down a mountainside! it was awesome! dillon and i would stop at the top to clip in our boards and then we'd just do a little pow-wow about where we wanted to go and he'd head down and i'd follow, and then we'd do it all over again. we were the very last ones on the lift for the day! it was incredible! we loved it!





after boarding all day, we jumped in the hot tub and met a really talkative marine guy. it was interesting. thankfully another couple got in, so we could actually have a two way conversation. dillon decided that next trip, we'll see if they have any rooms with jacuzzis. i concur. we ordered pizza and watched college basketball and the movie: we are marshall. it was great. good thing for dillon that i LOVE college basketball. and good thing for me i married a man so great to take me to targhee!

the next morning we were so sore that we decided to forego the planned snowshoeing trip and just start heading for home. it was still snowin' to beat the band, and dillon had has first city-league basketball game that night at 6:30. so we headed on out. however, we did stop in driggs to shop at the thrift store and i got a way cute beanie for $0.50 and a cute pair of lucky brand jeans for $3. dillon thought it was high time i threw away my 1997 deal-of-the-year beanie that i got for a quarter at the lost and found sale at Ricks College. and he was right, so i tossed it and adorned myself with a new 50 cent find from the thrift store. it was great.

we picked up the boys and they didn't even act like they missed us. but then when we'd leave the room, they'd start crying. so i think they were worried that we'd leave them again. maybe they missed us a little. but they had a BALL at grandma and papa sid's house. they went sledding and got to feed the horses and dog and cats with papa sid and got to be with boone, shalese and celia (their aunts and uncle.) we headed over the mountain to our little home and even made it on time to dillon's basketball game (which he won!)

it was such a great trip! dillon wants to go again next week. and i think we would, if his mom wasn't watching more grandkids already! we want to make an annual trip out of it! and maybe we'll take the boys one day....we'll see.

these were our beds. dillon had the bottom bunk and i had the top.....just kidding. the smallest rooms the had slept 4 people, so we made the bunk beds our gear station and we did have a nice queen size bed with nice fluffy down pillows. heaven. here are some more pictures of our room, the lodge and how much snow was on our van when the time came to leave!
this trip was the start to many more fun trips to come. we want to send a special thankyou to geraldine and sid for watching the boys for us. it was wonderful! we think every couple should have a get-away, if not once a month, then once a year!