11 Flights, 2 Roadtrips, and 1 Delayed Bag

Home Sweet Home. Who knew I would ever be so excited to enter the Lubbock city limits? It feels so good to sleep in my own bed, use my own towels, and stretch out on my own couch. Charlie and I ended our summer travelpalooza with a week’s vacation in Jackson Hole, WY with my family. Brandon, unfortunately, still had another week of work and couldn't join us. Poor guy. He needs a vacation badly.

The highlights of our Jackson Hole trip were Yellowstone:

Look at that gorgeous lily pond. Charlie was super happy to be out of the car. Traffic was really thick through the park.

Old Faithful:

I think Charlie was underwhelmed but I thought it was pretty cool. Actually, pretty hot. The water around the time of eruption is about 200 degrees.

Hiking around Jenny Lake and Hidden Falls in Grand Teton National Park:

My nephew Brian and Charlie

Dad and Charlie. A couple minutes after this picture a deer came up right behind that rock.

The highlight of Charlie's day - playing under an old tree stump

Seeing a moose and her calf:

Insert photo here. Oh, wait. I can't. I didn’t have my camera ready and missed the photo op. Lame.

An olde time Chuckwagon dinner and show at Bar J's:

My brother Doug, sister-in-law Jackie, and Mom waiting for the old guy to ring the triangle so we can finally eat.

And last, but definitely not least, hanging around with my family:

I love this picture of my dad with Malinda and baby Aislyn. It wouldn't be a Clove get together if there weren't games.

Charlie was too young to participate in the Cousin's Games but that didn't stop him from coveting Cohen's powdered doughnut from the doughnut eating contest.

All the grandkids except Michael and Melissa who are adults now with their own work schedules and whatnot. What's up with that?

The lowlight (is that the right word? I know it works when I'm talking about my hair) –

American Airlines lost my stinkin’ bag for 5 days. That’s right. THE BAG that held all of Charlie and my belongings for the ENTIRE summer. Lucky for us my family is extremely generous (thanks Polly for the clothes) and helped us make it through some rough and grumpy times. I figured that statistically I was bound to have a lost or "delayed bag" as the airlines likes to call it at some point during the summer. I just wish that the people at American Airlines were a wee bit nicer to deal with. The moral of the story is never, ever put anything of real or sentimental value in your suitcase. I had my little Book of Mormon in there that I got the Christmas before I was baptized and I was so worried that it would be lost forever. Fortunately, my bag found its way to Jackson Hole after detours through Houston and Chicago airports.

I'll post again soon with some more pictures of our time in Austin. Until then, here's one final picture that sums up our entire summer.