FOUR WHEELING TO MONUMENT RIDGE

Seattle Marineers vs Yankees

In August we went to Seattle to watch the Marineers play the Yankees. All of Darin's brothers were there with their families, and Darin's mother.

D.J, Cole, Hailey, Chloe, Gavin, Kamden, and Carter at the Space Needle.

At Pikes Market. We got to see the guys throw the fish around and sing. I wish we had had more time to spend there. Two hours isn't enough time to see all the shops.

We had the scariest seats. We were on the front row of the third level with 10 kids. It was a long drop to the next level. If anyone knows me well and my fear of heights, you will know how hard this was for me.

Aren't these 2 the hottest guys?!! This was Gavin's first major league game.

2008 THANKSGIVING IN WASHINGTON

We went to Kennewick, WA for Thanksgiving. We got to see all of Darin's family while we were there. This is Tristan, Chloe, D.J., Malachi, and Hailey at the skateboard park.

Bret, Darin, Darci, Ryan, and Denny. Darin's with his brothers and sister. It is rare that they all get together at the same time. We took all the kids bowling and had a blast. Below is Grandma Bassett with all of her grandkids but one, Anthony was with his mother.

DISNEYWORLD, NOVEMBER 2008

So, we took Chloe out of school for 6 days and headed for a much needed vacation. It has been 4 years since our last one. I was pregnant with Gavin then, so this is really his very first REAL vacation. Darin's brother Ryan, his wife Rochelle, and their kids met us in Orlando that night.

Gavin's first time on a plane. He looks a little nervous, don't you think.

Somehow I got these pictures out of order and can't figure out how to fix it. This is the last day in Florida, and we drove to Clearwater Beach to hang out for a few hours before we caught our plane home in Tampa.

Okay, so can you say 6 parks in 6 days. INSANE. My legs hurt for a week after we got home. The kids were so exhausted. I would definitely take an extra week next time (IF there will ever be a next time) and take a day off between parks. But, we all had a blast!!!

SEA WORLD

Kraken was by far the best ride of the whole trip. Chloe refused to go on it the first time, but we convinced her that she would miss out if she didn't. I think she and Cole rode it at least 5 times. It was great to have Ryan and Rochelle with us. We would trade off watching the little kids while we went on the rollercoasters they were too short for. Chloe and Cole loved it because they could go everytime.

Gavin, Kamden, and Carter. Gavin made the funniest faces the whole trip. I wish I could post all of them. He also said quite a few memorable things. Such as "Mom, are we on a crack farm"! No idea where that came from, but we were taking a boat ride through Epcots greenhouse.

This is a view of Kraken from the Shamu Stadium. It flipped you upside down 7 times, while over a lake.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Gavin went on any ride he was tall enough to ride. This was the Mount Everest ride and probably our #3 favorite ride. He screamed like a girl, but couldn't get enough. Once again, crappy camera.

Chloe and Cole infront of the Mount Everest ride.



MAGIC KINGDOM



Chloe, Cole, Kamden, Gavin, and Carter Bassett

I love these two!

The sword in the stone. The kid who pulled on it right before our kids actually pulled it out and got prizes. A guy was standing nearby and had a button he would push to release the sword.

The Buzz Lightyear ride was sooooooo fun. You are in a video game, and on your car you have a laser gun you use to shoot targets, and compete against each other.

The MATTERHORN! Gavin just barely, by a hair, was tall enough for this ride. You can't see him, but he is between Cole and Darin in the front. He rode it once, and then the 2nd time Darin got all the way to the loading zone and they remeasured Gav and made them walk out. We of course tried it again later and got him on. After riding all the newer rides, this one seemed very jerky and not extremely nice on the back and neck.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

I should have posted the video of us riding the TOWER OF TERROR, even though most of it was in the dark. Drama Queen Chloe decided that she was terrified of it, and we forced her to ride it twice. Lots of screaming and crying going on. You went into a haunted motel, got into an elevator with seats, then they would take you all the way up and drop you about 4 times.

#2 favorite ride of the whole trip. The Aerosmith Rockin Rollercoaster. Chloe once again refused to go on it, and we never could talk her into it. It was very fast, in the dark, and went upside down. Many of you may think we torture our child forcing her to go on rollercoasters and other rides. What you need to know it that she LOVES rollercoasters, it just sometimes she feels like having a drama moment.

EPCOT CENTER

Not much to post about Epcot. It wasn't a huge kid place. We went there the first day to get it over with.

HALLOWEEN 2008

This is the only picture that turned out from Halloween. I could not get the camera to take a good picture to save my life. We drove to Layton, Utah that night just in time for trick or treating with Darin's brother Denny's family. The next morning we needed to catch a flight to Florida.

DARIN'S 1ST HUNTING TRIP. SEPT 2008

A friend of Darin's talked him into going hunting this Fall somewhere up the Hoback. They had hiked to the top of the mountain in one afternoon, camped, and then hunted while they hiked out the next day. Darin has been working none stop since he started his business a year ago that he hasn't had much time to hike or even work out. When Dave dropped him off, Darin could almost not walk into the house he was sooooo sore.

Notice, no pictures of Darin sitting behind a bull elk, showing off the antlers. Needless to say we did not get to eat yummy elk meat all winter.

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY CHLOE! SEPT 21st 2008

Hannah, Remington, Chloe, and Marianne. Notice the double rainbow in the background.

Chloe wanted Guitar Hero for her birthday. The girls (and Darin) had a lot of fun playing this.

FIRST DAY AT A NEW SCHOOL 2008

Because I am not working in Jackson anymore, Chloe was able to go to school in Star Valley. Her school this year is in Thayne which is about 20 minutes away. Not bad when you think that when she goes to Middle School and High School she will have a 40 minute bus ride one way. I am extremely happy with the schools here, and Chloe is doing amazing. Also, the bus will pick her up in front of our house and drop her back off here too. Yeah!!! When she gets older and has after school activities, they have other buses that run later and will bring her home. I LOVE the school system in Star Valley. Didn't think I would ever say that, since SV was our biggest rival in High School.

2008 Summer Fun.......

We did get to actually see Darin once in awhile this summer. Normally he was working 7 days a week. He took us to Teton Village and we rode up the gondola and had lunch at the resturaunt up top.

My cousin Sharon and her kids came up to Jackson after the Thompson Reunion in Utah. We went hiking with them up to Phelps Lake in Grand Teton Park.

Ahhhh, how cute! These 2 really love each other. This was at Phelps Lake.

The kids and I went swimming 2 to 3 times a week at the Star Valley RV Park. Not much else to do in Podunkville, Wyoming. Especially with gas above $4/gallon. We didn't have much choice but to stay close to home.