Thursday, April 17, 2014

Memories of Island Park

I've been in Island Park this last week. My parents have a time share here. My Dad's parents bought it years ago. I have lots of memories associated with this place. 

One of my earlier memories is being here with my grandparents and finding my Easter basket on the water heater. Others include: playing in the snow; swimming at the clubhouse; playing games; and reading a lot. For many years we snowmobiled every winter.  Those memories include my sister Janalee tearing up her shoulder, following a moose down a trail, crashing and putting my face into the windshield getting a bloody nose, and rescuing/recovering broken machines. 

One year Dad got frostbite when his snowmobile sank through into some water we didn't know was there.  Lucky we were still close by. Getting him out and back here to the condo was scary. He was so cold he couldn't even help get his gear off. In hindsight we should have taken him to the hospital. But he's stubborn. He had nerve damage in his legs that took years to heal.

The summer before my cousin Brian left for his mission the Petersen's, Grandma Ila, and our family rented a condo and all came up here together. We had a really good time together and made some great memories.

When my Mom was suffering from severe depression our trip that year was awful. She had a major meltdown and took off in the car and was gone for hours. She couldn't even tell us where she had been. That was the year that on the way up at the Wendy's in Blackfoot Dad told me she had told him she wanted a divorce. He told her he wasn't going anywhere. Luckily he stuck with her until they got her medication regulated and she came back to herself. My parents are great examples of sticking together through the good and the bad. 

The Summer of 2008 most of the Petersen's and all the Anderson's rented a large, beautiful cabin and came together. Gracie and Garrett were the youngest at that time. There was golfing, fishing, trips into Yellowstone to see the animals, and lots of fun. It's a blessing we all still enjoy being together and can have fun. 

As I said before there are lots of memories from here. Hopefully there will be many more happy memories to come with little Carter and his grandparents, cousins, etc. as we move forward.






1 comment:

Paula said...

I love Island Park and spending time with the family. It was extra special seeing the big horn sheep and the two moose every night down by the lake. Thanks, Kami, for recording these memories.