West Yellowstone

Our kiddies posing in front of the buffalo.....
We had our annual Labor Day trip with the Arvy's this past weekend. What a great time we had. These are times that I wish that inner poet or eloquent writer would surface so I could do justice to our experience. But, you'll just have to deal with what you get.
We left after the school open house and didn't get to W. Y. until after midnight. When we got up the next morning, it was raining! But, it was a nice rain....and made the town look even more beautiful. We went right into Yellowstone Park to start exploring. Our first adventure was this elk that was grazing right next to the road! We had to stop and take pictures.

Kristine's boys checking out madam elk.

Then, on to Gibbon Falls (I probably remembered that name wrong). What an amazing sight.

Corvin and Sydney

Then to see some cool geysers and paint pots.

Maddie, Sydney, Amanda, Brandon, Zachary and Jace...so much fun with cousins!

Whoops...where's Brandon?

Oh! There he is! With Brock, Andrew, Kris and Daddy.

Next, to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone: They look like they are going off the edge! I was nervous.

This next picture is my favorite because Maddie had just punched Zach as I took the picture! Ah, sibling love...

Kellie and Emily

Our next little hike led us past a fallen tree which became a great trampoline! This was a great activity for the kids as they played there for a good 20 minutes. We would have a few opportunities to play on fallen trees throughout the weekend. Lots of giggles...

Amanda and I took the hike down to get a better view of the falls. It was a pretty steep hike and Amanda did it like a pro!

More poses at the falls....Amanda and Zach in a cool little cave along the trail.

Sydney and Jace
Mike thought it was cool to see this ribcage at one of the geysers. Circle of life......
I can't remember the name of this area, but Mike had taken the girls to see it because Brandon had fallen asleep in the car. I stayed with him and can I just tell you that it was a wonderful, relaxing time of renewal for me. I just sat in the car, eyes closed, feeling the breeze on my face and listening to sounds around me...mostly of nature, some of humans. But, it reminded me that I don't get time or I guess make time to just sit anymore. I could feel my soul being filled again as I experienced all that God has given us to enjoy in the world around us. I could have stay there forever. I enjoyed every minute of this personal spiritual experience. It was so peaceful.
Sydney is famous for not walking very far without complaining. Mike ended up carrying her around this area. What a good Daddy! Syd doesn't know how lucky she is!
Nice rack!
The kids favorite: Buffalo!

We spent all day at the park and couldn't wait to get back the next day. We woke up early and Mike and Scott took a bike ride into the park. The elk were along the road again and as they were riding up along side of them, a photographer took their picture. He told them it was a great picture! After they guy left, Mike thought I should have had him e-mail it to me! Oh well. When you see it in a biking mag or a hunter's mag....let us know!

I was amazed as we drove into the park this day at the beauty. It was a little foggy and earlier than we had been there the day before. As we past the area around Bald Eagle Mtn, the sunlight shone through the majestic Lodgepole Pines (my fav trees) and you could see glistening spiderwebs on the branches. I'm talking a ton of spiderwebs! It was an incredible sight and I was sad that we weren't allowed to stop along that part of the highway because it would be nice to capture that in a picture. We saw many buffalo and elk. We were able to stop and have a picnic lunch with the whole family that was a lot of fun. The kids ran around and played to their hearts content.

Visiting more hot pots, geysers, etc. Sydney was really hungry this morning and wasn't happy at all. We talked about getting a picture of her to take and show her school class. This is the best we could get! (Sorry it's sideways again. It was too funny not to put on the blog)

Greg, Maddie and Amanda

My boys!Old Faithful! Hillary, Amanda, Maddie, Syd, Zach, Corvin and Brando

Can I tell you how much I love my family!?!?!?

We were able to go to the Playmill theater and see Annie Get your Gun. The girls really liked that and keep repeating their favorite parts. Sunday, we went to church and were pleasantly surprised to see Elder Wirthlin in the meeting! He bore his testimony and it was so simple in its truthfulness that Mike and I were touched. We took the kids up to shake his hand after and tried to tell them they may never get to shake an apostle's hand again...this is a big deal! I was also touched throughout that testimony meeting with some of the testimonies given. We are all God's children and are experiencing similiar things. It was heart-warming to hear Ray Ray tell us how he used to come to the door with beer and cig in hand when his home teacher came over so he would know he wasn't welcome and to hear the break in his voice as he told us of his change of heart and how he was just called to be High Priest group leader. My favorite part was when Elder Wirthlin said we have gathered together to be counted with those who love the Savior.

After church, we took a ride into Yellowstone one more time. Our favorite part about this day was the buffalo that was walking along the side of the road as we came by. We slowed to get a good look and Sydney said she could almost reach out and touch him! We also saw a coyote and a bull elk pretty close as he was hanging out near a campground. It was fun to experience the kids seeing the wildlife. I really enjoyed this vacation. I love, love, love to spend time with my little family without any of life's normal interruptions. Being with them gives me pure Joy.

We had a great family meeting on Sunday. We are grateful for Jim & Renae giving us the opportunity to be together as a family. It was so great to be with those that live back east and to see their new babies. Monday morning, we all went to the IMAX and saw "Yellowstone" and then we were on our way home....mourning the passing of our vacation. We stopped in Rexburg and drove by the new temple. Also, a quick bite with the family and we were homeward bound!