The Cabin

We decided to go to Yellowstone for the fourth of July this year. We went with one of our favorite families, the Hoopes. Our good friends Liesl and Travis and their four kids shared this cabin in Island Park, (Just outside of West Yellowstone) . We had so much fun, thanks guys!

I might choose different deck chairs, but our cabin was great! There was plenty of room, everyone had a bed, no sleeping bags required! Woo hoo! It was so peaceful there and we loved the views!

This is pretty funny, my kids were a little creeped out by this deer at first.



Part of the crew; Elle, Audrey, our friend's daughters Navy and Sidnee and Reese. There were also two little toddler boys not pictured, Conner and Clay.

This is a blurry picture but I didn't often take pictures of Travis and Liesl, here we are during one of our nightly pig-out sessions, good times.

The cabin was just right up the hill from Henry's Lake, which is supposed to have legendary fishing...(so we've heard), we fished in the middle of the day with a bunch of noisy kids, and surprise surprise, we didn't get one bite. It was still fun though!



Down at Henry's Lake

Reese and Sidnee are best little buddies. They found a small snail down at the lake and brought it back to the cabin to "take care of". His name was Luigi Slugbug Fredrickson. They loved coming down every morning to see where he'd climbed out and scooted off to. It was fun while it lasted but he had to be set free the morning we left. They were so cute with it.

Amazing Yellowstone!

Wow.

This was just off the side of the road, it was in the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone.

There is a reason that Yellowstone was made into a National Park and is World-Famous, I've decided. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking! For living in the Northwest my entire life, I can't believe I haven't gone to see it before now! We had an amazing time exploring; there was just so much to see. Some day, we'd love to stay for at least two weeks to try and chip the tip of the ice berg in this park. For anyone who hasn't been to Yellowstone, I really encourage you to get yourself there! The animals were amazing too and the kids loved learning about all the natural wonders there were to see.

Some of the hot pots.

The yellow color is from natural bacteria, they call it the bacteria fields.


This amazing fall was just a quick hike to the side of one of the hot pot sights. There was no special marking to indicate the amazing view that was ahead, we simply decided to take the kids up the 1 mile trail thinking it wouldn't be too bad of a walk. This is why we want to take much more time to explore, there are countless hikes like this. It truly is amazing there!

click on to the collages to see the pictures closer

Gratitude

I just thought I'd take a minute to be grateful for all that I have and all I've experienced throughout my life. I'm so indebted to my family and all they do for me. My Husband is such an amazing person, I love that I get to spend my life and eternity with him and our beautiful kids. Also thank you to my friends, you are such a great strength to me and help me balance my daily life with wonderful new perspectives and support. I am so thankful to my Father in Heaven for blessing me so richly. The world is a wonderful place and I'm grateful to be in it.

Fun With Boys

This was a project that Reese and his friend Danny decided to embark on. Create your own sweet camo gear. It was great, they were busy out in the front yard for four hours, literally! They had a few episodes with trial and error and used two entire rolls of scotch tape before starting all over with the stronger, more efficient packing tape.

Reese is always talking about being a scientist and all the inventions he's going to come up with.. we thought this was a pretty cute one.

They finally got the result they were looking for, way to go boys! Good job sticking with it!

Reese, covertly maneuvering "operation camo"...

Keep it up little buddy, you're already a great scientist!

Summer, Summer, Summertime...

Feelin' cocky before the plunge, do I have a couple of hams or what?

There's the face I was expecting....

relaxing in the hot tub, Reese's floaties from the big jump still in tact... he does know how to swim but just wanted that security blanket for jumping...

Lil Elle

Pool buddies

Lost a tooth!!
There was considerable worry and discussion as to whether or not the tooth fairy could find us in St. George...

With Grandma Mary and Grandpa Tony, aren't they the cutest?

(the kids aren't too bad either...)

Nothing like palm trees..

Sam, enjoying his floaty

Making cookies with G-ma

BBQ season kicks off with Sam's famous ribs.

Earlier this week... Laura turns the big 4-0 !!!

Here with Grandma and Mom,

Grandma lost her glasses so had to use her back up, still so cute, she's 91!

So glad to have an awesome sister.

This is an ode to Laura at 40, she's amazing! This was just last summer in Cd'A,

keep on rocking sista!!

She's 10!

Happy Birthday Audrey!

We were so amazed the day you came into our lives. Our very first sweet little daughter, born May 25th, 1999. The lilacs were in bloom and it was a beautiful Logan spring day. You were born at 7:39 pm in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm. You were also our biggest baby, weighing in at 8lbs 12oz!

Some of my favorite things about Audrey is that she's always loved to have a good time at everything she does. She's very sweet and sensitive and loves to dance, but does not see herself as a "girly girl". It's been fun to see Audrey's silly sense of humor develop too. She loves to spend time with her friends and has been a straight-A student.

Since she was a toddler, she's loved to help in the kitchen and garden, and plant flowers with her grandma Mary. To this day she still loves to cook and play in the dirt. She is a great big sister and is so good to help me, especially with Elle.

Audrey, we're so amazingly proud of you, you are such a joy to watch grow and have so many great talents. We love you!!

She's beautiful, it's true!

The new bike! She likes it because "it's different and isn't all crowded up with stickers.."

How could my sweet little baby girl be in the double digits already?!! Happy Birthday Audrey, we love you so much!

On Our Way

After a brief In and Out Burger stop , it was onward to California! The drive really wasn't so bad.. we left pretty late in the day, but we got to see the sunset on the way down.