Yellowstone!

Friday morning Nate woke up extra early and left the rest of us sleeping so he could see the sunrise on the Tetons. Although I wanted to go with him waking up 3 sleeping children at 6am did not sound like a good idea to me!

I nominate my husband for 'husband of the year award': After he left us sleeping in the tent he arrives back at camp with a warm car and everyone a cup of hot chocolate & doughnuts to get us up and going! It was fabulous! The mornings were quite chilly so a hot cup of cocoa was perfect! Thanks Nate! You made our day!

We left the Tetons and drove up to Yellowstone on our last day! We only had one day here so we really tried to pack it in!

Ty got out of the car and ran over to the viewpoint. Then he ran back and said "It's nothing dad, it's just a waterfall!" Too funny!

We saw our first water-fall of the day!

Lots and lots of waterfalls in Yellowstone!

Waiting for Old Faithful to go off!

It's almost time! It's starting to smoke!

It sure is faithful! There she blows!

We walked around the boardwalk looking at the hot springs, and geysers.

The last time we came here was about nine years ago. It was October and cold and chilly. It sure is different in the summer!

Don't judge us. We look like ragamuffins! I know! But we are camping!!

Pretty stream and bridge! This was a great hike around Yellowstone.

The kids liked seeing all the geysers, and natural spring waters, but they couldn't understand why we wouldn't let them play in it! Because it was 100+ degrees!

We thought we could see Old Faithful one more time, and we waited and waited but it never went off! Guess it's not so faithful! We were all hungry and ready for lunch so we left!

Isn't nature fascinating?!

Although the hot springs, geysers, and mud pots were interesting this was Nate's favorite thing: All the beautiful scenic nature!!

This was our picnic spot for lunch! It was picture-perfect! We watched a cute mama duck and her little ducklings swim by. We also saw a osprey fly by holding a fish in it's talons and all of a sudden a bald eagle attacks the osprey and it drops the fish and the bald eagle grabs the fish in mid flight and carries it off. It was so amazing to watch!

Ty played with sticks, rocks, and caught bugs! Typical boy!

Mara put her feet in the water and danced around in the grass!

Caleb ran alongside the water and th.

Nate caught a frog and let the kids play with it and hold it.

This is probably what the kids will remember the most: free time at lunch and playing by the stream!

After lunch we drove around Yellowstone and stopped at all the viewpoints and interesting sights.

Ty had fun climbing on all the rocks again!

We hiked all the way down 300+ stairs to the viewpoint of the waterfall. It was called Uncle Tom's trail. The original trail was made out of rope and 500+ wooden stairs!

When he was little he liked to be call "Strong man!" He really is a strong man!

Two best buddies! Mara is a good little mother to Caleb! Always taking good care of him! Whether at home or on our hike she is always there for him!

This kid is a super hiker!

We were driving down the road and came to complete stand still traffic! It was worst than LA traffic! We couldn't believe it! Finally we were able to see what the hold up was: A huge bull elk laying in the grass just off the side of the road!

We were driving down the road again, and more traffic. Traffic in Yellowstone = wildlife! We pull over to see what everyone is looking at and we find out there is a dead bison down in the water and everyone is watching to see if animals will come eat it. Apparently the night before a pack of wolves had come down and feasted on it, and just a few hours before we got there a grizzly bear and her cubs had been eating it also. Nate was thrilled to wait around and see what happened. So we waited and waited...nothing! Oh well! We did see a few bald eagles feasting on it. We drove down the road a little ways more and saw a mama grizzly bear and her three cubs. They were far away though and could only be seen with binoculars and telescope. Seeing the wildlife in Yellowstone is amazing! Way better than the zoo!

Our last hike of the day was to see this waterfall. What a great view.

We saw a huge bison up close. It was right off of the road all alone. The kids loved seeing it so close!

Saturday morning we woke up, packed up, and drove to Jackson Hole. What a neat town! We went in all the shops and each bought a souvenir.

Caleb's souvenir was this cute hat!! He loves it and he looks adorable!

Mara's souvenir is the fox that Caleb is holding! She was thrilled. We let each kid pick out one thing. It's funny what they decide they want!

Ty was set on wanting a big horn sheep and nothing would change his mind!! We looked in every store for a big horn sheep! Finally we said to Ty "We just can't find one you'll have to choose something else!" He then told us he saw one at the very first store we went to! So we went back and there it was! Just what he wanted!

The kids were troopers on the drive home! It was a long drive back to Price, but with a few activities, coloring, a movie, and a nap the kids were fantastic!!
They make road trips memorable and fun! Glad we can go on fun family adventures!

On the drive home we took a route through Logan! Oh the memories! It was so neat driving through Logan Canyon and seeing Utah State again. We drove past our first house that Nate and I lived in. Talk about a walk down memory lane! We haven't been to Logan in several years. It was almost painful to go back because we loved it there so much! Boy has it changed! Good times. Good memories. Wonderful vacation. It's always sad to have a fun trip end! We loved the Tetons and Yellowstone and can't wait to go camping in the Fall!!

Day 2 in the Tetons

Our morning in the Tetons started early and was a bit chilly! But we put on our coats and went out to explore the mountains and look for more wildlife.

But the only wildlife we saw that morning was a white pelican!

Let the hiking begin! It was time to hike that mountain!

But first we had to take a boat ride across Jenny Lake to the other side where the trail begins.

The boat ride was fun, it was only a 5-10 minute ride!

Jenny Lake was beautiful. It was glassy and clear. I wish I could have had a ski that morning!

It's nice when someone will take our picture so the entire family can be in it!

What strong tough kids we have! They are such great hikers!

He really is the king of the mountain!

Mara isn't quite like Ty when it comes to hiking. He was just a born hiker, Mara did really well this hike though. We just keep pushing her a little more every time!

We made it to the waterfall!

Are you feeling the family love?! I sure was!

What an amazing waterfall!

Climbing higher and higher up the mountain!

The funny thing about this trail was it had cell-phone service! It must have had a tower close by, because there I was hiking in the middle of no-where surrounded by nature and my cell phone rings! First my brother, then my mom! Next thing I know I am texting and talking while I hike!

Destination: Inspiration Point! We made it! But instead of turning around we decided to keep on going up the canyon.

Yes, that is me carrying Caleb in the back-pack! He sure is getting heavy! But it's good training and exercise for me right?! We decided it was time to stop and look for a place for lunch.

And we found the perfect place! In the shade, near the stream, with lots of rocks to sit on! We were all happy hikers!

While we ate our lunch Caleb took his nap in the backpack! He was perfectly chill to just sleep right there!

This was our view from inside our little lunch cave! After we ate our lunch we took off our shoes and socks and played in the water. Talk about pure glacier run off! It was so cold!

This is probably what Ty will remember most about the Tetons. Rock climbing during lunch. He just had such a great time climbing through the cave and on all the rocks.

Whatever Ty can do--Mara will try to do too!

Sometimes we have too much structured time because we want to see and do it all while we are there! So we learned that the kids really do like to just do their thing and have free time!

Ty is a trooper! When Nate and I are both carrying kids on our backs Ty gets to carry the backpack and he never complains! He is such an awesome kid!

Exhausted! Glad to finally be on the boat. What a great time!

We drove around the park some more letting the kids take naps and looking for wildlife.

We drove up to Jackson Lake to find a spot for the kids to play in the water and have dinner.

And that is just what these boys did! Played in the water and loved it! And yes, Caleb did get completely wet but we had a change of clothes in the car and he and Ty had the best time with their sticks!!


What a great place we found! I love that Mara wanted to sit by me and help me make dinner! She came up and said 'What can I do to help mom?!' I love it!

That evening we were bound-and-determined to find more wildlife. We wanted to see a moose. So we drove around looking. But no wildlife. We were feeling rather discouraged about not seeing any animals and driving back to our campsite in the dark when we nearly hit an entire herd of elk on the road! We had to stop the car and drive slowly as to not cause harm to us or the elk. We rolled down our windows and there we were sitting in our car in the middle of a herd of elk. It was incredible. We could hear their sounds and chewing and stomping on the sage brush. It was awesome! It made our night!