Yellowstone

Our next big stop on our trip was spending the day in Yellowstone! We travel as a herd now, with 4 cars, 7 children, and 10 adults. It's definitely a lot more to deal with, but it is so worth it to be together! (Warning: there are a ton of pictures.)

The morning started off with loud playing with the cousins, then we packed up and headed out!

The boys LOVED running around this poll.

 So, one of my life goals is to make it to all 50 states and this trip got me just a little bit closer! I made it to my seventh state! (I still have a very, very long way to go.)

Proof I was in Montana!

Our first stop in the park was to check out the buffalo.

We piled out of our cars and took lots of pictures.

Kyle was nice enough to feed Garrett a few of his fruit snacks.

Chris was the only one who thought it felt nice outside. The rest of us were freezing!

I was surprised to see all of the logs still laying around from the fire in the '80s.

All of the people trying to get closer to the antelope.

On the other side of the road, there was a small group of buffalo.

The next stop we made was to check out the hot springs. 

Yes, pay phones still exist!

The first we saw was Emerald Spring. Beautiful, but stinky!

Here we are watching Steamboat Geyser!

Both Jonathan and Garrett enjoyed wearing grandpa's hat.

Looking at all the gorgeous scenery and animals sure gave us an appetite! We found a nice grassy spot and piled out of our cars and ate our lunch. Garrett and Seth were probably the funniest. Seth would take off running and Garrett would chase him. Eventually, Seth would fall down and Garrett would fall right on top of him so they could wrestle. (As much as 2 year olds can wrestle!)

Our big and busy gang!

After lunch, we started splitting up. Two cars headed back to the cabin, while the other two pushed forward. My dad really wanted to see the north entrance of the park. (It used to be the only entrance to the park.) 

This is the little town that is just outside of the park.

Here's Amy taking Mom and Dad's picture under the old entrance.

 When you're driving around the park, every so often people stop their cars and pull over. That's when you know something good is around. We hit one of those slow downs, and Mom was the one to spot a little bear cub rolling around in the shade.

It's hard to see, but it is there!

 After driving through the valley, Amy and Mike decided to take their own path as we headed to the canyon. I am so glad that we went to the canyon. It is simply amazing how beautiful it is. I really don't know what else I can say about it.

The colors were amazing!

On one of the lookout points, there was a sign talking about a nest. I can't remember what bird it was talking about, but there was definitely something in it!

I used my dad's binoculars to zoom in on the nest.

 On our way out of the park, we saw some more animals.

Hey Andy! I found a buffalo for you!

A group of buffalo decided to walk across a parking lot, so we followed them to get really close.

A large group of antelope getting ready for the night.

We all made it back safely to the cabin and eventually all of the children made it to bed.

Jonathan almost made it through the trip without giving either girl a bottle.

Lyla loves her silly dad!

Two tired babies and two tired adults!

We made s'mores again! It was amazing!!!!

After all the kids were down (& Amy and Mike), the rest of the adults stayed up and played games. After getting really silly and tired, Andy showed us the funniest YouTube video EVER! Search Guy on a Buffalo when you are in a really silly mood and get ready to laugh! We were all laughing so hard, but Andy was laughing so much that he started crying! He almost hyperventilated! It was such a great end to a fun family day.

Happy Independence Day!

This is probably one of my favorite holidays of the year. I love the decorations, the fresh fruit, the family time, and the fireworks. This year our celebration was really low key, and really nice.

It kind of started the day before for us because that's when the San Jose crew made it to Roseville. (Well, most of it, Andy had to stay home and work.) It was a fun day. Ryan and I played Sorry while the younger boys played around the train table. 

Ryan and Tyler took turns playing computer games.

Lyla was cute as usual.

The little boys had an ongoing sword fight. Sometimes Kyle was chasing Garrett and then Garrett would chase Kyle. Dad got in on the action too.

The highlight for me was riding bikes and scooters with Ryan and Tyler. As I was riding around I decided to try jumping off of the sidewalk like I did when I was younger and I didn't fall down! It was so much fun! It felt like I was a kid all over again.

I think Ryan's favorite part was when we had him stand back to back with his mom. He will be taller than her in just a few more years!

This year I was a slacker for decorating our apartment, but last year I went crazy at my mom's house. So I didn't feel too bad.

A simple paper star banner for our wall.

My favorite, paper fans between the kitchen and dinning area!

Jonathan had to close at work, so my parents and I went to visit him. They were looking at a getting a new dishwasher while I was checking out the cute salesman I married!

Amy and the boys came over and they played so quietly that I was convinced that they were different boys.

Our little lady liberty.

We had way too much yummy food and dessert. Jonathan got off of work in time to see the kids for a little bit before they headed off to be with Amy's family. Since it was only us four adults we decided to go watch fireworks and use our fireworks the next day when Garrett would be around. So, we headed to Encina High School to see the Cal Expo fireworks.

This was our view of the fireworks.

We set off our little fireworks on the fifth. It was simple and fun.

I cannot forget to mention the AMAZING apricot pie! My mom's neighbor bakes organic pies and used the apricots from my parent's tree to bake to wonderful pies for us. I don't even like pie, but I am quickly changing my ways!

This is one of my favorite holidays. We are so blessed to be born and raised in the United States. I am so grateful for the men and women that have sacrificed everything so we can enjoy our freedom. We are truly a blessed nation.

To the Cabin!

After spending the weekend at the farm, we packed up again and headed up to a wonderful cabin near Yellowstone. Before we could leave, we still had a few things to do:

 Ride the motorcycles!

Play some ping pong!

Go fishing and canoeing!

Then we packed up the cars and headed out.

Our first stop was Burton Cemetery in Rexburg. This is where my great-grandma and grandpa Machen and great-uncle Lee are buried. Chris found them when he went to the cemetery with Annie's family a few years ago.

We all got back into our cars and stopped off along side the road to see the view of the Tetons.

The light blue bumps under the clouds are the Tetons.

Tyler loved all of the caterpillars.

Our next stop was the Mesa Falls.

It was so green and lush on the other side of the river,

Our final stop was our cabin! The boys some how instinctively knew to go downstairs to have a big pillow fight so the parents wouldn't catch them. They were all so happy to be out of the cars.

After the pillow fight was over, they decided to jump on the beds. Tyler and Kyle liked jumping from bed to bed, while Seth was happy just to jump up and down on one bed.

The rest of the day was really slow paced and nice.

Jonathan had some one on one time with Clara.

We love cousins!

Jonathan and Seth took a nice long nap together again.

Tyler and Chris did some horsing around.

The little boys played with their cars.

After most of the kids went to bed, the big boys planned out our day at Yellowstone.

The best dessert EVER! Instead of a s'more with graham crackers and Hersey's chocolate,
we had them in an ice cream cone with See's chocolates!
Simply AMAZING!