Another School Year

has started. I didn't get out the camera this year and take pictures of them in their school attire but backpacks in hand they were excited and ready to go. Brayden is in the 6th grade and attending Cram middle school. Shelby is starting 4th grade and Claire will start preschool next week. Both kids came home happy about how their day went. They were both very talkative. Couldn't wait to tell me all the details of their day. It has been nice to have a little break, but it is also good to get back into a schedule again. Back to homework, piano, dance. and all the other things that keep us busy. Ready or not here we go!

We're back.

Yellowstone was a great trip for our family. It went by very fast as all of our vacations do. For memories sake here's a brief recap .

Our trip started off at grandma and grandpa's house in Utah for a few days of fun with cousins and then it was off to Idaho. Cousins!
Tanner, Brayden, Mary, Isaiah, Jacob,Mason,Maddie,Claire, Porter,Shelby,Ryan, Michell, Hannah, Andrew,Danielle, Allianna.

We stayed the night in Idaho Falls, woke up at drove to Rexburg to visit a place called Bear World. This was one of the favorite spots for our kids. They had a variety of animals to see besides bears. Our kids were able to feed adorable baby bear cubs. A little fawn decided to befriend Claire while we were in the petting zoo. He chased her around and tried to buck her down a few times. Good thing Claire is not afraid of animals. We found this funny because she's usually the one chasing the other animals around who want nothing to do with her. They had a few rides for the kids with no lines. Yea! We also had the best fudge there which I've been craving ever since.

We gave each of the girls a disposable camera. They both used up all the film at our first stop.
claire especially loved taking pictures.

Touching the velvet on the moose's antlers.





















The playful fawn who befriended Claire

We then stopped by Kerry's aunt Carol and uncle Lamar's home for a short visit. Carol is an accomplished pianist and Lamar an accomplished violinist. Brayden was able to play a piece for carol on her beautiful piano and Lamar shared pictures of when they lived in Vienna. Brayden especially enjoyed this visit. We are grateful to know them.
We made it to the park by afternoon. First we took the kids to see Old Faithful (have to do that). As we drove around the lower loop, we noticed a group of cars parked off the side of the road. We got out to see what causing all the attention and noticed a grizzly bear munching on some brush across the river. Grizzlies are not seen as often anymore so we felt lucky to see one. Before we left the park that night we also saw a busy beaver aside the road and elk grazing their evening meal in the meadows.

The best shot we could get of the Grizzly bear.












On Tuesday, we spent the day in West Yellowstone. Took the kids to the the bear and wolf discovery center, the Imax theater to see a movie on Yellowstone, various gift shops for souvenirs. Later that night we saw Oklahoma at the Playmill.


Wednesday, we got up early and headed back into the park. We took the less traveled upper loop. Leaving early paid off for seeing wildlife. Again we saw some Elk, this time with lots of babies and a big bull who appeased us by walking near the edge where the road meets. There he sat to pose for a few pictures. it was almost as though he knew the routine and was obliging all of the tourist. After driving the upper loop, we decided to go around the lower one more time. We had a picnic near the lake and made several stops at the various geysers and mud pots along the way. One area of geysers was especially smelly. As they were walking, Claire looked up at her dad and asked, "why are they tooting Dad? " Again we saw more buffalo. Many of them had babies by their side. We saw a mother and her baby crossing the river. The mother stayed near her baby as they crossed blocking the current of the river so it could cross. We tried to appreciate all the little things we saw there. Another highlight was seeing a wolf in the wild. At the same time we saw the buffalo, we noticed a park ranger pull off the side of the road, quickly get out of the car and chase a wolf back who was curiously scoping out the buffalo. It was a long day of driving and we were all very tired of walking by the end of the day, but well worth it.
Kerry and I were very pleased to hear our kids make comments of how cool this vacation was and can we come again. The fun of Yellowstone is that you never know exactly what you will see and for a family who dwells in the desert among dirt, rocks, sagebrush, lizards and bugs, it was exciting for my kids to see things they've never seen before.

Released

from my calling on Sunday. It's a bitter sweet moment for me. Maybe more bitter than sweet. I have really enjoyed hanging out in primary each week and I've loved working with my presidency! I will miss it all. For anyone who hasn't served in primary, I hope they get to some day. It's the best place.