Yellowstone Family Reunion!!!

Our trip to Yellowstone was fantastic! Steve and I left Wednesday about noon and got there by 5:30pm, just in time for dinner. :) We then unpacked and enjoyed visiting w/ everyone. We all stayed at a large cabin in Island Park. It was great to have everyone in the same house with a little more space then our parent’s house, especially w/ all the grandkids there are now.

The next morning the boys went fishing while we made breakfast. We then packed a lunch to take with us and headed out. We jumped in Pauline/Chris’s car so we wouldn’t have to pay another entrance fee. We stopped at some hot spots, and then met everyone at Old Faithful around lunch time. We all watched the geyser, then found a place for lunch in an INN which had a view pointing out to Old Faithful. By this time some of the kids needed naps or whatnot, so some people went back to the cabin while the rest of us went on our way. We switched cars and jumped in w/ my dad the rest of the day. We went to Yellowstone Lake, the Falls, Fisherman’s Bridge and back. We got to see a lot of elk, bison (who walked in front of the car as we were driving), and some bears. It was a long day of driving but it was worth it to see. We then had dinner and visited w/ everyone.

Steve showing us the nice trees


Beautiful geyser





Beautiful Yellowstone


Steve and I at first hot spots


Cute chipmunk eating Cheetos


The kids watching the chipmunk



Old Faithful


Ali and Char eating some peach rings....good thing we brought some they were a hit!


Wade, Steve, Haley, Summer, Dakota, Dexter and Michelle eating lunch


Daron and Kristi eating lunch


Dad trying to talk mom into letting him get an ice cream cone :)


Chris Coates and Chris Grayson w/ their mulberry ice cream cone...Pauline helping to eat it




Steve pointing out where the bison is


Silly bison taking up the road


At fisherman's bridge


Elk



Friday we did a similar routine. The men went fishing, we made breakfast, then packed lunches and headed out. This time though everyone pretty much went their own ways since it took too much time to coordinate w/ others. We went w/ Pauline and Chris again. We went up to the Mammoth Hot Spots and stopped at a place called Sheepeater’s Cliff. We also stopped at West Yellowstone and walked around some. We also got a 50 cent ice cream, yumm! It was another fun day. We were the first ones back so we helped w/ dinner.

Char got sick of walking to Pauline was carrying her



Mammoth hot spots


Sheepeater's Cliff



Steve doing his funny pose like in Budapest w/ the elephants...we don't know


Steve in West Yellowstone mimicking the bear


The boys wanted to go out fishing again so I decided to go w/ them. The mosquitoes were pretty bad, but it was still a nice night out. We gathered around in the living room and reminisced about times growing up. We laughed a lot! We had some good times growing up that’s for sure. It’s easy to forget them if you don’t try and reflect every once and a while. We stayed up talking then finally went to bed. Steve and I slept in the loft the first night, and then decided the couch was more comfortable so slept there the next 2 nights. It was good other then we could hear everyone get up. That night we heard Anna’s little boy Colten crying so we went down there and tried to calm him down, then brought him to Anna. Shortly after Dexter’s Kolten woke up crying from a dream or something, so Steve went down and calmed him down and he went back to bed. Ironically no one else heard either of them crying….. :)


Everyone fishing off the bridge.....didn't get any though but it was fun


Steve fly fishing next to Wade



Saturday we had breakfast then packed up and cleaned. Since Sophia was a little fussy I decided to ride w/ Rose on the way back to try and help; Jared rode w/ Steve in our car. That lasted til we got to Pocatello, then she wouldn’t stop crying. Rose put her arm back to help comfort her which helped somewhat but not much. We then switched it up and put Rose in the back next to Sophie, Jared driving, and we took Ali in our car. That worked for an hour or so then she started crying for no reason. I called Rose and she said she does that right before she pukes (from car sickness). So we all pulled over, put Ali back in the van, and we took Summer and Ava in our car. We rode the rest of the way like that and switched back right before they went towards Tooele and we went to Salt Lake. It took a little longer, but we were glad to help out. Overall, it was a really fun trip, just too short of course. I honestly didn’t remember from when we went when I was a kid of all the driving you do in Yellowstone. It was beautiful but of course made it hard to visit w/ everyone since we were all in our own cars for the most part. We’ll have to try something else next time for the reunion so we can be more together during the day/outings. Either way it's a great time to get together :)

Service Opportunities.....

These past 2 weeks have been pretty fun and eventful. This week Steve and I had several opportunities to provide service. It was fun working together and helping others.

On Monday, we went out to dinner w/ a couple in our branch. She is from Korea, he served his mission there, and Steve learned to like Korean food on his mission, so we figured we'd go out of Korean food for dinner. It was my first time to try it but it was really good. We had meat that we cooked right at our table, then put it on lettuce leaves w/ rice and veggies. Afterwards Steve and I got an ice cream cone at Macey's. It was a fun night.

Tuesday I had class. We've got 2 more weeks then our project is done and we'll be presenting it to potential investors. Steve of course is done w/ school till the 22nd, so he's been helping do some yard work at his grandma's and mow the lawn for his parents.

Wednesday after work I went w/ my secretary and visited sisters in the branch. At the same time I had my 2 counselors try and track down some of the "unknown" sisters on our branch list. We got a lot accomplished which was good. Since we had a lot of sisters move out last month, naturally we're having more move in this month, which is good. While I was doing visits Steve and some elders in the branch went and helped a brother in the ward move. He's moving back east for schooling.

On Thursday after work, Steve and I hurried over to an assisted living center to help remove sandbags. They were placed their in the spring to help prevent flooding, particularly since it flooded a lot last year. We helped at that spot for a while, then gathered those from our branch and went further up the creek to help a member in another ward. There was about 8 of us, including our Branch President, working to remove the bags and load it up into a loader to be moved elsewhere. The bags weighed between 30-60 lbs depending on how much was put in the bag and how much water had soaked into the sand as well. Needless to say after 3 hours of lifting, loading and unloading the sandbags we were all pretty sore. My biceps and forearms were, and still are, sore from it, but it felt good to help out and provide service. Steve and I jumped into the swimming pool when we got back to cool off.

On Friday we took it easy. I made some teriyaki chicken w/ rice for dinner. Steve wanted something w/ rice since he got real Japanese chop sticks and just had to try them. We then went over to Macey's and got an ice cream cone while we shopped for some food storage items. I got some bread making items in particular so I could make homemade whole wheat bread, from our Relief Society activity. As we were going into Macey's we met a couple in our branch and invited them over to swim w/ us. So, after we got back they came over along w/ Rob. We all swam for a bit, then went to the hot tub for bit (they just opened it up again). It was fun to relax!

Teriyaki Chicken

Saturday morning we got up early at 8 (for a Saturday that is) and went downtown to help w/ another service project. This one was through my work. We went to Bryant Middle School where we were divided up into teams to complete different projects. Steve and I were assigned to help paint a mural in the cafeteria which said, "Get Healthy." The mural seemed easy enough, but there were 11 different colors on it. Luckily someone had outlined our picture the day before, so we went through and put numbers on which area was what color. It was like a GIANT paint by number per say. We got started around 9:30am and actually didn't get done until about 2:30pm. We took a 15 minute break for lunch but that was about it. Due to all the colors it took a little more time to paint, but when we were done it was totally worth it. Up close you could see our "blemishes" but as you backed up it looked amazing! I'm glad we took the time to get the details. Hopefully the middle school will enjoy it and appreciate our work.

Yeah finally done!


Our completed work


When we got done there, we headed up to clean up and get lunch. I also made 3 loaves of wheat bread. It turned out really well. The lady that taught us the recipe used 1/2 molasses and 1/2 honey, so next time I want to try using it to see if it makes a difference. It was still really good though. Steve REALLY likes it and has eaten almost 2 loaves already. I think I'll have to make it for him more often :)

Homemade wheat bread


That night we went up to Centerville to see the play "7 Brides for 7 Brothers." All of Steve's brothers and sisters came. It was a lot of fun very entertaining. Rob ended up coming w/ us also and really liked it. He had never seen it before but now wants to watch the movie. Afterwards we all stopped at Dairy Queen for an ice cream, then went home.

Sunday I had my early morning meetings. In church we had several releases and new callings. We'll be making a lot of changes in the Relief Society also in the next couple weeks, so we're working on that. After church I made dinner for us, then made brownies (100% homemade, not from a mix) and went over to a couple in the branch to play games and eat the brownies. The brownies actually turned out really good. Steve said he'd be ok if I make them more often. It was fun playing games w/ them. We played Rumikub, Pig Pile, and Ticket to Ride.

This past few weeks at work has been pretty crazy, as I'm sure you can imagine. Monday was particularly crazy since the Dow dropped 630 points. I've been putting in a little over time due to the volatility and increased volume of calls. I've been having to go in at 7 and work through 1/2 my lunch some days. Hopefully it "settles" down here soon. When I got home Monday Steve had got me some cute flowers, which made my day :)

Pretty flowers!


Last Friday Steve went up w/ his parents to the cabin to work on some things and fish of course. I decided to stay home and get some things done and get some sleep also. Steve got home Saturday afternoon, then we went swimming and renting "Source Code" for our date night.

On Sunday we made ribs for dinner. I had 2 coupons for pork ribs so we went over to LuDeans and invited Dave, Joann, Kim and Jeff and kids. They were yummy! We then played games.

We'll we're off to Yellowstone on Wednesday. We're so excited; see ya all then!