Yellowstone

We just got back from our 6 day trip to Yellowstone National Park.  What an amazing place!  Matt had been there as a teenager, and I had been there when I was three, but we had never taken the kids...and really I didn't remember much from my first visit:)  It was our first family vacation without Jacob...so that was sad, but we did have a great time.  We started off our trip with a stop in Pocatello, ID to visit Matt's cousin John and, of course, his bakery! Sadly Johns's wife Sherri was back in Utah, but his two boys, David and Nate, were there..much to our Nathan's delight.  Even better, John and the boys decided to join us for the first few days of our trip. So, after hanging out for a night and  loading up on an obscene amount of bakery goods, we all headed to Yellowstone. We stayed in a cabin about 30 min outside of West Yellowstone, Montana.  Although it was a bit off the beaten path, it was a great place to stay...our own kitchen and TV and plenty of beds. Oh,and Direct TV so Miranda wouldn't miss any of the Olympics:)  We spent a total of three full days in the park and were able to see about 80 percent of it.  We saw plenty of bison and elk and we even got to see a few bears.  My favorite place was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone...AMAZING!  We hiked Uncle Tom's trail thanks to the suggestion of Matt's brother's family and LOVED it!  Now, the only downside to this trip was the stink..yes, it got voted as the stinkiest trip ever..oh love that rotten egg smell..NOT! In the middle of all our Yellowstone fun, we took a day off and headed up by Big Sky, MT to do a half day whitewater rafting trip.  SO FUN!  We all LOVED rafting.  We went 8 miles down the Gallatin River through class II and III rapids..nothing too scary..just right for us.  It was a great trip.  It was so fun to have John and the boys join us for the first few days.  Matt even did a lot of the driving...which there is a lot if in Yellowstone...so I could get some work done for my class.  Yellowstone is truly an amazingly beautiful and wondrous place.  On our last day, we drove home via Teton National Park...another AMAZINGLY beautiful place.  We stopped at Jenny Lake for a bit and quickly decided that a return trip to the Tetons is a must. I am so thankful Heavenly Father put such beautiful places on this Earth for us to enjoy! So here's the photos..a lot of them...look if you like if not..don't:)

@ the Horsley's bakery

Waiting for Old Faithful



The Tetons

@ Jenny Lake