Yellowstone

We were so excited to go to Yellowstone with Jarom's family. It was fun driving and using the two way radios to talk with each other. Jarom & Jason had lots of memories of going to Yellowstone growing up and they had lots of memories to share with us on what they remember as kids. The kids were great all the driving and stopping and getting out and walking and no naps some days. This will definitely be a trip the kids remember and the fun it was spending with their cousins. We toured the whole park with a great tour guide, my one and only hubby!! We started at the South entrance and West Thumb and then the next day we toured Fishing Bridge and then up to Canyon and all the waterfalls, they were my favorite. We did the uncle Toms Trail and walked down and then back up the 328 stairway. It felt great to accomplish that many stairs and what a beautiful view it was. We took the Tower/Mammoth loop and hit the petrified tree & Norris geyser basin and I had to stop to take a girls picture in the wild flowers (look for the picture on the slideshow) I think that was my favorite loop by Tower. The next day we hit all the other mud pots and geyser basins and ended with Old Faithful. We ate ice cream on the deck of the Old Faithful Inn while we watched Old Faithful Errupt it was awesome.
On the way home we stopped at Jackson Hole and ate and wondered around the fun shops. We even saw a buffalo, bear, & Bigfoot. Look at the pictures and you will see the kids so close to the animals. Good thing they were stuffed.
Thanks for inviting us to tag along with your family Jarom & Rochelle we love you guys!!

Fun with Jason's Family

Jarom & Rochelle we were lucky to spend quite a bit of time with them as we went to Yellowstone with their family and then they were with Jason’s family for a few days and we did something with them every day or night that they were here. I am so glad we got to spend so much time with them. They are such great examples to me and my family. We were able to do a lot of fun things together as a family like go to Dinner at the Myan the kids love it and it was a lot of fun. Tanner added a Diver to the list of things that he wants to be now. We had a Cook Out at the fire pit at Jason’s parents and the kids loved roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. We had pizza one night and watched a show. We left Brylee with Grandma Shirley and took Tanner with Jarom’s family to Lagoon, it was a blast from 11 am to 10pm. Hampton lost his glasses on Wicked and Tanners favorite ride was hanging upside down in the Rock-O-Plane or whatever it is called. I had such a good time watching Tanner ride the rides and it was worth just going to see the smile on his face as he had such a blast. We had a cook out at Marci’s one night and the kids had fun getting in the pool and started a water fight and Jason was involved too!! He is a kid at heart and I love it. We had a cook out at our house and I used our grill for the first time and everyone was very pleased, what a relief. I love doing for others it makes me feel so good inside that I am making someone else happy. I made chicken on the grill, potato salad, a green salad, cut up fruit, & Fresh Salsa. I also made rice krispie treats & banana bread for desert. Jason went golfing with Jarom and his Dad that afternoon & we had the final party at our house and said our goodbyes to Jaroms family until we visit them in a couple of years after we save up some money. Thanks to our neighbors for the fireworks, we did try but when the illegal ones someone brought to our house tipped over we didn’t dare do any more. You had to be there, quite a memory Jason trying to stomp on it and it going all over around instead of up in the air. We should have listened to Shirley when she kept saying she was nervous about it. We love spending time with family it is so much fun. It will be nice to get back into a daily routine instead of these late nights. I don’t know how I did it in college, studying, playing, staying up late every night then waking up early for school and work. I need a week to sleep and recover after our busy month, but we loved it.

July with My Family

We spent the beginning of July with my brother & his family in town & Crew was here visiting while his parents were out of town with friends on a trip. All the Grandkids were together so my parents were in Grandparent Heaven. We started on July 3rd when Matt & Jenny came in town and had something every night even if it were just dinner or having one of the kids sleep over. We took the kids to the Zoo & the gateway one day and we also went to the park that has water shooting out. We had our extended family picnic at Aunt Darlas house on the 4th that started with the parade, fun in the park, & hanging out. We had the biggest one in years as Aunt Carolyn’s family was in town, we missed Uncle Richard and his family. My moms side has always been close and I cherish the times and relationships we have together. It was a big fun family get together and of course the slide down the hill was out and a water fight broke out, and of course the big finale was the fireworks with the perfect view. We had so many pictures for july I ventured to figure out how to do a slide show. Love Family!!!

BEAR LAKE

Me and the kids

(Bry loved her cups in the sand & water)

We love camping and especially love Bear Lake. Jason had a long weekend, so we have to take advantage of those so we thought we would go camping. Hopefully the post office will go to M-F delivery then we would have all our Saturdays together. Oh well. We like to stay on the East side at Rainbow Cove it is quite and not too busy , and most of the beach is to ourselves. We usually go with my aunt and uncle, Darla & Curt, they are like second parents to us. Also my cousin and her family, Leslie, Dewain, Connor, Payton, & Bodie go and Tanner loves hanging out with his cousins. Bodie and Brylee are close in age so they have fun together too, not quite sure how to play together yet, but they are buddies. Tanner said a few days before we were going, “Mom, is Grandpa Curt bringing the boat.” He loves to go on the boat and Kayaks‘. Tanner and his cousins stayed in their own tent this year together all alone, they thought they were pretty cool. It was a lot more comfortable for us as well, because then Brylee could just have her bed all to herself on the bunk. Other then getting sunburned, and Tanner and I were sick the day we came home it was a fun get away and we are excited for August when we will go again. My favorite time is during Conference weekend in the Fall, we usually don’t swim because it is pretty cold, but it is the most relaxing time to go and listen to conference on the beach.

The Girls out on a joy ride looking for fish. Jason & the Yellow Calypso he even tried rolling it!!

Some of my best memories are of family camping trips to Bear Lake. The stories about the Bear Lake monster and no bottom has been found to the lake, gosh we were scared half to death. The time we had a girls tent and boys tent for all the cousins and the storm was so bad it blew a hole right in the side of our tent we all ended up in the tent with the boys. I love that Tanner loves uncle Curts boat, because I would go every chance I got to ride when I was younger. Jokes and Storries around the campfire. Grandma Shurtleff in her big sun hat sitting in her chair with her feet in the sand in the shade. Long walks down to the beach, hoping you didn't forget anything to have to walk back up to camp. Vollyball games, horse shoes, riding bikes, & eve-ive-over. Sleeping in Uncle Chucks boat and in the middle of the night ending up sleeping on the beach because it was so windy we got sea sick, then early in the morning going back to the boat so noone knew (we had to get back into our swimsuits and carry our bags over our head because of the shallow water and hike through the water). Snoring contest when uncle Eddie came & Eric sleep walking so he had to sleep in his parents tent. Chex Mix, dutch oven dinners, spagetti-o sandwich in the sandwichmakers over the fire (I know it sounds nasty, but I loved them back then I don't know why), apple turnovers, smores, & Darlas candybar bag. Skunks & bats, sand sculptures, Erics holes and trenches, being buried in the sand & colored sunscreen we thought we looked so cool. Laying out on the beach in our bikini's with our trashy magazines-now its reading a book or Family Fun Magazine tweezen' our brows under the shade tent. Last year we had a scooter races, not the kids, the adults did, yeah we looked silly. Oh the days when we didn't have to worry it was our parents worrying about everything we had it so easy back then. Love those fun memories.