Yellowstone

We were finally able to go on a family camping trip this year. We went to Yellowstone and the Tetons. The weather was perfect, we really lucked out! And Jack did so good camping! The first night was cold! About 20 degrees. I had Jack in the only coat that was close to fitting him, a coat that was mine when I was 3, the poor little guy was drowning in it! Here Stephen and Jack are working hard putting up the tent and starting the fire. So hard in fact, that after all that work Jack fell asleep in his car seat (it was the best way to keep him out of the cold).

The next morning we went to see Old Faithful and the other geysers. It was so fun to watch them steam up and explode.

Jack ended up getting very hot in the car, so we took a little break to strip his clothes down, he wasn't a very happy camper at that point.

Our next stop was the Mammoth Hot Springs. We ended up letting the little guy ride piggy back and run around here. He loves stairs, and it was a good chance for us all to stretch our legs.

Our next campsite was great. It was a lot warmer, and Jack found Stephen's shovel, so that kept him occupied for a good part of the time. He kept losing his beloved nuk, and searching for it, the story of our lives:)

Our last day in Yellowstone we went to see the Upper and Lower Falls. Stephen wasn't feeling very good, and wasn't all that happy that I was making him go up and down so many stairs, but it is so beautiful, you just can't go to Yellowstone without seeing the waterfalls.

Finally some wildlife! There was a coyote sighting at our second campsite, but we didn't see him, so the only wildlife that we saw the whole trip was a herd of Bison. The very first day there was one Bison walking down the middle of the road, Stephen wanted me to take a picture, but I said we are going to see so much there isn't a point of it. Turns out I was wrong. So when we saw this herd on the last day, we took a lot of pictures.

The Tetons

The Beautiful Tetons

This is the second leg of our camping trip. We drove down from the north end to the south. We stopped by the beautiful lakes and the marinas, ran around the visitor centers and explored all the native american artifacts.

This is the Cathedral Group of mountains. It is so magnificant! I took a picture of the signs as well that described the fault lines. Even with minor earthquakes the mountains keep growing and the valley drops, often times 20 feet at a time.

We took a little ferry boat cruise across Jenny Lake. This was the high light of the Tetons for me. Jack loved looking at the boats propellers and running on the little trails. We got to Jenny Lake around 5:00 p.m. and took the twenty minute boat ride out. Then we hiked around for 30 minutes before catching the last ferry back.

Driving in the car. Jack decided he was so bored he had to eat his toes. You can also see just how full the car was.

This is a new visitor center in the Tetons, it was really neat. Jack could touch the animals and their fur, they also had screens on the floor that looked like you were walking through rivers or up on top of the mountains, very cool. They had a whole section about the first mountaineering and skiing done on top of the tetons, it was so cool to see all the old equipment they used.

There was a little chapel that was called the Sacred Heart. Jack rang the bell to start mass:) the main window that is just past the alter has this gorgeous view!

We were also able to see the original ferry that helped people cross the snake river. We weren't able to ride across though since we were there in the morning and rides didn't start until 3pm.

On our way home we stopped by Jackson Hole. This was a great disappointment to Stephen, since it looks just like Park City (he wasn't aware of that). But we did find a great maze amusement park. We wanted to let Jack run before getting on our long drive home, so we went for it. We only lost Jack once when he crawled under the walls, but the rest of the time we ran around and got tired really well:)

Happy Birthday Stephen!

Dear Stephen,

I wanted to wish you a very happy 33rd Birthday!

I know you're not a fan of birthdays, but here is a reminder of how fun each coming year is and how much fun we have to look forward too! So have a wonderful birthday, eat lots of cake, and enjoy yourself every minute!

Love,

Your Beau

Daddies first moments holding baby Jack and being such a proud Popi!

Michael, Stephen and Bill showing off their real true loves at the shooting range.

Exploring the world with me in Poland, one atrium at a time:)

Awesome canyoneering in Right Fork Canyon, right before we found out we were having Jack