She's Home!!!!

After 18 months of perfecting her southern accent and preaching the word, she's home!! It was soooo good to see Janeen and have her home safely. Hyrum and Riley were pretty excited. Lindsay was shy and Kelsey was like, "Oh no! Not another one!" (Haha, just kidding.)

It was bitter-sweet because when she left, we thought the next time we'd "all be together" would be when Neener got home. Of course, with Steve's passing, that wasn't to be.  (At least, we couldn't see him or Jeb there...) Our next "full family reunion" will be when the last one of us passes through the veil...just watch, it will be Rick!

Things I won't miss:

*trying to get an email sent by 10:00 am Monday morning

*worrying about her being abducted by crazies

*not being able to talk to her

Things I will miss:

*studying PMG with her

*pretending that when I'm taking the sisters in Malta, I'm actually taking her

*praying for a missionary

*having a missionary setting the example for my own children

Love you, neener! So glad you're home :)

Family Trip: Island Park & Yellowstone

Cousins at the cabin! Sara rented a fun cabin in Island Park that we stayed in for two nights. It was awesome

 (Hi, Janelle.)

The next day, we went to Old Faithful, the Dragon's Mouth, and Yellowstone Lake. Rick rented some motor boats for us. We didn't get very far because of the time of day and the weather. It was fun but we got drenched after it hailed on us. Made for some fun memories.

 This moose was actually in Jackson Hole, right on the side of the road as we were leaving.

Our family had a picnic on the side of the road at Virginia Cascade. We went up north but I didn't get to see the Mammoth spring/geyser like I had wanted to. That night, we had pizza and went swimming at a hotel. The next morning, we went back down through the park to Jackson for church. B/c of bad timing, we missed the Sacrament by mere minutes! I was bummed. We ate at Bubba's BBQ and then went through Idaho Falls and down to Blackfoot to visit Grandma Spencer.

It was such a fun trip! I love enjoying nature and observing in awe some of God's beautiful creations! And I also enjoy being with family and making memories.

Family Trip to Yellowstone: Bear World

We started off our adventure in....

 BEAR WORLD!!!?! (Do Lindsay & I look scared of the bear in the top left corner of the picture? Well, we are.)



 Have you ever seen a "bear bum?" Well, now you have!! You're welcome.

 Some of the white baby elk and the mommy elk kissing her little baby.

 The white bull elk.

 Our Bear family!

 The cutest baby cubs playing in the background

Bear world was tons of fun! I didn't realize how cool it was. The first time we went through, the bears were a lot more active. The grizzlies were playing in the water. And I also didn't realize how many bears they had. There were a couple dozen of them at least. It was pretty neat.