Yellowstone Part I

We gave Reagan a trip to Yellowstone when he turned 16.  He didn't get to take that trip in October because we didn't want to deal with Yellowstone in the snow.  Instead we took him the day school got out.  Turns out it was perfect weather and perfect timing as far as the crowds go.  Here's the story.

Our first day in the park it took almost three hours to get to Madison, a drive that should  have taken 15 minutes.  We started to doubt that Yellowstone was ever NOT crowded when we finally came upon the cause of the traffic.  It was not a traffic jam at all but a Buffalo Jam!!!

We got our first view of these big slow animals here:

We got out of the car to get a better look and suddenly they were not quite as slow as I thought and they started running towards us!  We had to jump back in the car before they stampeded us!

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone-So THAT's why it's called Yellowstone!

This canyon was my favorite part of the whole park!

Gorgeous!

Tower Falls

 Mammoth Falls

 Elk in the road.  They were all over, sitting in the grass, walking around, big as life.  No antlers though.  

Elk Herd

We stopped every time we saw a group of cars gathered on the side of the road looking at animals.  This time it was a mama bear and her two cubs.  Mama is the brown spot to the left of the middle standing tree.  Her cubs were hiding at the base of that tree.

We headed to the Lamar Valley next and got stopped by this guy and his pals.

All in all on just our first day in Yellowstone we saw: a mama bear and her two cubs, buffalo, a wolf, elk, baby elk, mountain goats, an antelope of some kind, a black bear and a bald eagle on a nest in the grand canyon.  What an amazing day!  And that was without binoculars!

We got caught in a rainstorm that left the most amazing rainbow as we ended our first day in Yellowstone.

Stay tuned for Part II

The Master Bathroom Remodel

Rock has been wanting to remodel our bathroom for years, but I usually prefer to spend money updating stuff everyone else can see and use.  I finally decided to go along with his idea and we recently had our master bathroom remodeled.  It was quite the experience and not really an easy one.  We hired a contractor, but not a designer so we had to pick all the tile, faucets, grout, cabinets etc. etc. etc. Talk about overwhelming!  Some people love this kind of thing, but apparently I'm not one of them. Too much second guessing and way too many options to choose from.  But I learned a LOT about myself in the process and overall, we are thrilled with the result!  Here are the before and afters....

Before

The goal was to get rid of the bathtub we never use (it's not jetted), expand the shower and make it a walk in where the bathtub used to be and expand the closet.

 Demolition

After

Walk in Shower.  Around the corner is a nice spacious shower!

We love love love our new bathroom!  The only downside is that now I really want to remodel the other bathrooms!

February to May in 60 Seconds

I have been doing an abysmal job blogging this year, but I am going to do some catch up.  Here is some fun stuff that happened, much of it random, from February-May 2019

Chef Liberty baked cookies

 Lei went to the temple for the first time.

 We saw an amazing full double rainbow right out our back door.  This is my phone's attempt at panoramic view.

I happened to run into these two strange people in IKEA.

 Libby (and her brothers) got a new baby GIRL cousin.

 We finally made it to Bruneau Sand Dunes

 Libby made a cake to celebrate the first day of Spring.  And then threw a party-cause that's what she does.

 All the many signs of spring around our yard this year:

My First Tulips!

Our Beautiful Cherry Blossoms

 My First Lilacs!

 Found these duck eggs when the mother was hovering.  

 Liberty got her first set of braces.  She was super excited....for about an hour, and then she was not excited any more.

 Levi was (gasp!) Benedict Arnold for the 5th grade wax museum.

 Levi and Liberty finished a puzzle together.  It started as a fight and ended as a win.

 Cade was in Track and Field.

 Reagan was in Improv Club.

 Levi lost his CTR ring, was devastated, his brothers and sister searched the entire church yard and with the help of Heaven....

 They found it!!!

 Spring Piano Recital.  

 Spring Dance Recital

 5th Grade Graduation/Rock Around the Ages Program

Funny quote when they started practicing for their program, "Mom, have you ever heard the song, "You Give Love a Bad Name?" LOLOLOL!  

Ok, that was more like 90 seconds, but I was close! 

January Joys and Sorrows

After Christmas the Wesel women went to Wood Creations. Liberty was in her element; crafting and socializing.  Definitely a Joy.

Finished Product

 Rainbow Looming... More Joy

Alli's gift to Levi for Christmas was a mini pumpkin pie.  She helped him bake it and then helped him share his excitement over the gift here in this photo.

I think she's excited enough for the both of them.

Too much Joy?

The Sorrow

Liberty was running away from an older kid who was teasing her when she tripped and fell.  The Sorrow. She hurt her arm enough that we took her into Urgent Care who X-rayed it and said she was fine but told her to wear a brace.  Two weeks later when she was still in pain we took her in again and sure enough-it was broken.  She was beyond excited to be getting a cast, though, so I guess Joy cometh 

in the morning after the cast.

Getting the Cast

She took a pen with her everywhere she went so everyone and their dog could sign it.  It was totally full in two days.  She even tried to get the Bishop to sign it.  (roll eyes)

 Liberty happened to find this book on the shelf and decided to read the whole thing and make this cool bookmark to go with it.

Liberty performed her winter dance recital in her cast.  But it matched her costume so, more Joy!

 Statue of Liberty

Also in January, Liberty went to the Orthodontist for the first time.  She was very excited to get started fixing her teeth. Joy!  And she matched the chair in the waiting room. Double Joy!

Once they actually put the expander in her mouth, she did not feel as much Joy.  And when the braces finally go on, she won't feel any joy either, but I'm not telling her that.  We'll let reality kill the dream.

And these were my birthday flowers.  Joy!