The Trip

I'm pretty sure anyone who reads this also follows me on facebook, so you know that I'm really good at dumping mass amounts of pictures for people to see soon after any adventure we have.

Anyone who actually wants to know what any of those pictures mean, or who don't want to sift through 100+ pictures have to wait a little bit- sorry.

We started the vacation in Provo, UT.  I was able to meet up with some old roommates, which was quite an adventure because we now have 7 children among the 4 of us.  All my pictures didn't turn out well- sorry.

Although we didn't spend any time on campus per se, we did take Cadance to the duck pond.  She was thrilled to say the least.  I stood very close the entire time because I honestly thought she might fall, or jump in.

Of course, the whole purpose of going to Provo was to get Bradley "settled in."  He started his freshman year last week.  Cadance was excited to see her uncle again.

She was also excited to meet her uncle Nathan, who has been serving a mission for the last 2 years.

After the stop in Provo, we made the trip up to Idaho where we picked up my brother

and his wife

and we headed to Montana to spend two days in Yellowstone disconnected with a trip to Idaho for Church on Sunday.

For anyone who hasn't been to Yellowstone, it is quite amazing.

It's amazing because it has things like

Really cool tree roots

elk,

and moose. Although it would have been cooler if it was a male moose.

It also has buffalo

views such as this

and this, 

and rocks that look like elephants.

Day one adventures

First was a waterfall

then some geothermic things

and these super cool trees that sucked up the sulfur from the ground.  

 Then it was on to Old Faithful (who has apparently gotten slower with age)

Cadance mostly just wanted to walk around.

We hung out by the shore of the lake for a little bit

And then we went to another waterfall.  This one was cool because the sun was starting to set and they were doing a controlled burn

so the sun reflected on the water like this and it was really pretty.

Day two adventures

Lots of driving in the car

We saw some more geothermic spots

where Cadance was mostly excited about being able to climb stairs.  Or, where she was really excited that she had correctly identified stairs.

There was this huge section called Mammoth Hot Springs.  I think if we had known what was coming we would have planned more time here.  It was crazy cool.  The rock was white and formed beautiful cascades and formations (like the elephant above)

We also went to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  It made us start wondering, after the Grand Canyon, what is the next biggest canyon in the states?

 We hung out on at this super cool cliff called Sheep Eater.  Yes, I did climb up.  Yes, I did do this while holding Cadance.  (there was a back way up)

Cadance was really excited about the "rocks."  Again, I'm not sure if she really liked climbing on them or if she was really excited that she knew the word for them.

 For me, the highlight of day two was the very end.  Thank you Dad for making us go!

If I took the time to look it up I could tell you the name, but it was another geothermic spot.  This one had the most beautiful colors.  The pictures are okay, but of course nothing compared to real life.

This is the run off from a pool into a river.

This is the pool.  Just look at that blue!  I wanted to bottle it.

Another pool that had a rainbow effect.

And that was it for Yellowstone.  It was a place, like so many, that I wish I lived close to so that I could take many day trips and explore everything.  But, that's not going to happen, so I'm very glad I was able to take advantage and see it.  We were exhausted each day, but it was so worth it!