Crash!

I went to the gym with my kids and on the way home, they crashed. I thought I was the one who was tired after the workout.

Reed Came to Town

Reed showed up randomly at our door one day, all the way from Boise. He came to take a GRE test for one day and left the next. We did, however, manage to get a few good pics with him and my kids. How can I not post them, when his mother is Eli's biggest fan?

Wet Riley

Because of Riley's surgery, we couldn't bathe her for a few weeks. Because of that, she wouldn't get in the water without crying. All summer long, we had a hard time bathing her. At Park City, I tried taking her to a pool and she screamed within a few inches of the water. In order to solve the problem, Jared had to bathe with her for at least a half an hour, just to get her comfortable. Now she loves the tub, especially when Eli is in it. She will swim in a pool, after a few minutes of coaxing.

Help!

Sometime during the summer, I lost Eli outside somewhere. I looked around and called for him and he replied "Help! Help!" I found him on the side of the house on top of a ladder.

Corwin and Eli.

While in the car, Eli and Corwin rode in Grandpa's truck, while Riley, Jared and I rode with Jeron and Oly. Grandma said she sure enjoyed the conversation between the two. She told me a story of their conversation.
Eli said "Corwin, I want to tell you somefing."
Corwin said, "Nope, Sorry."
Eli tried again. "Corwin, I want to tell you somefing."
Corwin said, "That's too much."
After much more persistence, Grandma asked him what he wanted to tell him. Eli said, "I want to tell him about the fire trees." (Meaning about the Yellowstone Fires years ago.) I don't know why that was so important, but that's okay.
Allthrough out the day, we were looking at maps and saying, "Okay, we are here and we need to be here." Corwin, looked at the map and did the same.
Corwin and Oly were walking around Geyser Basin and he said that it was stinky. Oly noticed a bird and pointed it out to Corwin. Corwin then replied, "Stinky Bird."
Corwin sure took to Oly, not that I blame him, while at Yellowstone. When offered to take anyone's hand at the geysers, he took hers. Oly is works with kids all day and therfore, she is really good with them, Corwin is no exception.
Uncle Jeron, on the other hand, loves to fib to children. While on a hike with Corwin and Eli, Jeron was sharing with Eli, the joys of poop. He told Eli what buffalo chips were and that deer poop was jelly beans. Eli was looking around for some chips and was about to partake in the "chocolate jelly beans." Good thing Oly was there to stop him.
While on the same walk, in order to avoid frustration in the future, Oly and Jeron made up some rules. Rule number 2 was stay close. Corwin walked ahead to go to the house. Eli ran up to him and told him to remember rule number 2.

Scenery Shots with People

These shots were taken with people at Yellowstone. These ones with Riley and Uncle Jeron were at a place with stinky pools and geysers. (Hence the silly expressions on their faces.) The one behind Riley and myself is spewing red water.
These next several pictures below are at Mammoth Hot Springs. We have been to Yellowstone before and it is interesting to note that the changes that occur over only a few years is dramatic. In fact, they had to close off some of the path and reroute it because the thermal activity was so dramatic. Notice in the background that the colors are grey. In previous years, it has been white and several other colors.
Either my brother Jeron is really good looking or I'm a good photographer. Maybe both.
Corwin was such a pleasure to have with us at Yellowstone. He never fussed and walked the whole time without complaint. We were kind of worried because he would be without his mom and dad for the whole day, but he proved to be just fine.
Mid-Day Nap! At one point or another, each little one took a nap.
Why did I take a picture of an outhouse? Well, it's not an outhouse, it's a tool shed. Uncle Jeron told Eli that it was a little house and he needed to knock on the door.
The water falls are my favorite part of Yellowstone and this is my family at Lower Falls. The one above is Grandpa and Riley at Upper Falls. Riley sure took to Grandpa that week.
Eli was taking his nap at this time and Jared stayed with him in the car. That is why he is not in the picture. Above is the group at the Dragon's Lair.
The few pictures above are the geysers around Old Faithful.

Scenery Shots

These are some of the better scenery shots that we took. Scroll below and see all of them. The first one is of a geothermal pool and it looks like a dinosaur nest (according to Oly.) She drove an extra 10+ miles and hiked out in the rain just to get a picture. Because of the effort, I thought it would be worth posting.
The other pictures are Mammoth Falls, geothermal activity along the roads, Old Faithful, Yellowstone Falls and a coyote.