A Series of Confessions

It’s that time of year again. Time for the patriotic pedicure. Instead of paying someone else this year, we opted to pretty our toes ourselves. I’ll freely admit that I’m nowhere near as good as the professionals, but the result was still highly satisfying. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that when my toenails are showing the red, white and blue, I spend far more time admiring them than I normally would. It just makes me happy to have a little outward expression of my inner feelings about my homeland.

Doing our own nails also meant we could indulge in a potluck breakfast. Baked coconut pineapple macadamia French toast. Yum! I’ll be honest, I look forward to these potluck events because it gives me an opportunity to indulge in things that I normally wouldn’t make at home due to the food allergy part of our lifestyle. It has always been my goal to make our home as inclusive as possible for my allergic kiddos and while I’m happy to do that, sometimes I miss the forbidden foods, like nuts. So cooking for non-allergy folks gives me a little bit of relief from the rigid food needs of my tribe.

Now, to completely change the subject…

Lately, I found myself more emotional than usual. Yes, the crybaby gene is always a force to be reckoned with, but it has been even a bit more overactive of late. I know it has to do with the fact that my oldest child is preparing to leave. When I think about missionaries, I get watery eyed. When I hear marching band or saxophone music, I mist up. When I think about how much can happen and how much life can change in two years, I get a little weepy. I have no doubt that Daniel is doing the right thing and I’m enormously proud of him for making the decision to serve. I’m just an emotional mother dealing with the fact that after eighteen years of physical, emotional, and spiritual nourishment, it’s time for my first son to leave the safety of home and venture into the world on his own. And while I try to hide the fact that my emotions are even more volatile than usual, I have a feeling the secret is going to get out.

A Prayer for the Missionaries

I was at the temple again today, this time with my sisters and my parents. We did an endowment session this time and when we got to the prayer portion, a prayer for the missionaries was included. It made me realize that in almost every single session in every temple all over the world, a prayer is said for the missionaries. That’s a lot of prayers. As a mother of a soon to be missionary, it caught my attention as it never has before and made my eyes well up. What a blessing to have so many people praying for the wellbeing of all those, young and old, who are sacrificing their time to preach the gospel.

Bao…Wow?

Nathan’s best friend likes trying new foods, which is good since he will be going to the Philippines (the home of balut-google it and gag if you don’t know what it is) on his mission this fall. Since Nathan has taken to bragging about his Chinese heritage (mostly because people look at him and don’t believe him unless he is with Daniel, me or one of his more Asian looking cousins), he wanted to give Tate (the best friend) a sample of the goodness that is Chinese home cooking. So he convinced me (and he didn’t even have to talk very hard) to make char siu bao for lunch today. We thought we’d get all fancy and try to make them the traditional pleated way. I looked up a YouTube video (it was all in Chinese but since I just needed the visual it all worked out) to figure out how it is done. The lady in the video made it look super easy, but it was not quite as simple as it appeared. We gave it our best shot and some of them turned out ok…

…some, not so much.

But they all tasted good! As far as looks go, please remember that we are all watered down Chinese born in Utah and give us a break. 😉

Building Families

Kevin and I went to the temple this morning. We did a sealing session, which we’ve done frequently of late and which I’ve really enjoyed. Listening to the words of the sealing ceremony on a regular basis has been a great reminder of all the blessings associated with the covenant. Anyway, we didn’t have any family names to take so we were working on temple names. I was acting as a daughter and as always, I tried to think about the person for whom I was standing in. When the second name came up, I heard the names of the parents and realized she was a sister to the previous daughter. As I made the connection, I could feel a grin starting. It isn’t often when doing temple names to have family members come up together and it felt like a blessing to be able to have those two sisters sealed to their parents on the same day during the same session. But that wasn’t all. By the time we were done, there were four sisters. It immediately made me think of my sisters. I’m one of four sisters and I’m blessed enough to be friends with them as an adult. The sealing ordinance is all about building families and being able to participate in the sealing of multiple siblings was an amazing reminder of what it’s all about.

Of all the blessings that the gospel brings into our lives, I think the eternal family bit is my favorite. Eternal life wouldn’t be all that amazing it I didn’t have them by my side.

Do You Want Cheese with That?

In the aftermath of the emotional deluge of the past two days, I spent a few minutes today learning about the Oregon Salem mission. It covers a diagonal northwest to southeast swath of Oregon and encompassed both urban and rural areas. Accordingly, the missionaries ride bikes in some areas and drive cars in others. There are coastal areas as well as farming areas. And probably the most exciting thing, for me at least, is the fact that Tillamook is in the Oregon Salem mission. For those who might not know, Tillamook is the home of some super fantastic dairy foods. We are kind of cheese snobs in that we don’t buy store brands or even local brands of cheese. We prefer the Tillamook and even early in our marriage, when our lifestyle could be classified as Early American Poverty, we always splurged on the cheese. I’m ridiculously excited about the prospect of driving up there to bring Daniel home at the end of his mission and being able to take a trip to Tillamook to sample all the fabulous dairy at its peak of freshness.

Daniel is excited too, and not just about the cheese. 😊

And the Answer is…

Oregon Salem Mission. In the United States. Where we can mail him stuff. And Amazon deliveries are a thing. And phone service is stable and affordable so he will be able to call us each week if he wants to do so. Big, giant mommy sized sigh of relief. I would have supported him no matter where he was sent in that I trust that the Lord knows what he’s doing and all that, but I am a little bit relieved. And Daniel is excited. So excited. I’m sure there’s some fear and anxiety underneath all that at the prospect of being kicked out of his home for two years, but the excitement is bigger just now. He reports to the MTC on September 25, so we have three more months to spend with him. It feels like a reasonable amount of time to get him ready, although I suspect it will take me much longer to figure out how to be the mama of a missionary.

Reality Comes a Knockin’

A few days ago, while we were still on vacation, our bishop sent Daniel a message letting him know that his mission call would probably come today or next Tuesday. Since today was the day Daniel was scheduled to get his wisdom teeth removed, we were all hoping that it would be next week. But life is full of irony and just a few minutes after Daniel got home and settled, we heard a cotton garbled exclamation of, “Oh look. My mission call came!”

I’ll admit that my heart rate increased, and I felt a little bit panicky. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I said the whole graduating from high school thing didn’t feel real yet? Having the mission call arrive was definitely a bit of reality seeping in, one I was expecting without knowing how I would react.

Because he was swollen and numbed up, Daniel opted to wait until later in the day to decide whether to invite everyone over tonight so he could open it or wait a few days. He waffled throughout the afternoon, but as dinner time approached and he still could not feel most of his face, he decided to wait until tomorrow. Kev thought I might not be able to handle the stress of waiting, but to be honest, after that first initial burst of anxiety, I’m actually ok. And since this is Daniel’s thing, Kev and I are happy to do whatever he prefers and made sure he knew that. So tomorrow we find out where Daniel will spend the next two years and how much longer we have until we need to deliver him to the MTC. I’m trying to adopt Daniel’s attitude of “I’m happy to go wherever the Lord wants me to go.” But to be just a little bit honest, I’m really hoping he isn’t being sent to some war torn, politically unstable part of the world where he will go to sleep each night to the lullaby of gunshots or political activists. It’s just the mom in me not wanting my child in harm’s way day in and day out.

And FYI-Daniel didn’t do anything weird or embarrassing as he was waking up from the anesthesia this morning. He just lifted his arm to ponder the IV that was still in it and that was about it. He did repeat himself for a little while, having forgotten he had already said things, but even that only lasted a very short while.

Because the Gospel is Key

We all have a bit of a vacation hangover today, but it was so good to sleep in my own bed last night! This morning we jumped right back into our regular Sunday routine which meant family home evening and our Come Follow Me study time.

Kev had the lesson today and he invited us to think about spiritual lessons learned from our time in Yellowstone. Kev shared with us the fact that there is a delicate balance in Yellowstone, a balance between fire and regrowth, between the different animals in the food chain, etc. When the wolves were eliminated from the park nearly a century ago, that balance was thrown off, although it took decades for the effects to become evident. Reintroduction of wolves back into the park rebalanced the ecosystem and it is thriving today. The gospel connection Kev made was the idea of balance. We all need to work together and help each other.

He also talked about the devastating wildfires that ripped through Yellowstone in the summer of 1988. There was so much destruction that it was thought that the park would never recover. But the park bounced back in amazing ways. Within weeks there were new trees and other plants growing up from the ash. In spite of the magnitude of the destruction, the park not only regrew, it flourished. Repentance is like that. No matter how bad things are, there is always a way back.

For me, one of the things that stood out was how many spectacular things we saw and the fact that Heavenly Father created this amazing world for us. He created all it’s beauty and wonder for us to enjoy. Yes, life can be hard sometimes, or most times, but he made roses so that we could take time to smell them. Despite any and all difficulties we may encounter, we should take time to bask in the multitude of awe-inspiring things this world contains and be grateful for them.

Another gospel parallel I found in Yellowstone is the need to stay on the path. There are signs posted all over to stay on the boardwalks in order to prevent harmful consequences. But in most places, there aren’t actually rangers posted to enforce the rules. The gospel is like that. Our Heavenly Father has given us a path, one that we need to take if we want to make it back to him. He has also given us the agency to choose whether or not to stay on the path. But safety is only found by walking the road he has shown us.

Daniel spoke in sacrament meeting today. He had been asked to talk about his experiences in seminary. He used our vacation to illustrate what he felt was the most important thing he learned in those four years. There is no cell service in Yellowstone. All service drops off just about as soon as you drive through the gates. As a result, there were no texts, Group Me alerts, phone calls, etc. whenever we were in the park. He explained that while he was in Yellowstone, the effects of the world were diminished. He likened that to the need for us to stand in quiet places in order to hear the Spirit. The Spirit won’t compete.

I’m so grateful for this week that I got to spend with my family. I’m so grateful that we were able to experience and enjoy a few of the many wonders this world contains. And I’m so grateful that the gospel is a part of our lives, that all we do and all we are is inexorably intertwined with the truth with which we have been blessed.

Because Science is Cool!

As we work our way home, it occurs to me that we talked a lot about science on this trip. To Sum up our vacation, here are a few things we learned:

-Huckleberries are delicious. In ice cream, jam, syrup, lemonade, chocolate, soda, pretty much anything. We came home with four jars of jam, two of syrup, huckleberry licorice and some huckleberry lemonade mix. (Nutrition)
-Yellowstone is a particularly unique national park that draws travelers from all over. We spotted license plates from all the states except Rhode Island, Mississippi, Delaware. We also spotted visitors from Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, British Columbia and Saskatchewan provinces in Canada. (Geography)
-We also saw a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of Asian tourists, many of them quite rude, which is a cultural thing. They don’t think they are doing anything particularly offensive. (Cultural Anthropology)
-We crossed the continental divide in three different places which provided us with an opportunity to teach our younguns what that is all about. The crossing with the highest altitude was at 8300 ft. (Physical Geography)
-Our time in Yellowstone and the information we found in the various visitors’ centers provided us the opportunity to learn about what creates some of the different geothermal elements we saw there including fumaroles, geysers, hot springs, and my personal favorite, mud pots. (Geothermal Science)
-Yellowstone is, in fact, a huge super volcano which is why it is home to so many geothermal elements. (Volcanology)
-Bison can jump 6 feet straight up. They can weigh 2000 pounds or more and are 6 feet tall. Their heads alone weigh 200 pounds and they use that weight to push aside the snow in the winter so they can eat the plant growth beneath it. The humps they have on their backs are huge muscles that support the weight of their heads while they graze. They have dewclaws which they use the grip the ground in snowy weather as well as weapons when attacked. (Zoology)
-Breathing becomes increasingly difficult at high altitudes as the oxygen and air pressure levels decrease. (Physiology)
-Fire is an important part of the wellness of an ecosystem. Some pinecones only release their seeds when the heat of a fire causes them to open. This self-seeding is dependent on the heat of the fire. Fires that are too cool won’t trigger the self-seeding and it the fire is too hot the pinecones can’t withstand the heat. (Botany)
-Lodgepole pines, the most common trees in Yellowstone, are self-pruning. The lower branches die and eventually drop off the trunk. (Botony)
-A long, wet spring meant the early June weather was perfect, cool and sunny. There was only one afternoon when it was warm enough that I was starting to feel the ill effects of the heat. It rained around 2 pm on several days, but not our full days in the park. When they did occur, the thunderstorms were spectacular, and we enjoyed the show. I did snow, but not until last night. As we had reached the end of our vacation, it gave us no worries. (Meteorology)

I’ve asked each of the kids to tell me which part of our vacation was their favorite. This is what they decided:
-Daniel’s favorite bit was seeing the “Grand Canyon” of Yellowstone and Yellowstone Falls.
-Nathan says horseback riding was pretty awesome. He enjoyed the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and his overall opinion of Yellowstone was that “it was all pretty epic.”
-Matthew loved all three of our days in Yellowstone. He couldn’t narrow it down further than that. He thought it was all amazing.
-And it will come as no surprise that Malia’s favorite part was horseback riding.

As for me, I really enjoyed all our time in the park (minus the sunburn and the mosquitos) but my favorite part was probably Fountain Paint Pot. The bubbling mud pots made an incredibly satisfying splurching sound. Nathan’s word for the sound was “Glop-Splosh-oling.” And, of course, being able to spend that time together as a family was wonderful. Our regular schedules frequently get so crazy that we are all coming and going, occasionally crossing paths as we rush to get where we need to be. As a result, having an entire week to be together at an easy pace with no demands from the clock was amazing.

They Were Buggin’ Me!

Let’s talk a bit about mosquitoes. I think they are vile little critters, the vampires of the insect world. And not only do they steal blood willy nilly, they leave a variety of viral calling cards. Yuck. For most people, their bites are itchy and uncomfortable, but after a few days, the itching passes, the scabs drop off, and all is well. However, most people don’t get a dozen or so bites liberally scattered over both legs that each end up being the diameter of a softball. Most people also don’t walk into the instacare and have even the doctor say, “Whoa!” Most people don’t get a prescription steroid cream to treat said bites when the doc discovers that you are already doing everything else he was going to suggest. Most people don’t end up with later sets of bites in a perfect circle around each ankle where the nasty biters evaded the insect repellent and slipped right under the edge of their socks. Most people don’t stay awake for three or four days because their bites have developed blisters and are so itchy they can’t sleep. Most people don’t end up taking the new set of bites and the steroid cream back to the instacare and have a different doc say, “That isn’t working? That’s a really strong steroid cream.” Most people don’t get an even stronger steroid cream in order to finally find a little relief. And most people don’t have lovely scar “anklets” for two to three years after the actual blisters heal. So yeah. I think I’m justified in hating mosquitoes.

With that loathing in mind, let just say that today was cold and drizzly. The mosquitoes were out in force. The clouds of biters were so thick I was concerned that I would swallow some if I opened my mouth. I acquired a nice selection of bites earlier this week (through my socks and pants!) and although they were definitely itchy, I learned long past that applying the uber steroid cream as soon as possible after getting bitten helps keep the symptoms fairly normal. Nevertheless, I was determined to keep further bites to a minimum. None of us were bothered by the weather. In fact, I was glad it was cold because I zipped my coat all the way up to my chin and shoved my hands in my pockets to provide the mosquitoes with as little biting real estate as possible. When they decided to start biting my face though, I was done, and we ate our picnic lunch in the car. The unjustness of the whole thing is the fact that Nathan and I were the only ones who got bitten. Everyone else just wandered through the miasma of flying vermin with no ill effects. What’s up with that?!

In spite of the mosquitoes, we did have a good day. We decided to spend our last day in the park visiting Yellowstone Lake. The drive was lovely. We crossed the continental divide in two different places and hopped out of the car to take a picture. We saw some cool hot springs and learned a lot about the role of fire in Yellowstone. We saw a herd of bison, complete with numerous baby bison. When Malia spotted the first baby, she reacted like a normal seven-year-old girl and cooed, “It’s so adorable!”

Our last stop on our last day in the park was at Fountain Paint Pot. It was my absolute favorite geothermal element. I don’t normally just stand around and watch mud, but I made an exception today. There is just something so satisfying about watching the mud bubble and splat. The day was calm enough and the crowds were small enough due to the weather that we could hear them gurgling and splashing. It was great!

As we drove out of the park, we tallied the stamps in our National Park Passports and discovered that we had five out of the nine available in Yellowstone. For one vacation, I feel like that was not too shabby! And it means we can come back on another trip to get the other four. 😊

After we made our way back to the cabin, my folks gathered all of us together for a family photo. I’m so grateful that I enjoy spending time with my family and that, for the most part, we get along well and like each other. I know many people who don’t like their siblings much and only see them on major holidays and out of a sense of obligation. My older brother, Jon, was the only one of my siblings who was unable to spend at least a few days with us so it was nice to have nearly everyone around.

Our last evening in Island Park was spent at a family friendly dinner theater that specializes in snarky, parody shows that are meant to inspire great gales of laughter in the audience. The dinner was really good. The prime rib was tender, flavorful, and plentiful. Seriously, I had half a cow on my plate. And while it was tasty, I couldn’t get through it all. Of course, I did leave room for a jumbo-sized cinnamon roll. Splurge meals are a must on vacation, right? The show was funny. Not the most amusing one we’ve seen, but it did make us laugh. I enjoyed the whole event.

Now for the quote of the day. Daniel was cutting a big ole ice cream sandwich in half so that he and Nathan could share it. He was using the steak knife that he had used to carve his prime rib. Unfortunately, Nathan was in the line of fire and ended up slightly on the sharp end of the knife (no blood was drawn, though) at which point he exclaimed, “Owww!! You stabbed we with a knife, you butt!!”

I don’t know why I think that was so funny. But I do. I laughed really hard. Probably due to a weeklong lack of sleep. I love that I can laugh with my family!

Let’s Slow Things Down a Bit

After spending the past three days moving at breakneck speed, I think we were all in need of a relaxation day. We took our time getting out the door this morning and our only stop was the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. While we did see a variety of wildlife in Yellowstone, there had not been any bear or wolf sightings. Kev caught a glimpse of something that may have been a bear, and that theory is supported by the fact that there were two park rangers on hand keeping traffic moving along, but that is it. As a result, there was some general excitement about today’s planned activity. The discovery center houses grizzly bears that, for a variety of reasons (orphaned too early, injured, etc.), cannot be released back into the wild. They also have two small packs of wolves that were all born in captivity and wouldn’t survive if released into the wild. That provides people an opportunity to observe these often elusive creatures in a safe environment. In addition, there is an education center where there is a lot (and I do mean a lot) of info about bears, the differences between grizzlies and black bears, their habitats, food preferences, etc.

While it was educational and very interesting to view the animals, it was, in my opinion, an overpriced visit for what we got. Nevertheless, we enjoyed several hours there and even discovered a crazy photo op in the gift store.

We spent the afternoon and evening playing more games, working on puzzles, crafting and generally relaxing. We enjoyed another thunderstorm, during which Kev happened to be in the right place at the right time to catch an amazing photo.

While my parents and my sisters Rachael and Esther have been here all week, the remainder of my siblings showed up today. It added to the chaos, but it was the good kind of chaos, the kind that means everyone is having a good time. As we near the end of the week, I’m getting anxious to be back in my own house, but we still have some fun planned before the trek home!

Spectacular!

While yesterday ended up being a big wildlife day, today was all about the geothermal events and magnificent views in Yellowstone. (Let me state right off the bat, though, that I learned some things yesterday and was smart enough to slather on the sunscreen.) Our destination for the day was the “Grand Canyon” of Yellowstone and Yellowstone Falls. We stopped at several spots and the views were magnificent. Everyone was snapping pictures like crazy, although they did stop long enough for Kevin to take some pictures of the kids in addition to the scenery. Once again, we found ourselves working around the Asian tourists who just pushed in whenever and wherever they felt like. (Yes, I know I’m technically Asian, but I was born in Provo and find myself constrained by typical U.S. social mores which means I have a tendency to stand in lines wherever I am, even if there is no particular goal in sight.)

When we got to Artist Point, we discovered that the viewpoint is aptly named. There was a gentleman who had set up his easel for the day and was working on a watercolor rendition of the spectacle. Malia was absolutely fascinated. She asked questions and I answered them as best I could. The artist, finding himself being observed, was most kind about the attention. Malia does have some real artistic skill, not something she inherited from me, and she told me that she wants to be an artist when she grows up.

After the falls and lunch, we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin. We didn’t take time to walk the entire loop, but it was still a remarkable sight.

We stopped in West Yellowstone for dinner, spun the gastronomical roulette wheel, and ended up at a little Italian place where we proceeded to eat some really good pizza. The pasta was good too, but the pizza was outstanding. If it were even remotely close to home, it is a place I would most definitely visit again. For dessert we stopped at a little sidewalk stand where they were making homemade ice cream. Daniel and Nathan had followed the aroma of freshly made waffles cones after dinner on Monday night and were so exuberant about the fantastic ice cream that we decided a parental visit was in order. The ice cream churns were right behind the stand, so the ice cream was most definitely freshly made. We opted to indulge in huckleberry ice cream, the regional flavor of choice. It was delicious. In fact, I think we might have just become huckleberry addicts. We may have to revisit the area just for the huckleberries.

We spent the remainder of the evening playing games and doing crafts with my sibs and their families. I find its kind of hard to get everyone to go to sleep at a halfway decent time, myself included. I guess that’s what vacation if for though. Party and play for a week and then crash once we get home!

A Walk on the Wild(life) Side

I was twelve the last time I was in Yellowstone. Our kids have never been and I’m not even sure Kevin has done more than just drive through. As such, there was a great deal of excitement for today’s visit to the park. And all the anticipation was not for naught. Within just a few minutes of driving into the park, Malia was able to start making check marks on her “wildlife to see in the park” worksheet. There were a few cars stopped so we figured there must be something to see and discovered a coyote out in a meadow. We advantage of our stop to snap a photo.

After only a couple more minutes of driving, we were rewarded by sightings of both elk and bison. So let’s talk about bison for a minute. We’ve all seen pictures. We know what they look like. But what the pictures can’t appropriately convey is the size of these beasts. Matthew pretty much summed it up when he exclaimed, “Those things are gi-freakin’-normous!” And they are.

Our main goal for the day was to meet up with Rachael and her crew at Old Faithful. As we waited for it to erupt and watched all the people gather around (the Asian tourists pushing their way right in front of everyone else whenever it suited their fancy), my family did not really know what to expect. Matthew was particularly lackadaisical about the whole thing. He just could not imagine what the big deal was. As I was the only one who had seen Old Faithful before, I assured him that it was worth the wait. And it definitely was. Even Matthew, who is already perfecting his teenage nonchalance, was impressed.

After we ate lunch and watched a magnificent geyser, we set about helping Malia earn her Jr. Ranger badge. Matthew, with some skepticism and a giant sigh, decided he would participate as well although he was nowhere near as excited as Malia was. In order to mark off one of their requirements, we attended a ranger presentation all about bison. Although it was aimed at young kids, I found it fascinating as well. We learned quite a few random things about bison, probably the strangest of which is the fact that they can jump 6 feet, straight up. The ranger told us that most people think that the myriad fences and boardwalks will keep the bison away, but that if they were so inclined, the bison could jump right over them. Malia thought that particular fact was amazing and was also impressed that their heads alone weight 200 pounds and they use their heads like snowplows to get to the grass during the winter. Matthew and Malia busied themselves with their workbooks while we waited for one more Old Faithful eruption, and once they had their badges in hand (and Matthew had said that he was actually kind of not sorry that he had earned it, classic teen double speak there) we headed out of the park.

We had another bison sighting on our way back out. In fact, there was a bison right by the side of the road. If I had rolled down my window, I could have petted its giant, furry side. I am smarter than that though, and we all stayed in the car with the windows rolled up. It did, however, further enforce our impressions of the hulking proportions of the animals. And it gave Malia an opportunity to observe in person such details as the bison’s dewclaws and its eyelashes. Scientist/girl tendencies showing up there, to no one’s surprise.

We also stopped at Grand Prismatic since, unlike the morning, there was no line to get into the parking lot. Although there was quite a bit of steam due to the cooler temperature, it was still pretty spectacular. The colors were amazing. Even the steam was multicolored! Ravens are very common in Yellowstone and Matthew and Malia stalked a particularly large one around the parking lot to get some pictures. Like Kevin and all the boys, Malia is becoming a shutterbug. She managed to capture quite a nice picture of that raven.

We all came away tired and pleased with our day’s adventures. The only fly in the ointment was the fact that I got, what is for me, a pretty significant sunburn. I know all you fair skinned folk of European descent are currently giving me a giant, audible eye roll, but I’m a big diaper baby about sunburn. I got burned enough during our horseback riding yesterday that I woke up with both arms pretty red. But it didn’t hurt at all and being inexperienced sunburn wise and fairly stupid about it as a result, it didn’t occur to me to do anything about it. By the end of the day today, I was most definitely feeling the pain. Daniel got burned as well and the two of us whined and griped about it while Kevin just rolled his eyes. For him, no blisters means it is not a bad burn. Nevertheless, he was kind enough to get us some aloe and sunburn pain reducing spray (See what I mean about sunburn stupid? I don’t even know what to call the stuff.) and teach us how to slather it on. I was definitely slimy yet satisfying. 😉

Our end of day animal count included many bison, a few geese and elk, a bunch of ravens, and a coyote. For only one day in the park, that was an amazing wild animal viewing day, especially for a bunch of city folks!

Horsin’ Around

Five months is a long time to wait for a 7-year-old. Malia has waited with great excitement and anticipation and today’s horse-riding adventure did not disappoint. One of our first discoveries was that they actually did have helmets for the younger set. Malia selected her helmet and donned her gloves (as suggested by the allergist) and immediately set off for the corral to pet the horses. She and Kate, her cousin, were sharing their hopes about which horse they would get to ride.

Malia ended up with one of the biggest horses, one named Woody. The only person in our group whose horse was bigger was my nephew, Jacob. The horse he was riding was a big old draft horse. It reminded me of the bygone Budwieser ads. Nathan, on the other hand, was initially settled onto a horse that was a tad too small. His legs are so freaking long that his feet here actually touching the ground. The rancher’s response was to give that horse to someone shorter and set Nathan up with a taller one. It made me laugh.

Although it was a guided ride, there wasn’t a specific path. We rode through meadows and woods, crossed a small stream, and were generally able to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The weather was absolutely perfect, even for me. It was sunny but cool, with a nice breeze to keep things pleasant. We all enjoyed the ride and all the kids felt like it is something they’d like to do again.

The ranch where we rode offered several other activities as well. After we ate our lunch, we took advantage of the small archery range to shoot a few foam animals.

Rachael and her crew came back after lunch to enjoy some paddleboats and swimming, but we opted to stay out of the water because the weather was too cool. Around 2:00, clouds rolled in and it started to rain just as we headed back to the car. Perfect timing for a storm.

After showering the whole crew to prevent any horse related allergy problems, we headed out for dinner. Rachael had heard about some tasty bison burgers, so we went into West Yellowstone in search of some. We found them on the menu at a place called Bullwinkle’s. The burgers were tasty, as were the elk ravioli and the traditional beef steak. Malia and I did have a weird “you are definitely not in Utah anymore” experience while we were in the restroom at the restaurant. She was washing her hands and I was standing behind her, waiting for her to finish. An older GUY walked into the bathroom, went into a stall and did his business with the stall door OPEN, and then proceeded to greet us with an, “Excuse me, ladies,” as he walked out of the restroom without washing his hands. I could see Malia’s face in the mirror and her eyes were huge. She had that, “What the heck is he doing?” look on her face. Honestly, I probably had the same look on mine. Yup, we live a sheltered life and I’m perfectly ok with that.

After dinner we did a bit of souvenir shopping. Malia is an interesting mix of a rock hound (I had to tell her to quit carrying rocks in her school backpack because not only was it making her backpack weigh a ton, it was wearing holes in it because they were BIG rocks) and a crow attracted to shiny objects. So when we walked into a shop that had an entire table filled with a wide assortment of polished stones, crystals and gems, she pretty much flipped. She became an instant entertainment for the other customers as her excited exclamations filled the shop (she is definitely not a quiet or inhibited child):

“Whoa! Look at all this shiny stuff!”
“Is this a real rock? I’m touching a real rock!!”
I laughed out loud at that last one. And one other lady did a bit of a snort laugh as she tried to contain her amusement. I caught her eye as I was laughing to let her know that if the mom was laughing, it was fine for a complete stranger to join in. WINKIE SMILEY

To sum up day three of our vacation:
Traveled as if it were 1819-check.
Shot some animals without doing any bloodletting-check.
Laughed at Rachael’s kids as they got tossed in the freezing cold water and popped right back out again-check.
Missed the rain by a moment-check.
Ate a fabulous, meaty meal-check.
Found reasons to be grateful for our conservative home state-check.
Laughed at my youngest child-check.

Yup. Today was definitely a success.

All Hail Broke Loose

Today was a slow, relaxed day before we jump into our week full of fun. We visited the local ward for church this morning and it was a bit different from our home ward. The ward itself is quite small, but the number of visitors in the summer is enormous. One of the residents told my mom the record for number of folks in sacrament meeting in one week is 5000! They have a second building where they broadcast the meeting when the numbers get really high like that. Even now, at the very beginning of the summer season, they had two tables set with the sacrament-one in the normal spot at the front of the chapel and another at the rear of the cultural hall. About two seconds after we sat down, someone spotted the row of five young men (my three boys and Rachael’s two) all in white shirts and ties and swooped down to ask them to help pass the sacrament. They were happy to do so, of course. After the meeting, they told us that not only were the chapel and the cultural hall completely filled, but the relief society room, the primary room, and one other room were stacked to the rafters as well.

The afternoon was spent, reading, napping, playing games, doing puzzles, etc. The most excitement we had was the giant hailstorm that blew in during the evening. We all dashed outside to see it, the oldest and wisest of us staying on the covered porch, the younger and more foolish ones dashing out into the hail. There were still drifts of snow next to the cabin when we arrived yesterday, so some unsettled weather is not unexpected. It did provide a bit of entertainment though!

On the Road Again

A couple of years ago, my folks, my sister Rachael and I started tossing around the idea of taking a vacation together. We had tentatively planned for last summer, but Rachael had a baby instead (we love Sam!) so we had to push it back. This year we got all our ducks in a row and with graduation over and one week until Matthew and Malia go back on track, we are off on our next adventure. Our destination is Island Park, ID with plans to spend time in Yellowstone National Park.  Our last big vacation was Seattle three years ago, so we are all excited to be headed out to explore someplace new. And with nearly all my siblings and their families planning to make an appearance at some point in the week, it should definitely be exciting.

Lunch was in Idaho Falls and we took a short drive around town before heading back to the freeway so that we could take a peek at the temple. Matthew got a fabulous shot!

Here’s hoping the next week is super fun!