Utah Then Home

Salt Lake City, Utah is a pretty place.

The Mormon Church buildings were grand.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs in this building.

The acoustics are so perfect that you can hear a pin drop at the podium without the aid of a microphone.

Their gardens were so beautiful it made me want to go home

and dig in the dirt.

Our vacation was over.

Time to go home and dig in the dirt.

~ ~ ~

Among other things.

Like.....laundry,

mowing,

laundry,

dinner,

dishes,

repeat...

counting my chickens,

catching up on my blog,

counting my goats,

breakfast,

lunch,

laundry,

mowing again

and again

and again.

I am missing this vacation already.

~ ~ ~

I feel so blessed to have seen all these places

and done all these things

with the absolute most favorite people in my life.

My Family.

Thanks be to God for that.

And thank you too hunny.

For the best vacation I have ever gone on.

The Grand Tetons

These are the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen.

The Grand Tetons.

And this was the coldest raft trip I have ever been on.

But I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

It was breathtakingly beautiful.

We saw beaver dams, bald eagle nests,

white pelicans, geese and pristine wilderness.

And nobody fell in.

Perfect.

A Hair-Raising Hike

We decided to go on a family hike to Observation Point.

It started out quite lovely.

Until I started thinking about bears.

And then I began to fret when I couldn't see all my children on the trail.

We at last came upon this view.

Gorgeous.

That's Yellowstone Inn on the left,

and Old Faithful in the center.

Then shockingly I came upon

this bear print in the mud!

From then on I began singing loudly

and counting my children.

1-2-3-4-5

1-2-3-4-5

Kevin thought it might be fun to run up the trail

and jump out at us.

Not fun.  To me.

Is that a bear cave you are hiding in?

When they would get too far ahead I would worry.

And when I couldn't see them at all I would wonder.....

and worry.

I was oh so thankful to see these doors and count my children.

1-2-3-4-5

Whew.

And my husband and I make seven.

Another Whew.

All accounted for.

I had bears on the brain so much  

that when I passed "Bear Proof"trashcans near the Inn

 I thought.....

"Well if a bear comes charging at us right now

I can at least get Sarah into one of those."

~ ~ ~

After all kiddos,  this isn't Disney World.

And we're not in Florida anymore.

Wild Animals Everywhere

 Male Bison grazing in Yellowstone.

Elk grazing in a valley.

Bison grazing behind our room at Yellowstone Inn.

A "Bison Jam".

We waited for most of an hour on this road

wondering why we were stopped.

We were later told by a guide that when you get a job here

you are not excused for being late because of a "Bison Jam".

One thing we learned:

Where can a Bison go?

Anywhere he wants to.

Yellowstone!

We're here!  We made it!



 We

 watched

                                                                                

 her

Blow! 

We stayed in the Old Faithful Inn for two nights.....

.....and we watched it snow.

That is what's happening in this picture.

Unlike the snow we found on the side of the road,

this was falling from the sky.

Something these three had never seen.

We were ecstatic! 

Sarah just had to taste the snow.

It's just beautiful here.

But snowing in June is beyond our imagination.

Who knew it did that?

On the way to Yellowstone.....

We stopped at Buffalo Bill's Hunting Lodge.....



and saw mountains with snow on them.....



and pet some horses..... 

all the horses.....

 while Alex and Kevin jumped down an embankment

and ran toward a raging river

in bear country no less.....

Wait.

Is that a bear!

No.

It's a moose and her baby.

Good thing she didn't feel like chasing my boys out of her territory.

 Also on the way to Yellowstone.....

Ranae and Sarah touched snow for the first time.....

                                                                              

and Kevin touched snow for the first time too.....

only in a different way.

 and Alex joins in on the fun.....

 and not long after that we see our first Grizzly Bear.

He was on the beach eating grubs.

And very hungry.

Ahhhhhh!

Kids get back on the bus!

Oh yes.

And we saw lovely waterfalls too.

Buffalo Bill....and Bears

This museum was great!

They had a weapon section,

filled with antique guns,

a great art section,

filled with paintings of the west and Cowboys and Indians,

and everything you would want to know about Buffalo Bill. 

We could not get enough of it.

But there was one section that I gravitated to.

 They had a section of stuffed wild animals

labeled with their world record size.

And among them were several .....BEARS.

Now this one in particular didn't bother me too much.

I mean it's a polar bear.

I don't think they live around here.

 But this one stopped me.

That's a Grizzly.

They live here.

Year round.

This one was positively ferocious.

I think it will visit my dreams.

And not in a good way.

 O.k.

My mother bear instincts are really kicking in now.

Can I go back and buy that bear spray?

Well, at least this one isn't a bear.

Maybe I should stop hyperventilating.

I don't want to worry the kids.....

.....or my husband.

Hey.....

Doesn't this remind you of a Tauntaun from Star Wars?

Just saying.