Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Wyoming Weekend

Okay, so the first part of this post wasn't actually in Wyoming. It was in Manti for my cousin Shanna's wedding. They are the cutest couple, and SO in love! I left girls camp (see previous post) a day early so I could go to the wedding. Aren't they cute??




They had a luncheon in Spanish for Friday evening, with the best. food. ever. It was the Cafe-Rio style food, and it was scrumptious!

After the wedding & luncheon, I headed to Star Valley for the Garrett Reunion. Kev & the kids were already up there. There were 3 kittens running around, and the kids played with them all weekend. The owner gave us permission to take them, and this is the one we chose. Isn't he adorable?? The kids named him snowflake.
The reunion was full of games, visiting, a "horseless rodeo", the auction, nerts, food, and family. Here are a handful of shots. If you'd like to see more, I posted them on my FB page. Click here to see them.











I actually drove from Star Valley back to Cokeville on Saturday night for the reception. Then I headed back up to Star Valley!! I had Hunger Games on CD to listen to for all this driving. *Loved it*
Here's one reception shot. funny.



After the reunion, I decided since the kids hadn't started school yet, and I didn't have much going on at home, I'd take a quick trip up to Jackson Hole to visit my brother & his family. It's only about 90 minutes from the barn, so we headed up from Sunday, August 1 to Tuesday, August 3. Kevin had to work, so he drove home since we had separate cars.
This nest is just off the side of the highway. It had birds in it this time (I usually don't see any at this spot), so I pulled over and took a pic.



My brother had to work some of the time, but my SIL Dawna and I took the kids to a park the first evening.



I posted a few weeks ago that my goal was to take the kids hiking once a week until they are back in school. So Monday morning I took the kids to hike high school butte which is within walking distance to Shane & Dawna's home.



From the top you can see the town of Jackson Hole.......



And my favorite: The Tetons!!



Hear the angels singing......





On our way back down.



When we were almost back to the house, Trin carried Ryker. I thought it was cute! His feet are barely off the ground. I'm sure he'll outgrow her someday.



Monday evening we went to String Lake. It was an awesome spot. This lake is actually not as frigid-cold as most of the lakes up there. There were a lot of swimmers, including the girls, as seen in the shot below:



Mt. Moran in the background. Awesome.



Here's Katie throwing some rocks. Ryker's testing the waters. He doesn't usually like to get too wet.



I'm pretty sure this is Teewinot. Right, Shane?? I zoomed in as far as the lens would go.




This place intrigues me. I zoomed in all the way. I SO want to go up there and explore!





Ryker eventually got his feet wet, then fell in, and found that it wasn't so bad after all!





Can't. Stop. Taking. Pics.



This is at Jenny Lake at Sunset.





Fun cousin time....



Tuesday morning Shane brought Katie and we went to a preserve (I forgot the name of it), and we explored that and started on the trail that eventually takes us to Phelps lake. We didn't go all the way to the lake, but it was a cool trail anyway.


This tree has seen a bear on more than one occasion....











Finally, we went to the Visitors Center, which I had never been in. It was awesome! One of my favorite things were these metal strips on the ground. You stood on each one, and it pointed directly to each of the peaks and listed the name and the elevation. Here's the Grand:



I *heart* Wyoming!

The rest of July....

I love Rodeos! We went to the Days of '47 Rodeo on July 24th at the Maverik Center. It was a lot of fun. The kids loved it too! I took lots and lots of pics, but these are some of my favorites. Click here if you'd like to see more on my FB page.



I love the look on some of the audience members faces.



Barrel racing. I think that would be SO much fun to try! Maybe someday...

This is my favorite shot of the evening. Dust, snot & all. It's what rodeo is all about.








I went to Young Women's camp July 26-30. I had to leave a day early for Shanna's wedding, (which I'll post about soon). This was my 7th year in a row going to girls camp. I have almost forgotten what it's like to have a summer without a week with the girls! I enjoy it every year. This year it was with the whole stake. We were able to go to Heber Valley Camp, which is quite the priviledge. They have CABINS, toilets, showers, nice kitchen areas, pavilions, a lake with canoeing, a challenge course, and it's just a really nice place to camp!

**Disclaimer: I only brought my point & shoot camera to camp, which is why these pics aren't the best.....


The girls rotated to different challenge courses. I was in charge of the "shark rescue" one. Afterwards, they let the leaders do the "scary" challenge of climbing up this post, crossing another one, then going on the zip line. It was fun!!






Here we are in the cabin having a devotional by Ariel about "inner beauty".....


We had time for lots of fun crafts....


One morning, Ariel and I went to the lake to watch the sun rise. The mist on the lake looked pretty cool!








The wildlife was in rich abundance. We saw squirrels, chipmunks, pot-guts, deer (with babies), ducks, bats, and all kinds of birds.


This was on the hike. It's the handy-work of a beaver.




Mmmmm......Navajo tacos!!


Our princess feast




Love these girls!!


Sunrise




And the most exciting part: Cleaning the bathrooms.