Yellowstone

My brother's family decided to go to Yellowstone this year and invited us to come with them. We had such a great time. I LOVE YELLOWSTONE! I think it is so beautiful and love to see the different hot springs and geysers. I thought June would be a nice time to go where it would not be too hot or cold. Well I was wrong. It was FREEZING! There was snow in most parts of the park and most people were in coats and gloves and scarves. Here is my dad, mom, Brielle, me, Brooklyn and Shimayne next to the lower falls which is my favorite waterfall. It is so powerful and majestic!

I love this picture of the snow going right down to the water.

Isn't this blue beautiful?

This is one of my favorite pictures of Brooklyn! She was actually so much better on this trip than I thought she was going to be, until the ride home from West Yellowstone where she cried for 4 out of the 6 hours.

This is inside the Yellowstone Inn. My brother Chris on the left with Hudson, Brigham, Annie and Brielle. I love their family so much and we had such a great time. I wish it could have been longer!!

This is one of my favorites. It is called Morning Glory Pool. The colors are amazing, though not as vivid as I remember and on the sign it said that since people throw stuff in there all the time so it is destroying it. So sad...

Another beautiful hot springs. I just accidentally deleted a picture right here which was of some buffalo on our trail. They say to stay 75 feet away and so a whole bunch of us got stuck on a trail going back to the Yellowstone Inn because the buffalo were right by the trail and on it once in a while. It was kind of a funny predicament.

I just love the colors in this water. Just a quick side note, Brielle when asked what her shirt said told her cousin it said "Kiss me I'm reddish." So that is an inside joke in our family now.

Here is Brielle in front of Mammoth Hot Springs which is also really beautiful

There were not a lot of flowers since it was snowing on us most of the time but I thought this one was so pretty.

This pictures of a black bear comes with a great story. We just had a glimpse of a bear where a whole lot of people had pulled over to take pictures and were blocking the road and such. I had just mentioned that I wanted to be the first ones to see a bear so we are not blocking anyone else in the road and we are not fighting to get a good picture. Not 20 minutes later, this was exactly what happened! I was very excited. There was a stream separating us so it was not scary at all.

Here is the cabin we stayed in. It was about 45 minutes outside of West Yellowstone. We drove a lot on this trip but it was so fun. Thanks Chris and Lisa for making this possible!

Happy Anniversary!

Man it has been a long time since I posted. I think today is a good day to do it! We got married 9 years ago today and I remember almost every detail. It was a very HOT August day. I remember getting to the temple about 10 minutes late and seeing the NERVOUS look on Mike's face (He never gets nervous). My nerves instantly dissipated and I couldn't stop smiling thinking about his face. We got married at 8:20 in the morning and I was the 8th bride out of who knows how many for the day. I remember feeling very excited that I got to spend eternity with this man who loved me so much. We had many family members and a few friends there. I remember we were over an hour late for our luncheon because our photographer would not stop taking pictures. I remember I wore white tennis shoes with ribbon laces so I didn't have to walk around in uncomfortable shoes the whole day. I remember my Grandpa Stoddard could no be there because he was not feeling well that day. I remember my younger sister not being endowed yet and how I yearned to have her in the temple with all of my other siblings and me. I remember going to Costco because we needed to get a few things for our honeymoon. I remember getting to the Anniversary Inn (the Lighthouse Room) and falling asleep on the floor playing Phase 10 at 5:00 pm because I had only gotten about 1/2 hour of sleep the previous night. I remember thinking how I had planned and thought about this day my whole life and I could not believe it was actually happening. I remember wishing my parents a happy anniversary because we got married on their 33rd anniversary in the same temple. It was a beautiful day and I am so grateful that I listened to the Spirit who told me Mike was the one I should marry and now we have two beautiful daughters who we love more than anything in this world! Here are 9 things I love about Mike in no particular order:

1. He makes me laugh.

2. He works hard at his job so we can have a nice house, food and clothing.

3. He is a great dad and loves his girls so much.

4. He is one of the most forgiving people I know.

5. He is genuinely a nice guy, which is one of the things that first attracted me to him.

6. He is nice to people, even if they may not deserve it. He always looks for the good in people.

7. He loves me and buys me things all the time.

8. He has a beautiful voice, which I could listen to ALL DAY LONG.

9. He is loyal and I know I can trust him always.

I love you Mike!

P.S. Happy Anniversary to my beautiful parents who I love so much!!