Yellowstone 2011!!

We had a family reunion in Yellowstone this last weekend and had a wonderful time. I can say that now---because we all survived!! ( I have been stressing about this trip for about 6 months now.) And the picture below pretty much sums up how I felt on most of the hikes.......... Yes, the boiling hot water, steep cliffs, and other various dangers terrified me---a mother of some rather rambuncious children. HOWEVER----->we all made it out in one piece, the weather was great, the scenery was beautiful, and I loved being with my family. So enjoy the pictures of our family in Yellowstone!

This first picture actually comes from Teton National Park....we came through the south entrance which was just a breathtaking drive.

This is our family and my dad at a waterfall.

Ashton was the king of shoulder rides, (or talking people into giving him shoulder rides)

We backpacked Liv and Preston and they did great.

The boys watching a geyser

Livi insisted on holding Preston's hand when they were in the stroller together. I loved it!

My sister Jesse and her husband Doug at Old Faithful. (Doug would not look at the camera. hahaha)

A grizzly bear! Another one came right into the campground my parents were at!! (That didn't unnerve anyone did it Jess?!)

Ella, Aaron, and Ashton at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

We went on a super fun chuck wagon dinner ride and the guide let Aaron and Ashton wear her cowboy hat!! (I think they were secretly thinking it was an Indiana Jones hat)

Livia finding "magic rocks". :)

Ashton wearing the Indiana Jones- I mean cowboy hat.

That tiny black dot in the background is a buffalo! Look at us out in the middle of no where!

World's strongest man!!!! My cousin Mike was so good with my boys!

My parents, my brother Chris and his wife Marla and baby Kaden, sister Sarah and her husband Kelvin, My sister Jesse (Doug was sick!) and us of course, after the dinner.

At the paint pots. We liked these a lot!

Preston was just loving life!

Thanks mom and dad for putting this amazing trip together. We made lots of wonderful memories. Family is a wonderful thing.



And this is a crazy video we got of some wolves eating an elk. We actually saw them make the kill---Adam was loving it---I enjoyed seeing the wolves but didn't want to think to much about what they were doing!!

A summer day?!

We finally had a nice summer day this weekend!! (We've had horrible summer weather lately) So we snuck in one of our favorite hikes. (paved trail, not too far, bathrooms) hahaha. We love this trail and the kids don't get tired of it, so we took advantage of the nice weather!!

First, a Preston pic....there's a video at the end. This little man will be 9 months this week!! What a sweet boy he is. He's crawling, sitting up, eating more and more, and just a joy. I love this age! Ok, back to the hike.....this trail has some fun trees to climb. This is Ashton and Adam in the tree.

I did this!! Isn't it cool?! Aaron and Ashton were so cute on the hike. They were sooo in their element and loving the hike, loving each other, and loving life. I love moments like these.

The boys

Adam and I. :)

All 5 of the kiddos. (I don't think I have a picture yet, where they're all looking at the camera. I don't think I ever will.)

Aaron and Ashton

Done with the hike.....just another group shot. Ok- so all looking at the camera I guess....but is smiling nice AND looking at the camera asking too much?

Livia is done at this point.

This is a video of Preston's funny crawl!

Our "WalMart Vacation"

We went to Colorado over the weekend!!! This was a very spontaneous trip for us. I've been wanting to go for a while because my cousin Christina was graduating and my cousin Kim was having her bridal shower, but I was scared to travel with 5 kids and......PACK. I hate packing.
So.....Thursday Adam says, "Ok, so just don't pack. We'll just stop at a WalMart if we need anything."
I thought he was kidding....but he wasn't, and so I let the idea sink in.....and we went with it! (So we did pack a few cosmetic things, and socks and shoes) but other than that, if we needed it, we stopped at WalMart for it. And it was so much fun. And stress free!
We drove through the night on Friday and made it for Christina's 10:00 graduation. :) Congratulations Christina!!!
Mike, Thomas and Aunt Kelly......(thanks for letting us stay at your house Coleman's so last minute. You guys are amazing!!)

Uncle Randy helping Liv find "magic rocks." She found a bunch of them. :)

Grandma with Preston.

And Mike helping Liv find even more "magic rocks."

Jill with Preston

Mom and Preston (yes, everyone had their turn holding Preston. And he loved all the attention.)

My cousin Thomas found the best park EVER!!! We spent several hours there and got nice and sun burned. (Yes, SUN burned....the sun was out in Colorado)

Mike pushing Ella



See? We ALL had fun playing there!

This swing was a lot of fun.

I even got to hold Preston. hahaha

And it was so nice to be able to go to Kim's bridal shower. Liv was so cute ( of course) and would not take off this gecko necklace....and she played with it the entire way home.

Congratulations Kim!!!!! We are so happy, and excited for you. Steven (can we say his name now? hehehe) is a terrific guy!

Liv got to help hand out cards and felt sooo big. :)

Me and my girls.

I am so blessed to come from a wonderful family. It was great to see everyone- and I'm so glad we went!!!

Ella turns 9!!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful girl!!! Love you Ella!!!
Ella is such a joy in our lives. She is my best helper-- and is so beautiful and talented. I can't believe she's 9!!! We all celebrated before she left for school!

We don't wait until cake to open presents---it's a first thing in the morning deal.

Ella had a fun day at school----pizza party and root beer float party...(love the end-of-the-year parties) and then that evening she had her gymnastics performance.

She got moved up in gymnastics and she's learned a lot this year. I still can't believe how flexible this girl is.

And ice cream cake for her cake of choice.....smart girl!!

WE LOVE YOU ELLA!!!!-----oh--watch out world....she got a mountain bike!!! AHHH!