Yellowstone Reunion

Every other year my immediate family has a reunion. This year my brother Erik and his wife Shanelle were in charge and we went to Yellowstone. I hadn't been to Yellowstone since I was about Baylie's age. What a beautiful place!

On the way, some of us (my sister's family, my family and my parents) decided to stop in Malad where my mother's parents had lived. We visited my grandparents' grave. I had never been there before. I was living outside of the country when each of them died.

These are my sister's kids in front of our great grandmother Clarasetta Price Jones' grave. My niece Clara is named after her. She had a wooden leg because she fell into a nest of baby rattlesnakes as a girl.

We stayed in this great house outside of Yellowstone.

It had a teepee where some of the kids slept outside.

Before we got to the park, my dad and I saw a wolf and I heard a moose and then saw it from far away. (I heard another moose from the house on our last morning.) Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of either of these nor of the beautiful bull elk or the coyote we saw. Once we were in the park, we saw a lot of wildlife. I got pictures of most of these, but I really missed my good camera. We only had the iPad for pictures. I'm sure my other siblings got good pictures. We were disappointed to never see a bear, although one of my brothers and his family saw three.

pronghorn

elk

When we had our first glimpse of buffalo, we were very excited to see them even though they were pretty mangy.

We entered the park through the west and our first stop was the Norris Geyser Basin. It's a huge valley full of active geysers. It's also pretty windy and we counted over 20 hats that had blown off heads and been lost.

We couldn't figure out what Jalen was doing, but then he told us it smelled like "joy and happiness." We realized he was using his jacket to keep from smelling all the sulfur.

We went to Mammoth Hot Springs, but it was dry. Next we headed to the Lamar Valley, which is supposed to be the best place for spotting animals. At the entrance to the valley, these elk were hanging out on the public green.

Once we got into the valley, we were shocked to see large herds of buffalo. Many were hanging out by a river. Unfortunately, the iPad doesn't do them justice.

Clara, Lauryn, Baylie

Can you see the bison?

How about now?

We stopped at a pretty spot by the side of the road to eat lunch.

There were big horned sheep walking on a cliff face high up on the mountain across the river from where we were eating. Pretty much we just saw white dots.

There were a lot of lone bison bulls wandering the park. I was surprised at how many people got way too close and even turned their back on the bison in order to get a picture. There are warning signs everywhere and people have already been gored and killed this year, but people still get too close and also risk their children. It doesn't make sense to me.

Tower Fall - named for the towering peaks at it's top.

Upper Yellowstone Falls

I have no idea where some of these photos were taken.

My crazy husband

I love my boys.

We made it to Old Faithful in time for one of the eruptions - right on schedule.

On our second day in the park, we (I) wanted to check out the Paintpots.

Then we headed for the Mud Volcano and Dragon's Breath. This is a popular area for the older buffalo because the ground is warm and they come here during the winter months to ease their achy bones.

Dragon's Breath

It's amazing to see the waters bubble.

Cousins - Aunt Bethany, Nixon, Lauryn, Clara, Ava and Baylie

I liked the colors of these plants, but they don't really show up here.

Our last stop for the day was The Grand Prismatic. I really wanted to see it because there was a beautiful picture of it on our wall at the vacation house. I learned that it was an aerial photo because while our view was still awesome, it wasn't quite the same.

This was another spot with lots of wind and lost hats.

Excelsior Geyser

Baylie with Quaver - a character from her music class. We took several pictures of Jalen and Baylie with their quarter-sized Quavers.

Grand Prismatic

Aerial View (not taken by me)

Turquoise Pool

The colors are amazing

The water runs from Excelsior Geyser into the river. 

It makes the river water warm. It's strange to step into a river that you expect to be freezing only to find it warm. I wish we could have gone swimming.

We also spent a day playing at a lake. It was mossy and windy, but super fun.

Baylie, Asher and Lauryn

Cameron, Tiff and me (I haven't laughed this hard in a very long time)

Baylie, Clara, Lauryn and Ava - I love that Baylie has so many cousins her age

Grammy & Grandad

We played a funny relay game in honor of my parents' 50th anniversary, complete with Depends, thick glasses and suspenders. It was hilarious.

Dave

Clark

Shanelle and Erik

On the last day, we took a family picture. I love these people.

Even when they're crazy.

Grammy and grandad with the grandkids.

Our family

Photobombed by Nixon

My parents and I decided to go home through the Grand Tetons, which meant we got to drive through the park one more time. We didn't even see buffalo this time!

Our family at Yellowstone

My mom and her family at Yellowstone (she's the one at far right).

As we drove through the Tetons, there were tons of signs warning of wildlife, especially bears. We didn't see any!! 

As close as we got to a bear.

I had never seen the Grand Tetons. They are amazing beautiful. They jut out of the ground and are so steep and sharp.

There is still a glacier visible at the top.

One of the main reasons I wanted to go through the Tetons was to take a picture of my kids like a picture my mom took with her siblings when they were little. We missed the spot the first time we drove by so we turned around and went back 30 minutes just to get the picture. (Thanks, Mom.)

My kids in front of the Tetons.

My mom and her family in front of the Tetons (she's the one at left).

And here's my brother (at right) decades ago with some cousins.

We had taken a similar picture by the cabin with my kids and my sister's kids.

Antler gateway in Jackson Hole, WY.

We drove through Afton, Wyoming - home of Beth Andersen, my mission companion from my previous post. I took a picture in her honor.

We drove by the new Star Valley, Wyoming, temple, which is still under construction.

It was such a great trip. We also spent a day at a reservoir where my sister and I made fools of ourselves on a float behind my dad's boat. I haven't belly laughed that hard in so many years. I don't have photos, but my sister does, so maybe I'll add them later.

My family is not perfect and sometimes family dynamics get tense and frustrating, but I love these people more than anyone on the planet Earth. I'm so grateful that God sent us to Earth in families.

During our trip, we saw license plates from the following places.

U.S. States
1. Alabama
2. Arizona
3. California
4. Colorado
5. Florida
6. Idaho
7. Illinois
8. Indiana
9. Kansas
10. Kentucky
11. Louisiana
12. Maine
13. Maryland
14. Michigan
15. Minnesota
16. Mississippi
17. Missouri
18. Montana
19. Nebraska
20. Nevada
21. New Jersey
22. New Mexico
23. New York
24. North Carolina
25. North Dakota
26. Ohio
27. Oregon
28. Pennsylvania
29. South Carolina
30. South Dakota
31. Tennessee
32. Texas
33. Utah
34. Virginia
35. Washington
36. West Virginia
37. Wisconsin
38. Wyoming

Canadian Provinces
Alberta
Manitoba
Saskatchewan