Together in Island Park

Adam returned from his mission on August 21st and  fall semester at BYU was starting  September 4th, which meant we had a whole lot of things to squeeze into a little less than two weeks' time.  In addition to needing to let Adam decompress for a minute and have some time to go through his stuff, he needed to write and give a homecoming talk and we hosted an open house, we needed to get Adam settled into his new apartment before the semester began, we needed to do a little shopping for him to update the shoes and clothes he'd been wearing for 2 years straight, and, most important of all, we wanted to be able to gather all together as a family for the first time in 2 years. 

Whew!  It makes me tired just looking back and thinking about all the things we squeezed into those couple of weeks!  

I touched a little on the first few days he was home in this post, and now this post will be dedicated to capturing our family gathering we held in Island Park, Idaho the following week.  We picked Island Park because we wanted to go somewhere within a reasonable driving distance of home and also because our family has made a lot of good memories there over the years.  

We had a loose schedule for things we wanted to do while we were there, but we tried to leave some flexibility built in, so we could allow the kids (who are actually all adults) the freedom to help plan as we went along and also to allow the actual kids (Lucie and Oliver) time to take naps most days.   One of the spontaneous activities the kids got excited  about was choosing t-shirts for each other and then wearing them all at the same time. We drew names and spent a few hours wandering around West Yellowstone shopping for each other, which is where these pictures were taken. 

 The results were hilarious and we laughed as we went to dinner at the Gusher in these, then onto see Anastasia at the Playmill.   Both the Gusher and the Playmill are traditions for whenever we visit Island Park/West Yellowstone! 

 

Don't ask me how or why this next part developed, but Emma, Cami, and Adam somehow decided they were going to run a 1/2 marathon together in Island Park.   Adam was fresh off his mission and clearly hadn't trained at all.  The girls had a little more running under their belts, but it was a stretch for them as well.   They wended through cow herds and through the beautiful scenery and all three accomplished their goal.  Glen, Denali, and I met them along the way to bring them water, and to cheer them on! 

We also had an ongoing quest to eat as many s'mores as possible, which meant we had a campfire going  most nights. 

We toasted and ate a lot of marshmallows and just enjoyed the opportunity to sit around the campfire together.

Then campfire time would usually morph into appreciating the night-sky time.  The stars were amazing! 

We did some exploring in the area, including this trek to Big Springs to see the ginormous fish and gorgeous scenery. 

We saw some wildlife...

We hung around the cabin (which we'd rented on VRBO) and sent some postcards (of course)...

We took Lucie on a little nature walk and she filled a bag with all sorts of interesting things she'd found while wandering around the cabin. 

We  wandered into Yellowstone on the  last day of our Island Park adventures, including visiting Artist Point and Old Faithful.  The kiddos were very tired this day and we'd checked out of the cabin, so we kept things as easy going as could this day before trekking to Idaho Falls for the night. 

All in all, it was a great five days together and we very much enjoyed lots of good food, gorgeous scenery, and time together.  The only downside was that Spencer didn't end up being able to come.   We hoped that by picking somewhere somewhat close to home (a 5 hour drive), that he'd be able to come for part of the week at least, but, in the end, it ended up being too hard finding care for Kiwi, so he stayed home.  😢

And, no,  I'm not done yet with the late August/early September updates.  Stay tuned....

One More Thing -- A Trip to Yellowstone

You've probably noticed that we've had a bit of a crazy few months around here.  Between our travels, my Dad's death, my kids going a million different directions, and Adam starting his mission...it's felt pretty nonstop.   In the weeks leading up to Adam starting his mission, we kept talking about how we realllllllly wanted to do "one more thing" with him before he left.  We went back and forth on what that one thing should be, but ultimately decided that a trip to Island Park, Idaho would be just the fun and nostalgic thing we were looking for. 

 Glen's grandparents owned a cabin in Island Park for many years and we would bring our family there every few years for Yellowstone adventures while they were growing up.   Sadly they sold the cabin a few years ago, so we didn't have an easy place to stay this time.  At first we shopped around for another cabin to stay in, but after lamenting over the high prices and less than ideal locations,  I had the bright idea that we should make it a camping trip.       

Camping, you ask?  Yes.  Never mind we haven't been camping in several years and a lot of our gear was still in boxes in the garage.   We like spending several hours tracking down items we haven't used in years, setting up our tent in the dark, cooking over a fire, getting bitten my mosquitos, and sleeping on hard surfaces.   Yeah, we're crazy like that. 

Seriously though...despite the rough/slow start and the weird amounts of wind and rain we encountered, it ended up being exactly the kind of fun memory making experience we were trying to create.   

  

We spent lots of  time in Yellowstone and went on as many hikes as we could...

Glen was excited to put his canoe to good use and to get in some world-class fishing!  

We saw "Singin' in the Rain," and "Tarzan" at the Playmill (a long-standing family tradition)! 

We cooked breakfast and lunch over the fire most days.  We took this picture after  Emma and I started a fire in the wind and drizzle, while Glen and Adam were out fishing. 

 It was one of our first times starting a fire completely by ourselves  and we were quite proud to start it in less than ideal conditions!  

We ate dinners and treats out on the town--in West Yellowstone before the shows.  

We weirdly didn't see much in the way of wildlife in Yellowstone, but we did enjoy the opportunity to snuggle together in the car during our drives, because it was cold and windy for part of the time!    What wildlife did we see?  A handful of buffalo, maybe 2-3 elk, and a bunch of chipmunks.   

We had forgotten the stark beauty of Island Park and Yellowstone and we enjoyed soaking in the gorgeous scenery there.    

I couldn't get enough of the wildflowers and took way too many pictures of them...

Actually...what am I saying?  

Is it possible to have too many pictures like these?   

I don't think so...  😍

This really may be one of the prettiest places on earth..

Of course we  made sure Adam got lots of love....

We finished off the adventure (after having to get our car jumped before we could leave the campground) with a stop at the Rexburg Temple to do baptisms together.  It was an awesome experience.  

After three nights of living the tent life, we were pretty exhausted by the end.

 But it was a good kind of exhausted.  The kind where you sack out in your smoke and unshowered body scented clothes while you bask in not having a rock underneath your left hip.  Yes, it was a great laid back trip filled with a lot of memory making experiences, but it was also pretty heavenly taking that first shower and sacking out in our own beds. 

Maybe we'll even go camping again...someday.  😄