Our Yellowstone Vacation

All right... we made it to Yellowstone... barely. We left Saturday afternoon and settled in to the car for what we thought was going to be a 5 hour drive to West Yellowstone. 8 hours later we finally pulled into the Worldmark parking lot. It got quite scary at times with white out conditions along the way. We even stopped to help one lady who had slid off the road and rolled her car. I have never been so glad to get to our destination. It was 11:00 when we pulled in so we unloaded the truck and went to bed.


Yesterday, we drove around town to see what is going on... not a whole lot. A lot of the local stores close up for the winter due to low traffic. It is a shame because West Yellowstone has that old time Mayberry feel. I am excited to stroll through the stores that are open and see what they have to offer. We also spent a lot of time in the indoor pool which the kids loved! Aaron and I sat on the side and actually had time to read! It was a pretty lazy day but very much needed.


Today we decided to take a snow coach ride through Yellowstone. It is basically a van that has been outfitted like a snow-mobile. Our guide drove us through Yellowstone stopping at various spots along the way to see wildlife, geysers, hot spots, waterfalls, bubbling mud, and Old Faithful. Alex's favorite animal we saw was the Bison. Every time he saw one he would yell out "Bi-en." We also saw a coyote, elk, 2 bald eagles, swans, mule deer, and lots of birds- the ravens here are huge. They tried to take a box of Eggo waffles out of the back of our truck.


I must say Old Faithful was kind of a dud for me. We stood out in the freezing snowy temperatures and waited for it to go off for 20 minutes. (Alex and Abbi didn't quite make it- they got too cold so Aaron took them into a warming hut). When it finally did go off, you could barely see it because the sky was white, the steam was white, and the water was white. There was no contrast to actually see it- bummer! Oh well, our guide was very good and he led us to some other geysers that erupted right as we got to them. Those were very cool! All in all it was a great expedition and we all had a great time in snowy Yellowstone. The scenery was so beautiful and I loved looking at all the hot pools.


Firehole Falls

The Great American Bald Eagle

A Bison

Sapphire Pool

Snow day for Christmas

Christmas Day 2008 will be one for the memory books. Adam woke us up bright and early at 6:00 to open presents. I told him to lay down for a few more minutes (hoping to hold him off until at least 7:00). Instead he ran down and woke up Abbi. For the next 30 minutes I could hear them whispering about the piano and Ipod that Santa brought them. At 6:30, due to the snow/wind storm howling outside our power went out. The kids ran upstairs to let us know. Thankful that it meant we might get a little more sleep, Aaron and I told them we couldn't open presents until either the power came back on or it got light enough outside for us to see what we were doing. So, we all went back to bed until 8:00. The power still wasn't on so I called the power company and found out we would not have power until 11:00. What to do? Aaron got out of bed and hauled our generator out of the shed. We plugged in our space heater and our tree lights and voila! we had Christmas. Not quite the Christmas we are used to with Christmas carols playing in the back ground and overhead lights but it turned out fun anyway. Good thing Dad knows how to be handy in a pinch!

The power finally came back on at 10:45 and I was able to make the family a hot breakfast of pancakes and hot chocolate. Despite a few set backs we had a great Christmas. The kids loved their presents and wasted no time tearing into them. Our family room looked like a tornado hit when all was said and done but the smiles on our kids faces were priceless.

After spending the afternoon putting together presents and toys, we packed up the kids, shoveled out the 12 inches of snow we received and set off to Grandma and Grandpa McGee's house for Christmas dinner and even more presents. We were quite spoiled because Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma and Grandpa Marshall's house for another dinner and presents.

I love when Christmas time comes around every year and this year was no different. For many years Aaron and I have always wanted to get the kids involved in Santa projects. This year, Aaron was able to work with B98.7 in their Christmas wishes program. Aaron and I were able to take the kids with us as we visited some families around the valley and delivered food and presents. The looks on the faces of the parents when we showed up was priceless. They knew their kids would get a Christmas that year. What a great opportunity for our family to see what Christmas is truly all about.

Aaron and I found this candy bar while vacationing in San Diego. It is 5 lbs of Hershey chocolate. The kids were so excited to open this. Aaron and I were laughing so hard... it is huge!

Our December activities

While the kids have been off track we have done some fun things...

We built a gingerbread house

Made a cupcake tree
Played in the snow with friends


Decked the halls Attended family parties

Went to Abbi's dance recital

Visited the Festival of Trees

And saw the lights at Temple Square

Whew... I am exhausted!

The Nutcracker

After months of learning her new dance, being fitted for her costume, and lots of practice, Abbi did a fantastic job in her dance number "The Nutcracker." We are so proud of her! She did a great job! She got up there and danced like a pro. She got to perform it twice. Once at the Festival of Trees and then again last night for family and friends at a local high school. Way to go Abbi!

I have been trying for days to upload the video with no luck. I'll keep trying so you can all see what a great job Abbi did. She really was Awesome!

Week 1 of off track time

Okay, so in my last post I said that "I love having the kids home in December." Maybe "love" was too strong of a word. Maybe I should say "like," "akin to," or "fond of." It is only Wednesday into week one and I am already wondering how much longer until they are back to school. I guess I need ideas of what to do with them to keep them entertained. Any suggestions are welcome.

Maybe it is just me, but it just doesn't feel like Christmas yet. It is 2 weeks away and I have to force myself to listen to Christmas carols. I am assuming it is the weather. It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit when there is no snow and it is 40-50 degrees outside. Hopefully we'll get more snow to put us more in a festive mood.

I am trying to cook dinner more lately and am proud to say I am at day 4 and counting. What's even better is that there has been no complaining from the little ones. While attending the O Sweet Sadie craft show my Mom and I met Liz Edmunds - The Food Nanny. She was darling and her excitement about cooking rubbed off on me. I bought her cookbook and have tried a few recipes. I made her French baguettes and am excited to say that they actually turned out. I can never get bread or rolls to turn out but these actually did. Go me!- Thanks to the Food Nanny. Tonight I made linguine in a white clam sauce and my kids loved it! I am excited to get my 2 week dinner plan put together. If you need a good gift for someone- check it out.

Well, if anyone has any fun ideas for the kids to do- by all means, let me know. I still have the entire month to go!