Yellowstone National Park

Hold on to your hats for this one...It was a bumpy ride!

We had been planning this trip for quite some time, and were so happy to have grandma and grandpa along!  Yellowstone was a place that no one in our family had been, and we wanted to really explore the area, and boy did we ever!

I did alot of research and we decided to get a VRBO rental in Big Sky Montana (which is about a long 45 minutes from Yellowstone).  I picked this place because it is quite a bit like Snowbird, UT with lots of activities and things to do, and although it was a bit out of the way, I was glad that we stayed there.  Our adventure began with a REALLY sick dad - like, mom had to drive most of the way to Yellowstone, which is big, because I do not like to "road trip drive."  When we got there, Brett went directly to bed and we did not see him for a good portion of the trip(except for a trip to the mountain quick care)...We sure missed him during those days but tried to make the most of it.  When he finally was well enough to join us, it was great!  We did lots of exploring, saw things that and sights that you might never again see, and spent lots of quality time together.  Here are ALOT of pictures from our trip.

Grandma (grandpa - taking the picture) the kids and I all went exploring together.  We had a great tram ride up and hiked down the mountain.  The weather was beautiful!

 We spent TONS of time at the lake - it was a daily adventure and we all tried all of the activities- paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, and peddle boating. it was so great to hang our all together on the lake!

 On one of our days, we went to the boiling river up in Mammoth Hot Springs - a must visit!  The water was literally like a jacuzzi - so hot in places that we dared not go up that far...I think we could have spent hours soaking!

 I wish I had worn my swim suit and not just shorts!

 When Brett was feeling a bit better, he came down and played some games.  Grandpa was still going to school at the time and tried to get in study time when he could.

 We all had a great time playing on the mountains frisbee golf disc course.  We chased our discs all over that mountain....

 Grandma was the score keeper and grandpa had the bear spray handy - just in case we encountered one while searching for our disc!

 We visited so many wonderful and amazing hot springs, mud pots, geysers...each unique and so fun!

 We also spent time visiting the Wolf and Bear center.  Here are the kiddos cracking up - Colton spraying the bear that is about to eat Alex, while McKaleigh poses!

 Yellowstone behind us!

 A bubbling mud pot!

 Geysers in the background

 Out near the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

 Another day on the lake

 We saw some of these guys walking right down the road by where we were staying...We were this close to them!

 And lots of these guys in the park

 And these Elk, just walking across the street!

 Our Yellowstone trip was an amazing adventure and I am so glad that we were able to make some memories in such an awesome place!

Summer Sporting

Our Summer mornings and evenings are often occupied by sports.  Those are usually of the tennis and soccer variety.  This Summer has been especially busy as Brett is coaching competition soccer and Colton is training to try out for the high school tennis team.

Here are a few shots of Colton playing doubles against another city team...

 And these goofy guys make up our Murray Max soccer team!

This is the Place Heritage Park

We had such a great time spending the day at This Is The Place Heritage Park with the Cropper cousins...Although i'm not sure anyone thought we'd be there from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m. and still not see everything the park had to offer.  It is always so much fun spending time with family!

Here are all of the cousins (except McKaleigh - she had to work) at the beginning of the day, full of smiles, fresh and ready for the adventure!

 A quick shot of mom and dad...We still like each other!

 Colton needed to stop off at the barber shop for a quick shave.  They lathered him up and then put a pioneer aftershave on when he was done.  It was pretty fun!

 OF COURSE we had to ride the train!  I think it was a bit slow, but still, a train ride is a train ride. 

 Mining for gold was BY FAR the best activity of the day.  The kids wanted to go back at the end of the day to do it again.  After they mined the stream and found tons of gold, we marched down to the bank.  The banker took it, weighed it, and gave the kids a "check" for what it was worth.  They thought that was really cool!

 Mom and dad waiting around while the mining took place!

 The kids also got to play pioneer games.  Here's Colton trying out the sticks, while Aunt Heather and Tyler check out his skills!

  End of the day shot, courtesy of Tyler Cropper...A pretty great photographer!

Another adventure under our belts.  We love making memories!

Summer Holiday's The 4th & 24th

As busy as summer is, we always look forward to summer holidays.  Our boys LOVE fireworks and everything that goes along with lighting them....Food, family, friends and lots of fun!  Here are a few pictures from the good times we had over those two days.

This is the very first year EVER that we attended the 4th of July Parade in Murray down State Street.  Why did we not do this sooner?!  It was so fun hanging out watching all of the floats and Alex as he weaved his way along the street in search of candy.  I would love to do this every year!

 That evening we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for water fun and fireworks. They had a slip and slide all set up and a really fun gadget that filled like 50 water balloons at once.  The kiddos really loved that...They are not very good at tying water balloons.

 We also played some water balloon catch games.

 Cousin Tyler and Alex getting ready to light some more fireworks.

 Later that night, we went to the country club and watched the fireworks. Aunt Heather supplied the glow necklaces for everyone.

 Then...on the 24th, we traveled down to Utah county to spend time with our cousins down there. Uncle Eric and Aunt Katie hosted everyone for a bbq and fireworks.  Here is a shot of the collection they had in their garage...so many that we didn't even finish them!

 All of the kiddos lined up ready to begin.

 Siblings and spouses ready to watch.

 I got a quick shot of Alex with a sparkler...He was dashing back and forth lighting so many fireworks he didn't have alot of time to pose for mom!

I especially love these two holidays, as it allows us to get together with our family and enjoy each other's company!