Yellowstone

I finally went on the MacKay Yellowstone trip after being in the family for five years. This is my father-in-law's favorite place in the world and he knows it like the back of his hand. One MacKay gene that Mike did not get was the OCD for planning and organization (which can be good and bad). We of course got our itineraries six months ago by email and subsuquent emails with further details after that. Not to mention frequent reminders at Sunday dinners. All in all, we had a good time with family and were pretty exhausted when we get home...isn't that a sign of a good vacation?

This is the bike/hike we took on the first full day there to a place called Osprey Falls. I think this was the only place my father-in-law had not been, hence he did not know how long or steep the hike was! We did a round trip of 9.6 miles to the falls, but it was worth it when we got there.


Wildlife...we had a picture taking contest so everyone was doing their best to get pictures of the animals. We haven't had the official judging yet, so we'll see. These are some pictures Mike took with his dad's very nice camera (a lot nicer than ours!).

The hike down Uncle Tom's Cabin where you walk down a steep staircase. Not too bad on the way down, but a little more effort on the way back. At least I didn't have a child on my back like everyone pictured below!

Suspension Bridge

Swimming at some random part of the river and at the 45th parallel, where hot springs run into the river.

More pictures from various parts of Yellowstone.

Okay, this post took me freakin' forever...that is why I do not post very often or very much at one time. I'm spent, it may be awhile now.

So you think you can WHAT?

I'm seriously thinking about boycotting the rest of this show. I was shocked when Kherington and Gev got eliminated last week, but this week was just down right insane. I was really hoping Will might win this season. Huge disappointment. Oh well, at least Comfort got eliminated (again).

Oliver's haircut

Well, we finally gave Oliver his first proper haircut. We have mostly been too lazy to give it a short cut, but decided he would probably benefit from short hair for the remainder of the summer (he sweats like crazy on his head)! I had my brother Dave take a picture before because I really do like the long hair, but Mike did an excellent job on the haircut and of course I think it's just as cute.

Best buds

I'm experimenting with this new collage program I downloaded at photoscape.com. Here are some pictures of Oliver and Grandpa Trump. I think Grandpa may be one of Oliver's favorite people, even more than mom and dad (seriously). They love to take jazzy rides, eat breakfast together, play with trucks and look out the front door for cats.

Memories of England

I have been looking through old photos trying to put together some sort of album(s) over the past five years....I know, yikes! It has been fun to see old photos and the ones from England brought back lots of memories, so I thought I would share a few.

Mike mowing our little lawn with an electric lawn mower! Yes, we actually plugged it in in the house. This was my first bike in England, what a beauty! I got plenty of stares and comments as I rode this around town. Don't let this ugly, weird, little bike fool you it was pretty darn comfy with its full suspension.

The beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire. Yes I hate to admit it, but I probably did not fully appreciate the beauty of it while we were there.

Maybe my all time favorite picture from England. We were on a walk with our ward somewhere in the country and this telephone booth was randomly along the side of an old country road. Don't we look like completely lost American tourists? Ahhh...so British.

What a coincidence!

While looking through my Parents magazine I found an article about children with sleep problems. At the end there were some suggested books and this was one of them. . .





I nearly fell off my seat because this title perfectly explains my little boy who of course is named Oliver. I think I will order this book.

New Mexico

It has been a few weeks now since returning from New Mexico, but I figure better late than never. While Mike was in England for 10 days, I decided to take Oliver down to Albuquerque to visit my brother Adam and his family. Oliver did surprisingly good on both flights and we had a great time hanging out with the cousins.

Oliver and Ashton were jealous of Averie's headband so here's a picture of the "girls".

Oliver was loving the rocking horse action.

Oliver and Averie hanging out reading books. When they weren't hugging each other and playing nicely, they were poking eyes, pulling hair and taking each others toys away. I'm pretty sure all of those things mean cousin love.

No, my brother is not a giant...this four wheeler is a small size meant for only children. Oh well, the kids still reaped the benefits of the four wheeler thanks to a wagon and motorbike tricycle. And yes, you're looking at their backyard (about one tenth of it).

These are the neighbors horses which Oliver called "woof" and was loving.