Got home Monday-took me until today to get a month's worth of travel put away. Loving my bed, but not liking the heat. Already missing the summer night's in Utah. Highlights of what I did/learned:
-Why I never learn my lesson about buying the 64oz soda while driving long distances in the car through the desert when bathrooms are scarce? I ask myself why, why, why?
-The boys loved their sports camps. Bridger's flag football team won the championship.
-The boys got to feed some bears-they hid food and then the bears came into their den and found it-Ella was too young.
-Yellowstone is beautiful, although it takes you an hour to travel 20 miles because of wildlife off the side of the road and very slow drivers.
-Very annoying drivers visit Yellowstone-make sure you plan accordingly (I know this sounds mean, but one night because of a very slow driver-we almost missed getting ice cream because the store was closing-the kids gotta have their ice cream-we are on vacation.)
-Hubby taught the boys to fly fish-Bridger catch his very first fish off of a dry fly in the Firehole River.
-Ella does not like wildlife-should have know this one because she did not like the zoo in China.
-When vacationing with friends, put the boys in one car and the girls in another. Boys play cards-girls watch princess movies...works out great for the parents.
-Had the opportunity to attend a wedding in Salt Lake City-a friend and neighbor re-married after his sweet wife passed away from cancer a short time ago. Glad to see him happy again.
-Played in Park City, Utah and rode a roller coaster through the mountains-definitely a favorite.
-Ella loved playing with her cousins. I wished we lived closer to family because I saw the huge impact they had on her-she bonded instantly.
-Got "kidding" kicked out of my brother's house-while I and my SIL's sister, Grace were babysitting. My niece decided to cut off her hair-Ella was in on the planning, but the girls were caught before Ella could get to her hair. I had a total "freak-out" while Grace, who used to be or still is Sister Grace (she is on sabbatical from her convent in the Philippines) remained calm. Grace kept telling me it was going to be OK-nobody was going to get mad. I seriously looked at her and could hear the screaming little voice in my head saying "you are such a nun...we are SO dead." After Fantastic Sam's got done "fixing" my niece's hair, she had a shorter version of the Dorothy Hamil haircut. So Sorry Bro!
-Watched Angel Moroni be put in place on the Daybreak Temple-very cool!
-Visited friends.
-Met for an hour with a mother ready to leave for Taiwan to pick up her daughter-love talking international adoption.
-Picked "wild flowers" in Wyoming to put on Grandma's grave. Still can't believe she is gone-it has almost been six months.
-So much more. We had a blast-made the summer fly by and for some reason this trip brought back a lot of memories. Guess there is something to be said about "going home."
I am working on my story of Ella's referral day...hopefully, I will get that posted soon. I realized that half of my pictures are downloaded onto my friends computer...most of my Ella pictures...I will have to post some others later. I am now off to catch up on blog reading =).
Feeding the Bears
-Why I never learn my lesson about buying the 64oz soda while driving long distances in the car through the desert when bathrooms are scarce? I ask myself why, why, why?
-The boys loved their sports camps. Bridger's flag football team won the championship.
-The boys got to feed some bears-they hid food and then the bears came into their den and found it-Ella was too young.
-Yellowstone is beautiful, although it takes you an hour to travel 20 miles because of wildlife off the side of the road and very slow drivers.
-Very annoying drivers visit Yellowstone-make sure you plan accordingly (I know this sounds mean, but one night because of a very slow driver-we almost missed getting ice cream because the store was closing-the kids gotta have their ice cream-we are on vacation.)
-Hubby taught the boys to fly fish-Bridger catch his very first fish off of a dry fly in the Firehole River.
-Ella does not like wildlife-should have know this one because she did not like the zoo in China.
-When vacationing with friends, put the boys in one car and the girls in another. Boys play cards-girls watch princess movies...works out great for the parents.
-Had the opportunity to attend a wedding in Salt Lake City-a friend and neighbor re-married after his sweet wife passed away from cancer a short time ago. Glad to see him happy again.
-Played in Park City, Utah and rode a roller coaster through the mountains-definitely a favorite.
-Ella loved playing with her cousins. I wished we lived closer to family because I saw the huge impact they had on her-she bonded instantly.
-Got "kidding" kicked out of my brother's house-while I and my SIL's sister, Grace were babysitting. My niece decided to cut off her hair-Ella was in on the planning, but the girls were caught before Ella could get to her hair. I had a total "freak-out" while Grace, who used to be or still is Sister Grace (she is on sabbatical from her convent in the Philippines) remained calm. Grace kept telling me it was going to be OK-nobody was going to get mad. I seriously looked at her and could hear the screaming little voice in my head saying "you are such a nun...we are SO dead." After Fantastic Sam's got done "fixing" my niece's hair, she had a shorter version of the Dorothy Hamil haircut. So Sorry Bro!
-Watched Angel Moroni be put in place on the Daybreak Temple-very cool!
-Visited friends.
-Met for an hour with a mother ready to leave for Taiwan to pick up her daughter-love talking international adoption.
-Picked "wild flowers" in Wyoming to put on Grandma's grave. Still can't believe she is gone-it has almost been six months.
-So much more. We had a blast-made the summer fly by and for some reason this trip brought back a lot of memories. Guess there is something to be said about "going home."
I am working on my story of Ella's referral day...hopefully, I will get that posted soon. I realized that half of my pictures are downloaded onto my friends computer...most of my Ella pictures...I will have to post some others later. I am now off to catch up on blog reading =).
Feeding the Bears
<
The bear finding Hunter's hidden food
Our friends who came along
Fly Fishing
I know it is small, but who can argue with that smile
LOVE these photos 
There is a bear in there somewhere
Bridger found "his" National Forest 
Waiting for Old Faithful to erupt
Sports Camps-Living it up in the Dorms 
Angel Moroni 
10 comments:
Sounds like a super fun time. Riding a roller coaster through the mountains sounds pretty amazing. I didn't know Ella had nieces and nephews (LOL...go back and read that part. I'm sure you meant cousins).
What fabulous pictures, Ronda!!! I loved all your travel tips... including "boys in 1 car for card games, girls in the other for princess movies"... very smart!!! :) Traveling with a big family is completely exhausting but wonderful!! My fave pictures were the fly fishing ones... I would love to learn how to do that.
Rebecca
Looks good girlfriend. It was such a fun trip. I love to hear it from another point of view! Thanks for everything!
Welcome home!!! I so enjoyed your photo and the 'review' of your trip. Amazing time!!!
Have a fun weekend getting things back in order ; )
Thanks Rhonda...That is what I get for posting at 1 a.m.
Wow! What a great trip! Great pictures, too. I love the one of Bridger with "his" sign. How perfect! That needs framed and put in his room... or on his door.
Loved the summary of your trip. Great pics too. So cool about seeing the Angel Moroni placed! Where is the Daybreak temple?? Your comment on my blog about $$$ spent at the BYU bookstore made me feel better. At least I'm sharing the the sting in the pocketbook with someone. Funny though - Brent felt no sting at all. : )
So fun to see you--what a great trip you had! I just loved the pic with the boys next to the river and Ella just relaxing in her chair with her sunglasses on! So sweet! And way to go Bridger! Way to make your dad proud!
So much fun packed into a few weeks! Very cute pictures! It IS nice to sleep in your own bed though, isn't it?
Looks like such a great time! Love the photos. Ella certainly is growing up. It is amazing how much they have changed since we have been home.
BTW-I was recently tagged by Trish who was in China last Nov adopting her daughter Izzy, when we were there! The rules of tagging is to list six words that describe me and tag five new people!
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