Yellowstone National Park!

Ever since we had our boys, we've been a little less

spontaneous so we decided that that needed to end and we needed to take a spontanious trip to Yellowstone!

So that's what we did, we went to ward council and made sure everything would be set up for Church and then took off for Yellowstone. The drive up was beautiful but once we got in the park, it didn't take more than 10 minutes before we came across our first animal sighting. These beautiful elk were grazing by a river so we got the boys out and snapped a few pictures. 

I have to admit, I got a little emotional at the sight of these beautiful creatures, so calm and trusting. And as people piled out of their cars I couldn't help but recognize that we were all united for a moment. People from all over the country (and world) were here just to witness this beauty. We were all silent and smiling, in unwritten agreement that this was a beautiful experience and we were all happy to share it together. It was a beautiful manifestation to me of how we are all Gods creations and sometimes, we get to see through his eyes and see one another as an equally important part of his beautiful plan.

Here's Chelsea and Porter getting closer to the animals!

Thanks for the family shot Trent, I LOVE it!

"Porter, are you seeing these Elk?!"-Liam

These guys were my favorite! We snapped this shot from the car, just before it really started raining.

Whenever it was sunny, we got out of the car. It was such a wet day but it made the trees lok that much greener and the steam from the pits and pools even bigger!

We were about to drive away when this pool had a massive explosion.

My favorite part of the whole day was having Liam fall asleep in my chest, not once but twice! (if you know him, you know this is as rare a sighting as anything) I also realized during this trip that my roots are atrocious. The rain didn't help my hair either but I formally apologize for the mess on my head.

This was a gorgeous spot. The hot water ran off into a cool river so there was a constant cloud of steam that really warmed up the area. The pools were so beautiful and the different mineral colors were amazing.

See how thick that steam was!

Hey look! It's Porter in 24 years!

This is my favorite picture of all time...ALL TIME! My junior rangers are my favorite!

Porter needed a little help with his hat :)

We waited a whole hour to see Old Faithful and I'm not going to lie...we were loosin faith in her. We though maybe she was a little less faithful than her name portrays but finally...she blew! And she was gorgeous. I've read that people believe that old faithful has healing powers and many people come from near and far to have a spiritual experience with her. It was a truly beautiful sight!

Portmaster got pretty cold but he seemed to really enjoy it from inside.

On the way out, we saw a coyote in the grass and the boys stopped to check it out..I still think it was a wolf.

Oh and before I forget! I have to record this hilarious memory. We were at a gas station, just inside West Yellowstone and the cashier was joking around about the bear repellant. he told us that it was sad but a lot of Asians and Indians come through and they speak very little to no English so they'll by the bear repellant and apply it to their children as they would insect repellant! Chad and Trent thought it was the funniest thing! They laughed about it randomly throughout the day :) They would act out the scenario over and over and they laugh like it was the first time they'd thought about it, every time!

We stopped at "The Gusher" for some dinner on the way out and I couldn't resist. Everyone... Liam Bollwinkle the Moose!

It was a great time with great friends. We cant wait to take the boys when they're a little older but we were happy to get one last hooray before school starts up again.