Yellowstone--First and Last of the National Parks

We started this year of National Parks knowing that we really wanted to go to Yellowstone.  Due to a number of circumstances, we ended up going in October.  I know, you're thinking that's the worst time to go to Yellowstone.  Actually, it was really a great time to go.  We got a hotel for pretty cheap in West Yellowstone.  And the temperatures were cool in the mornings and evenings (think jackets and scarves), but warm during the day (peel off those layers).

Our first day we went to the upper half of the park.  We saw hot springs and mud pots.  We went to Mammoth Hot Springs and saw a lot of wild life.

At Mammoth Hot Springs.  Hannah had a baby from her child development class.
She named it LaFonda.  

The colors are just amazing. 

First bear sighting.  We had two.  This one was a small bear in a meadow just off the road.
You're not supposed to, but people were parked all along the side of the road, out of their cars, and
taking pictures of the bear.  (Yes, me too.)

Oh look, a buffalo right outside my window.  

Our second day we went to the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center.  It was a great way to see the bears up close and learn about them.  

I can't decide if Sophie's afraid of the bear or Maggie.  

One of the bears in bear enclosure.  It's a grizzly.
 You can tell because of the hump above his shoulder.  

Caleb took this great shot of a wolf.

Caleb and Katrina pretending to be wolves on top of the wolf den.  

 Probably the best part of the day was when the three younger kids got to feed the bears.  They move all the bears out of the bear enclosure, give the kids a bucket with fruit in it, and let them hide it for the bears.  It was exciting to hide the food and then watch the bears come out and try to find the food you hid.

Caleb's in the red pants hiding food for the bears under a log.  

The rest of the day was totally lazy.  The little kids played in the hotel's hot tub and the big girls watched a Harry Potter marathon.  We ate dinner at a cute diner style restaurant that night and worked on our junior ranger badges.  

Our last day in Yellowstone was short.  We wanted to drive home by way of Grand Teton National Park, but because of road closures in Yellowstone, we had an additional 2 hours of driving time.  We got up early and drove into the park.  It was foggy and frosty, which made everything look magical.  The one thing we wanted to see was Old Faithful.  

Yep.  It's faithful alright.  We were impressed that it really went off when the ranger said it would.  

Happy Junior Ranger.

After the eruption.  

Grand Teton was beautiful. We spent about an hour there walking around and skipping rocks in the lake.  

The Grand Tetons

Have lake, will skip rocks.

This trip wins for the most comfortable.  Staying in a hotel will always beat camping.  

It also wins for most animals spotted.  As we drove into the park, the ranger gave us a sheet with pictures of animals that are found in Yellowstone.  I was impressed at the number of animals we were able to cross off our list.  

And it wins as the park we'd like to go back to.  We drove all over the place and saw a lot of things, but we still felt like we'd just barely scratched the surface.
Just in case you didn't know, and were confused by my title, Yellowstone was the first national park.  It was established in 1872.  And, it was the last national park trip we took on our national parks pass.

Capitol Reef and Goblin Valley

We still had National Parks to visit in the fall.  We decided to go with my family to Capitol Reef National Park in September.

We had lunch at a nice park in Capitol Reef.  We picked delicious apples from the trees in the orchard there and were visited by a herd of deer.

Deer looking for a little lunch.

After lunch we went for a hike to a natural bridge.  There were lots of cool rock formations that had been carved by water along the way.

Sophie and Katrina rest in a small cave. 

Under the arch.

Maggie gets hand cuffed by the mountain.  

Our next day was a trip to Goblin Valley.  It's not a national park, but awesome none the less.  The main "hike" is just off the picnic area.  You walk down in to a basin that is full of these neat goblins.  There's no actual trail, just a lot of fun rock formations to explore.  

Resting in the shade.

Caleb and Aaron.

Katrina had so much fun climbing all over.  "Take my picture, Mom."  

This one looks like a camel. 

We found a cool cave to climb into.  

Lance and Abbot Junior Rangers.

This trip wins as the wettest.  It down poured on us the last night, leaking into our tent.  It wasn't so bad in the morning, but it was raining as we packed up.  We had to go home and dry everything out.  It also wins for the best hike.  The hike we went on in Goblin Valley was so much fun.  It was just exploring and climbing.  

And this trip wins for the most exciting ending.  As we're packing up, Aaron realizes he doesn't have the keys to his car.  (We had driven up separately.)  We look every where around camp, but can't find them.  We drove out to the town, where we had cell signal, and tried to get a locksmith to help.  It was Sunday, which lowered the number of locksmiths available, and none of the people we contacted could help.  We finally decided to drive out by way of Goblin Valley to see if maybe they got turned in there, as that was the last time Aaron remembered having them.  We finally found them at the gas station we had stopped at the night before for drinks.  They had fallen out of Aaron's pocket.  So, three hours after we started to leave, we actually did leave.  It was a long day in the car.

National Parks: The Grand Tour

Every June, Aaron goes to an audio/visual convention that toggles between Orlando and Las Vegas. This year it was in Vegas.  The kids were super excited to go to Vegas and swim in the hotel pool - always the highlight of any trip with a hotel stay. We also decided to visit three national parks afterwards.
Some of you may recall our exciting adventures in Las Vegas from two years ago (roadtrip).  This time it was blessedly calm.

Treehouse at the Bellagio

While Aaron was at his convention, and when we weren't in the pool, we toured around town.  We went to the Bellagio and saw the indoor gardens, the Chihuli glass ceiling, and the water fountain show.  We also talked to Spiderman.

Katrina was excited to see Spiderman

Too hot! The shade was a little cool.
 I think behind Caleb and Katrina is a wall from the original fort.

Next we went to the Mormon fort.  Did you know that Mormons were some of the first settlers in Las Vegas?  They weren't there very long, but established a fort along the banks of a spring.  It was a super hot day whan we were there, but wading in the stream was a fun way to cool off.  Then we visited Ethel M's chocolates and toured the factory and cactus gardens.  The chocolate was yummy.

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon.  We got there late at night and set up the tent in the dark.  Good times!

Hiking at the Grand Canyon.  

We hiked to a look out point and around through the forest.  The canyon was amazingly huge.  No pictures will ever do it justice.

We stayed at the North Rim.  It's higher than the South Rim and less crowded.

Panorama from the North Rim

Caleb and Katrina wanted to do the junior ranger badges at all of the National Parks.  They had just one day to complete each one.  We went to an interesting ranger talk about the plants and animals on the North Rim.  Probably the most exciting thing we did was go to a star party.  Aaron, Hannah and Caleb all went; everyone else was too tired.  They said it was amazing how much you could see.  They were also impressed with the expertise of the amateurs who were running the telescopes.  You would tell them you wanted to see something, and they would say "oh yeah," and just swing right over to it.  

Our next stop was Zions National Park.  It was quite a hot day.  So we were glad there was several places to get wet.

Maggie and Sophie get their hair wet at the Hanging Gardens.  

At the Hanging Gardens

Wading in the Virgin River.

Caleb ropes cattle.

We hiked to the Hanging Gardens and along the Virgin River.  Then we went to a ranger talk about the people who lived in the area, Native Americans and pioneers. 

The next morning we drove to Bryce Canyon for our last National Park of the trip.  We had intended to get a camping spot and spend the night, but the kids were done camping at this point.

Somehow, this is the only photo I have of our time in Bryce.
I'm glad I could preserve this moment for posterity.

Luckily, Aaron took a few pictures with his phone.

Panorama from Sunset Point (or was is Sunrise Point?)

Waterfall near Mossy Cave

We had been to Bryce the year before with my Dad when he ran and biked 65 miles for 65 years.  So, we went to a ranger talk about geology (it was very hot) and then went to a part of Bryce that is a little off the beaten path: Mossy Cave.  Really the moss was rather disappointing, but the river was fantastic. We hiked all along the river and under the waterfall.  There was a bus load of Asian tourists in the water below a waterfall rubbing mud all over themselves.  I must have been looking in need of a beauty treatment, because one of the men started pantomiming that I should do it too.

Cutest Junior Ranger.

Three Junior Ranger badges in three days.  I think that deserves a super hero pose.

We decided to eat dinner at Ruby's Inn.  Everyone thought it was super delicious after three days of camp stove food.  We got home after midnight, but some people stayed up to take a shower.  Four days of heat and dust makes you disgusting.  

I think this trip wins the prize for most Junior Ranger badges, 3 in 3 days.  It also wins for best star viewing and as the hottest trip.  And it wins for most interesting book on CD.  We listened to Neil deGrasse Tyson's book The Pluto Files.  

National Parks: Mesa Verde

In January, Sophie and Aaron went on a trip to Arizona for Sophie's state report.  They were visiting quite a few national parks, so Aaron decided to buy the national park pass.  Thus began a year of national park visits.  

Our first destination was Mesa Verde.  We went over spring break.  We stayed at a really nice hotel in Durango that had two levels, three bedrooms, and a kitchenette.  It also had a swimming pool and sauna.  I believe we spent every evening in the pool area.  

Our first day we went to Mesa Verde.  We hiked to the cliff dwellings and looked around a bit.  Then Aaron, Hannah, Maggie, and Caleb went on a guided tour of some cliff dwellings that you had to scale several ladders to get to.  Sophie, Katrina and I stayed in the car and had a sing-a-long and watched Frozen.  

Cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde.

Sophie takes a picture.  

Katrina and Caleb at the cave dwellings.

The next day was a little warmer, and we went to Four Corners and Hovenweep.  We had a lot of fun at Four Corners picking out souvenirs.  Everyone got one.  The best one was an arrow that we watched a Navajo guy make.  The girls got jewelry and Caleb got a tomahawk.

Look Ma, I'm in four states at one time.  

 Our next stop was Hovenweep.  It's a canyon of cliff dwellings that is a little newer than Mesa Verde.  It was interesting that such a little canyon had so many settlements.   We also saw a rabbit in the bushes.  Katrina and I were able to get quite close because we were so quiet.

Maggie photo bombs Sophie.  I believe that is the "Nixon."  

Hmm, maybe it's time to go home.  

This was a fun short trip.  It was nice to go some where warm, but sad to drive home and have it get colder as we went.  Four Corners wins as the most expensive souvenir stop.

You say it's your birthday

Caleb turned 8 this year just before Thanksgiving and got baptised just after Thanksgiving.  It was an exciting time for all of us.  He really wanted to have a friend party this year.  He decided on a Mr. and Mrs. Bunny Detectives Extraordinare birthday party.  Luckily, he thought of this as we were shopping for Easter decorations, so we were able to get some awesome bunny themed things for the party, which we had on the Saturday before his birthday.

Caleb investigating his cupcakes.  They were carrot cake with orange cream cheese frosting.

The party invitation was in code and invited everyone to help us solve the mystery of the missing pinata.  We played "What's That Lump?" and looked for the pinata.  Caleb wanted a fox pinata, because the foxes are the bad guys in the book.  Maggie even made a fox-finder like Mr. Bunny's that she used to help find the pinata.  I looked online and found this super cute DIY pinata.  Thanks to my dad who made the form (and saved me $15), I think it turned out really cute.

Lia taking a turn with the fox pinata.  Everybody got a turn, and it was warm enough to do it outside.  Perfect.

The next Saturday was Caleb's baptism.  It was a little stressful having it just a few days after Thanksgiving, but it turned out good.  Caleb was totally excited.  He has a gigantic grin in all of his pictures.

Caleb and his dad right before the big moment.  

The baptism was wonderful. The primary president had everyone write their congratulations or a baptism memory to Caleb.  He got some really neat messages.  It was so fun to have so many caring friends and family there.  Everyone came to our house afterwards.  Caleb's favorite food is chicken pot pie.  We had it on his birthday, and I made 3 9x13's for all the people who were coming to our house after the baptism.  We actually had one left over, which we ate that next week.  My girls are still not ready to eat chicken pot pie.  

My kids also get their first set of scriptures and start fasting when they turn 8.  Caleb was so excited to buy  his scriptures and take them to church.  He was not however excited to start fasting.  He was pretty sure he was going to die.  It was particularly bad because he didn't go to church that day, so it was a long day.  We went out to dinner the night before to celebrate Caleb's baptism.  Caleb choose McDonald's, and after he had finished eating, he said he didn't feel very good.  He then proceeded to throw-up.  He felt better the next day, but I didn't let him go to church, because I didn't want to spread that around.  

I'm proud of him for making the decision to be baptised. I love what a fun and friendly boy he is.  

Happiness is a Christmas Card

This summer we did quite a few things that made us happy.

Caleb got to go to scout day camp for the first time this year.  The Cub Master noticed that the day camp was open to 7 year olds and, since I was going anyway, invited Caleb to go with us.  He loved it.  Especially the obstacle courses.

Caleb's silly face picture is the only one that turned out.  That should make him happy.

 Katrina and her cousin Lia have decided that they are "sister-cousins."  They have even made up a song about it.  It's all about how much they love each other and like playing together.  New verses get added when they forget the old ones.  It's a great song really.

Sister-Cousins with leis for the luau BBQ we had.

Aaron and I got to go on a trip to Hawaii at the end of the summer.  He had a job to do there and I tagged along.  We rode on a catamaran at sunset and saw turtles on the beach.  Happiness is spending time with your best friend.  (Being in Hawaii doesn't hurt either.)

OMG that's a giant sea turtle on the beach!  Wait, look there's more!

We saw 8 or 9 sea turtles who had come up on shore to rest. 

One came out of the water right in front of us.

The girls have been wanting to go to Hawaii for quite some time.  Imagine their excitement when Aaron had another job there, and they got to go to.  They loved going to the beach and playing in the warm water.  

Maggie, Sophie and Hannah on their way to the beach in a tropical paradise.

 They got to go to the Dole plantation and the Polynesian Cultural Center.  They had a lot of fun there learning about Polynesian cultures and sampling the poi. (Poi's really gross.-Hannah)

Aaron and the girls with people from Fiji.  Sophie's holding the chiefs whacking stick.  

Hannah went to Oakcrest for a week in the summer and her favorite part was archery, so now she wants a bow and arrow for Christmas.  Let's hope she doesn't shoot her eye out.

Aaron and I ran in two events this summer.  First, my Dad turned 65 this year and wanted to run/bike 65 miles from where he was born in Panguitch through Bryce Canyon to where his parents lived in Tropic.  It was an amazing run.  Aaron and I ran a leg with him from the rim down into the canyon and back up.  

Dad an I on the trail.
 We were heading up and pausing for pictures and to catch our breath.

The other race we ran in was the Porter Rockwell 10k.   It was a nice race near our house which I wanted to run so I could get a t-shirt with a picture of Porter Rockwell on it and a belt buckle, which was the medal you got if you won.  The t-shirt had the picture on it, but I figured the belt buckle was just a dream.  No one was more surprised than me, when I placed 3rd in my age group and got a belt buckle.

The Proclamation on the Family says "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."   We wish you all this happiness this Christmas season and in the new year.

Love, 
The Abbotts