YELLOWSTONE!!! (w/ pictures!)

One of the waterfalls in Firehole Canyon

We went to Yellowstone this past Wednesday & we probably shouldn't have (I'll explain why in a minute) but it was still fun. We didn't get out of the house until close to noon, so it wasn't a very long trip, but when it's only an hour away, that doesn't really matter all that much! We've only gone during the summer months before, so since it's October the animals were strangely absent. It was a little eerie! We usually see hundreds of buffalo in what we call the "buffalo field" and lots of elk and moose. This time we saw a total of 5 buffalo and only 3 herds of elk. We did see a bald eagle though. That was neat. We went to Old Faithful & did the fountain paint pots walk. Then on the way out we went on the 2 mile firehole canyon drive, which was gorgeous! And while we driving through the canyon I remembered going swimming there with my dad & sister when I was about 10. I have a crazy memory of my dad going cliff diving while Tennille & I swam in the shallow river. What fun!

Our family has had this nasty virus slowly sweeping through it for almost 2 weeks now. It's AWFUL!!! It's what we took Amber to the emergency room for 2 Sundays ago, then Allie got it (twice) and Adam got it. Ben just got over it this morning, so Abby & I are the only ones not to get it. Cross your fingers that we don't! The stomach pain (& I do mean PAIN) only lasts about 12 hours, but the high fever & headache linger for about a day or two. Well, we thought Adam was over everything, but he got sick again when we were in Yellowstone. So, Ben and I had to take turns carrying him on our backs or shoulders while the other pushed the stroller. That's why we shouldn't have gone. We tried to just drive to see things so he wouldn't have to walk (or rather, be carried) but the kids were getting restless in the car & we didn't want to keep the movies going because it's Yellowstone for pete's sake! So, we decided to call it a day & head home. Adam crashed on the Living Room couch the minute we walked in the door. Poor kid. But, we went to Yellowstone this year! I have yet to go there & see a bear. I swear one day I will!

Ben and I have sort of gone on a food storage frenzy. We used to have a lot of food storage until we bought this house 3 1/2 years ago. We were trying to save as much money as possible to buy our house, so we lived off of our food storage for a while & now we have little to none. We suddenly feel an urgency to get it done. Maybe nothing will happen, but I get a little panicky when I realize that we are so far from ready! I guess maybe we're just ready to be prepared. We've even asked for it for Christmas. Maybe Santa will get it done for us! :)

The kids & I on the bridge by Old Faithful

I thought Allie looked so cute. And she kept her hair done for longer than 5 minutes!

I know this post is boring, but for some reason I'm in a really boring mood! Sorry! Oh, I've also started a diet (again!) but hopefully this time it'll stick. I'm toying with the idea of starting a "diet blog" just so I have someone to be accountable to. I don't know. I only have 10 - 15 lbs. to lose, so it's not all that much, but it seems like it's going to take forever. I'm one of those people that needs a constant kick in the pants to keep going. People keep saying "You look fine" or "I don't think you need to lose any weight" - stuff like that. But I swear if they ever saw me in a swimming suit they would make me go get dressed again. I'm not wanting to look perfect (well, I am, but I know that'll never happen!) I just want to feel good! So, I'm excited to get it done.

Old Faithful

Poor sick Adam crashed on the couch

Oh, I'm done with the kids Halloween costumes too! And I think Ben & I are going to dress up this year too for once. I'm actually excited for the holidays! Except when I walk in Walmart & see Christmas stuff up already I start to panic just a little.

So, that's life for us right now. Not very exciting, but I almost like it better this way!