Update! And It's a Long One

Whew! I feel liked I've been out of the blogging world for such a long time. I guess for me, 2 posts in 2 weeks is a little out of it.

My absence started because of a spur of the moment trip to Yellowstone. Kasey had the week off, and we wanted to do something fun as a family. On Monday afternoon (Sept 22), we decided that we would take a day trip on Tuesday (Sept 23). We left at 4 am and drove for 6 hours. We met up with my parents for the afternoon to look at the bugling elk in Yellowstone. We hung out for a couple of hours, but when it was time to leave for the long trip home, my mom convinced us to stay at the bed and breakfast where she and my dad were staying. So we did. We went to the nearest convenience store and bought some essentials and stayed the night. It was so much fun!! Then after hanging out with my parents and the elk for the morning, we drove the 6 hours home.

I'm not a spontaneous person by any means. (Um hi, deciding something the day before is considered "spur of the moment" at our house.) It was fun testing the waters of spontaneity for a change.

Here are a few pictures from that trip.

Wolf--we weren't lucky enough to see the pack that took down an elk earlier in the day.

Elk at Mammoth Hot Springs--they were so close.
Makayla throwing rocks in the river.
Me helping Ellie throw rocks in the river--both girls loved doing this.
A cute picture of Makayla on our little hike.
Elk by Madison--a bull with part of his harem.
Same bull.
Makayla & Ellie eating fruit snacks before Old Faithful erupted--they weren't as impressed with the geyser as I thought they would be. The treat was better to them.

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Later that week we made a Costco run. By the time we made it to Costco, I had exactly 2 diapers left. Talk about good timing! The girls and I hung out with my sister and her kids while Kasey and my brother-in-law went golfing. Then my sis and I caught the Relief Society Broadcast and dessert with her friends. It was a fun, but admittedly long day.

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Other things taking up our time lately:

*A parenting class put on by Makayla's preschool. Once a week for 5 weeks. I'm learning a lot and am quite a bit more patient with my children as a result.

*A trip to see my friend Amanda and her adorable new baby Parker. Got to see my other sister for a little bit that same day. She has an hilarious roommate from Australia. We love her!

*A weekend at my mom's house. She is making new quilts for my girls' new beds (we're getting them next week. I can't wait!), so I helped her tie one of them and got to see yet another sister before she moves across the country.

*We got home Monday and spent yesterday nursing Kasey back to health after his injury at work. Don't worry--nothing serious. He just tweaked his back and had to lay in bed all day. Not so fun for him, but the girls loved seeing their daddy all day long, even if they couldn't jump on him.