Yellowstone

I have never been to Yellowstone, so I was excited when we decided to go there one day as part of the reunion.  I did not know how big Yellowstone is.  You could be there for days and not see everything.

An especially cool area was the paint pots geysers.  These were beautiful colors.

We could see blue and brown and red and orange and all kinds of beautiful colors.

This geyser does not go off very often.  Se we were lucky that it went off as we were traveling by.  A bunch of people rushed down to get closer to it.  Now I can say that I have been misted/sprayed by a geyser.

Of course, we needed to see Old Faithful while we were there.

While waiting for the eruption, which happens about every 70 minutes, we went into the visitors center and the kids got to learn more about geysers and other things in Yellowstone.

The geyser was amazing.  It lasted several minutes.

I thought it looked kind of cool against the cloudy sky background.

While waiting for everyone to gather, the kids made sand/pebble castles.

Some of the grandkids after eating a yummy picnic.

We stopped for some ice cream while heading back to the car.  Adam was nicely fed from everyone's ice cream cone; he got a little messy.

If you see a head cut out board, you have to stop and take a picture.

We saw this as we were leaving.  What an amazing trip to Yellowstone.
More vacation pictures to come.

The Grand Tetons

During our reunion we visited a couple of national landmarks.  One of the places was the Grand Tetons - a magnificent mountain range.

Isn't it beautiful?

Trying to park was a nightmare, but it was worth it.  Will was nice enough to carry a cooler full of our lunches as we hiked.

We found a quiet little spot to eat.  For some reason, picnics make the food taste extra good.  The lunch was yummy.

Then everyone was ready to go into the lake.  Adam was funny; he loved the water but he hated the sounds of waves and would come running back to me all scared when the waves came by.  The water was a little chilly but not terrible.

Rachel and Megan take a turn on the floating tube.  They thought this was pretty awesome.

We rented a canoe for a couple of hours.  Everyone got to take a turn riding in it.  I think Whitney loved it the most and went several times.

We went to another lake close by and Whitney wanted the camera to take a couple of pictures.  I guess this flower caught her eye.

Then we went to the Bar J for dinner.  I have never been to a Bar J but it was fun and yummy.  The girls found this horse immediately.

We went exploring a little bit before dinner.  Look at the ginormous wheel from the wagon.

Cute girls found a bench to swing on for a little while.

The dinner came with a show.  The ranchers sang and told funny stories.  Some of the kids got really into it and started dancing.

So it was a really fun day.  And we all made it back over the mountain in the dark.  More adventures to come.

Mesa Falls Lodge

This is the first post of our amazing vacation.  Will's sister Emily found a lodge in Idaho that was perfect for a Keeler family reunion.

Look at all these cute kids (plus one arm).  This is the kids outside of the lodge.

And this is the view from the yard.  It was beautiful and so peaceful.

Will brought his big bubbles.  All the cousins seemed to enjoy playing with the bubbles.

Adam especially loved the bubbles, but he liked the flavor of it more than the making of it.

We took advantage of the fire pit to make s'mores.  These were so good.

I went down the path with Megan to get down to the little river.  We found a cute little waterfall at the bottom.

The hot tub was set to 98 degrees, which was perfect for the kids.  They were in it for a long time.  And some were even brave enough to put their heads under.  Will and I took advantage of the hot tub after the kids were asleep.  That was really nice.

Grandma Keeler brought pool noodles for all the grandkids.  These toys were a hit and instantly became swords between the good guys and the bad guys.

There were a couple of crafts that the kids could do during some down time.  We actually stayed pretty busy during our couple of days at the lodge.  More about that will come in another post.

As we left we decided to feed fish some of the leftover bread.  They seemed to like it and the kids liked seeing their bread pieces disappear.

Anyway, the lodge was super wonderful.  I am glad that so many cousins got a chance to play together.  Thank you to everyone who helped plan the reunion.

Fun Fest

We went to another Fun Fest here in Hermiston.  It is like a big carnival once a year.

There were some fun kid games.  This bowling one was new.  It only took many many tries to get the pins to knock over.

The Home Depot comes every year to bring kid crafts.  The girls each got an apron and we brought our crafts home (it was too hot to want to stay there hammering).

Megan tries out another new game - throwing darts at balloons.

Once an hour a radio station group would pick five names to go into the money box.  Rachel and Will were both selected to take a turn.  We earned some free money and free bowling and free swimming.  So that was really cool.

A lot of bands come to the Fun Fest.  We stopped and listened to the youth drums.

There was a small art exhibit.  Each kid got to vote on their favorite, but I am not sure who won.

Lots of face painting.  Look at all those cute girls.

We took a turn at the bounce house.  Actually, we took lots of turns.  This is probably the girls favorite activity whenever we find one.

And right after Fun fest, we blew up a bunch of punch balloons that the girls won during the carnival games.  Adam loved the balloons.

Anyway, it was a fun day.  Now we are starting to get ready for our big vacation.  I am excited to see a lot of family in a few days.

Kaitlin is back

My sister has been a missionary serving in the Jackson, Mississippi mission and just came back this last week.

We went down to Pasco to be there when Kaitlin got home.  My mom texted like 25 minutes before they would arrive so we went outside to wait.  The kids did a lot of scootering.

It was great seeing her again after so long.  Adam wasn't too sure at first.  But he is an easy going boy and warmed up to her quickly.

That evening was my parents' ward's pioneer party.  So we went to that all together.  There was yummy food.

Adam shows off his messy hands.  He likes to hold a fork and try to eat, but he isn't good at this and ends up using his fingers instead.

Here we are back at my parents' house.  We asked a neighbor to come over and take a picture.  Notice that Kaitlin still has her missionary tag because she hadn't been officially released yet.

This adorable baby is my other sister, Kylee's baby.  She was so cute and friendly.  They are going to live with my parents for a couple of months so we will get to see more of them.  My kids were really excited about this baby, so I have high hopes that they will do well with our new baby.

And just in comparison - here is Kaitlin and my crew.

And here they are right before Kaitlin left.  You don't really notice them growing until you look back like this.

Welcome back Kaitlin!  I am glad that your mission went so well.  You are a good example for all of us.