Trip to Yellowstone

The kids had 2 days off school this week, so we decided to make a quick trip to Rexburg to see Kirk at BYU-I and spend one day at Yellowstone. We like road trips and going to Rexburg only takes about 4 hours by car, so it's very doable.

We left early Friday morning and stopped in Rigby at The Quilt Shoppe on the way in to Rexburg. Mary Lutz works at the store and we met her there. Of course, I managed to pick up a couple yards of fabric for a quilt border I'm working on. Amy Hamberlin owns the shop and it comprises the front part of her 100 year old home. She has great taste and is very creative, but running a business like this takes its toll on the family. She still has little ones at home and I could see that you can't do it all. I never had that desire to do something else while my kids were young, at least nothing that would take me away from them for an extended period of time. I truly loved being with my kids every day and still do. I'm crazy about them.

After Rigby, we checked into the Best Western in Rexburg and met up with Kirk and his girlfriend Rachel at a volleyball game. During the game, we actually managed to squeeze in some bowling on campus. The little girls love to go bowling. None of us did very well, but it was fun. Afterwards, we all went out to dinner at a pizza buffet called Craigos. The pizza, especially the crust, was very tasty. And of course, afterwards, a trip to visit one of our kids in college wouldn't be complete without taking them to the store to let them fill the cart with what they need. Mary enjoyed picking up some essentials too.

Back at the motel, the girls went swimming in the indoor pool. Sometimes I think that's the best part of the trip for them.

We got an early start in the morning heading over to Yellowstone which is about 80 miles away. Rachel and Kirk came with us and we managed to all fit in one car. It looked like it was going to be rainy all day, but as it turned out, the weather was mainly just overcast. We were very lucky. One of our goals in going to Yellowstone is to try and spot as many animals as we can. Never once have we seen a bear there and once again we only managed to see people who had just seen a bear, but we never got to see one. There was plenty of elk, deer, and bison though to keep us pretty entertained. We drove the northern loop this time and went to Mammoth Falls. It was beautiful. While there we actually ran into Jennifer Bergmann's daughter Erin and her husband. We haven't seen her since we lived in Hilton Head so it was an odd encounter, but fun nonetheless.

We made another pilgrimage to Old Faithful and it was still just that, "old" and "faithful".

It was a long day and we didn't get home until 8pm. We were really trying to make it back by 6pm so the boys could go to General Priesthood mtg. We were also disappointed that we couldn't get any radio reception in the car so we could listen to the Saturday sessions. Luckily I remembered to Tivo them back home.

Back at the motel, I asked Harold and Kirk to give me a blessing for my esophogeal problems I've been having lately. It was so nice to feel that priesthood power and especially to feel it coming from my husband and my son.

The girls packed up their bags and excitedly got ready for their sleepover with Mary in her apartment. They'd been looking forward to this for a few weeks now. Mary is the best cousin. They just love her. Alex spent the night with Kirk, so Harold and I had a nice evening all to ourselves.

Sunday morning Harold and I watched Sunday morning conference and then halfway through we checked out of the motel and went to Mary's to watch the second half. Mary had made cinnamon rolls for everyone and the girls were still hyper with sleepover excitement. Kirk and Alex also met us there.

I loved Pres. Monson's talk about change and hope. It's amazing to listen to him speak. The mantle of the prophet is so evident and it's so comforting.

We made the trip back home after conference and we were even able to listen to the afternoon session in the car. The trip home went by fast (in part because of the fact I was working on Leah's baptism quilt the whole time). Friends said it had rained all weekend back home, so we felt very fortunate that we had had such good weather.

I love little getaways. They always lift my spirits. Exploring new areas is one of my favorite things to do.