Yellowstone 2018

Our second week of Mark's sabbatical was spent in Lava Hot Springs and Yellowstone.  We had such a great time.  I am finally going to share the pictures.

On our way from Colorado to Lava Hot Springs, we stopped in Soda Springs.

We watched Captive Geyser.

We went on a small hike above our campsite in Lava.

We finally made it to Yellowstone.

This bison walked almost right up to Calvin.

Waiting for Old Faithful, Albric fell asleep.

The best people in the most beautiful place.

Walking by the Madison River.

Some bison hair stuck to the tree.

Walked around most of the attractions with Albric like this.  He said "Hi" to everyone we passed.

Cup o noodles.

Our last fire in Yellowstone.

I loved Yellowstone so much.  I can't wait until our next trip.  Even though it was pretty rainy in May and pretty cold, we had such a good time as a family.  I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father made such a beautiful place on this earth and that he gave others wisdom to preserve it.  I am so glad I got to share it with my little boys and my eternal dance partner.  

Sabbatical Continued

On Tuesday we woke up and played Sorry! again.  The resort had a washing machine, so we were able to wash the vomit off of car seat.  After that was done, we hiked up Fish Creek Falls.  It was still snowy, and we learned why May is known as mud season in Steamboat Springs.  We took a family picture in front of Fish Creek Falls.  Further up the trail, we found a little waterfall and named it Calvin Falls.  We had a snowball fight.  Calvin and Albric pretended to be dragons.  It was very snowy, and our feet were wet and cold, but we kept going.  An older couple passed us, and after they were a little ways up the trail, Calvin called after them saying, "Be careful... and pray!" After we got to a point where we decided it was too much snow, we stopped for lunch on a rock.  On our way back down, it seemed like we slipped and slid most of the way.  We spent about 5 hours on that hike.  When we returned, we played Nerf war in our resort room.  We went to the Backdoor Grill for dinner.  The food was so delicious!  Albric slept most of the time even though it was crowded and super loud. After dinner, we went to the Old Town Hot Springs for twilight swimming.  Albric used arm floaties and swam by himself several times.  He loved being in the water. 

Family Picture in front of Fish Creek Falls

Calvin falls

Resting

Drinking from the camelbak

Albric

He took a nap on Mark's shoulders

Lunch spot

Mark

Selfie with kids trying to get up to where Mark was

Recreation of a picture taken on our honeymoon

On Wednesday, Mark read his library book.  I took the kids to a little playground.  Calvin prayed that Dad would buy him Trouble.  We went and bought it and played it a couple times that night. 

On Thursday we went for a walk along the Yampa River Trail.  It was a pleasant day to be outside.  We stopped at a playground for a while and got rained on there.  We walked back along the trail and went back to the resort.  We went swimming in the resort pool.  Calvin learned to float and had fun playing with two other boys.  We went to the Backdoor Grill for dinner again.  Mark was impressed with the food and the quality of service.

Ready for swimming

They fell asleep like this

On Friday, Mark lost a screw from his glasses.  He ended up sewing them back together.  We swam in the resort pool again.  We visited Fuzziwig's Candy Factory and bought a pound of candy.  The boys also each got a dinosaur toy.  We walked to Sun Pies.  It is a bar that we had gone to on our honeymoon that had cajun food.   I waited outside with the kids while Mark went in and ordered some po' boys for us.  We found a bench to eat them on.  We stopped at a Redbox and rented Lego Batman and ended the day watching that together. 

Mark sewing his glasses back together

Albric was exhausted after swimming

Calvin outside Fuzziwig's with our pound of candy

Mark and Albric digging in to the candy

Sabbatical Part 3

We woke up on Monday morning and enjoyed the dawn chorus.  I think there were at least 15 different species singing.  We fell back asleep and I woke up with a terrible headache.  Mark had to give me a blessing and I was able to rest a bit more and get feeling well enough to journey on.  There was a black wasp enjoying the syrup from our pancakes.  It got pretty windy while we were packing up the tent.  We played with the fly in the wind a little.  We packed up our tent, then drove the rest of the way to Steamboat Springs.  We spent the rest of the day settling into the suite we stayed in.  We went to Steamboat Smokehouse for dinner.  We bought an extra pound of brisket that we were able to use for lunches the next couple of days.  We went grocery shopping at Walmart and bought Sorry! to play.  We took it home and played it a couple of times before bed.

Calvin sleeping in the tent at Deer Creek Campground.

Sabbatical Part 2

When we woke up on Sunday, we got ready for church and attended the ward in the stake center.  It was Fast and Testimony meeting, and for the longest time, no one stood to bear testimonies.  Eventually, a bunch of the kids got up and bore simple, but powerful testimonies.  They brought the Spirit there.  Mark bore his testimony too, sharing how Calvin wanted to camp on the temple grounds, and how he shared the sentiment of wanting to stay in a holy place.  Albric and I explored the building a bit.  After the meeting, we went to the temple grounds again.  Then we went back to the motel and checked out.  We went to the Utah Fieldhouse Museum.  Calvin's favorite part was a little playing room right at the beginning that had dino toys in it.  He didn't want to leave it, and after we saw the whole museum, we went back to that room and let him play for 30 minutes.  We got some groceries and lunch food at Walmart.  Albric fell asleep, so I stayed in the car with him while Calvin and Mark checked out the Cobble Stone Park.  Calvin was not impressed, as there was no playground equipment.  We next went to the Dinosaur National Park.  We rode the shuttle up to the quarry and enjoyed that.  We rode back down in order to take care of a poopy diaper.  We rode the last shuttle of the day back up and took the hike down.  We drove a little longer to the eastern side of Dinosaur National Park and stayed in Deer Creek Campground.  We got there in time for sunset.  

Sabbatical Part 1

At the company Mark works for, after 5 years, you earn a two week sabbatical.  Mark was able to take his this month.  It was awesome, and I loved spending so much time with him and having him with our family.  The first night of our vacation was Thursday night. It was spent at my parents house so we could follow the family down to a camp out at White Rocks.  We had everything packed up for our whole vacation.  We went to dinner at Empire Chinese in Centerville.  Our kids were kind of naughty and running around a lot, but there was only one other person there and he enjoyed watching their antics. 

On Friday morning, we headed over to the Goudy household and got to hold baby Clara while they packed up some last minute things.  Albric absolutely loved holding Clara and was devastated every time I tried to take her back.  We all gassed up our vehicles and followed the procession to White Rocks in Skull Valley.  I didn't take any pictures because I just enjoyed the camping.  Mark set up a little reading nook in a tree with a water bladder hanging above him, and his lounging chair in the shade.  Calvin explored with his cousins and climbed up on the huge rocks.  Albric loved climbing on the stationary motorized vehicles belonging to the Goudys and pretending to drive them.  Calvin got his cast signed by everyone there.  I stayed up later with my siblings telling scary stories around the campfire. We all enjoyed it.

On Saturday morning, we packed all our gear back up in the car and headed to our next destination: Vernal.  It was about 4 hours away from White Rocks.  Albric didn't feel well and we had to stop on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere to let him have a bit of a break.  We drove through a canyon afterwards and he threw up when we drove through Provo.  We pulled over and changed his clothes, then headed through Provo Canyon.  He threw up again, and was unhappy, poor little guy.  When we finally made it to Vernal, we decided to go to JB's for dinner.  I changed Albric's clothes again and we enjoyed being out of the car.  We noticed a church behind JB's.  We walked over to the stake center and behind that was the temple.  We walked into the grounds and enjoyed some quiet time there.  When it was time to go, Calvin wanted to know why we had to leave.  Mark told him that we needed to find a place to sleep for the night.  Calvin replied by pointing to a grassy area of the temple grounds and saying, "I know, we can camp right here!" His sentiment of wanting to stay at a holy place was very powerful and touching.  We ended up staying at the Econolodge that night and everyone was able to get clean and some good rest. 

We took a selfie in front of the temple.

Calvin behind a flower bed on the temple grounds.

Calvin's Cast

11 Days after Albric's emergency room visit, Calvin ended up needing medical care.  On Saturday, we decided to go to the park.  As we started driving there, Mark instead headed up the canyon and we explored the Logan River Trail a bit.  We went up on the mountain on the northern side of the road and we walked along an old pipeline. There were steep parts, and sheer drop offs, but we managed to stay safe. 

We went out for some lunch, and then headed to the old Utah Theater for our ward activity.  We were late, so we went up to the balcony to watch Coco.  After the movie was over, we helped clean the theater.  Calvin was running around on the balcony with other boys from the ward, and somehow cut his ear, but we managed to stay safe.

On the way home, Calvin realized that we had not gone to the park, and he begged to go to Merlin Olsen park.  Albric was napping, so we laid him on a blanket in the shade and watched Calvin play on the playground.  He was climbing up the tall ladder and sliding down the big tube slide.  The last time he climbed up, another little boy was climbing up right behind him.  He was at the top rung when he turned around to tell the other boy that it was his turn to climb up. When he turned around, he let go of the ladder and fell to the ground, landing on his left arm and then his face.  It was really scary to see him fall and be so far away from him.  I immediately jumped up, said to Mark, "Calvin fell off the ladder," and ran over to him.  He had wood chips in his mouth and stuck to his forehead, chin, and cheek. He was crying and very sad.  As we examined him he cried worse when we touched his arm close to his wrist.  I wanted to take him to the doctor right away, but he wanted to stay and play some more.  Mark convinced him to stop crying and looked at his arm some more. He decided that Calvin did indeed need to see a doctor.

We went home and then Calvin and I walked to the Instacare.  We got x-rays and were told he had a buckle fracture of both his radius and ulna. They put a splint and a sling on him and sent us home. 

On Monday, we were able to get in to see an orthopedic doctor.  He had decided on a blue cast.  We were able to get a waterproof cast so we can still go swimming on our vacation next month.  We'll get the cast off in 4 weeks and we'll see how things are going then.  I am grateful that he didn't break his neck.  I am grateful that we didn't have to go to the emergency room this time.  I am grateful that he didn't lose consciousness.  I love him very much and I am proud of how brave he has been while seeing the doctor.  He just didn't want to get any shots. 

Albric's Stitches

Albric had to get stitches on his nose on Wednesday night.  He tripped while running with a fork in his hands. By the time we got to him, he was covered in blood. At first we thought it was a bloody nose, but as we got him cleaned up we could see the cuts.  I took him to the ER.  We were there for about 3 hours before he got the stitches. While he was getting stitched up he growled at the doctor. We got home a little bit before midnight.  He had a hard time sleeping that night and last night.  He has been mischievous and playful during the day though.  It was heartbreaking and scary for us to go through, but we are grateful we could get medical care in a timely manner, and that it wasn't his eye.  He ended up with six stitches and some wicked bruising.  Mark gave him a blessing when we got home from the hospital.  I am grateful for the power of the priesthood and I am praying that his nose will heal as it should. 

Here he was napping at the fabric store the afternoon before the incident. 

This morning after showering.

You can see the bruising in this one.

This was after we got home and he was still a bit drugged up.