Yellowstone and Lewis and Clark Caverns

Yellowstone and Lewis and Clark Caverns

July 20-27th

This post is very bittersweet to write...our last post from our amazing adventure.  We have been so blessed to have this time together and are amazed at God's provision for each and every moment of the last 7 months.  It is so hard to believe that we are now HOME!  We hope that you will stop by and say hello...we have so missed our family and friends.  Here are a few pictures from our last couple adventures.  

I think in a few weeks I will try to write a little reflection/deep thoughts post about the trip.  Right now I am up to my ears in piles of laundry and 9 months of stuff!

Yellowstone was a great place to meet our camping buddies, the Tucker family.  We had the best time hiking, sightseeing, swimming and playing cards together.  We are so blessed by their friendship.

Swimming at Firehole Falls!

Couldn't resist at least one Old Faithful picture!

Hiking at the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone on Uncle Tom's trail.

A fun swimming area at Boiling River where a hot springs river meets a river..a natural hot tub.

Lots of card games were played...especially SPOONS!!

We headed from Yellowstone to Lewis and Clark Caverns.  It was such a cool place and would be a super fun weekend trip for any of our Spokane friends.  The caves were so stunning...some of the best we have seen throughout our whole trip (and just a 6 hour drive away).  If you just want to drive over you can rent a cute little cabin or tee-pee!

Until our next adventure...

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park

July 17-20

This is the SPECTACULAR view from where I am blogging today...Jackson Lake Lodge.  We have been at this beautiful park the past 3 days.  You can see some of the smoke in the air that has come down from Washington.  We feel so bad for the families affected!

On Friday we went on a long hike near Jenny Lake.  We saw some pretty wildflowers, great views of the lake, a few waterfalls and luckily NO BEARS!!  The boys were hoping we would...but not me!  We were armed with our bear spray and loud singing.

This was the view from Inspiration Point.  

During the whole hike Bradley kept wanting to hike up to the snow that we could see on the mountains.  But we as got closer and closer to needing to turn around...we were still a long way from the snow.  Then, Curt turned around and said, "What is that white stuff down there?"  And lo and behold...just 100 yards off the trail was a huge pile of snow. The boys were thrilled to have a snow ball fight on a 80 plus degree day in July!  God provides in the most amazing and fun ways!(even a 9 year old's dreams of touching the snow)

This was a BIG MOMENT...Jordan added the last state to our map...Wyoming!  42 states...so fun.  It was even more exciting because we had a surprise visit from our friends the Hoglund family.  They were visiting Yellowstone on their own family adventure and had an extra day...so they came to visit!!  

All the kids loved this mountain lake...complete with log rafts and a beautiful view of the mountains.

The kids had a ball making this tipi from logs they found in the forest and on the beach.  They hauled all of those logs by themselves...WOW!

Another highlight was swimming at the Jackson Lake Lodge pool!  

This afternoon we head to Yellowstone for the week.  The boys are holding out hope to see a bear and we are excited to spend time with our friends!  The journey is wrapping up, with just a week to go.  We are simultaneously so excited to go home and sad to see this adventure coming to a close.  Thanks for "riding" with us during this most amazing 9 months of our lives.  

Stunning South Dakota!!

South Dakota...Badlands National Park and Custer State Park 

Mt. Rushmore and Wind Cave National Parks

July 12-17

South Dakota is such a unique state.  It seemed that we drove for hundreds and hundreds of miles with nothing but corn fields as far as the eye could see.  And then we arrived at Badlands National Park and it looked like maybe we had arrived on the moon.  So many interesting and varied rock formations...so stunningly beautiful and unique.  The boys loved climbing on all the rocks and discovering slot tunnels.  From there we headed west to Custer State Park and Sylvan Lake.  This was a great location to explore Mt. Rushmore and Wind Cave National Park

We saw lots of wildlife during this time.  The mountain goats at Mt. Rushmore!

Tons and tons of prairie dog towns...they were so fun to watch.

Prong horned antelope just grazing next to the road.

We had such an interesting tour at Wind Cave National Park.  The 6th longest cave system in the world...and they think only about 50% of the caves have been discovered.  We went on a ranger led tour through the most interesting rock formations.  It was discovered when two explorers felt wind coming out of this very small opening in the rock and wanted to explore more.  The wind sometimes rushes out of the hole at up to 80mph.  It was only small enough for a small person to climb in.

We also spent a wonderful evening at Mt. Rushmore.  I remember going there with my family when I was 10 years old...so it was fun to experience it again with my boys.  They have a touching "lighting" ceremony each night that was cool to see!  It is amazing how quickly they finished this project with such limited technology in the early 1900's.  They sculpted 90% of the faces with dynamite alone!!

We were super excited to see some Bison herds up close...and luckily not too personal!!

Heading down the 450 stairs into Wind Cave.  We rode the elevator up 20 stories after the tour...not for those who are claustrophobic!!

Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park was so AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL.  It was a last minute addition to our route after having it recommended by Curt's cousin in Michigan.  We are so glad we camped here.

Our trip would not be complete without a stop at Wall Drug!

A few cool shots from Badlands National Park!

It has been so strange for us to feel like we are back in the West. We love seeing the mountains and pine trees again.  Tomorrow we have an extra long drive across Wyoming to Grand Teton National Park.  Curt is most excited about eating at his favorite restaurant in Jackson, Mile Hile Pizza Pie.  Then it is on to Yellowstone to meet up with our good friends the Tuckers.  HOORAY!! 

Chicagoland Cheer!!

Chicago, Illinois

July 5-10

We have spent the last 5 days in our old graduate school "stomping grounds."  Curt got his Masters degree from Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL.  We lived here for 3 years before we had children and made some life long friends.  It was so fun to get together with them while we were visiting.  We started by staying for 2 nights at my friend Megan's house.  She was my assistant for the first 5 weeks of my first year at Sprague Elementary and we became great friends.  She was my first friend in Chicago!  It was so great to stay with her and meet Samantha and John.  We spent a day downtown in Chicago eating pizza, visiting Millennium Park, cooling down in the fountains and walking along Michigan Avenue.  It was AWESOME!!

Megan graciously hosted a BBQ with some other great friends, the Salzman family.  Audrey was my looping class' "room-mom" extraordinaire and a wonderful friend.  The only thing we were missing was Adam.

Some city shots~

We headed up north of the city from Megan's to visit Lincolnshire.  I really wanted to show the boys Sprague school, but figured it would all be locked.  As we were peeking in the windows..we saw the office staff and my principal!  I was thrilled to see them all and we were able to walk around the newly refurbished school.  My room looked so tiny...but filled my heart with great memories of my 3 years teaching there.  

Another highlight of our time was seeing some of my favorite "parents" from Sprague and teacher friends.  They surprised me with a 40th birthday lunch celebration at the Cheesecake Factory.  It was so fun for me to hear about what their "not so little" 1st grade...I mean college seniors are doing.  Keeping in touch with these special kids and their families has really been a highlight of my teaching career.  

 We also got to visit the family that we babysat for nearly every Saturday during our 3 years at Trinity.  It was so fun to see them and hopefully the next time we visit we will get to see all 5 of them.  We have just loved watching their beautiful family grow...they taught us so much.(Thanks Sheri and Aaron)

The boys loved playing soccer in the yard!

Curt and the boys also finished their U.S. tour of Six Flags theme parks with two days in Gurnee, IL.  They just love roller coasters.  They also enjoyed an afternoon at the water park.  The highlight was riding Goliath, the world's TALLEST, STEEPEST, FASTEST wooden rollercoaster.  I passed for a day with friends and a day shopping by myself.(PERECT!!)

Of course, we had to take a  tour of  the Trinity campus!  Here is our old apartment...B6 hasn't changed at all.  We just feel so blessed to have lived here with such good friends.

Here is the Trinity Football field where Curt coached and met such great friends!  Go TROJANS!  We only wish the Lambert family was still there to visit.

Tomorrow we begin our almost 1000 mile journey west towards home.  Our next major stop is Badlands National Park, followed by Custer State Park near Mt. Rushmore and Wind Cave National Park.  

Marvelous Michigan!!

Michigan...June 26-July 5

Grand Rapids and St. Joseph, MI

We have been so busy having fun with family and friends in Michigan that I haven't updated the blog since leaving Ohio.  But...here goes!!  We spent 5 days in Grand Rapids, MI with Curt's extended family, primarily his Grandma Wilma (AKA...Grandma Great) and his dad, who flew in to visit from Spokane. We stayed at a family fun campground called Woodchip, which was a great location to visit Wilma.  She is AMAZING...at 92 she lives on her own, cooked us a delicious dinner and has faithfully prayed for all her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren by name for years!! (I think she has 92 + descendents)

The boys loved playing with her "old-fashioned" toys, swimming at her place and eating her cookies!!

We also got to see several of Curt's relatives.  Jack and Marie hosted us for the afternoon, which was great.  The boys swung from rope swings, kayaked, and paddle boarded on the little pond in their backyard.  They loved every moment of it!  We also got to celebrate one of Curt's cousin's daughter's graduation party...congrats Cassie!!  We snuck in a quick visit with his Aunt Faye and his cousin Lynn's family.  

Next we headed just about an hour south to St. Joseph, Michigan.  Our best friends and neighbors from graduate school live here.  We had such a FUN, RELAXING and AMAZING week here.  We only wish we could have stayed longer.  They had two boys that are almost the exact ages of our boys and they hit it off.  They played for 5 days straight and had so much fun.  We wish that they could move to Spokane!!

Tim and Amy were such gracious hosts to our family.  Curt and I were so blessed to be with them.  

The first night we arrived we had a fun pizza picnic overlooking Lake Michigan.  We knew that a storm was coming, but we had  lovely evening with hardly a drop of rain.  The boys were making each other into "burritos."

We went to a Mexican restaurant to cheer on the USA in their World Cup game.  

We spent a day at Warren Dunes hiking the dunes, playing soccer, and hiking up the river to a mud bed that was used for warrior decorations.  We were joined by another family, who became great friends during our time here.  They even invited us all over for breakfast during the week...WOW!!  Thanks Pamela and Tim!

Tim is an amazing BBQ guy...one day he smoked some ribs for us all...the best we have ever had. 

We made a day trip to see Notre Dame.  It was a stunningly beautiful campus.  This was our favorite part...TOUCHDOWN JESUS!!

 Happy 4th of July to you all.  We spent the day with our old and new friends at Lake Michigan.  We barely talked to the boys all day...they went from pirate raids in the water to soccer games on the beach...just stopping long enough to eat.  It was a beautiful day!

Yep...beach seats for the fireworks...DARLING!!

We also had a very scary night while in St. Joes.  A very strong storm ripped through this area on Monday night.  We parked our trailer at Tim and Amy's house and had to decide where it would be best to park.  Thankfully, the spot I thought might work, wasn't the one we chose...as during the 70-80 MPH winds, strong rain and tons of thunder and lightning a tree was struck in their yard and a huge tree limb fell down.  It was literally right on the spot I thought we should park.  I have never been so scared during a storm...the worst we have ever seen.  We are so thankful for God's provision of safety...as this area was hard hit with power outages, downed trees, branches and flooding.  God is good!!  

Today we are heading just a couple hours away to the Chicago area.  We are staying for a couple of nights with our good friend Megan.  We cannot wait to see our friends from the Chicago area during the week!!