Family Reunion Time! It's a long post.

It's that time of year again! This year we headed to Yellowstone. We had a really great turn out considering how big this family is getting. We met at Grandma's and divided up the cousins. We had all the single cousins line up from tallest to smallest.

Turns out we have too many younger girl cousins to fit in one car but even thought they got split up my girls enjoyed the ride hanging out with their cousins. I love that they have this opportunity to get to know their cousins better.

Boo got a little bored with no sisters to talk to. I had forgotten what it was like to only have one kid on a car ride. We made it to the first check point to eat lunch and see what the kids had made out of their tinfoil and licorice.

Bug is holding pretend gold for the princesses.

Here is our trusty car. It took a lot of work to get it to be trusty for this trip, but I was glad we had it. We made a stop in Rexburg and showed the girls around campus. It was fun to run into former professors and an old friend of ours who is now teaching part time in the Art Department. Then we headed to Island Park.
After a night of talent shows and sleeping in cabins, we took off for Yellowstone. Yellowstone is like stepping into another world. It's so beautiful and different. It feels magical

This is how I usually found my kids during our many car rides.
The hot pots. My girls couldn't get over the smell. The bird has a caterpillar in it's mouth and stopped right in front of me so I could get a picture. So very considerate.

Bug found a large dragon fly laying on the ground at the hot pots. Oma had brought a bug catcher for the girls to play with at the cabin and Bug had brought it along on this trip. This bug look like it was dying so we caught it, but don't worry we let it go at Old Faithful.

Here are my girls at Old Faithful. It was also Lou's first time seeing Old Faithful.

When we stopped on our way back to the cabins we saw a huge Bull Elk walk across the parking lot. My camera was still on the macro setting from the dragon fly so I never got a picture. We also saw a lot of Bison on the way back. In fact we came across a whole herd. There was a field and stream between the Bison and the road and so we were able to get out and get pretty close to the herd. It was fun to see the babies. I grabbed Bug and we ran to get a closer look.

That night Heidi and Micah joined the group and we played Minute to Win it. It was hilarious and pretty intense at times. I love my family.
The next day we went to Uncle Tom's stairs where there is a beautiful waterfall.

 The steps were grated and very steep. I have a fear of heights and it was hard because you had to look down to make sure you didn't miss a step but if you looked down you could also see how high you were. I was wishing I was tied to a rope and repelling down instead of using these stairs.

 My girls with their Great Grandpa and Grandma.

 I was impressed with how well my Monkey did. She climbed down and back up all those stairs with her aunt Maxine. My Dad took Bug and he is amazing. Bug would walk up a flight and then my Dad would carry her up the next set. They did this routine all the way to the top, then my Dad came back down for me and my Mom, who were taking the hike pretty slow.
Michelangelo, Bryan and Kelsey took turns carrying Boo. I was so grateful for their help.

 A family shot at the top of the falls. My family is getting pretty big.

 Our first shot of just the five sisters.

On the way to lunch this Bison was right on the side of the road. I think it was one of the highlights of my trip.
That night they played Mafia and Werewolves. Monkey got to stay up and play and she felt so grown up and big. 
We went home on Sunday so we stopped in Rexburg to see Heidi and Micah's apartment and to show the girls where Michelangelo proposed to me. 

They had moved the structure, but it was still there with an opening in front of it just like it was on that night.

The eventual result of that night. Aren't they cute!
Us almost ten years later.

We came upon this pretty spot that was new to us since we had been there. I fell in love. We want to do this to own backyard someday, just on a smaller scale. Michelangelo knows how to do the paving, wall work and planting and we could put some of his own sculptures up there. It would be awesome!

We had such a great trip! It was so nice to get away and be with family and have so much fun together. I can't wait for next year.