Fire Pit Hole

We swam at the coolest spot. The natural hot springs warm up this area of the river, making it an ideal swimming hole. The kids and adults had such a great time letting the current push them downstream. We really could have spent all day there.

Lewis Falls

This was the first of many waterfalls we saw at Yellowstone. The cousins had a blast playing around the river. My rock collector boys found a treasure of obsidion. Awesome!

Lower Yellowstone Falls

These falls are incredible! This was definitely one of our favorite things to see at Yellowstone. The hike down to the falls was like something out of Swiss Family Robinson. We hiked through wooded areas while dropping over 800 feet in elevation. There were 328 steps to climb (Maddie counted). Down was not a big deal, but on the way back up we all felt a little winded. Uncle Q, the fireman, carried Carina a long ways back up and so did Willie. Our heroes!

Montpelier Cemetery

Willie and I wanted the kids to see where Grandpa used to live as a kid and where he spent his summers. We also wanted them to see where many Wilcoxes are buried. It was a pretty neat experience. We found Wilcoxes right away, but spent over an hour looking for great grandpa Warren's gravestone. After much searching and two phone calls to grandpa, we found it. The kids thought it was so cool. It was so peaceful and beautiful and the air smelled so good.

Bear Lake

We took a different route down to Utah. We went through Montpelier and the kids wanted to stop and play at the lake. It was about 5 or 6 pm when we got there and the weather and water were beautiful!

Strudel the Magnificent

The wonder dog perched on a sandbar in Bear Lake. We threw her in the lake and she swam to shore every time. The kids enjoyed her swim more than she did.

People and Places

On our way back home we drove through Logan and saw the Logan temple. It is one of my favorite temples for sure. It is gorgeous! We also visited with Scott and his kids. They recently have moved down to Draper, Utah. Willie and Scott had not seeing one another for 12 years. Wow! He has three darling kids. Lauren is the oldest (9), then Braiden (6), and the youngest is Evan (2)

Kodak Z1012 IS

Business End

Top View

We finally decided on a camera! We decided to stick
with the Kodak, battery, charger is the same, and
we're already familiar with the buttons and stuff.
It's got higher resolution, takes HD video, and some
other cool stuff (panorama, optical image stabilization)
We like it already.

It takes beautiful pictures!

Photo Deprived

I'm feeling a bit deprived. We've had no camera for over a month. The kids are in swim lessons and today was parents day. I at least got to go sit and watch by their class, but couldn't take pics. There is hope! Last night we ordered a new camera and it should be here next week, just in time for Idaho. Phew!
The kids are doing awesome in swim lessons! Wes and Maddie would like to join the city summer swim team, but summer is pretty much all booked up. Maybe next year. Wes has a great breaststroke and freestyle and Maddie is more of a backstroker and is doing awesome flip turns. Zach is in a different level than the other two kids and is also doing fab! He has really improved his backstroke and today I worked with Zach at the country club pool, and we discovered he has a pretty strong butterfly stroke. Zach has such a strong upper body and I think if he works at it, the butterfly could be his strongest stroke.
Carina is learning to tread water and is learning all the strokes. She has a fun teacher who is a great motivator for the kids.

Star Wars Concentration

Our family tried a variation of the original Animal Concentration.

Here are some of our favorites:

Stake Conference

One hymn is all I get. I told Andrea last night that listening to the choir is nice, sometimes. But as a member of the congregation, easily 9/10ths of the participants in this conference, we are deprived the blessing of one of my favorite kind of praise/worship.

Both in last night's adult session and in this main session, we only get to sing once per session.

Rip-off.

Camera-less

We will be posting for a spell without the benefit of pictures. You'll just have to put up with 1,000 words.


We are in the market for a new camera, and your recommendations would be appreciated. We've had good luck with our Kodak zooms (10 and 12x) and our budget is about $250 max.

Let us know what has worked for you, what to avoid, or maybe try and talk us into spending triple on an SLR. We're all ears.

Unplugged

It's been two weeks now since we pulled the plug
on the TV. I'm happy to report that nobody has
suffered or been taken ill.

I say that we have unplugged, but truly, we plan
to still watch the TV. The important difference is
that now we control what is on 100%.

We took the $13 bucks we used to pay to the
Cable Co and upped our Netflix account to
3-at-a-time unlimited and I think this is going to
work out great. The kids have watched the first
few episodes of Fraggle Rock, and we have Land
of the Lost, Little House on the Prairie, Avonlea,
and other greats of yesteryear in the queue.

After the cable guy came and put the filter on
the line to kill the tv channels but let internet
service through, Andrea discovered that there
are still three channels that manage to squeeze
through the filter. Andrea was all smiles to report
that Food Network was one of them! An
answer to her fervent prayers.