Poppy Field

I finally went over and took pictures of the poppy field.  This field is located over by the federal campground and is full bloom!  We had nasty winds the past two days (gusts over 50mph) some of the flowers took a major beating.  Luckily the field wasn't too torn up and I was able to get some pictures.

Busier than Expected!

Quent and I had a crazy but fun busy weekend.  We had not planned on doing anything this weekend, we had yard work and laundry to catch up on but really who wants to do all that stuff?  Our weekend plans changed Friday night.

My brother Joe and his family had planned to go camping up Big Cottonwood Canyon and had a campsite all reserved and everything.  They went up the canyon Friday afternoon to find that their campsite was just 20 feet away from a roaring river/stream and didn't feel safe staying there.  (Note for all my out-of-state readers, we have had crazy weather this year, some of the ski resorts are still hope due to all the snow we received over the winter, and because we received so much late spring snow the snow is just now melting, now that the temperatures are reaching 85-90 degrees.  We've had  major flooding across the state, it's crazy.

Anyhow the kids were sad that they didn't get to go camping so Joe called to see if they could camp at our house for the weekend as they knew there wasn't water around.  Of course we agreed so we had a fun weekend with my niece and nephew, they did their own thing most of the time but we ate meals with them and of course Uncle Quent entertained the kids like he always does. 

Then on Sunday my good friend from college Missy and her family stopped by after spending the weekend in Logan, her kids had never been to the hatchery so of course they needed a tour.  Morgan and TJ made quick friends with Missy's kids and they were off to the raceways.  The kids had a blast feeding the fish and making the fish splash. We had a great visit with Missy and her family, we were so happy they were able to stop by. 

Here are a few pictures of the kids riding their bikes in the raceway, apparently the weekend was so busy we didn't get any other pictures.

Did someone say 40?

My OLDEST brother and Quent's YOUNGEST sister both turned 40 over the weekend.  Dale lives out in Ohio so we weren't able to do anything crazy for him but we did keep him in mind when making dutch oven pizzas a few weeks ago (see photo below) and of course we called and tried to give him a hard time, he seemed to have a hard time with the number 40. 

Saturday night we went down to Joyce and Kerry's house to have dinner for Kerry's birthday.  The number 40 didn't have too much of an affect on Kerry as it was just another number.  If she did have an issue with it she certainly didn't show it.  Joyce had a great dinner prepared and we had a good time visiting with them. 

Happy 40th Birthday Dale and Kerry!

Blog is up-to-date!

The blog is finally up-to-date, i'm sure I missed something, deleted pictures or just plain forgot.  I had neglected the blog since May 6, 2011, almost two months, I'm truely sorry I haven't kept everyone posted on our happenings.

To see all of the posts you'll have to click on the archieves to the right because only the last seven posts show up in the center section.

So if anyone cares, there are pictures, pictures and more pictures dating back to May 6th updated for all the world to see!

Yellowstone

As you can imagine I took over 800 pictures of our 2.5 days in Yellowstone.  We were fortunate to see three bears and were in the area of three more (to be seen with only a spotting scope).  With the late run off and all the snow Yellowstone got over the winter the park has not quite hit it's summer stage yet.  In some areas of the park there are snow banks over 12 feet tall, ice on lakes and soggy meadows.  In other areas there are spring flowers, animals and lots and lots of green meadows.  It was the perfect weekend to be in Yellowstone.  We drove to Old Faithful on Sunday afternoon, drove the upper loop on Monday and then took the lower loop from Canyon to West Thumb on our way home on Tuesday.

Here are a few of the highlight pictures...

We finally saw a moose on our way our of Yellowstone, in Teton National Park.  Unfortunately it was sitting down so all we saw were the antlers but we saw a moose!  We also stopped by the Moulton Barn on Mormon Row in Jackson so I could get more pictures of the barn. 

Arco, Idaho - INL Nuclear Reactor - Idaho Falls, Idaho

On Sunday we drove from Arco, Idaho to West Yellowstone, Montana.  We made a stop at the INL Nuclear Reactor museum that is just 18 miles east of Arco.  We also made a stop in Idaho Falls because I'd never seen the falls.  We snapped a few pictures and then headed to Yellowstone.

We took a few pictures around Arco before leaving.  The sail for the one of the first nuclear submarines is on display at a city park, it was HUGE! Another interesting fact about Arco is the Number Hill.  Each graduating class since 1920 has gone up on the mountain and white washed their year into the mountain.   Pickle's Place was our favorite place to eat, great food, friendly staff and a pickle with every meal!

The INL site is home to a National Landmark with the EBR-1.  The nuclear reactor was the first one to light an entire town (Arco) and not just a building or light blub.  The museum was pretty cool and we spent an hour on a tour and learning about Nuclear power.

Here are a few pictures of the the falls in Idaho Falls including a picture of the Idaho Falls LDS Temple.

Craters of the Moon -- Arco, Idaho

After three solid weeks at the hatchery, Quent and I were able to get away for a few days.  Our first stop was Arco, Idaho and Craters of the Moon National Monument.  If you've never been to central Idaho, I strongly recommend it.

Neither of us had ever been to Craters of the Moon and decided that it was time to drive the three hours to see the miles and miles (and miles) of lava rock.  The national monument was formed over 2,000 years ago, the last time the volcano erupted.  We were able to walk around the park, walk through the lava fields, Quent hiked through one of the caves and we were there while the wild flowers were blooming.  Here are a few of the pictures.