Mesa Falls

The kids went out and played on the swings before church. Aliyah has the biggest smile when she's on the swing. She just giggles the whole time. Julie will walk around asking anyone to come out and swing with her. She keeps asking until someone says yes. Julie has loved "helping" Aliyah. She likes being bigger than someone.

This morning Dad, Rob, Maddy, and Julie went to church at 11:30. Mom and Marilyn took the boys a little bit later and met the others after church and went to Mesa Falls.

Shantelle and Robby took some funny pictures in the visitor center. I stayed home with Mylissa. She has been feeling really sick. Everyone loved the falls. It was so nice to have a few hours of quiet time with Mylissa. She slept for most of the time while I scrapbooked. Then we watched a little bit of Downton Abby. It was so fun to be together.

This evening we ate a really yummy dinner. We made Swiss chicken. Then the kids wanted to play school for a little. The kids have spent a lot of time swinging and playing outside. The kids take turns pushing Aliyah in the swing. It's been so much fun having the Colborns here. The kids have loved playing games. Tonight Mom, Marilyn, and Rob played UNO with the kids. It's so fun to listen to them giggling.

Robby and Shantelle gave Dad his birthday present tonight. It's a "Bank of Grandpa" shirt. Dad just laughed and laughed when he opened up. Shantelle finds the best shirts. Dad loves them.

Fields of Flowers

This morning Matt loaded up his truck and trailer and headed home. The boys have loved playing card games especially slap jack. I love this picture of Matt and Bridger playing slap jack. We cleaned out the trailer because the Wegers are leaving for Wood Badge next Saturday. When Matt was saying goodbye to everyone, Marilyn started to cry when Matt gave her a hug. When Matt saw that Marilyn was crying, he started to cry. I teased Marilyn that she was making me look bad because I didn't cry when Matt hugged me. She joked that she was sad that she's loosing her animal spotting buddy. They love to go out after dinner and look for animals. It was a really sweet moment.

The kids wanted to play Beatles Rock Band this morning. It just cracks us up listening to the kids singing Beatles. Even Julie and Bridger sing. Chase is getting really good on the guitar. It's been such a fun game for them. We debated sending the Wii home with Matt but the kids have really enjoyed it plus we want to play it with Shantelle and Robby.

Elaine set up a mesh tent in the backyard. The kids went out and set up a school. Maddy and Chase were the teachers. They helped Julie and Bridger do homework. It was so funny listening to them and hearing Maddy say the rules. It was really nice because they played school for a couple of hours today.

Dad loves to feed the birds while we're up here. I think he's spent over a hundred dollars on bird food. When we first got here, Dad had to go put out all the bird houses and fill them up. He goes out every morning and checks on them and fills them back up. We love to watch all the birds, chipmunks, and squirrels that come to eat the food.

This afternoon Dad and I took the kids on a four-wheeler ride. Dad took us on a back road that comes out in Icehouse. I love the back trail that Dad takes us on. There are lots of rocks you have to go over and the trail goes through trees. There is one part where a tree has fallen and you have to go under the tree. The boys love to touch the tree. Dad took us to a couple of fields that were filled with white wildflowers. They were beautiful!!! The wildflowers smelled so good. We has been riding for about 10 minutes when Bridger fell asleep. I was worried about Bridger falling off on the rocky part so I let Chase drive. He is getting so good at driving. It's nice to be able to trade off driving with Chase. Bridged woke up just before we got to the wildflowers. Then we went up Willow Creek canyon. We were hoping to see some animals but no luck. Some dark clouds rolled in and we kept thinking that we were going to be rained on but the clouds never broke. We were a little cold on the way home but that was the only time. I taught Chase how to shift on the way home. I was amazed at how quickly he caught on. He did a great job. He said that driving the four-wheeler is awesome!!!

Last night we had a movie night. We watched 'Tangled' because Marilyn hadn't seen it. That movie is so cute. Grandma popped popcorn for the kids. We love our movie nights. Just as we were putting the kids to sleep, Shantelle, Robby, and Aliyah arrived. Everyone was so excited to see them. The kids were especially excited to see Aliyah. We're so glad they made it safely.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Happy Birthday Marilyn and Harriman Ride

Happy Birthday Marilyn! Sweet Mom made coffee cake for breakfast this morning. Then she made her special over easy eggs. Mom is such a great cook. We asked Marilyn what she wanted to do for her birthday, and she said she wanted to drive to Harriman. So Mom and Marilyn headed out on one four-wheeler and Dad was on the other one. I wanted to ride my mountain bike. Matt and Rob rode in the truck with Maddy, Chase, and Bridger. Dad stayed behind with me to make sure I stayed safe. He is always so sweet to stay back with me. As you start to climb into the mountains, the view overlooking Island Park Reservoir is beautiful. Then you turn directions and see an amazing view of the Grand Tetons. What an incredible ride! The road only had one really steep section and that was on the way back so Dad put my bike on the four-wheeler and took me to the top for a couple of miles. The hardest part was that they had recently graded the road so it felt like riding my bike through sand. It didn’t seem really steep but it was difficult riding through the “sandy” areas. We turned around at the Harriman State Park building. (The road is 167). Mom and Marilyn traded with Rob on the four-wheeler. Maddy and Chase rode on the back with Rob and Bridger rode with Grandpa. He was so excited to have the seat all to himself. Every time he would pass me, he would give me a sweet smile with a wave and then give me the I love you sign. It melted my heart. I wish I could always remember that moment. I ended up riding about 36 miles. I thought the trail was beautiful. The weather was perfect. I was mesmerized with the clouds. I feel that riding/exercising is my drug of choice. I love it! I told Dad that I want to add this trail to my list to do every year.

Tonight we had hamburgers for dinner. I’m normally not a big fan of hamburgers but tonight they tasted really good. Then Rob made a really yummy peach cobbler for Marilyn’s birthday cake. Dad got out the 5 different flavors of ice cream that he’s bought. He’s addicted to ice cream. After cake, Marilyn opened her presents. Mom gave her a ticket to go with us to see the play “Wicked” in August 2012. She was ecstatic!!!! I asked Marilyn if she had a good birthday. She said that she always loves to be at the cabin and it’s better than being home cleaning her house. I love being around Marilyn. She’s a great example to me in so many ways. I’m amazed at how she just bites her tongue and doesn’t say anything. She’s so flexible. She never complains. The NBA draft has been on TV tonight so the men have been glued to the TV. The main thing that I love about the cabin is that everyone can do what ever they want and the main thing people want to do is just relax.

Yellowstone: "pack a lunch"

Today was our big day in Yellowstone. We left around 10:00. We stopped for lunch at Mammoth and saw lots of elk. There were some baby elk behind our picnic table. Then we headed over to Tower around 3:30P.M. and saw 5 bear within a two-hour period. My favorite bear was a black “cinnamon” bear that was just right off the side of the road. It was so close that we couldn’t get out of our car to take pictures. It was awesome! We were so excited to see so many bear. We saw lots of buffalo. It was a great day! My favorite saying of the day came from Bridger. We were waiting in a bear traffic jam when we drove past a pond with yellow scum on top. Bridger looked out his window and said, “Is that throw up?” Marilyn, Matt and I busted out laughing. I love his little sayings.

On our way home, we stopped and ate dinner at the restaurant “Gusher” and had pizza. Mom and Dad are always so generous. Dad always insists on paying for dinner. Dad stopped and picked up more ice cream. He loves to eat ice cream. Mylissa and Rob came up tonight. They were already here when we came home around 8:30. Maddy and Julie are so happy that they’re finally here.