Yellowstone National Park

It just sort of happened.

The family decided we wanted to drive up to Island Park, Idaho and check things out up there. Island Park is a VERY popular destination place for water skiing, hiking, weekend get aways, and it seems like every other person you meet has a cabin up in Island Park that they frequent.

We got up there and discovered that it seemed pretty good, I mean we really didn't know what to do or where to go. Anyway, we saw a sign that said 20 miles to Montana and then just a bit farther to West Yellowstone National Park. We were having a nice time in the van and thought what the heck and headed up North.

Once we got to West Yellowstone we decided to get a hotel room and make a party of it. One problem, we didn't pack anything little lone a diaper bag.

Once we got the essential shopping done (diapers, wipes, and two sale priced swimming trunks..one for Dalton and one for Zoie to wear with a sports bra she had on...her first and last two piece swimming suit.) we were ready to go. We swam in the hotel pool, ate Bison at a local restaurant, and watched too much TV in the hotel room before we all crashed for the night.

After our lovely continental breakfast we headed out for the Park and were thrilled to discover that they were having a FREE day at the park ($25 deal) that day. Our mini van erupt with cheers and celebration over the news and our day was set to be the best day ever. Almost immediately upon entering the park we came across our first bit of wildlife...a buffalo (hopefully no relation the one we ate for dinner the night before). It was so amazing.

Stevey was like a kid in a candy store (or a life long lover of nature in Yellowstone for the first time) and took so many beautiful pictures and just couldn't get enough of the beautiful sights everywhere.

Enjoy only a couple of the pictures of our spontaneous trip and it really was one of the funnest activities ever. By the way, it was so awesome that my kid want to leave Idaho and move to Montana because it is so cool...go figure.


The final stretch home...crashed.


Here we come...


A natural boiling mud pot.


Hello handsome.



We got here five minutes before eruption...perfect timing.

This was so amazing and there were thousands of people there.

This was the highlight of out trip. I don't remember the name of this hot pool but the colors were incredible. We hiked up a steep mountain side to get birds eye view and we were not disappointed (yep...I carried Sunny up in my arms and we both survived).

Another natural hot spring...there are over 10,000 of these things all over the park.

Snack time...

More buffalo in the distance.

They are SO massive

In the city of West Yellowstone they have these painted buffalo all over the town and will auction them off later in the year....remember the cow thing in San Antonio...same thing.

Leave it to the girl..

Funny story.

Two weeks ago our neighbors the Look's, who live two doors down, decided to start water balloon bombing us (Stevey and I). All of the kids where at their house (all being our three big kids and their two) and in on the mischief while Stevey and I were doing yard work stuff. A water bomb missed me by ten feet and that was by launching a 'hail Mary' type shot over the roof.



Anyway, Stevey and I went into our back yard and started taunting them by jumping on the trampoline and yelling Christ like insults at them to no avail, they just kept missing us. I then starting encouraging them to let the girl (Zoie) give it a try so that we might FINALLY get hit because obviously these boys just didn't have the SKILLS to get the job done. Miss Kim and Mr. Matt, our neighbors held the launcher for Zoie and she let it fly. We were looking around hoping to see where it went....BOOM!!! Her balloon NAILED Stevey smack dab in the middle of his chest! I was SOOO FUNNY and needless to say there was much celebration on both sides. Like I said earlier, if you want something done right leave it to the girl.



And YES...it REALLY hurt...he took it for the team!

Cub Scouts

Dalton is a Cub Scout now and he had a great first pack meeting. He earned his Bobcat, Wolf, Gold Arrow, four yellow beads, and camping segment. You might be asking yourself how in the world he got this all done in one month and I will tell you...one motivated mother and willing son. Now for the rest of the year Dalton will work on getting his Silver Arrows, and other segments. Great JOB Dalton!

BAPTISM

He is 8 and baptized....AAAH!

Dalton's baptism was great. He had been preparing himself for this wonderful day for a long time and was very excited for this event....we couldn't be more proud of him.

The following day, Sunday, when the bishop called Dalton Stevey Conder up to the pulpit to receive his baptism certificate and to be officially welcomed into the ward, he sprinted up the isle, bounded up the stairs, and came to a screeching halt next to the bishop without feeling the least bit irreverent and was completely serious about the business at hand....Dalton is so AWESOME.

Dalton and Ryan (in the suit jacket) were the two baptized at 11am and then his friend McKayla (far left) was baptized at 12pm.

wii anyone!

Farewells and Parties

One Year has come and gone and we can hardly believe it. After a year of being seperated from their dad and older brother Kyler, Shaylee and Braden are now reunited with them and starting their new adventures with their revamped and fun dad together as a family.

What a year it has been....

Shaylee and Braden made a ton of friends here and ended the school year with terrific grades. We wanted to throw them a huge farewell party with some of their school and neighborhood friends and hoped that it showed them that we (Stevey and I) really don't hate them (yep that 'hate' word came up a lot when accountability and consequences were in question).

We love them very much and wish them the very best and we are very grateful for all the experiences we had together here in Idaho.




delicious food for many...


Braden was acting tough, but you can tell that he was sad to say goodbye to me.


The clan for the last year.

Cousin Ambria for the bbq.

Shaylee with some neighbor kids and school girl friend.

Braden with some of his school buddies and two fun girls.

The jump house we rented for the event...lots of fun.

Almost all of the kids with Shay and Bradens princess farewell cake.

Mess

If Sunny isn't falling on her face and getting a bloody nose then she is in the dirty gutter water (and drinking it which puts me over the edge), or smearing her delicious food all over her adorable face. I guess if it makes her happy I should embrace it and realize that it is only a faze and won't last forever...praise the lord.

Almost 13

Can you feel the love!

Fire Pit

I've wanted one for a year now and we finally have our patio completed enough to buy one....a fire pit! We found it at Lowe's for cheep and I am VERY happy with it. It is clay and HEAVY so we won't need to worry about it getting blown away with all of the Idaho Falls wind...oh yes, IF is very windy. I think we definitely broke it in tonight with smores, fruit pies, and funny fire pit stories of days long past and everyone's current crush...mine is still Stevey!

Crazy hair day

Dalton is 8!

Dalton turned 8 on May 4th and it was great. He requested a friend birthday party and we invited everyone from his second grade class and the neighborhood best friends....I don't think he will ever consider just a boy party. We went to a local neighborhood park and set up crochet, tether ball, freebies, and then had the whole playground to use for fun. The day of the party came and the temperature dropped about twenty degrees and the minutes before the party started it dropped probably ten more. Everyone came and had a lot of fun and with forty minutes left of the party the rain started. We had birthday cake and drinks and then the party moved under the table for presents and there wasn't a single complaint. With five minutes until the party was officially over the rain REALLY came and we all ran to our two cars and crammed in until the parents came to pick up...again no complaints. We really did have a lot of fun and the kids were awesome.

On June 6th is the even bigger and MUCH better event, Dalton's baptism. At 11am Stevey will be honored to baptize our future Priesthood holder and confirm him a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...HOORAY! Later, on that same day we will be saying good-bye to Shaylee and Braden who will be heading down to Moab with their dad who is unwound, rooted and ready to go. We will miss them greatly, but I am so excited for them to be reunited as a family again and start their new adventures together and partake of the happiness that is awaiting them.

50's Day

The elementry school the kids attend had its 50 year anniversary and in celebration they had a 50's day and all of the children were encouraged to dress up and PARTY. The classes all learned famous 50's songs and sang them for the parents and they had a HUGE party that evening at the school with rootbeer floats, all kids of 50's game and we even opened a time capsule. I made Zoie a poodle skirt the night before and it turned out great...not perfect but great.

Ballet

Zoie LOVES ballet and this past weekend she had her first ballet performance. The performance was called "Corduroy" based on the Corduroy children's book. Through Zoie's hard work and ability she earned the lead roll in the ballet and got to dance as Corduroy. She had her first dancing part as a "shopper" with all of the other girls in her class and Zoie was the shopper who liked to take her time (major type-casting here if there every was one) and the other girls had their parts too. Once this dance ended Zoie had to costume change back stage putting on her Corduroy coveralls with the infamous missing button. When it was time for her Corduroy solo part the stage lights came on in a soft orange color that silhouetted Zoie who was on top two big boxes (as if store shelves) and then the spot light came on for us to see Zoie or should we say Corduroy with her HUGE beautiful smile on and then started dancing her solo part. I couldn't help but cry....she is just growing up so fast and it just seemed like yesterday that she was three years old taking lessons from one of our friends who taught from the living room of her home.

Zoie did great and the whole thing was a lot of fun. Her teacher Kristen Clayton is a wonderful teacher who happens to be a REAL ballerina and who put together a beautiful show for all of us.