Pinkstone

The LaMont side of the family took a little trip over to Wyoming.  We stayed in a cabin in Driggs, and spent some time in Jackson and Yellowstone.  While preparing for the trip, Kira exclaimed, "I don't want to go to Yellowstone!  I want to go to PINKstone."  While we were there, she asked, "Where's all the yellow stuff?" Although we did not see a lot of "Yellow" stuff, we did see some bison, elk, and some awesome geological features.

Brian, TJ, Douglas and Troy checking out some hot springs.

The LaMont children by a Hot Spring.  Douglas HATED the rotten egg smell & Kira thought the steam was fun when it blew into us.  TJ enjoyed the science of it all.

Hold on to your hat!  The kids counted 13 hats at one pull off location.  It was mighty windy that day!  One guy was out with his fishing pole reeling in some hats people had lost.

Douglas and Kira purchased some stuffed bears.  Not all of us were able to spot any bears on our trip, but  Douglas and the cousins did spot one scratching a tree a good 100 yards away.  A good distance in my estimate.

 We took a five minute detour to visit Roosevelt Arch (the first entryway to the park).

 Yellowstone Canyon was amazing!  We also made sure to point out to Kira whenever we saw some yellow canyon walls.

 Our happy crew inside the cabin.  It was a great place to stay, but a bit far from Yellowstone.  We had a hard time driving the hour or so back after each day at the park since we wore ourselves out.  The boys learned how to play pool at the cabin, and had a great time trying to stay awake to play after a long day out.

 Kira liked the bear until TJ helped her get a close look at his claws.

 The Toy Store in Jackson was very cool.  We had ice cream in Jackson, too, as shown on Kira's face.  Yummy chocolate!

Troy took a picture of us in front of the Antler Arch in the middle of downtown Jackson.

Douglas at the paint pots.  My favorite geological event.

Douglas at the mud volcano.  Very cool.

 The dragon's lair was fun.  Due to the steam and noise from the cave, it really did seem as if a dragon were about to emerge.

We saw LOTS of bison right off to the side of the road.  They were great at holding up traffic.

This bear was much less threatening in the gift shop.

We enjoyed the geysers in Yellowstone, but my favorite day there was when we  pulled off near the Yellowstone River for a little cookout.  It was nearly dark, but we were starving and had all the goods to grill.  We realized after getting out all the food that we didn't bring the grilling tools.  We managed to find a few knifes, and Troy was somehow able to flip burgers with them.  The burgers were great, the river was pretty, and we got to eat just before sundown.  We had to clean up in the dark, and the kids were a little afraid that a bear or wolf may come out and visit our picnic, but it was one of my favorite trip memories.

We left Wednesday morning (the 4th of July) and got stuck in Parade traffic in Alpine, Wyoming for about an hour.  Fun.  We swung by home for about 40 minutes, and headed to my parents for an Olson weekend.  Way too much driving, but worth every mile.  :)

Jars, Mud, Temples, and Career Change

I started out the summer with some jars I thought I might need.  I didn't want whining, so if they said "I'm Bored" or "There's nothing to do", the kids would get to choose a chore out of that jar.  Nobody has earned one, yet.  I also made an activity jar for some fun suggestions that they could pick any time.  We've honestly been so busy, that we haven't had a lot of time for being bored or doing extra activities.  If we do... then I am officially prepared.

 Kira loves to have friends around.  She does not like to play alone.  One day, we had a few girls over and they wanted to play in the sandbox.  Somehow some water became involved and 5 minutes later, the girls were mud monsters.  The mud pie hats were to die for.  Anyway... we turned it into a beauty salon activity and cleaned up, did hair and painted pretty nails.  They went from mud monsters to beauty queens in an afternoon.  So cute.

 Kira keeps asking us to go see the temple, so we swung by after a dentist visit.  She loved the flowers and water fountain.

 We love the Logan temple!  Although Troy and I did not get married in the Logan temple, I did take out my endowments there.  To find out more about LDS temples, see http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng

 Another summer activity my boys like to do is playing catch in the yard or at the park.  TJ missed a fast ball and caught it with his cheek bone.  See the baseball thread marks?  He had a nice little shiner for about a week.  Nothing broken!

In May, I found out I would be teaching 3rd grade instead of Kindergarten.  My parents and sister came up to help me pack and move from Kindergarten to 3rd.  I was nervous, but excited for this new adventure.  I even got a class list with 12 of my former students!  I was looking at spending a good chunk of the summer studying and preparing for this new grade change.  Then, one day...
I get a phone call from our Literacy Facilitator at my school, Paula.  Paula said, "We have an opening at the district office for a literacy facilitator. I dropped your name thinking you'd be a good candidate, and we want you to apply."  Wow.  I really hadn't ever thought about doing that.  I wasn't sure it was the right thing for me to do, but applied anyway and interviewed anyway.  I went to the interview thinking it would be some kind of courtesy Q & A as they had someone more qualified in mind.  I walked in prepared to interview, but they were ready to offer me the job right then.  They explained the duties, the training, the details, etc.  and said they knew me well enough to want me to do it.  Wow.  They gave me the weekend to decide.  It was not the easiest decision, but I took time to weigh the options, make a decision, and pray about it.  I decided to take the job despite my reservations about giving up my new class and leaving a great school.
Sooo.... then I had to wait awhile to find out the schools I'd be at.  My parents and sister came back up to help me box up and label everything to get ready for the big move.  The day after packing, I got a call that I would get to stay at my current school and that Paula would be moving to a new school.  Wow.  I'm so excited!  I feel really good about my decision.  Honestly, I don't think I would've even applied for the position had I not been changing jobs anyway.  It was some crazy jumping around for a few weeks, but I'm now getting ready for another new adventure!

The summer has hit about the midpoint now, and I feel it slipping quickly away.  We did squeeze in some vacations!  I'll keep you posted.

First Hike of the Summer

We enjoyed a little family hike in Logan Canyon.  We saw a few snakes.  They looked just like rattlesnakes without rattles.  Anybody know what kind of snake that is?  Kira is becoming quite the hiker!  She never begged to be carried.  Maybe by the end of the summer, we could work up to 4-5 mile hikes instead of 2-3 milers like this one.  Logan Canyon is beautiful!  We love playing in the river and spying all the butterflies.  It was a perfect shady afternoon hike.

 

Tracking the Summer

Summer is here at last!  We started our summer with Douglas finishing up soccer, and TJ starting up Track.  His first meet was on Thursday evening.  Since it was an open meet, Duds decided to compete in a few events, too.  

 Here is TJ starting the 100 yd. dash.  He is on the inside track in the black and red.

 He wasn't too happy with his performance.  It wa  s a close race, but TJ placed in the middle of the pack on the 100 m.  He qualified easily for district last year, but he also didn't have to race against 14 year olds.  He did qualify for district in the mile run and for the relay.

 Even though Duds ran just for fun, he still qualified for the district meet doing the 50 m and 100m.

Looking forward to more races and adventures this summer.  The boys are super excited for the upcoming football season.  Duds will finally be able to play tackle, too.

South for the Spring

We were sick of being sick. We were sick of being cold. We were ready to celebrate Spring! We took a little camping trip down south to Snow Canyon.Plenty of entertainment for the children was provided for the 6 hour drive.
A little snowy weather along the way couldn't hamper our spirits.
TJ modeling at the GAP outlet. We purchased the shades, but he was denied the hat. Despite being fashionable, it was not very practical.
Douglas sporting a monster jacket and some temporary tats he chose to adhere to his face. Awesome.
Kira wanted a picture with a hat on like TJ. We found the girly version. All we bought for her, though, was an Easter/Birthday dress.
First night there, we struck out on getting a spot. Super 8 on the strip gladly put us up for the night. Night #2, we got a spot, but it was super WINDY. Here is Troy attempting to secure the tent in the wind. Two hours later...
We pretty much had to wait until the wind died down a bit. Sticking all the camping gear in the tent along the edges seemed to solve the blowing down issue.
Boys hanging out carving some sticks.
Pic-nic time on the Galloot.
Annual picture by the petroglyphs.
Kira was constantly asking me to take pictures of her. She is such a model!
Pioneer Names hike was pleasant. Douglas did get a little nervous after his speedy climb to the top. It was more difficult to get down than to go up.
Despite never actually seeing the movie, Douglas said he was reinacting 127 hours.


We went to the Amphitheater hike in Snow Canyon for the first time this year. I really enjoyed it! Very cool white formations.

Picnic at the amphitheater.

There was a sandy wash in the amphitheater. The boys did tricks and ski moves down the sandy trail.

Kira enjoyed water along the hike to see the Emerald Pools in Zion National Park.

Amphitheater hike had a really cool uprooted tree.

Mommy and Kira in Zion.
Kira spotted some deer in Zion.

Kira modeling in Zion. We waited for the boys who wanted to hike to the upper falls.

More fun in Zion at the canyon overlook by the tunnels.
About a million stairs later, we reached the overlook. Amazing view!

The heights made some of the LaMont crew a little nervous.

Here is the incomplete Arch of which we climbed to the top of for the canyon overlook.

What an awesome vacation! It was nice weather (despite the first few windy days) & we heard that it snowed in our fair town back home. Too bad we had to miss that!

Other highlights:

Douglas cracked us up with his reference to a breeze as a "piece of wind".

Kira saw a cottontail rabbit hopping around in the campground. She asked if we could pet it, and also exclaimed that it might be the Easter bunny!

We got to eat at Brick Oven Pizza. I left my hat there, and I didn't realize it until I was back home. They mailed it to me!

I found my ipod that had been missing since August of last year inside one of the bags we took camping.

We enjoyed the little hikes, campfires and eating outdoors. What a grand adventure. Hope to go back soon!