Labor Day Weekend

I love Labor Day weekend. It is the kick-off to my favorite month of the year. I also don't like it when Labor Day is finished, because in my mind, summer is officially over. I love summer, and love fall even more. Unfortunantly, in Cache Valley, both are short lived - especially fall. So when Labor Day rolls around - we gotta live it up to it's fullest.

We decided to take a camping trip to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. We headed on our way, with much anticipation of the adventures we'd have, and the wildlife we would see. Somewhere in the middle of Wyoming, THIS was our first experience with wildlife...Sheep - hundreds of them in the road, surrounding our truck.

We finally made it to Signal Mountain, where we set up camp, then headed to Jackson Lake, just below the Tetons, with our Kayaks. It was absolutely beautiful.

Later that evening, we went to Bar T-5 in Jackson Hole. We have always been Bar J fans, but Bar J was sold out, so we thought we'd try this other one. Here's my review of the two...For Ira and I as adults, Bar J is the winner. BUT, for Ira and I as parents, Bar T-5 won. Bar T was more spendy, so that wasn't so fun, but it was more kid happy. We started our adventure by taking covered wagons a couple of miles to where the dinner and entertainment were.

They had entertainment along the road, such as Indians and a trapper.

After dinner, there was a program with jokes and songs. Kam really got into dancing with the songs.

Our next day was Sunday, so we had a low-key day to try to keep the Sabbath Holy the best we could. So we went on a drive through Yellowstone.

Yellowstone wouldn't be complete without a stop at Old Faithful.

...and a few of the hot geysers.

It was the basic Yellowstone journey, until we stopped to see Steamboat Willie (below). Notice how Ira is sitting on that railing? We since learned that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Right after this picture was taken, we decided to head back up the path. There was a big group of people listening to a ranger, and I had to squeeze past some of them. I pushed against a rail (slightly, not with full force), and the thing gave out. I had my back to it, and I went falling about 3 feet (from the deck to the ground, plus my 5 feet of height) to the ground below, shoulders and head first. As I was in mid-air, I visualized the signs all around to not go off the path, because the ground below could be thin crust over a pool of boiling water. So, during my descend (which was probably only a second or two - but seemed like a lifetime), I was sure I was going to go crashing through the ground into the hot water. I landed with relatively little damage... so I thought at the time - just my pride was damaged. But as the minutes and hours wore on, it became apparent that I was going to be hurting for a while from that fall. As I remember the faces of people standing around, I was grateful that it was me that fell, and not any of the grandmas or grandpas that were there. It hurt me, but it could have REALLY hurt them.

After a few tears, I put on a smile and continued with our journey. We went to the famous Yellowstone Canyon. It really is spectacular to see.

As we were leaving the canyon, we saw a sign on the side of the road which read, "LDS Sacrament Meeting at 4:30." We looked at our clock, which read 4:28. As you can see from the pictures, we weren't dressed for what we were accustomed to wearing to church. But everyone else walking down the path was dressed like we were. So we joined in the crowd, and found ourselves in an open ampitheatre for a fast and testimony meeting. They chose priesthood boys out of the gathering to administer the sacrament. Then we had testimony meeting. The last man to stand up was a neighbor of ours, (small world!) Towards the end of his testimony, he saw us - and it must have thrown off his train of thought, cuz in the middle of a sentence, he exclaimed, "HI Bishop!!! I knew we'd see someone we know here." Everyone got a good laugh out of it. I was a bit embarrassed, because Kamden was being quite disruptive, and I didn't let it bother me too much (until that point) because no one knew us or anything about us. Now we were in the spotlight, and not being very good role-models! :)

However, it was such a neat meeting to be in attendance of. I'm so glad we were at the right place at the right time.

After church, we still hadn't seen any of the wildlife we had been telling the kids we would see. When this big boy came strolling down the road. We saw several after that, but this was the closest.

The Tetons and the sunset welcomed us back to Jackson Park as we were finishing our wonderful day at Yellowstone.

Back to camp...

This is one of my favorite spots for a picture. It is on Signal Mountain, overlooking Jackson Lake and the Tetons. I just love the Tetons - it is one of my favorite places to go.

Jarin

Brayden

Our last day in Jackson, we took our Kayaks out once again. This time to a different lake (don't know the name). But it only allowed non-motorized boats. So we felt a little more safe to explore all around. There is nothing like being right below the great, majestic Tetons.

Jarin

Nicky

Ira, Kamden, Jarin

Kamden - his smile says it all...it was a perfect vacation to end summer and start fall.