Catching up!

We really enjoyed having Eric and Melissa stop in for the night on their way to Louisiana. It was our first time to meet Princess Piper. Yes, she is everything her Modgie June says she is......

Two little red-heads.......gotta love it!

Piper's new buddy!

"Grandad-in-training"

Josh and Em having a "moment".

Happy 14th Birthday, Mr. Ben!

Emmy and Andrea at our annual church Christmas dinner.

We can only be adorable for a limited amount of time!

The cousin's table

Thanksgiving Dinner------the food is still in the kitchen!

Thanksgiving 2009

We're still here!

Happy 11th Birthday, Zach! You are loved!!!!

Just making sure Mom bought the right one......he definitely takes after his dad in this department.

A birthday is a lot more fun when hanging out with your best buds!

Happy 6th, Emmy Grace!!!!

Emily Grace, How do I love thee, let me count the ways......
You are the pixie dust in my sometimes chaotic life.
You fill my days with unanticipated joy and smiles.
Your willingness to help and your love for others inspires me.
Your adventuresome spirit challenges and terrifies me.
You are truly the finishing touch on my wonderful collection of children!
I love you, sweet girl!!!

You can tell that I was delighted to finally be able to put all the bows and ruffles to good use!

At this age, she was climbing out on the back porch railing, stuffing frozen peas up her nose, and giving her mother heart failure about every day!

Someone else I know was very excited to finally have a daughter......

Is there anything more special than the gift of a very best friend?

Happy Birthday, Caleb!!!!

Little "Chunkers"

How time does fly!!!!!

Our family comedian!

We celebrated with the Stein family while they were visiting from Germany. Ethan turned six and Caleb turned eight. (Caleb's black eye is from a stray baseball!)

Tetons and friends!

The majestic Tetons

We spent Friday night in Idaho Falls reconnecting with our precious friends from med school days, Mark and Danielle Hinkson. Danielle and I spent many hours cooking and crafting together while our men were buried in the books. It was wonderful to be with them again!

Our great friends and hosts in Denver----Jerry and Heather Esparza

Casa Bonita in Denver

Our vacation was truly a trip of a lifetime. It was a chance for our family to spend "together" time. In this day and age, it seems as if we're hamsters on the treadmill of life. (If ya know what I mean...)

Yellowstone

My guys kept up their yearly tradition of whitewater rafting. I don't know if I'll ever be brave enough to try it.

Snowball fight on top of Mt. Washburn

Right at the brink of the Falls

Hiking down to look at Lower Falls was my favorite part of Yellowstone Park. The Falls drop about 300 feet and when you stand at the top, you can just feel the power of it all. There's no words to adequately describe it.

God's little reminder at the end of a perfect day.

Yellowstone

Mammoth Hot Springs
The hot water is surging out of the ground and pouring over these rocks. It is so amazing! The smell of sulphur did kinda make us feel sick. By the end of the trip, we drove right by the geysers with our windows rolled Up!!!

We only had to wait about 45 minutes for Old Faithful to erupt. I was amazed at the number of people there and the excitement level in the crowd. Quite a phenomenon!!!

Traffic jam in Yellowstone.......buffalo do not, I repeat, do not walk very fast.

More Vacation Pictures

Happy 4th of July from Devil's Tower, Wyoming!

Caleb really wanted to see Devil's Tower, so we took a little detour and spent a couple hours hiking around the Tower.

It was very overcast the day we visited Mt. Rushmore. We all took a helicopter ride to get a better view of the faces. I was surprised at how small they actually were. The faces themselves are only 60 feet tall!

Here's the bear that scared me nearly to death while we were driving through Bear Country USA. He was licking the bugs off of our front bumper and when he got around to my side, Dave rolled down the window! Grrrrrr!!!!

Our trip west.......part one

On our way to Rapid City, we spent several hours in the Badlands of South Dakota. It was beautiful there in a strange sort of way. You could almost imagine that you had landed on the moon. Of course, after two days straight in a conversion van, it might as well have been the moon!

Dave called this, "Heidi's visit to the Madlands"!

Two of my "sweeties"

Emily never wants to pass up an opportunity to pose for the cameraman!

Zach probably enjoyed this day more than all the rest. He is a true outdoorsman.

Josh the Giant!

As you can see, Ben and Zach's theme song for the trip was "Ain't no mountain high enough"!

The sun was setting as we left the Badlands. Talk about a wonderful photo op!!!

Our latest fairytale adventure.........

Once there was a lonely little princess named Emily whose mother refused to give her a baby sister. All seemed hopeless, until.......

One day, the little princess found a beautiful toad to claim as her own. As luck would have it, the first thing on the agenda was playing dress-up. Little Toad, (yet unnamed due to pending gender determination), even smiled for the photo shoot. At least that's what the princess told me. And the saga continues>>>>>