Helmet Time!

The time has finally come for Ty to get his first helmet! To say the least he has been tearing it up. Stories and photos to follow...

Grand Teton National Park

I don't think anything can describe the Tetons better than GORGEOUS! They were more beautiful than I remember, and I'm so happy I was able to revisit them. Bucky and I toured Yellowstone and the Tetons back in 2001, so it has been a few years. Ty and I (Bucky was out in the field) met Barb, Justin, and Carter there last weekend while they were driving back home from a visit in Washington. I wish I could have worked out our schedule for a bit longer of a visit, but it just wasn't in the card. We had a great time camping, went on a very nice hike with gorgeous views, and did tons of sightseeing from the car. It was great to have the boys together again, and so good to see close friends who we don't get to see enough! The weather couldn't have been better. Chilly in the evenings, warm during the days, and just a few clouds. The bugs could have cooperated a bit better though, but we were prepared! Overall the animal views were minimal, and I never got a good shot of the buffalo who were always far away. Guess we'll have to go back. :)


















Tearing up the campsite.












Our homes for the weekend













Stuffing their cute faces



























The start of our hike
































The Johnsons



















Us!


















Views from the hike
































































This deer was just a few feet off the trail and didn't seem to care that we walked by and took her picture











Views from a little mountain we drove up




























































Our cheesy shot, but we got the mountains in the back!








































Old Faithful, who wasn't so faithful and we had to leave



















There are elk way in the background












An antelope

Happy 4th!

It's Summer!

We've happily welcomed in the spring and summer produce season, and have been eating out of our garden and local farmer's markets. Strawberry harvest has come and gone (and man, we were up to our elbows in strawberries!!), now cherries are ripe, and apricots are soon to follow. Our peas are almost gone at home, and the cucumbers are covered in tiny cukes! One thing I have learned is that Ty will eat ANYTHING from the garden. Even the spicy radishes and onions are devoured by my little toddler. We haven't exactly harvested anything from our personal garden because Ty is always picking and eating when we are outside. Can't really complain, can I?!



Loving the peas, although now that he discovered pod peas, he's less likely to eat the snap peas because he just wants to rip them open.































We picked tons (40 lbs!) of strawberries at a local U-pick, and have just been snacking on our strawberries at home. Our freezer is now stocked with frozen berries, and I have two batches of strawberry wine fermenting. Yum yum!














We hit up the first market of the season with my friend Angie and her two kiddos, Nevada and Elijiah.














Nevada was great at pulling Ty.












My mother's day presents were two grapes, a blackberry, and raspberry. I ate my first raspberry last night!











Trouble!


















Searching for rolly pollies





































His new sandbox (notice all the sand out of the box...)











He keeps stealing the barbecue and garden tools.



















Bucky bought him a slide when he was home last that is now next to the sandbox. It was great indoor fun when it poured that weekend!

My Silly Goose

Zion Nat'l Park

Warning, lots and lots of photos to follow! Bucky has been working a ten day on, four day off schedule for the last two months, so Ty and I decided to head down to southern Utah last weekend during the middle of the 10 days. We got to see Bucky at night, and enjoy the sights during the day. We focused mostly on Zion National Park about 30 minutes from Kanab where we were staying. The park is breathtakingly beautiful, and may just be my favorite nat'l park so far. I was hoping to do more hiking, but Ty preferred to explore instead of riding on my back. We did get in a couple mile hike each morning, and Ty even did some pretty decent hiking. It was a great long weekend, and I'm looking forward to the fall when the weather cools off to get some more hiking in down there.

We've been enjoying the transistion to summer, complete with afternoons at the Splash Pad and watermelon. Our garden is doing well both at home and at our plot in the new local community garden (hopefully pics coming soon of that). Ty is obsessed with radishes, and pulls out all the radishes before they are full grown. The sight of him running towards me with a freshly pulled radish in hand is too precious. He's going to be a nightmare once the tomatoes are fruiting!


Yummy




















The first afternoon back at the splash pad












Ty helped me open my new camera!







































































This may be one of my favorite shots of Ty ever

















Hiking along, bringing me back a pine cone






































The views from our trail



























Prickly pear cactus













Snacking after our hike at the visitor's center


















More views...











We went to a chuckwagon cookout in Kanab one night. Totally touristy, but too good not to join in. We "acted" out a movie scene aka were complete tourists.

This is Bucky and Mike the coyotes...









The scene













Ty and I were Indians (I'm so glad I am teaching my son these lessons...ick!)












The entire Sagebrush Consultants crew in their get-ups.












Words can not describe this photo













Back in Zion the next morning













Our hike took us above the mile long tunnel to get from the east entrance of the park into Zion Canyon.











At the beginning of the hike (you can see the guardrails above if you enlarge the pic)

















The morning sun was creaping through the slots into the side canyons.


















A gorgeous Juniper tree


















My hiking companion :)


















Gorgeous shots from the trail

















At the end of the trail, with the massive Zion Canyon unfolding below us.












Didn't actually get a good shot down of the canyon.











Sunday afternoon we visited Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab. The 3800 acre sanctuary is just the most incredible well run and inspiring animal "shelter" I have ever seen. They are no-kill and have rehabed thousands of animals in their 25 years. They house all companions animals; cats, dogs, bunnies, pigs, horses, burros, and birds. They do outreach across the country and are no branching off internationally. It was such an inspiring afternoon.
This is their welcome center.





They had a beautiful Koi pond outside the welcome center.












The sanctuary occupies Angel Canyon, so there were always incredible views.












We went on their 1.5 hour driving tour (yes, it's that big!). This is outside of one of many of the dog houses.













The outdoor portion of one of the cat houses. We visited FeLV positive cats who all were housed together and all were very happy and sweet! Ty was in heaven.