Yellowstone National Park

Another September, another trip to Yellowstone. We didn't go last year because we had just gotten back from California and so it felt good to be back. Every fall the Jaussi clan heads to Yellowstone for a couple of days, it is a great tradition that we all look forward to.

 The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone! Russell took this gorgeous picture. It was raining on and off all day and they clouds were low...very dramatic.

Here is Aiden in front of Old Faithful. We pulled up just in time for it to go off. It was raining pretty hard so we didn't stay for the whole show.

 It wouldn't be a trip to Old Faithful without and ice cream in the inn. Here are Jane, Jean, Natalie and Eliza enjoying their's!

 One afternoon we went on a little hike to Wraith Falls. It was such a pretty day and felt good to get out and enjoy the last of the warm days. Here I am with my dad.

Cayson was the hit of the trip. Everybody wanted to hold him! Russell got a big smile out of him during our picnic.

Eliza and Grandpa

 Hallie and Makia having fun.

 Jack and Jace spent lunch time building a rock bridge out into the river. They were very busy boys.

Russell and I.

And here is Tricia! She was a trooper to bring her four kids without Shane. 

We had great weather for two of the days that we were there and then Saturday as we were heading home in was cold and rainy. So we can't complain! Sometimes we go and it is snowing, so this was perfect. I have a few more pictures to post of our fun trip.

Over Labor Day

We usually only do one backpacking trip a year, but we decided to step it up and throw in another one over Labor Day weekend. I am still trying to decide if that was a good idea or not. It was ok. Not the best trip we have ever had, but ok.

 We decided to take it easy and go back to Ruth Lake. We hadn't been in a couple of years and it was a good choice to not go too far. Here we are on the trail.

Aiden and Eliza by a little waterfall.

Jack's turn.

The sign post to point us in the direction of Ruth Lake. This picture of Eliza showed how she felt about the whole trip. Less then excited.

 It was cold. When we first arrived at the trail head it started to rain, and I told Russ I didn't want to hike in the rain so we took a scenic drive to Evanston to see if the storm would pass. It did, but the weekend was quite cold. Here are the kids hanging around the camp fire.

Me and my cute little kids.

One day we went exploring to all sorts of lakes around Ruth. Here is Jack fishing at Cutthroat Lake.

Here was a cute rock that Aiden wanted his picture on.

And then Jack could not be out done.

 Here we are crossing a fallen log over a stream. We really were on an adventure this time because a lot of the lakes we went to had no trails. We just had to pick a route and go for it.

Here we are at Jewel Lake.

Aiden and Jack on some cliffs.

We went to Teal Lake and Aiden made his first cast and caught a fish! It was the only fish of the trip.

Here we are at the sign post for Teal Lake. We were the only ones there and it was really pretty and peaceful.

Here I am reading the book Wonder to the kids on the banks of Teal. It was really fun to just relax and read before we had to hike back to Ruth Lake. When we got back, we ran out of fuel to cook, Aiden threw up, it was cold, and by the the time we got back to the car we were done!

Before School Starts...

Before school started up again, we wanted to take one last minute trip. We called our awesome friends, the Faldmo's and invited ourselves to St George for an overnight party. We got there Friday night in time for dinner, games and fun.

The next morning we woke up to a delicious breakfast and then went over to the pool for a couple of hours. Here is Eliza showing off her muscles!

 Aiden and Eliza enjoying a nice float.

 Steve and Russell, these guys have been best friends since they were little boys. 

 We love spending time with the Faldmo's..Steve, Lori, Chase and Tyson...Millie is not in the picture. Our kids get along great and we always laugh and have a great time with them.

Steve always knows how to bring the party. Here is Jack diving through the tube.

 Here is a picture of Millie. She is such a fun girl!!

After the hike we went to Kannaraville to hike a slot canyon. Aiden and I had done it last summer for youth conference and we wanted everyone to experience it. Here are Jack, Aiden and Eliza on the hot part of the hike.

Pretty soon you make it to the river and they the rest of the hike you are nice and cool. Here are the kids sliding down a little waterfall.

This is the beginning of the slot canyon. It was so pretty!

And this is where my camera died. So I was sad. A little further up is a ladder that you climb over a waterfall, pretty rocks and a bigger water slide that we all went down. It was the perfect getaway to end summer. Thanks Faldmo's for the great time!!

Fish Lake 2014

At the beginning of August the Liston's headed to Fish Lake for a weekend get away. And Fish Lake did not disappoint...we caught a whole lot of fish!

This is just some of the fish that were caught. From left to right: Jack, Grandma Louder, Jaylee, Montana, Scott, Kyler, Aiden, Gabe, Jace, Grandma Liston and Annabelle.

 Jack with the catch!

Eliza didn't care too much about the fishing. but she did like driving the boat.

Two smiley cousins!

Grandma Lauder and Grandma Liston out for a fishing trip.

What a fun fishing crew. Paige, Troy, Annabelle, me, Jack, Luke and Becky.

Grandma Louder caught the first fish.

And here is Jack with his awesome trout. I think Aiden caught 7 fish, Jack caught four and that was it for our family. We had a fun reunion playing games, eating delicious food, fishing, and four wheeling.

More Clyde Lake

I am finally getting around to posting more of our Clyde Lake Pictures. 

 We did a little day hike up the "the notch" and after that I needed to cool my toesies in the water for a while. It was the perfect end to a hot hike.

 We told Russell's brother James and his wife Rebecca that we were heading up to Clyde Lake and they decided to make a day hike and come find us. That was a fun treat. They hiked out with us and we all had dinner in Kamas.

 Here we are all packed up and ready for the long hike out.

 My cute family!!

 Jack, Eliza and Aiden at the top of the notch.

 Jack found a sweet chair somebody made.

 Eliza and her daddy.

Oh, and Aiden caught a salamander in the little pond by our campsite.
I love our little backpacking adventures it is hard work, but being together out in nature is worth it!