And Now For the Commercials!

Things have been busy around here. School's back in session. We just finished our 2nd week, we have guests coming this weekend, and a friend and I have been engaged in a hunt for some long lost friends. I've had fun playing detective and we've been successful at tracking down just about everyone. Its exciting and I can't wait to tell you more!
However, before I put the whole wonderful vacation to rest for a while, I wanted to pause for a few commercials.

The first item I'd like to praise is Pringles! For every lunch during the two week trip, we had roadside picnics. Wherever we happened to be at lunchtime, we'd find a picnic table and pull out all the lunch goodies. It was fun to eat with so many different views: beside the river, in the shadow of mountains, on the high planes, in bear territory, at Mount Rushmore, etc. If you had been able to look in on every one of our picnics, you would have seen Pringles. They are perfect for travelling. Not only are they yummy and come in any flavor you could ever want, they are stored in the can instead of a bag. This makes it possible to have chips that aren't disintegrated into tiny crumbs!
















(above: lunch beside Hoback River in Wyoming)

(right: Mount Rushmore, South Dakota)

My next kuddos go to Nature Valley's Chewy Trail Mix bars! My mom purchased two JUMBO boxes of the Fruit and Nut variety from Sam's before we left on the trip. We ate them for breakfast, we ate them at lunch, we ate them for snack and we loaded our backpacks with them when we were on the trail. On our hike to Inspiration Point at Jenny Lake, Grand Tetons, we were standing near a family that was admiring the view like we were. We overheard one of the teenage children complaining about being hungry. My hubby whipped one of these bars out of his pack and gave it to her! They are good enough to share!

(On the trail with Nature Valley Trail Mix bars in our packs!)

OK, so those are a couple of my endorsements in case you ever find yourself driving cross country for 2 weeks and/or hiking some trail somewhere! (That kind of gives me an idea....maybe I should write a list: "10 things you should never do on a 2 week cross country vacation." If I get in the mood and wax comedic, you may be reading that soon.)

Hurry and Check it Out! Not Much Time Left!

Head on over to Life is Like a Lunchbox to enter all this weeks contests. Hurry and you can still get in on the goodies!

Our Trek - Day Eleven through Thirteen (July 31st)

This was the last day of sightseeing for us. Everything after that was just travel to get home. On this day, we went to Mt. Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota. We took the little trail that gives you various vantage points of the mountain. It was a beautiful day - clear, blue skies and made for great pictures of the mountain. We enjoyed an informational lecture about the sculptor and shopping in a large gift shop while we were there.
After a picnic in the area (it was beautful), we drove a little ways down the road to see the Crazy Horse Monument that is being sculpted out of the mountain. We did not enter the park, but were able to see the monument from the road. If you've never heard of this monument, its worth reading about here.
















As we traveled across most of South Dakota to reach our day's destination (a hotel in Mitchell), we noticed a mini-van with a luggage carrier on top. The luggage carrier was coming unlocked and was flapping in the wind. We honked and motioned for them to pull over and used some of our extra straps to help them get it secured. As we talked to them, we learned that they were from Florida and were headed home from tent camping in the Yellowstone area! It was fun to help them and meet new people.
We also stopped at the famous Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota. This place is a huge tourist trap, but was fun to experience. Its humorous that such a funny place in the "middle of nowhere" can have such notoriety!
We spent the night in a hotel. The next morning, we couldn't find our daughter's shoes. We looked everywhere in our room and everywhere in my parent's room. They were no where to be found. Finally, we woke up our 3 year old son and asked him if he knew where they were. He immediately told us that he had put them in the freezer section of the mini frig in the room! Those were some cold shoes to put on :)!
Day twelve found us turning southward through Iowa and arriving at my parent's house in Kansas City at about 4:30pm. Along the way, we drove past a bizare place called Porter's Sculpture Park where there were giant sculptures of different items. We also a quick stop at a museum in Souix City, Iowa. When we got to St. Joseph, Mo, we visited the Pony Express museum and drove by the house where Jesse James was killed.





















We were up early on day 13 to begin our 2 day journey to our house in AL. Things went very smoothly and when we reached Nashville, where we had planned to stay the night, we decided to keep on moving. We drove all the way home, arriving at 2 AM on day fourteen. We fell into our own bed for the 1st time in 2 weeks and spent the day resting and reminiscing! We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to go on this trip. What a blessing! Our children still talk about it every day and we can not get those grand vistas out of our minds. I am looking forward to developing some of my pictures to hang in our house and put in scrapbooks. What an awesome adventure! We're ready to go again!

To see more photos taken on day eight, click on any picture below. When the album pops up, click on the slideshow icon to watch slideshow.

(photos by Leah Belle @Sweet Tea are copyrighted and may not under any

circumstances be used without express permission)

Our Trek - Day Eleven (July 30)

Sadly, this was the day we had to leave the Yellowstone/Grand Teton area. It was sad, because there was so much more to see and do. We left through the East Entrance of Yellowstone which provided us different views than our days spent in Yellowstone. After leaving Yellowstone, we had lunch in Cody, WY (we went to WalMart there too!:)) The drive on this day was just as beautiful as previous days. We saw beautiful mountains and countryside (Shoshone Natl Forrest and Bighorn Natl Forrest). We stopped at Shell Falls. "We saw real cowboys!

We even saw a moose. Now this was an exciting event, becaus even though we had our eyes peeled the entire time we were in the Yellowstone/Grand Teton area, we did not see a moose.

We camped that night at Sundance, Wyo. This was a KOA campground and gets the "best campground of the trip award."

(our campsite - the next morning)

The owners have done a good job of making the accommodations nice and clean and comfortable. We had a pretty view of a valley and mountain across the way. We enjoyed watching the horses graze and then the full moon come up over the mountain.

Oh To See The Dawn (The Power Of The Cross)

5M4M Giveaway

Now this is quite a giveaway! Go and check it out NOW. They are giving away a flat screen T.V. courtesy of Best Buy! Ends very soon so hurry.

Our Trek - Day 10 (July 29)

We began day 2 in Grand Teton National Park with a Ranger led wildflower tour. Our Ranger guide was fantastic and this tour proved to be very interesting. It is part of a homeschool project our daughter will be working on this fall, and she listened very well. I was proud of her. The hike/tour ended part way along the trail to Taggart Lake, so we decided to continue all the way to the lake. As expected, it was a beautiful hike and we were again struck with the awesome creativity of our Creator. As we hiked along, we quoted verses from scripture pertaining to flowers.

Taggart Lake provided a beautiful setting for more worship. I sat on a rock with this exact view and listened to "The Heavens Declare..." on my mp3 player. It was so great!

The Heavens Declare

Matt Rylder

From your lips the universe was formed
When you spoke it came to be
In your hands you hold eternity
By your mercy we are free

Chorus
The Heavens declare your glory
Creation's testimony
To Your justice and your grace
And All the beauty of your face
The Heavens declare your glory
Creation's testimony
To your richness and your worth
And All the power of your truth

At your word the thunder runs to hide
You prepared the ocean's home
With your touch the lame runs to your side
At your voise the dead arise

Chorus
The Heavens declare your glory
Creation's testimony
To Your justice and your grace
And All the beauty of your face
The Heavens declare your glory
Creation's testimony
To your richness and your worth
And All the power of your truth

Other activities of the day included the Moose Visitor Center (where our daughter earned a Jr. Ranger badge) and a visit to Signal Mountain.
To see more photos taken on day eight, click on any picture below. When the album pops up, click on the slideshow icon to watch slideshow.

(photos by Leah Belle @Sweet Tea are copyrighted and may not under any

circumstances be used without express permission)

Our Trek - Day Nine (July 28)

This day was the 1st of 2 days spent in Grand Teton National Park. These mountains are awe inspiring! Their ragged peaks and large glaciers make stunning sights that you could look at forever and never get your fill.(An artist tries to capture the beauty)

We spen the day hiking. We rode a ferry across Jenny Lake (a glacier formed lake), then hiked a trail past Hidden Falls on up to Inspiration Point. This hike was absolutely beautiful, and when we reached Inspiration Point, I was amazed! We could see what seemed like forever: the lake below, sage brush hills, and then plains beyond that. Then farther off, past the plains more majestic mountains. I didn't even take photos from the very top, because when I looked through my camera lens, it didn't capture the beauty.(these pics were taken during the hike)

The funny thing was, when we hiked back down and got on the ferry going back across the lake, we looked back at Inspiration Point. While it had felt like we were on top of the world, we were just on a measly hill compared to the rest of the mountains around it. It was shocking to realize how huge those mountains really are.(Do you see the rounded hill in the foreground? That's Inspiration Point)

Oh, also on our hike back down the mountain, an afternoon rain shower got us! It just made our adventure more fun. By the time we got back across the lake, we were dried off.
If I was forced to pick my favorite day of the trip, this might be it! Its a mighty hard choice, though cuz every day was amazing!

To see more photos taken on day eight, click on any picture below. When the album pops up, click on the slideshow icon to watch slideshow.

(photos by Leah Belle @Sweet Tea are copyrighted and may not under any
circumstances be used without express permission)

Our Trek - Day Eight (July 27)

We started our 2nd day in Yellowstone at the Bridge Bay Gift Shop. Shopping on this trip was just about as fun as anything else we did . Everyone had their pet souvenir collectable they were looking for as well as gifts for friends back home.
Then we were off for another packed day of sightseeing. This day was spent touring the east side of Yellowstone. One of our first stops was at the Mud Volcano. These cauldrons were very interesting. Not only did they smell yukky (sulphur), emit steam, have a muddy color, they made funny sounds too. One of them was name Dragon's tongue, and it really did sound like you might imagine a dragon to sound.While we were at Mud Volcano, a buffalo wandered down a nearby hill and paid all us tourists a visit. He just casually strolled down the sidewalk and across the parking lot rather nonchalantly while all the tourists scrambled for a photo.
We also visited several turnouts and trails with views of the Upper and Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. These were spectacular views (again indescribable).

(Upper Falls)

(Lower Falls)

(Standing at top of Lower Falls looking downstream)

Next on the map was Mt. Washburn. This was an area of very high elevation and we could see for what looked like ages! It felt like being on top of the world. I did not even try to take pics of the view, because it was impossible to capture on camera. We got out of the car and did a little hiking here, which was a lot of fun!

We ended the day with a view of Tower Falls and a stop at the Sulphur Caldron. While we were at Tower Falls, I saw an acquaintance from my college days: Jennifer McKim (that's her maiden name. I don't know her married name). It was so weird to be so far from home and run into someone I knew. I had not seen Jennifer since leaving college, so it was a really bizarre thing to run into her!(Tower Falls)

To see more photos taken on day eight, click on any picture below. When the album pops up, click on the slideshow icon to watch slideshow.

(photos by Leah Belle @Sweet Tea are copyrighted and may not under any
circumstances be used without express permission)

Please Pray For Annette

(praying for Annette)

Please pray for our friend, Annette (pictured on left). She went for her first chemo treatment today. She has already had a double masectomy and reconstruction and now begins the process of treatment. She has been a blessing to all those around her as she lives a life of faith in the face of cancer. Her words say it best:

"I have learned a lot about what cancer can do to your body but I have also learned what cancer cannot do. It cannot destroy peace, kill friendship, shut out memories or steal eternal life."

Its My Firstborn's Sixth Birthday!

This is a bittersweet milestone for me! Six is so big and grown up. It means she's no longer in K classes, she's a 1st grader! She's losing teeth and getting taller. She's starting to lose interest in big hairbows and bishop dresses. Every day she demonstrates more and more "big girlness." Its bitter cuz I'm sad that the toddler days are over and time has flown by. Its sweet cuz she's turning into such a beautiful and sweet little girl.My firstborn came into the world 6 weeks early, when I developed pre-eclampsia. I was induced and was in labor for HOURS before she finally arrived. We were blessed that she went straight to the regular nursery and did not have to be placed in NICU! (I, however, went straight to ICU for3 days.) She weighed 4 lbs, 6 oz. when she was born and only weighed 3 lbs 15 oz when we took her home 5 days later. She was so sweet even from the beginning. When she came into the world, they put her up on my chest for me to look at. She just stared at me with her huge eyes and didn't make a sound. I'll never forget that sight!

God has blessed us and we have never seen any effects of an early birth. The only unusual thing we had to do when we took her home was put her in a bili blanket for jaundice until the home healthcare nurse told us she was fine.

(In the bili blanket)

I am so grateful for the blessing of my daughter. I pray I will be the godly mother I should be.

(Soon after we brought her home)

(7 weeks old - she grew fast didn't she?)

Our Trek - Day Seven (July 26)

This was the 1st of 2 days we spent in Yellowstone National Park. On this day we toured the west side of the park. All the sights were spectacular and hard to describe. No words can fully describe the beautiful and unusual sights we saw. My dad said that the only other place in the world that has these geyser basins and pools is in Australia. I was surprised and excited by the number of international visitors there were to this park. We heard many different languages throughout the time we were in this area.

Lewis Falls

West Thumb Geyser Basin
The colors of the water in these thermal pools was amazing!

Kepler Cascades

Old Faithful!

Midway Geyser Basin: Grand Prismatic Spring
watching the elk!
Mammoth Springs

We also visited Gibbon Falls and the Fountain Paint Pots. By this time in the day it was raining, so I didn't get my camera out. When we were at the Fountain Paint Pots one of the geysers there was going off and gave us quite a display for a very long time. For more photos of the day, see slide show below. (Click on view all images if you want to see larger pics)

(photos by Leah Belle @Sweet Tea are copyrighted and may not under any
circumstances be used without express permission)