Bouquets Galore!

August 28th:

I always have a few bouquets of flowers on my counter starting in the summer thanks to Addison and Leighton! I mean constantly!  I love their little arrangements:)  

It's Official!

August 28th:

It's official!  McKenna now has her own apartment with her own bed, etc.  Gonna miss this girl!  Thank goodness for cell phones!

Ah-Ha

August 20th:

Had an ah-ha moment today.  I grew up spoiled!  Not with "stuff" but with all the good "stuff" my mom bottled!  Spoiled me for life!  Can't stand store bought goods!  I love this time of year!  Thank you mom!

Moving Out :(

August 10th:

McKenna left for school this morning:( Worse thing is she left a package of letters for each one of us. Haven't been able to even open mine yet, but watching her little sisters read through hers has left this house in tears all morning! Darn her! We'll just have to go through this all again when we move her into her apt in another 2 weeks!

Fun Visitor!

McKenna was able to visit a little with a fun visitor at Ruby's this summer.  When she texted the picture it took me a minute to see who it was - until I realized it was Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife Patricia!  He definitely looks different without a suit and tie on!  Fun!

Pine Creek - Zions

August 9th:

We had a little Girls trip to visit Grandma Schmutz on the 9th and on our way home we stopped in Zion and drove through to Pine Creek at the base of the switch backs.  We loved it!  We honestly were the only ones up there at the time!  Rare for Zion!  I think its a new favorite!  It's just a short hike from the highway and were able to do it with Leighton just passing her from one girl to another as we had to climb over a few little boulders.   

 

 

 

 

On our way out we stopped at the overlook hike.

We had such a wonderful day together!  What beautiful girls we have in this Finch family!  Inside and out!

Tour of Utah 2013!

August 6-7:

Tour of Utah is a six stage bicycling race that happened to feature Panguitch twice this year!  The first day, the racers started at Brian Head, came down off the mountain, through Panguitch, down through Hatch and up and over Todds to Cedar Breaks, ending in Cedar City.  

The Second Stage started in Panguitch and McKenna, Garrett and I volunteered to help with the efforts!

 

 

A lot of excitement for such a little town!  It was fun to see all the bicyclists!  I tried to get some professional pics of the Tour of Utah website but of course they are all protected.  But go to Stage 2 and click on the pictures and see our amazing town hosting this incredible event!

Garrett turns 16!

While in Yellowstone, Garrett turned 16 year old!  So fun!  When we got back Jeff was able to ordain him a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood.  Such a wonderful time!

 

Later that week I was able to give Garrett his reward for no kissing before 16!  So proud of him and who he is becoming!

Family Vacation - Yellowstone!

July 29th-August 2

This year we decided to go to Yellowstone for our family vacation.  We have always wanted to go and with McKenna leaving to go to college, we thought we'd better get there this summer!  We stopped in Spanish Fork and stayed the night.  Jeff's parents came with us which was a really great way to spend some family time!

July 29th - Day 1:

The first stop on our way up was the Idaho Falls Temple.  Here we stopped and ate lunch and stretched our legs.

There's a park just South of the temple where we ate.  This cute little bench had everyone's attention.  We loved it and the view of the Snake River.

Next stop was Bear World just south of Rexburg Idaho.  For a fee you can drive around a compound with wildlife - elk, deer, coyotes, and of course - bears!

Up close and personal - licking our door handle!  Yikes!

After the drive around the compound we stopped at their petting zoo.

On our way again we drove around the Rexburg Idaho Temple.

After leaving Rexburg, we stopped in Ashton Idaho to pick up a weeks worth of groceries before heading to our cabin in Island Park.  McKenna decided shopping for head apparel was much more fun.

After Ashton, we took a detour recommended by Sharon to the Lower and Upper Mesa Falls of the Henry's Fork River.  First - Lower Mesa Falls.  They were impressive, but we were only able to admire them from afar.  There is quite a little hike to see them up close and personal.

Next were the Upper Mesa Falls - and these really were impressive!  A short hike provided us with a front row seat to some of the most beautiful falls I have seen in real life!  I think I liked them so much because it was so incredibly green!

An attempt at a family photo:/

The visitor center at the falls - formerly a the Mesa Falls Lodge.

After leaving Mesa Falls Scenic Byway, we made our way to our cabin at Island Park.  Island Park has the longest Main Street in the USA - a whopping 36.8 miles long!  Finally - after traversing half of that lengthy main street we finally found our cabin - The Owl's Nest.

We went for an evening walk and the girls were so sweet to pick me a boquet of wild flowers! What a fun first day to our family vacation!

July 30th - Day 2:  We finally made our way into Yellowstone!  As it was my first time along with the kids - Yellowstone was unlike anything I'd ever seen before!  Steam and hot pockets rising all over the place!  It was strange and beautiful.  We toured the lower loop the first day.  

Waiting for Old Faithful...

And waiting...

Off in the distance while we were waiting for Old Faithful - Beehive Geyser erupted.  Its an incredible geyser erupting for 5 minutes at a height of 200 feet.  The ranger said it will erupt faithfully for 2 days and then quiet down for a week to a couple of months.  We felt lucky to have seen it!  We could actually see the water spouting, thought I had a pic of it, but alas...

Then finally Old Faithful decided it couldn't be outdone.  Average height of Old Faithful is 145 feet erupting every 90 minutes.

The many faces of McKenna and Leighton while driving through the park:)

Lake Hotel and Lodge:

What we nicknamed the backside of Yellowstone, turned out to be one of our favorite spots!  Its was gorgeous with the beautiful Yellowstone River in the foreground and the gently rolling hills in the back.  We were treated to a beautiful complete double rainbow!

Once we got back to the cabin we celebrated Garrett's 16th birthday with cupcakes!  What an incredible young man we have been blessed with!  

July 31st - Day 3:

Early on day 3 we woke to enter the park again.  We traveled the upper loop this time stopping first at Gibbon Falls.  So early in the morning - it was quiet and peaceful - and beautiful!

After Gibbon Falls we stopped at Norris Basin.  Later that same day the Steamboat Geyser erupted that evening for 9 minutes!  A rare sight as it goes off only about every 50 years - and we missed it by less 12 hours!  It was really steaming when we drove by later that evening about 1 hour before it erupted.

The next big stop was Mammoth Hot Springs.  With a name like that we felt right at home!  Jeff, his parents, Kimber and Leighton dropped off Garrett, McKenna, Addison and myself and we hiked down to the lodge while they drove around and down.

After we stopped at Tower Falls for a brief hike.

Next stop - the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Falls

Back at the cabin.  It really was nice.  We didn't pay for one meal until we were in Jackson Hole!  We BBQ'd, packed lunches, took quiet walks, put together a puzzle, and played in the hot tub.  It was so peaceful after being in such a busy and crowded park all day!  We even watched Duck Dynasty together - after McKenna had suggested a no technology week.  Notice who is holding the controls!

August 1st - Day 4:
Had to get a picture with an old vintage Yellowstone bus!

Grand Prismatic Hot Spring:

Isa Lake:

We drove out the South Entrance of Yellowstone and into the North Entrance of Grand Teton National Park.  I will just say that I think I liked the Tetons better overall - the opportunity to really have fun and just not observe from a board walk.  We stopped at Colter Bay, ate lunch and the girls played in the water while Garrett skipped stones.

Catching minnows:)

Playing in the mud.  Cool rock!

Looking at a waterfall through the binoculars on the opposite side of the lake!

When we got to Jenny Lake we took a shuttle boat over to Hidden Falls.

Leighton fell asleep on my back on the way up to Hidden Falls and wouldn't let anyone carry her if we tried to switch off.  I think I worked off all my calories from the trip on this one hike!

Finally while we were waiting for the ferry to take us back, Leighton let Jeff hold her!  Whew!

Beautiful girl!  I love this smile!

That night we stayed in Jackson Hole at ate a restaurant for the very first time since leaving on our trip!  It was well worth the wait - Snake River Brewery.  Awesome food!

August 2nd - Day 5:

The next morning we woke early to take in the sights at Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum and get our pics under the antler arches at the park.

Another antler arch on our way home while driving through Afton Wyoming.

McKenna and I spoiled ourselves that last night with food pedi's at the mall.  Oooh!  It felt so good!

All in all it was a great family vacation this year.  We loved being together and seeing some incredible country!  Love this family and spending time with them!  So glad Jeff's parents were able to join in on our fun!