Yellowstone National Park

Our family went to Yellowstone last week! It was so fun! I'm convinced that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and if I could build a house right in the middle of it, I would! It was cold, and there was just enough snow to build a small snowman and have a snowball fight with Dad. Those boys have a good arm! And since Rod

is part polar bear and does not wear coats when it's 35 degrees outside, the boys figured out that snowballs can go down his shirt! Good times. We made several stops for "moment of silence". With hardly anybody in the park all we could hear was the river (if it was close) and the wind. Sometimes it was so silent our thoughts seemed loud. I could

sit there all day long and enoy the quiet, but with 3 kids you only get moments. Still, very nice.

One day we stayed until dark. It was a beautiful sunset, and I wish I had Karla's camera so I could have captured it better. But even so, I think my little camera did a good job for itself.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The sacred place where the water makes thunder. Cold, yes, but very pretty. I forgot to bring ear warmers, so I borrowed John's Lightening McQueen hat since his coat came with a hat. I was suprised it fit! Very warm, too. We had lunch here over-looking the canyon. You can't beat that.

And who can visit Yellowstone without stopping to see Old Faithful? I'm still impressed. When the kids discovered it was a "water volcano" and that most of the park sits in a huge caldera with an active magma chamber underneath, they thought that was so cool! We went to the IMAX theater in West Yellowstone, too. Very fun trip! But what was the kids' favorite part? They said it was the cartoons in the hotel room! Go figure!