August August!

In mid-August, we headed north for an overnight stop in Bountiful and then on to Rigby to spend time with Sherry and Steve’s family and check out BYU-I with Katie!

We had a fun time near Ririe, at Heise Hot Springs Resort – water slide, swimming and soaking in the hot spring pool.  We also checked out Kelly Canyon Ski Resort nearby – a place where Katie might end up boarding while at BYU-I.

We spent most of one day in Rexsburg, checking out potential housing for Katie.  It is a beautiful town and campus – hope it is just as appealing to Katie in white!

We returned to Bountiful for a celebration of my mom’s 91^st birthday.  Many of the children and grandchildren came to her home on Sunday evening.  It was fun to visit and see nieces, nephews and others, who we hadn’t seen, in some cases, for many years.  Atkin flew in and a little later that evening so did our new daughter (at least for the coming school year), Line – arriving after a long day of travel from Norway!!!  It was fun to have her come and we jumped right into getting to know each other.  She speaks very good English!

Line just arrived from Norway!

Monday morning we had a birthday breakfast with grandma and then headed north to Pocatello for a stop at Costco to get all the fresh foods for the Snow Family reunion.  It was fun to see Line’s reaction to a store that is so large, with such a variety of goods and a food court – something we take for granted.  After cramming everything into the van and a quick lunch at Costa Vida, we drove the rest of the way to the cabin in Island Park.  It was fun to greet all the Snows already there and they helped Line feel right at home.

The next few days included two trips into Yellowstone, visits to Big Springs and Cliff Lake, and renting ATVs – and, of course, lots and lots of card and table games.

We stayed at a cabin that sleeps 50 people and has a large common area and well equipped kitchen – Suzanne is amazing at finding these places.  It is situated among the large pines and near the open meadows in the northern part of Island Park.  We were about 30 minutes drive from West Yellowstone.

The highlights of our first day in Yellowstone included many hotpots and geysers, with the focal point of Old Faithful.  We even had a picnic lunch where getting the Jays to land on your hand and take a piece of cookie, cracker or fruit was the highlight.



Success on feeding the Jay

 The following day we went to Big Springs and walked the trail along the river in the morning.  At lunch, Laurie and I had made a cake to surprise Line for her 17^th birthday – so after everyone ate, all got quiet and we sang Happy Birthday and brought out the cake!  She was very surprised and happy.

That afternoon, we drove to Cliff Lake – one of a series of chain lakes about 20 miles north of the cabin.  We swam and there was a rope swing and many of us took turns swinging out and dropping 15 to 25 feet into the water (depending on how high up the steep side of the lake you were brave enough to start).  The picture of just our family, not the whole Snow clan, are in a separate album.

Thursday we spent in Yellowstone Park, starting at the Canyon area.  Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls are so spectacular and we had fun hiking the many stairs of Uncle Tom’s Trail to be near the base of the Lower Falls.  Artist’s Point was a great place to eat lunch and get a group picture.  Then we all went various ways and our family and the Brownings headed for the Firehole River swim area.  On the way, we stopped at Gibbon Falls – one of my favorite.  At the Firehole River swim area, we rounded the bend expecting lots of cars and there was not one – to our utter disappointment, the area was closed due to higher than normal flows.  A quick adjustment to plans and we visited Grand Prismatic Springs before heading out of the park.  Laurie went to Old Faithful with the Brownings and I had a car full of teenagers going back to the cabin, so in West Yellowstone, DQ was calling to us and we obliged.



The whole group - Lower Yellowstone Falls from Artist's Point

 Friday we rented quads and had a fun day riding in the area around the cabin and up to the outlet arm of Henry’s Lake.  That evening, Laurie and I drove to the beautiful Upper Mesa Falls and then got a half-sheet carrot cake in Ashton for Suzanne’s birthday.  As we were in the laundry room getting the cake ready with candles, it started to slide on the tray and I saved it by mashing the corner of it into the side of the dryer, so it was pretty messed up – but everyone sang and we had a nice evening together.

Saturday, we took care of the laundry and cleaning and everyone headed home.  We stopped, with our children, at Upper Mesa Falls and then at the Brownings for lunch before heading to Bountiful.  That evening we joined Karen and Andrew at Log Haven Restaurant in Mill Creek Canyon, east of Salt Lake, to have dinner with Glenn and Mary, Wester and Polly, and some of their children and spouses.  Glenn is Laurie’s mom’s brother and Wester is her cousin.

It was a wonderful trip – then home and a week to prepare for school to start.  It was wonderful to have Line with us, in a situation to get to know us pretty well before school started.

See the two albums of the trip!