Before he arrived Steve had arranged with his Dad to go fishing. They were going to go up to Island Park with Tyler and Jason and go Fly Fishing. Steve had not been fishing with his Dad in ages and he was excited to go. We arrived in Idaho on a Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a few hours of visiting and hanging out with the family. We were able to see Dave and Trista and their adorable little Amani and we were able to say goodbye to Kayla and her boys. After Kayla left Dad, Steve, Ty, Jason, Dave, and Eli took off for Island Park. On their way through Idaho Falls they were going to pick up Kelly too. They were going to set up the trailer and enjoy a boys night in the woods. Since Texas lacks any kind of mountains Steve was very excited to get out and enjoy the beautiful mountains and the clean air.
As for us women, we were staying behind to take care of Grandpa Nelson that night. Then after mom arrived back home we were going to head up to meet up with the boys and take a day trip through Yellowstone. I had never been to Yellowstone, at least that I remember, so it was going to be fun! It turned out to be a fantastic time and even though there were alot of us, we had a lot of fun. Kari and Jay and their crew, and Kelly and Katrina and their crew, Mom and Dad and then of course our Family.
Throughout the day we were able to see lots of Buffalo, some Elk, and some deer. I was really counting on seeing a Bear and a Moose, but no such luck. I honestly can't remember all the places we stopped on our whirlwind trip through the park, but the water falls and 'Grand Canyon' of the park were beautiful. The hot pots were crazy cool and Old Faithful was pretty darn impressive. As Steve said many time throughout the day, "You have to appreciate the Earth" It is amazing what is around us!
After our Yellowstone day, we went back and crashed at the Cabin Jason built. He did an addition and renovation on a cabin for some friends and they were nice enough to let us crash there for the night. Let me just say that Jason is one very talented and the work he did on the cabin was amazing! Hopefully one day he can build us a cabin in the woods!
The next day, we packed up some coolers and headed to the spot where the guys had been fly fishing the day before. There was a beautiful creek and shallow water for the kids to play in and the 'men' could go fish. It was a great afternoon and the kids had a blast floating down the creek, splashing, playing in the dirt and playing together. Noah was especially great and was so covered in dirt that we had to dunk him into the cold creek over and over to get him clean enough to even get in the car. Grandpa was great and allowed the little kids to try some fly fishing. Steve and Ty took off and went fishing as well and caught a number of fish that they released. I can't even describe what a nice time we had, I know we all wished we lived closer so we could enjoy those times with our family more often, but really we were just grateful to be there and spend time with them!
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| This is a great shot of Grandpa showing Josh how to fish! |
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| I love this picture of Steve and Ty out fishing. |
After having such a great time, most of us headed back to Pocatello. Steve, Josh, Dad and Kelly stayed one more night so they could help get the trailer packed up. Steve said that they built a huge fire that night to use up the wood they had. When it came time to put out the fire Josh wanted to do it. So he went over to the fire with a big bucket of water he could barely carry and did his best to dump it on the fire. The minute the water hit the fire a huge plume of smoke went up around him. Both Steve and Kelly looked at each other because they could no longer see Josh. After a few moments he came out from the smoke with glasses fogged up and said, 'That was not a great idea.' Of course Kelly and Steve started laughing. Josh loved having that time with his Dad, Uncle and Grandpa.
