Yellowstone National Park ~ July 10, 2009

This summer the Ethington Family had a Family Reunion up in Yellowstone National Park. It was delightful. Amelia and I celebrated our Birthdays up there. What could be better? We loved it! Everyone was there! Brad and Becca came all the way from Kansas City MO. Just to be there for my birthday- okay for the Family reunion! Brad finished up his 1st year of Med school. So proud of him.
We spent the whole day in Yellowstone- a perfect day. Mom & Dad drove with us in our car, and Dad bought his Senior Citizen Park Pass-$10 measly dollars for the rest of his long life!!! What a deal. We saw lots of buffalo. One came right next to the car and we held ourselves back from touching him. I wanted to get my hair brush out and just help him out with all those yucky mats...
Buffalo are magnificent beasts. In real life they are muscle-y, gigantic, and powerful. We also got to see a mama moose and her baby hiding in the shrubs, deer, elk, and ducks. I wish we had seen some predators -like wolves or cougars. Maybe next time!
We hiked down to the lower Yellowstone Falls. Wow. Have you been there? You should go! Spectacular. The water is so powerful and mighty,yet beautiful at the same time.
We saw Old Faithful and the Giant Yellowstone Lodge. We bought the $5.00 tourist trap ice cream cone, and looked for a toy dagger for Daniel (no luck), and other souvenirs for Jackson & Amelia. It was great!
The kids loved walking along the wooden sidewalks looking at the geysers, and the element of danger that came with falling off the edge into the molten pots...

Cone of Shame

Poor Scooby-Doo! Have you seen the movie UP by Pixar? Ha, Ha. So you know how bad Scooby feels having to wear the "Cone Of Shame". We had mercy on the poor creature and took it off of him right after we took this photo. It was to hard on his self-esteem.
Scooby had surgery on his left knee earlier this month. He ripped his ACL. He is a frisby lovin' dog, and simply can't help himself from jumping and flipping spirals in the back yard.
We adopted Scooby from a Boxer Rescue in Elsenore UT about this time last year. We have enjoyed him so much! He is a wonderful dog. From a Mom's point of view he meets all the requirements:
* Perfectly potty-trained
*Great with kids
*Doesn't bite
*Doesn't get up on the couch or my bed
*Only barks outside at strangers
*Doesn't chew on the furniture
*Has silky ears
*Nice to Mitzi the Shih-tzuh & the Cat
*Respects me as the Mama
*he has beautiful tiger stripes
*he eats crunched crackers off the floor
Scooby is doing very well, and so far, so good with the surgery!

No - No Baby !!

Gabriel is now officially a No - No Baby! He his very tall, and very strong, and that can mean trouble! He is 18 months old now and very much into mischief! He lives to climb chairs, empty's drawers & movie cabinets & pesters the dogs & cat! This little man loves opening and closing the shutters & playing with the plug outlets (Yes, he can pull the safety plugs out, Yikes!!!),He has a bad reputation for pulling my curling iron around by the cord looking for somewhere to plug it in- don't worry ! All hot dangerous hair accesories are child locked away now...
We have tall gates on every bathroom doorway, and one going out to the laundry & garage... We are all really getting good at jumping over them! Right now I spend most of the day chasing my little "Whirlwind" around, and my goal is to keep him alive and out of the ER! One thing he has going for him is that he is ABSOLUTELY ADOREABLE and he is still such a love bug! He has a very sweet happy personality and he has us wrapped around his little finger!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!

The Feast!