The Grand Finale

After the reunion concluded, we spent some time in the Tetons and Jackson Hole. We did some window shopping in Jackson (what a tourist trap), saw the Bar-J Wranglers (what a show), and even found a little time to...

get our feet wet in Jenny Lake (what a chill).

Some of us got more than our feet wet.

In Elk Antler Park, the kids got to pose with a moose.

Some more pics of the Family Reunion

Here is the entire group, minus Markie, Timmy, and Joey and his crew. We had a great time and wish everyone could have been there and even talked a little about next time when Markie will be home and Timmy back from his mission and hopefully Joey and fam can come up for the next big extravaganza. And behind door number 3 a buffalo. (Another buffalo, that is.)
A very beautiful and deep hole full of water. Hot water. Very deep. Very full. Very hot.
The bikers and binky suckers.

Party!

These are two of my roomates we had a party in our room partly for my birthday and partly for us finishing another chapter of our deployment. Thank you all for everything you do for me and my little family. I miss you all so much and cant wait to see you all The time is starting drag now that we are in our fourth quarter, and the goal is in sight. I love you all Mark Jr

Bison, Get One Free

Oh, Give me a home...

Where the buffalo roam...

We saw more bison in Hayden Valley than anywhere else in Yellowstone. At times we were surrounded by these gentle giants on both sides of the road. Our opinion of bison changed when we saw the video "Yellowstone Today" at the Canyon Visitor Center. Apparently, they are camera shy. When provoked, they can get pretty frisky.

A trio of Calbans.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.

A quintet of Wims et al.

A couple of poseurs.

Dew you think you can guess what D's doritos taste like? I don't think Alex knows.

Elara and Emma - bosom buddies, constant companions and demanding divas.

Grandpa, who's that monkey on your back?

Either Madison just let one rip or the geysers did. This attraction stunk.

The trees aren't alive with the smell of sulphur.

More Norris Geyser basin.

Madison at Madison Junction.

The Fountain Paint Pots were really neat. We even saw a brown bear go a-wholloping across the meadow (sorry no pics).

Happy Birthday Soldier !

No this is not a picture of Mark in the Vader costume. Above is a pic of Mark Belanger of the orioles.
Don't ask me why! I just wanted to share these pics

Mark,

It is no surprise you are sacraficing your time, and energy for your country. You have always been one to step up and do difficult things.

I admire your knowlege of world history and current events. You are always in the know on important issues and facts. I loved rapping with you about politics last election season as we would deliver water and listen to rush in the hot summer.

Like I said. It"s no surprise you are doing what your doing. Thanks for all the times you helped Callista and I move. And for going through, and fixing my Enduro, for a little while anyways. Thanks for going halves with me on stuff like the go-cart , chopper, and more.

And finally don't forget the time we got Vicky C. back, or when we'd ding, dong, ditch Bruce and Chung, or the time you ran into the back of a parked truck while night ridin' the go kart. oh, those were the days!! love you dude ,Now hurry back and make us some chicken fingers and spicy diced potatos-MATT

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery

A representative sample of the family at Old Faithful.

This attraction blows.

It must be before Labor Day, because these two weirdos always wore white. We're camping. Hellooo?

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting for the thing to blow.

It's been eight years since we were at Yellowstone and, I guess, these parks have to remain "relevant." So, the park people thought it would be neat to put in this crude imitation of the Bellagio water show. The timing was all off. It took ninety minutes between shows. No Lee Greenwood. No Andrea Bocelli. No synchronized lights. I don't mind when someone comes to Vegas and steals one of our ideas. But come on. Put your heart into it.

Anyways, we woke up and had a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs (Thank you Billy and Lizzie). We made sack lunches and then drove to Old Faithful. We waited around for the thing to blow. It was pretty exciting. We asked at the visitors center where the line was for the "Baby Launching" platform, but they said that it was too early in the day. Apparently, the geyser needs to get its burps out before it can successfully launch a baby.

After the eruption, our party split up. Some went to the bathrooms, others to the medical clinic, others to the Old Faithful Inn, and others to the general store. After some time and a couple of false starts, we all got back together at the campsite (Sorry Matt and Victoria).

We spent the afternoon hanging out. We took the kids to the visitors center to get their junior ranger books and then took them back to the visitors center later for an intense ranger program on weasels. I'm sure Matt will want to share Elara's line of questioning of Ranger Kassebaum, so I won't steal his thunder. Let me just say, if you ever have to face Elara in a courtroom, watch out.

We had a lovely dinner of dutch oven chicken and potatoes. Then, we all got to taste Pumpkin Spice. No, it's not a tawdry Spice Girls joke; it's a cobbler. I went to bed with a splitting migraine, but everyone else seemed to be able-bodied.

Coming up in tomorrow's installment: Bison, Falls, Sulphur and Bears (Oh My!).

Daniel, Daniel, Daniel...Ahhhhh!!!!

This is his latest cast. On June 4th a little girl who weighs about 100 pounds broke his little finger. But don't worry, Daniel took his cast off at Boy Scout Camp because he got it wet. He's doing fine and is off towards his next adventure.

Whats up?

This was during our last sand storm it was crazy it was just like in the movie the Mummy, it just rolls right in. I cant wait for the next installment of the reunion diaries. I have a tentative date for our journey home. It will be on or near the 10th of october so I should be home for Halloween. If our timeline holds up, I miss you all so much love Mark Jr

Hellostone from Yellowstone

Asher, who was recovering from a freak encounter with a rare face-scratching racoon, helped us set up camp.

Alex loves getting his picture taken. You may not be able to tell, but he's thinking, "Is this the pose you want? Am I working it? Am I looking fierce?"

Emma, on the other hand, does not know how to pose. Could this be another Hannah in the making?

I know what you're thinking. How can Lizzie and Billy be standing when they have no legs? But this is not trick photography. In fact, the pair of them are actually wearing camo pants.

Billy is going for the ride of his life. Hold on, Emma! Hold on!

On the first day of the reunion, Billy and Lizzie and Billy were the first to arrive (partly because they live closest to Yellowstone). We showed up about an hour or so after them. We quickly set up camp, because (tut tut), it looked like rain. We went on a short walk to the visitors center at Yellowstone Lake. As we were walking back from the visitors center, it started to rain. Then Dad drove up, then Matt and then, late at night, Victoria and Becky.

The weather was beautiful. We had stew for dinner, then some of us had smores. It was a good start to a good week.

A Teaser (from our pre-reunion road trip)

We stopped in Salt Lake on the way to Yellowstone. After checking into our hotel, we drove to Temple Square, where we toured the Conference Center and the North Visitors Center. It was nice to get out of the car and be able to walk around. Leah had never been to the Conference Center and we were all amazed at its enormity.

Reflecting on the Temple.

We took time to smell the wildflowers.

We visited Bechler and Cave Falls, in the southwest corner of Yellowstone before the reunion started. Leah's aunt lives very close to that part of Yellowstone, so we drove there after we locked ourselves out of the cabin for the day. We saw a lot of wildlife on the hike. Unfortunately, they were all mosquitos.

Asher taking in the grandeur of Cave Falls. A little closer to the fall and behind Asher is a small cave that one can stand in to appreciate just how pretty the water fall is.