Joshua Tree Day 1

Joshua Tree Day 1, and January Day 1 aligned perfectly this year. Despite our very late night, we got up, ate Jonny's waffles and hit the road before 8:30. It's a three and a half hour drive to Joshua Tree National Park, so we got there about noon. We pulled up in the parking lot and Mom whipped together some sandwiches. We ate quickly, checked out the tiny Visitor Center, and headed into the park. We were determined to do a few hikes before the sunset at about 4:30.

Mom making lunch!

Our first stop in Joshua Tree was at Skull Rock. This park is full of rocks that reminded us of Pinnacles, as well as millions of twisted, tangled, Joshua trees. Legend has it that these trees represent the prophet, Joshua, reaching up to heaven. We didn't really notice that, but we did enjoy seeing the unusual poses that the trees struck. That part reminded us of Saguaro, which has oddly posed cactuses.

A new National Park! Hooray!

We loved this park a lot!

Skull Rock is right on the side of the road, and there were hundreds of visitors there. In fact, there was a line that took about 10 minutes to get to the front to even take a picture in front of Skull Rock. We were immediately annoyed, but then we started around the short loop that starts at Skull Rock. Soon the people fell away and we were strolling along through the interesting tree and rock formations. We were pointing out rocks that looked like things (mostly bums) and trees that were performing actions. The hike led right around through the campground.

Skull Rock really does look like a skull. 

We waited in line for this pic!

We were much happier out on the trail!

Visiting in December was the best!

Seth was in heaven here! So much time to climb!

Seriously, climbing all the time!

Mark loves visiting any national park.

There were a lot of cool rock formations.

Our second hike was the most interesting of the day. It was an explore hike, and we were looking for some very narrow slot canyons named the Hall of Horrors. It took us a few minutes of climbing and scrambling around, but we found both canyons. One was tall and narrow enough that two people had to turn sideways to pass. The second was thin enough that Dad almost didn't make it with the buttons on his shirt intact. The boys climbed around and explored in this area for over an hour. Now that they're big, we still worry about them jumping around and over massive boulders, but they always do fine. 

The slot canyons were our favorites.

This was a narrow one, but the second one is even more narrow.

This canyon was way skinnier!

Mom and Dad definitely had to squeeze through.

Mark and Dax came up later, so Mom went back with them.

Dax even turned back for a picture.

Just a quick rest on this rock bed!

Ryan Ranch was a short hike to an old ruin, but we finally started to spot a few animals. Mark noticed several small birds including a logger-head shrike, spotted towhees, cactus wrens, and ravens. Seth spotted a bunny, too. Mom added a small squirrel, which was the first we'd seen on this trip. 

We thought this rock looked just like Pride Rock in Lion King.

Cute little birdie.

It was getting late by the time we reached Hidden Valley. This is a loop hike around a small valley where cattle rustlers kept their stolen cattle. It was actually really cool because the trail followed along the massive rock walls, which seemed to form a natural, hidden valley. The sun was setting as we walked through this part of the park, and it was really pretty. We hustled this hike a little more than we'd have liked, but we just finished for sunset, and the park had already started to clear.

The Hidden Valley trail was nice, but we were losing daylight.

Seth's face is my favorite in this pic.

He cheered up once he could climb on something.

Sunset

Dad and Seth ran to the bathroom, but we caught the sunset.

We liked the pink sky on the drive back to our airbnb.

That night, we had plenty of time to rest and relax as it was still early when we checked into our house. First, Mom made ramen. The kids had specifically requested this and had been talking about it all week. Apparently, ramen on the road is a big deal for them. After dinner, we read scriptures and watched a movie. Mark and Dad had fun checking out the record player! The house was comfortable and roomy, and we got a great night's sleep.

Best dinner ever! Ha ha!

Learning all about records.

New Year at Tiff's

This year we had the latest Christmas Vacation ever. We got out of school relatively late on December 22 and didn't go back until January 8 because of the way the weekends fell. We decided to use that time to start the year off right, so we planned a trip to two new national parks. Joshua Tree and Death Valley, both in California, made the list. But first, we'd be staying at Tiff's house for the new year.

The last few years, we've visited Natalie's sister, Tiffany, in Las Vegas over the break. The weather is actually pretty pleasant, so we come down after Dad's birthday. This year, with the late break, we came down late and used it as our jumping off point. We left on Saturday, December 30, and made the long drive, with only a short stop for food and gas in St. George. We got into town in the afternoon. The kids were really happy to have cousins to play with. That night, there was even a stake dance that the three oldest boys attended.

We played at the park the afternoon we arrived.

Randy and Ben had fun on this swing.

Hattie loved swinging, too.

Crazy boys!

Hattie was reading Randy to sleep!

On Sunday, we went to church around noon. After a regular Sacrament Meeting, they had a short message about studying scriptures in the new year, and then snacks in the gym. Then we went back to Tiff's for New Year's Eve. Jonny deep-fried an amazing turkey, and we ate and snacked until midnight.

Tiffany had some fun party games, too. First, we pulled a string to try and get our favorite candy treat. We could trade the treat up to twice, white-elephant style. Most of us got what we wanted. Then we rolled a can of garbanzo beans to try and earn another prize. Dax went first on that one and won the grand prize, which was a slinky with five dollars in it. The final game was a drinking game, but designed for the kids. Five drinks were hidden in a box. From only a short sip with your straw, you had to guess what each drink was. Dad was easily the worst at this one, getting only the water correct. Everyone else got three or four right. 

All the kids made it to midnight, but the fireworks here in Vegas set a few of them off. Even though they were just neighborhood fireworks, they were massive and ran from around 11:30-1am. The kids were grumpy and tired, and there were a few tears as the fireworks seemed to be right over the house, but we all made it to bed, ready for our new adventure on January 1.

It was fun to go to church with the Pooles.

Randy raced Hattie on her bike...and won!

This can rolling game was a lot of fun!

Everyone loved trying for the prizes.

Happy New Year!

Dad's Birthday

On Christmas night, Mom made trifle for Dad's Birthday. Then she sat him down and dropped a forty pound present in his lap. He opened to find a pair of tire chains, which are required on Montana roads in the winter. This was because she had purchased a day trip into Yellowstone. We were going to Yellowstone in the winter!

Happy Birthday to Randy!

The trifle was so yummy!

On Dad's 50th, we got in the van and drove all the way to West Yellowstone. The roads were pretty good, and Mark did some of the driving, so it wasn't too bad. We even saw a coyote off the side of the freeway just before leaving Utah. Since it was a pretty long drive, we got to West Yellowstone a little after dark. We went directly to dinner and then checked into our hotel. Mom had arranged for three queen beds, but we had forgotten our swimsuits for the pool.

We met up with Grandma, Grandpa, and Brittany for this trip!

We woke up early on the 27th to grab breakfast before catching the truck. It was a massive 15 seat van raised up on huge wheels. There wasn't much snow, but this truck could've driven over anything. Within minutes we were in the gate and enjoying the beautiful scenery in Yellowstone National Park. 

Off we go to Yellowstone!

It was a beautiful day to be in the park!

Our day was scheduled to go as far as Madison Junction and then turn south toward Old Faithful. The first animals we saw were dozens of swans in the river as we entered the park. There were ducks, too, but the massive swans were so pretty. A little further, we came across the buffalo herd. They were swimming across the shallow river with their yearling calves. One nice bull even walked up alongside the vehicle. We were so close to him, and unlike their shaggy summer coat, his winter coat was sleek and beautiful. He was such a gorgeous animal.

A little while later we stopped at a small waterfall right on the main road. This was a small cascade on the Firehole River. We are going to try and find this small, sweet spot in the summer as you only had to walk about 10 yards off the road. 

We stopped for buffalo several more time, and we saw three more coyotes, for some reason. They also had beautiful tan coats for the winter. 

We found the buffalo.

Dad has wanted to go to Yellowstone in winter for a long time.

Mom surprised him with this trip.

Someone offered to take our pic. Dax was staying warm in the snow coach.

Such pretty buffalo.

The waterfall was steaming because it was warm water in the cold winter!

We loved having Britt with us!

It was so beautiful!

We were excited to see a few swans.

Mark identified this pintail.

Then we found a whole bunch of swans.

Watching the buffalo cross the river was fun!

We watched this coyote for awhile.

He hung out right by the snow coach.

Another pic by the waterfall.

The hot pools with the snow background were pretty, too.

Mom liked taking pics of the winter landscape.

So many cool winter pics.

This is the buffalo that walked right by us!

It was nice having someone with us to take our family pic all the time.

Lunch was at Old Faithful. We had access to a yurt that was included with our tour. Mom made sandwiches for lunch, and then we wandered over to the geyser. The sky was perfectly blue, which made for a nice backdrop, but we all agreed that Old Faithful is a bit better in the summer, because you can actually see the water. This viewing was mostly lost in the steam. Still, it was such a unique experience.

We watched Old Faithful with grandpa.

Old Faithful was a bunch of steam!

Aren't we the cutest?

Mom made lunch for everyone in the yurt!

It was a fun lunch.

Mom and Grandma in their matching red coats.

On the way back our guide walked us through several of the geyser basins. He was really good at talking about the thermal features, and since we don't come to these areas very often, it was a nice change for us. We walked through Biscuit and Blacksand Basins, and learned about the four thermal features in Yellowstone.

We got back around four o'clock and opened a few more presents. Mom brought the cake from the trifle and we celebrated all over again. It really was an amazing and unique birthday!

We went to Kepler Falls.

These two were tired from walking in the snow.

We found a little geyser erupting.

Such a fun, beautiful day!

We loved walking through the geyser basin.

Another buffalo walking by the vehicle.

It was a fun day with everyone!

Spotted some swans again and the sun had come out!

We saw this moose in Island Park on the way home.

Randy had the best birthday!