We're eatin trout tonight

Thanks to our local tour guides, our first Wyoming fishing derby was a splashing success. And all we had to do was buy Doug a cinnamon roll and Erica two satellite dish size pancakes and eggs and bacon and omelettes etc. Just kidding. This Jensen family is so nice they would've converted us if we weren't already. They took us to their local crick watering hole and let us catch fish like we were feeding 5000. The crick was beautiful, except for the moose poop that ended up on my shoes. We caught lotsa little brookies and rainbows, and had an awesome day. And please remember Doug in your thoughts as he wasn't feeling too good that day.

Celeste is now sponsored by the Brass-il Pro Shop.
If you blow up the photo and get a magnifying glass, you might be able to see my 2nd conquered fish of the day.

Rowdy's a foamer!!!!!!!

just like his mom. Rowdy and Celeste brought me burritos and lovin to the yard. We have all enjoyed our time here but we're ready to be goin goin back back to cali cali

Pioneer children sang as they walked

Sunday we had the privilege to go to Martin's Cove. The boys were finally able to take a day off and so we all got to go down together. It was a 4 hour trip, But worth it.

We saw lots of antelope, and baby antelope, and deer , and rattlesnakes! Martin's Cove,now, is a really special place. We are just lucky we got to go there in the summer. It is where a group of Mormon pioneers experienced a great deal of hardship one winter and many of them died. They were trying to go to The Salt Lake Valley with the rest of the Latter Day Saints, to escape religious persecution. They left too late in the year and were so

weak and tired from pulling what little they had on handcarts from Illinois, a few bad storms really devastated the company and most families lost loved ones. Just east of Martin's Cove though a rescue party from the Salt Lake Valley had reached them and was able to encourage them on and bring supplies. The stories of the joy they felt at the sight of their aid, was sweet in contrast to the heartache. A little further down the Sweetwater River is where the 3 boys carried practically the whole company across the freezing river. We felt really lucky to be able to go there as a family. I can't say our trip was seamless, but I think it was so we could realize how blessed we really are.

I didn't take my camera all the way into the Cove because it just seemed like holy ground. There was a really neat spirit there.
Modern Day hand cart

We had a really neat time, and I think everyone agreed we wish we would've spent the whole day there (except maybe Chloe and Kaidee who got blisters and were tired of walking)(and Cody and I really wished we had brought Rowdy's diaper bag into the Cove)

Cody Nite Radio

We went to the "Cody Nite Rodeo" on Saturday night

or as Chloe and Kaidee said, "the Radio!"Rowdy learned how to clap at the rodeo. Yay!
We sat in the "buzzards roost" right above the chutes. It was cool to see
Good thing we had been in the U.S. for over 5 days!
yee haw!

Guess who's here?!!

We had some company

and so much fun!

When Kaidee was helping me make breakfast she saw the electrical outlet for the toaster and told me how she had almost been, "staticated"!!
Rowdy was soo happy to have friends more his height. He was, dare I say, Hyper. We had so much fun. We found some fossilized shells and saw the dino tracks, went to the park, shopping and finally D came home and surprised the girls in the pool, where we almost got banned from because the manager said they had already checked out (geesh we are glad to be out of that place)(we moved back into the house we had been staying in on Sunday) I think Rowdy was actually most hyper around Nan. She is a pretty exciting lady
I love these girls!

The prettiest spot on our hike

Cody did find the prettiest spot on our hike. and we did have fun together but ...we tried to hike up the ridge behind the bighorn river and ended up in a random little valley with all kinds of creepy animal bones and lots and lots of broken bottles. but it just seemed so pretty because you could hear a little babbling brook so we just kept going :)

Fore!

Pops wanted to go golfing on Monday, and wuddu ya know? They let you take babies with you at Forrest Gulch. To keep him occupied Cody brought Rowdsta a tootsie pop. It was his first by the way, anyway his diaper looked like he had just gotten out of a swimming pool, because of all the sugar drool! grodie!I did partake of the golfing experience. Here are Pops and Cody after a few of my swings! oops! Water makes me nervous!
If you hit the ball here you are definitely out
of bounds!
"I wanna play"

Tour de Wyoming

On Sunday, after church we strolled through the park and got to listen to this amazing little folk band. Their music was fabulous. It was just a great soundtrack for our trip. I was also intrigued by their audience. They were actually playing for "Tour de Wyoming". It's a bike trip (as in pedal) across Wyoming that seems pretty cool. They would ride like 30 miles a day, which apparently is not too big of a deal on a street bike, and stop at little cities along the way with all sorts of cool little activities or sights, then camp at a local school for the night. It just seemed so fun. Perks: they had vans to carry all their junk, they had little rest stations along the road and then they prob. get a ride back. anyway I am not even a bicyclist but I kinda want to do the Tour de Wyoming some day, preferably on a tandem with Cody.

After the band, Rowdy raised the roof all the way home!

Trapper Kitchen

Trapper Kitchen as in we feasted at the most scrumptious Trapper Creek Lodge, then went off roading to The Devil's Kitchen. We had a really fun group of people. Taggart came out from Cody, the Jensens came and Darian, Cody, Rowdy and I (poor Pops had to work again).
Trapper Creek Prime Rib ,changed my life. It was AMAZING,

just like Cody.(as in my husband , not the city although I am a fan of both)
The light was so great when we got to the Devil's Kitchen
This was our B-day celebration for Taggie who had a birthday last week. This girl just sparkles, even in her old age. (will that get a comment out of you Taggie?)

Rowdy got a little post date smooch.Doug and Erica Jensen are so so fun and so so kind. We haven't even known them that long, but every time I leave their house I feel like saying, "Bye! Love you! " is that wierd? But I really do. They are just good good people

8 seconds!

Fry-day

Yes, We did get sun-burned.

Rowdy and I hung out in Cody.

I had to corral this little muchkin for 3 or so hours while... Cody and Pops visited the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (Rowdy and I had already been).
Rowdy fits right in with the wildlife.

The Devils Kitchen for dinner

We found it again!

Erica Jensen invited us on Thursday for hobo dinners at the Devil's Kitchen. It had been sort of a local legend since Cody and I tried to show D and Pops where it was a few times without sucess. It was pretty hidden so we set up some rocks at the trail entrance, for next time.

The rocks are so bizzarre they are rocky,.. yet sandy. The white stuff is bentonite which gets slippery when wet and its fairly soft/crunchy when its not. The colors are really fantastic and there are all sorts of nooks and crannies for running around and hiding.
Rowdy had a blast crawling around finding rocks and sticks, but
lets face it the hobo dinner was his favorite! It was so hot our chocolate for the smores melted so we came up with an ingenious plan. We cut off the corner of the hersheys wrapper and squirted the chocolate onto the graham crackers like toothpaste or something. Mmmmm it was almost better than the real way!
This is Wes
There is Ren way up there
This is Erica, our sweet friend
and Cole.

Work Train

I will let Cody come in and better describe these pics but he was on a work train all week that was actually replacing the rail it sounded really interesting. The only thing I know is that the pieces of rail they were dropping were 3 football fields long! and it was neat to see some scenes from the rail trail.