Wisonsin, Lamb Day, More Wisconsin

On July 13th I was off to Wisconsin for work. University Health Care will be implementing a new patient scheduling system in the next year, so I was headed to Wisconsin to learn the new system and get certified to teach it.
I had never flown before (yes a little pathetic) I have been on many awesome vacations, but our family had 5 kids so most our vacations were road trips inside the suburban! I was a little nervous but I survived.

Getting ready for the big flight! I arrived and took my first cab. Wisconsin is beautiful and the Epic training center is literally on a farm.

The training center is huge and amazing. There was cool art and all the training rooms have themes.

A tribute to the family

Luke I am your father

Cheese, cheese and chocolate cheese fudge for my hubby!

Day 3 Yellowstone July 4th 2009

After many weeks here is day 3 of our Yellowstone adventure. We woke up very early to go to Yellowstone Grand Canyon. We had stopped there the night before, but didn't get a chance to explore because of the rain. The morning was beautiful.
Before we arrived at our destination we dodged a herd of buffalo in the road.
We started at the south rim at artists point, because of the crazy rain storm the night before there was a lot of fog. We decided to come back so we could get some better pictures in the sunlight.

We headed to the brink of upper falls. It was really beautiful and Tyler was jumping the fence line to get some great pictures. Next we were off to the brink of the upper falls. The coolest thing about the upper falls is they are visible from so many points in the Yellowstone grand canyon. Being right down by the falls was really fun, it was a very steep 600 ft drop to get to the brink of the falls.
We hopped in the car and drove to red rock point. Once again it was a steep 500 ft descent down to the red rock view point. We really got our hike on this day! A family at the lookout point was nice enough to take a picture of us together.

The grand view was our next stop. We had stopped there the night before but the rain was pouring so hard we couldn't get a picture. This morning it was perfect. It was at this moment I realized why Yellowstone was named "yellow" stone. Until now I hadn't really seen anything very yellow. It was awesome seeing the yellow rock in the bright sun.
We stopped and ate breakfast while at the grand view. We also fed a chipmunk some cereal.
We headed back to Artists Point to take a few more pictures before we left for the day. I was so glad we did because the pictures turned out beautiful. Tyler is really talented at getting good shots. Looking at the pictures you can understand why its called artist point.
The Yellowstone Grand Canyon was definitely our favorite part of the entire trip. We headed south to the mud volcanoes.

We walked around the paths and smelled a little more sulpher.

This the churning caldron and it smelled awesome! Tyler had to get a picture of me in hell!
Next we stopped at fishing bridge. Look close and you can see Ty.

We left Yellowstone and stopped for lunch at a little picnic place.

Hanging out with the Tetons in the background.

Our Yellowstone adventure was the best. I hope we can go back someday. It had enough animals, hiking, and nature for both of us. It was a trip we will never forget.

Before going home to Utah we had to stop and see the Pollastro fam in Rock Springs. We were so happy to see them, and to use their shower. We went the the 4th of July fireworks show. If you want to see some amazing fireworks you better get to Wyoming. Tyler and I were shocked at the display.
We spent the night and on Sunday Christian made some delicious BBQ. We took off back to Utah and arrived home Sunday night. I can't wait for our next trip!

Greetings!

From the beautiful state of Wisconisn. I am here for work and realized I still haven't posted all my pictures from my last excursion. I will get those pics up soon.
I am loving being here, everything is super green and farmish. I am really enjoying all the things I am learning. I will have more adventurous stories to come when I return. Then I am back again to Wisconsin next week. An IT trainers job is never done...

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Cammie! I couldn't live without you!
May all your birthday dreams come true!

Yellowstone! (Day 2)

On July 3rd we woke up super early and headed towards Yellowstone. About 1 mile from where we were camping we ran into this little fellow.

Old Faithful

Next we were off to see old faithful. (or old thankful as Cali and Carter say)

Waiting for old faithful to do her thing

Tyler and old thankful in the background

We loved seeing these weird colors. Yellowstone is on top of a volcano so there are hot spots, geysers, mud pots, and fumaroles everywhere. The minerals in the different types of rock color everything.

Old thankful! A little overrated but still super fun.

Midway Geyser Basin

Next we took off to the midway geyser basin. Nothing says love like posing next to a sulpher pool.

Oh snap, this sign was everywhere and it was funny every time. Keep your kids on the trails!

Grand prismatic springs. These pools are flaming hot and colorful. Isn't it amazing that just a few feet down is liquid hot magma! (Austin Powers)
Next we stopped at gibbon falls. We thought this was so beautiful but just wait for day 3!
This was one of my favorite places. This is called the fountain paint pots. They look like big cans of thick gray paint.
Next we went to the Artists paint post that had a little more color to them. We went on a fun hike up on the mountain and this picture is looking down on the paint pots.
Tyler by the paint pots!
We made our way around the west side of the grand loop. Even when you're driving there is lots to see. It started raining and we were ready for lunch. We stopped at sheepeater cliff and ate in our car because it was pouring, but luckily the sun came out!

Mammoth Hot Springs

Next we drove to Mammoth Hot Springs, it was awesome!
Posing with the springs behind us!
This was so cool. It's minerals that have layer themselves like steps across the mountain. There are tons of trails and walkways to take you around.
Next we went to Undine falls.
... and the petrified redwood
Next up, Yellowstone Grand Canyon but the rain started up again. This picture shows how foggy and stormy it was. We really wanted to see the canyon and be able to hike so we decided to get to our campsite at Bridge Bay.
Things were really stormy and we were starving. We stopped by a little convenient store, but the lunchables didn't look to tempting so we went the lake village lodge for dinner.
Here is Tyler braving the storm for a quick picture.
It's hard to pose when you are taking a picture of yourself.
We went to get the tent set up and it was still raining!!! ah! So we snuggled down in our car for the night. Please remember it was the 3rd of July there was not one empty room or campsite around. It was a great day. I thought I had seen some pretty good nature in my life but Yellowstone was truly amazing. Stay tuned for Day 3, which will answer the question why is Yellowstone yellow, and where the crap did Rock Springs get all those fireworks from!