Cody, Wyoming - Sunday/Monday Adventures

Sunday morning I headed to church with the George family. Their chapel is really neat, and unique from anything I've seen. They've got wooden benches without any cushioning, they've a circular room which is a mural of church history. It was neat!

After church we headed back to the farm where it was meat and potatoes for dinner - my favorite :) It had been awhile since I had ham - this stuff was delicious and home grown. Then it was time for a much needed nap.

After naps, Jared and I drove down to the Buffalo Bill Dam, through which the Shoshone River flows. We parked on the side of the road then crossed the street until we came to a culvert? I think that's what they are called... We had to walk down this steep, dark, slightly slippery cylinder. It about freaked me out. My thighs and butt were killing me on our way back up, they sure got a workout! The walk along the river was gorgeous though. I love the sound of water and the sight and smell of nature.



Cody has a much different sense of beauty than Washington, but its beautiful just the same. The landscapes are gorgeous and I swear you could see for miles. I have a picture in my head which I call "hauntingly beautiful" - it is pretty much seeing dead trees, sagebrush, and vast landscapes. There are some lush green fields in the farming communities, but there are not the vibrant green trees, grass, and hundreds of flowers that reminds me of home. Although being there with the Georges made me feel almost like I was home. There's something about a real home and family, not just an apartment.

Sunday night we played Cities and Knights, man I love that game, but totally got whooped!
Monday morning Jared took me out to their pond and we played around with the paddle boat. Then we went out to the swing they've got. It was such a blast. :) I met some more of his cousins and two of his aunts that morning, and then we left about 1:30.

A bit into our drive we saw cars just lining the road, so we pulled over and went to see what the big deal was. It was a grizzly bear! I was totally stoked to see one in real life and not in a zoo, and only about 150 yards from me. It was a pretty small one, everyone was saying it looked like it had just gotten kicked off the mama. We tried getting a picture, but were only able to get its hindquarters.

We stopped at the Mud Volcano and Mud Pits, which was cool. I don't remember seeing those on any of our family Yellowstone trips.

We also stopped at the Falls in Canyon Village area. Holy Smokes! I KNOW we never visited that! It was so deep and the canyon rock was so different from things at home.

More Pictures can be seen in my web albums. :)

Welcome to Cody, Wyoming - Friday/Saturday Adventures

Well, lots and lots has happened in the past few weeks, and I haven't updated much.

Work is still going well! I am absolutely loving it. The people I work with are amazing. I will be coaching T-ball this summer. I'm a little nervous since I've never even played, but very excited about it at the same time!

Last weekend Jared worked a 7 hour shift on Saturday, but we wanted to do something fun after work. I made chicken salad sandwiches and packed some more food for a picnic, then we headed out to the bridges where we had our first date.

On our last trip out, we'd taken some pictures together and decided it was some time for some new ones. (I'll post the edited ones when I get back to my computer in Rexburg). We had a blast reminiscing and eating on the bridge. The water was much higher this time around! After our picnic we drove over to Cress Creek and went on the trail there. It was a blast!

This weekend I headed out to Cody, Wyoming with Jared to meet his family. It has been a blast so far! We drove through Yellowstone and got to stop to see Old Faithful. Its been quite a few years since I've seen it! We were there only about 20 minutes before it went off. We sat next to this cute little couple who were traveling all over the west side of the states to see the sites.There is a huge lodge right by Old Faithful That is completely made out of wood and HUGE. The first 3 floors are open to the public and contain many hotel rooms, and ginormous fireplace with a clock on it and a balcony from which Old Faithful is visible. We got to see the restaurant that is housed within the lodge and it had the feeling of a nice high class place to take a vacation. The lodge has a few more floors but the stair case is completely open and leads to the Crow's Nest at the top. The orchestra used to play on the landing there and people could look down and watch people dancing on the main floor. How neat would that have been to see?!

Yellowstone Lake still has a layer of ice on the top of the water and it was absolutely gorgeous! I have never seen anything quite like it in my life.

We got in late Friday night and I met his brother Samuel, his sister Brooke, and his cousin Afton. I also got to see his sister Jessica, who I'd already met. Saturday morning Jared got up and went irrigating with his family so I slept in a little and then got up and ready for the day. I met his mom, Becky that morning and she fixed a wonderful breakfast. Shh- don't tell, but I actually ate pancakes (and today I had cake, go figure that one!). What has Jared done to me?! His mom is very nice and reminds me a bit of mom. She's very soft spoken and beautiful and kind. I met his dad, Lynn, when they got home from irrigating. That name should be easy to remember!

After breakfast we went out to get the pigs tagged for the fair. I just watched since I didn't think I'd be much help on that one! It was hilarious listening to the pigs squeal and watch the Georges laugh when the pigs got away. And these pigs are BIG
.Lynn, Jared, Jessica, Samuel

Lynn and Jared holding the tagged pig (this is not the one that was real hard to catch)

Jessica, Samuel, Jared, Lynn and the pig that wouldn't give up!

And here is the line up, trying to catch the pigs... It took all 4 of them to get the last pig down, hold him there, and tag him. He was a booger! Samuel had him by one leg and was holding him with all his body weight and the pig was still pulling him!

After pigs we went irrigating, moving and putting together some pipes. Its definitely new and different! I got a little sun burned out there, but it was fun. We got to take a trip in the tractor for part of the ride over to the irrigating plot. That was also a new experience, but was fun. There were tons of flies in it so I had a wheat thins box I was squishing them with - hardcore.

After irrigating and lunch, Jared, Samuel, and I headed out to the Canal to shoot some 22s. Holy smokes that was fun! We each had a gun to shoot with so did some target challenges. Needless to say, I totally won. I outshot them both on my first time shooting that gun. Whoot! I was able to hit four targets. It was fun to just unload the 10 bullets my gun held. Not only do I like to play with fire, but I like guns too!
Samuel, Jared and I posing in the normal 22 pose of course. What a total blast we had.

Loading bullets into the gun. I look kind of miffed here, not sure why. But it was tons of fun! We collected a bunch of the shells for Jared's "Sarge" project. I'll try to post a picture of that when he takes it.

Jared took me on my first real four wheeler ride (even on some little jumps - yikes!) I think he just wanted an excuse for me to hold on REAL tight! Like he needs one! I also got a tour of the milking barn and some of the rest of the farm.

We went irrigating again, but this time I got to wear Jessica's irrigator boots since I'd be opening and closing water gates. It was actually a pretty fun job. It started pouring down rain and hail on us, but that was just normal for me and I loved it! When we got back to the house we had hotdogs and potato salad for dinner - yum! I met Jared's borther Adam and his wife Megan, as well as their two kids Grant and Rylee. I found out that Megan is Shelley's (Blair's wife) best friend of abotu 13 years and they still keep in contact. How random is that? We then played Wacky Six and I won by 1 point! Samuel didn't appreciate that very much... We then watched John Q. and headed to bed. It was an awesome but exhausting day!

Haircut and Dye

So last Monday I decided that it was time for a haircut! I made an appointment at Reflections and chopped off some hair. okay, maybe chopped is too drastic of a word, but I loved the cut that she did.
I also dyed my hair (permanently) for the first time. Its just a little darker but I love it as well. I did that myself so that it was cheaper, and I don't think I did a bad job.