We took the earliest flight out of DFW and left at 6:30 am. Waking up at 4 was not enjoyable but we have found that flying early with Ava works best for her and us. We arrived in Jackson around 10:30 or so and had plenty of time to eat lunch and then put Ava down for a nap. We stayed at the Alpine House, a cute little Bed and Breakfast, and if you ever go to Jackson I highly recommend it. After naptime we drove a short distance to Grand Teton National Park and drove around to get a closer look at the Grand Tetons and explore outside.
We stopped at this cute little chapel in the park to walk around and take some pictures. 
Then we went to one of the visitor's centers to look around inside. Ava got her picture by the grizzly bear that was "pretend". We use that word often these days so she doesnt get scared by things.
Love this picture with Ava and her Papa and Gramielle
Just beautiful!!
The next morning, Thursday, we took a long boat ride down the Snake River. Our guide, Bernie, was excellent and we enjoyed taking in the scenery and getting the inside scoop of great places to eat and fun things to do while we were there. Part of the river tour was a picnic lunch on the boat. So fun! Unfortunately I didnt bring my camera on the boat because I didn't want it to get wet. Little did I know we would hardly encounter any kind of white water and I dont think any one us got the slightest bit wet.
In the bed and breakfast Ava found this game set with all kinds of chess and checkers pieces, to name a few, and it provided lots of entertainment while we were hanging out.
Gramielle knew of Ava's love for buttons so she collected a few good ones and gave them to her on our trip to also keep her entertained. She also got her some colorful rocks, stickers, and band aids. They were life savers on our long car ride to Yellowstone. More on that later.
After the boat ride, Ava took a nap and Mikey and his dad went fly fishing for the afternoon. When Ava woke up, the girls walked around town for a little bit and got ice cream!
She brought along her bags of rocks and buttons too. I couldn't believe she actually posed for me so I could take her picture!
Won't be the last time you see our picture under the infamous antler arches.
On Friday morning we got an early start to make our trip to Yellowstone. We were in the car for what seemed like forever but it was worth it and Ava did great. I had no idea that Yellowstone was as big as it was, 2.2 million acres, and that driving from one sight to the next could take up to an hour or more. It was so beautiful though and I just couldn't help but think of what an amazing God we have that He could create something so magnificent. It's so humbling to think that although we were surrounded by such God- made beauty he actually created US to be his most special and beautiful creation of all. It made me smile to think about.
Our first stop in Yellowstone was Old Faithful. It goes off about every 90 minutes and we got there 30 minutes before it went off. We found a seat amongst the crowd of people and waited patiently.
She stretched her legs and played in these rocks while were waiting.
Next, we stopped by one of the beautiful waterfalls in the "Grand Canyon" section of Yellowstone. It was a short hike down to see them so we put Ava in the backpack.
At the edge of the waterfall. Scary stuff, especially when you see your baby dangling so close to the edge!
I quickly made my way to her and gave her the death grip on her arm.
Ava got to see her first rainbow by the falls
The edge!!!
I'm not gonna lie, the hike back up was a little tiring so we took a breather.
A little further up the road we found a great spot to take a far away look at the falls.
It was a little rainy so Ava and I needed to wear our hoods. :)
We saw some bison...
(these are by another geyser in the park)
We also saw some Elk. Here you see remnants of the fire that burned about 40% of Yellowstone in the 80's. It was sad to see so many trees destroyed by the fire.
Another rainbow!
We were hoping to see a Moose or a bear in Yellowstone but no luck. We did however see two bears on our drive back home outside of Yellostone so that was exciting.
On Saturday, we had the blessing of being able to meet up with three of our best friends, The Burkharts! When we booked the trip and were telling Jenny and Zack about it we were shocked and excited to find out that they were going to be in Jackson with Zack's parents the EXACT same time as us! That is a God thing if you ask me!!! It was so special and a memory I will never forget to be able to meet up with them. It was the icing on the cake! We decided an easy hike between two of the mountains in the Grand Tetons would be the perfect activity to enjoy together while we were there. Jenny, who is 7 months pregnant, did amazing and never complained once! What a trooper!
Our piggy -tailed cuties, Ava and Bekah, were so happy to be reunited!
Our best friends
Our sweet family
I had to include this one...this chipmunk was sitting on this rock just staring at Jenny as she walked by. Hilarious!
The girls and their daddy's checking out the chipmunks.
The Burkarts (with baby Benjamin on the way)
Us :)
Sweet Bekah fell asleep in her backpack towards the end of our hike. We were encroaching on lunch and naptime. After the hike we had a yummy lunch with The Burkharts before we parted ways. I forgot to mention that Zack's mom, Nora, whom I admire and love to be around was also with us on our hike! I am so glad that we got to share this once in a lifetime opportunity with the Burkharts!
Later that afternoon, we walked around the town one last time and got one more pictures with the entire group under the antler arches.
We flew back the next morning and Ava said "bye bye mountains". It was bittersweet to leave. We had more fun than I imagined but we had one sleep deprived little girl. Papa and Gramielle, we can't thank you enough for such a wonderful trip with the two of you! Love you!
To see way too many pictures from the rest of our trip click on the Shutterfly link on the right of the blog.
6 comments:
The pics of the scenery are amazing! And that's SO cool y'all got to meet up with the Burkharts!! What a great trip!
wow. 1. you are a rock star for posting all this greatness. I know it was a daunting task. 2. It looks AMAZING! just beautiful. like some of those photos are out of a magazine or fake. :) 3. of course, so fun that you got to hike and hang with the Burkharts! so jealous. 4. What fun fun pictures! yall all look great and just precious as always! that one of jenny made me laugh :) 5. Glad that Ava did so well and you had such a great trip! yay!
Yay! I have been looking forward to this post, great job on doing it! Can I just send people to you site?? : ) Wasn't that day the best? I loved watching our girls together, I think they too knew it was a god thing,"thank you god!" : ) I have been wanting to call you all week, to catch up, it's funny, even though we just did, but I guess it made me miss you even more! Man, if only I could see you next weekend! Oh and that one pic of Ava posing with her rocks and buttons makes her look so old!
Beautiful pics of what looks like an amazing trip!!! So fun!!
Great pics! The one with the rainbow by the falls doesn't even look real!
i loved looking at these pics - thanks so much for posting! I love that ya'll got to hang out with Zack, Jenny, and Bekah during this trip
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