Bell's Canyon Hike

Josh, Annabelle and I recently hiked Bell's Canyon, and it was beautiful! It wasn't even 20 minutes before it became a favorite. The trail was so beautiful, had lots of shade, and offered quite a challenge physically! Along the way, we came across a place where Josh and his friends camped out when they were in high school. Awww sweet memories :)

It took us about 1 hr 45 min to get to the waterfall, and the hardest part was at the end, commonly referred to as the "Gates of Hell." It just keeps going and going, getting steeper and steeper, and right when you think you're there...another climb awaits you. But alas! We finally made it, and it was more than worth it! We were both pleasantly surprised with how big and beautiful the actual waterfall was! We didn't hang out for an extended period of time because Annabelle was "Done!" But it was still an awesome Saturday morning adventure for our family, and of course an awesome workout! We came home and rested for a few hours before Josh and I decided to have a date night and hit the cinema. We saw The Proposal and LOVED it! I can say with certainty that Ryan Reynolds is giving Mathew Mcconaughey a run for his money for my #1 Leading Man!

Stopping for a few minutes at this pretty lake along the way

A VERY pretty part of the trail; I loved how narrow and shaded it was

Stopping to pose on a cute little bridge

Peekaboo!

I love how they are making the EXACT same face without even realizing it! So cute!

Another beautiful part of the trail--narrow, shaded and winding

The fruit of our labors

Whoa! Steep! Taller than expected and so white!

The flatter part between the 2 drops

Climbing down through "The Gates of Hell."

It started to sprinkle a little on our way back, but we didn't mind

Hiking is the BEST! I love it! There are so many beautiful spots tucked away in our mountains that we will never see unless we hike to them! The mountains are gorgeous, and they have so much to offer. It also goes much deeper than that though. Hiking was a big part of me and Josh's dating years, and we got to know SO much about each other on the trails. It was 3-4 hours of alone time without phone reception and without ipods, just getting-to-know you conversation and a shared workout through beautiful scenery. It is also a FREE activity for the whole family! Annabelle has loved it so far, and is quite coordinated when navigating downhill and between rocks. We try to let her walk for a small portion of each hike, and she loves it. I love being able to think and ponder on different aspects of my life while I hike as well. Hiking is like life: Uphills, downhills, periodic slips and falls, beautiful moments all along the way, and a gorgeous destination that makes all the hard work and effort more than worth it!

The 4th of July in Ennis and Virginia City

Yes, you read the title correctly: I am just barely writing about the 4th of July! But hey, better late than never! And really, it would be a downright shame not to write about it simply because it was so yesterday. So, here goes! When I was growing up, my family would spend an entire week in Montana every summer, and it was usually over the 4th of July for my dad's and grandma's birthdays. My dad's boss owned a cabin 20 miles outside of Ennis, and it was fantastic! The cabin was 3 stories, and had a fun loft where all the kids could sleep, complete with a pool table. We were also allowed to use the 2 ATV's to drive on all the nearby dirt roads and up the switch-backs on the mountain--Bliss!! Oftentimes our grandma and grandpa, and lots of cousins came to join us. This is how my fondness for Yellowstone and Montana began. I would even venture out and say this is where my love for the outdoors and nature started to grow. Until we spent time in Montana, I always thought a fun vacation had to include a pool and rides! Don't get me wrong, I still love visiting theme parks (I am a bit of a thrill-seeker) and I like floating around in a nice pool (I can't swim). But Montana is just on a different level from those types of activities, and it's probably because of my childhood memories. I was so happy to FINALLY be able to share this little slice of heaven with Josh, and I am equally happy that he ended up loving it as much as I do.

The 2nd half of our day was spent in Virginia City, an old ghost town 14 miles outside of Ennis. It is such a fun little town to visit! They have an old-fashioned candy shop where the entire store is the same price per pound! You just grab a bag, load it up with whatever you want (anything from salt water taffy to chocolate pretzels to junior mints) and it's all the same price. We also ordered some homemade ice cream from a small outdoor shop. It was in this little city where I 1st spilled a milkshake and ran to the bathroom sobbing from embarrassment. Ohhh memories :) After enjoying our sugary snacks we decided to go for a train ride down to "Nevada City," where we called it a day and headed home.

Here are some pictures of our day in Ennis, a fun old town with random shops and a few bars, and Virginia City, an old ghost town for the pioneer at heart :)

This is where Annabelle learned the word "Wagon"

Our 1st official stop at a "Scenic Turnout"

Me and Annabelle taking a break in the shade

Yum Yum! Annabelle's 1st lollipop, enjoyed in the nearby ghost town "Virginia City"

"Four Allegiance." Getting ready to head home to Utah

"Liberty One"

"Freedom Fighter"

Lastly, I must mention my favorite purchases from this trip, which I happened to find in Ennis. First is a book for Annabelle called, "Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs?" It's darling, and it's all about how a princess goes on a hike with her dad, and they talk about all the fun things they see. I read it to Annabelle before each hike we go on :)

Second is a book for myself and Annabelle called, "Mom: Tell Me One More Story--Your Story of Raising Me." It is a little book which has 1 or 2 questions on each page with a blank area underneath for me to write in (although I will probably choose to type-up my answers, then stuff them in little envelopes beneath the question). I can't wait to get this started for her! My first question/page is, "Tell me how you met my dad and what first attracted you to him." Sounds like a fun one! :)

A Day to Remember in Yellowstone

I'm still feeling nostalgic for Yellowstone--for the cabin and the mountains. My walks in the mornings used to seem so beautiful, and now it's like I've seen the light! Ok, it's not THAT bad, but wow...Yellowstone and Montana are exceptionally beautiful. The Bos family is officially back on schedule, back to our routine, and it's not too bad after all. The weather has finally reached summer temps, so Annabelle and I are making it a point to have our exercise and park time completed by 9:45am--quite a challenge, but not entirely impossible, and actually VERY rewarding when accomplished :) BUT...I digress. Our day in Yellowstone was one for the record books! It was a rainy day, but that only made it better, more picturesque, more comfortable, and perfectly suited for our rain jackets. Josh, Annabelle and I all got new rain jackets the week before we left, and it turned out to be the BEST purchase we made for the entire trip (not to be confused with the best purchase I made ON the trip...more on that later). Our day began with a stop in West Yellowstone; we always stop and shop around in the little strip mall--so fun! We also went to the little grocery store, where they had little shopping carts just Annabelle's size--nobody has those anymore! She loved it, until it tipped over in the aisle. After that, she had nothing but angry expressions and comments directed toward it.

At the strip mall in W. Yellowstone

Eating the yummy popcorn Grandma bought them--I think Annabelle even ate more than Paige!

The fam (isn't it funny how Josh has his hand on the bear's arm?) Ha ha

We then headed into the park, and made our way to Old Faithful. On our way, Brittany came over the walkie-talkie screaming "Animal!!" It was our first sighting of the trip! It got us all excited, then turned out to be a big bird. I don't know about everyone else, but I don't get excited about birds, and I was actually hoping for a Black Bear or a Moose.

We grilled some burgers in the Old Faithful PARKING LOT! Brittany was ill-informed when she told us there were picnic grounds. Oh well...it all worked out, and the burgers were quite delicious! Side note: Our next purchase prior to the trip will be a BBQ! It was during this portion of the day that we noticed Annabelle had little red sores on her head. Then after a little investigation Josh noticed there were little bugs in her hair, biting her head! After even more investigation we noticed Paige had them too, and finally we drew the conclusion that the cute, friendly, wonderful Lab back at the cabin--the Lab who jumped in the water to fetch the stick and ate our leftover steaks--had FLEAS!!! So gross! Annabelle was quite fond of that dog too--such a disappointing end to what could've been a long, 3-day child-doggie relationship. Sigh...

This Elk walked right in front of our car! So fun! I actually stood up through the sun roof to get a great view

Speaking of great views--Artist Point! I LOVE this place--it doesn't get more sublime

Getting soaked at the top of the Lower Falls...and not caring one bit! Hey...we're only there for a day!

After this, we hiked down to the top of the waterfall at Artist Point--so insane! I can't even wrap my brain around that amount of water--it was awesome! Not only was that awesome, but the drive home was awesome! We were coming home around 9pm, and the scenery was incredible, all different colors. It was probably one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on. When we got back to the cabin, the night ended perfectly with a little gray mouse running across the floor, and no one ever finding it. You gotta love cabins!!

Yellowstone

Josh, Annabelle and I had the awesome opportunity to go on a vacation with my entire family over the 4th. We left on Wednesday night and returned home Sunday night. It was SO much fun and SO beautiful! I always seem to forget how stunning Yellowstone and Montana are--so worth the drive! Josh and I have officially decided that we MUST have a cabin in Montana; we even have the stretch of land picked out where we want to build :) Needless to say, we both LOVE nature and its beauty; we both LOVE the mountains; we both LOVE cabins, and we both LOVE the outdoors! This vacation is perfect for us, although there is always a lot of driving when you venture through Yellowstone and the "back country." As a result of this, all three cars had a walkie-talkie, as well as a nickname: Liberty One, For Allegiance, and Freedom Fighter...you may've guessed the theme. :) It ended up being super fun because even though we were separated between different cars, we could still jabber away, warn the other cars of upcoming animals, tell jokes, make fun of each other's driving, advise each other of needed pit stops, and of course talk smack and share old memories of the places through which we were driving--such a good time!
We left Wednesday night and stayed in Idaho Falls. Our room was SO small I almost had a claustrophobic, panic attack! The first 30 minutes of Thursday morning were spent telling Annabelle "No" more times than I do in a typical 24-hr period. Josh sensed my huge frustration, raised body temperature and irritability level, and thankfully took Annabelle out of the room and down to her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, who all had welcoming arms. I got ready as fast as I possibly could and then we headed out the Falls, which was much more fun :) Annabelle loves exploring, and actually loves rocks too! She likes to hold them, climb over them, throw them, and even kiss them. In almost every gift shop we went in, she would head right over to the colored rocks.

From Idaho Falls, we headed to Island Park, ID, where we stayed in a cabin with the entire fam. It was BEAUTIFUL, and right on the river! We got unpacked, then Josh, Annabelle and I headed out to see Quake Lake (the above 2 pictures). I have always loved visiting Quake Lake since I was a kid--not sure why, other than I've always gone, and I always loved this vacation. The Lake gets its name from a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck the area. As you can see in the above picture, there is a portion of the mountain that actually separated and slid down, burying a campground filled to capacity, and creating a lake. The air displacement from the mountainside sliding down created hurricane-strength winds, which actually caused clothes to be blown right off people's backs! Trees are now beginning to grow again over the portion that separated. Such a tragedy.

This is Josh and I on the deck of the cabin--nice view! However, I must say there are always 2 sides to the coin--it may have an awesome river, but rivers come with lots of bugs!! Brady and Angie left their window open for a few hours so their room would be nice and cool at night, but when they opened the door to go in to bed, they realized their screen had a small hole, and they were infested with bugs! I can still hear the constant pounding and swatting that was coming from their room all night :)

This is Josh helping Annabelle climb over another rock, and at the same time preventing her from getting close to the water. She didn't want to get back in the car after this; it's so hard to leave those rocks behind for a car seat and more driving :(

On our way to Idaho Falls, we stopped at this famous burger joint, as featured on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," for all you Food Network watchers. Here is my review: AMAZING fries and so-so burgers. Worth a stop if you're passing through town, but not worth a special trip. Annabelle LOVES fries, and just couldn't help herself when Papa got his before she got hers--she dug right in--we owe you an order of fries Papa :)

I'm now suffering from Post-Traumatic Vacation Disorder (aka: I want to go back)! Coming home to a stack of laundry and a stack of bills is no fun when compared to good, relaxing times with family in a beautiful setting...sigh. I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend with the Bos family at the cabin. November??? What will I do til then? Suffer I guess :)

More on the Yellowstone/Montana adventure to come...