One thing we really noticed on this trip is just how many kinds of beautiful there are. The mountains and lakes are beautiful.
The hot springs are beautiful...
Even though they don't smell beautiful.
Old Faithful is beautiful.
Even the bison who strolled right past us was beautiful in his own way.
The river and canyon are beautiful.
It's just beautiful there...no matter what you happen to be looking at.
On our last day together, we headed to town for a swim in the city pool, and then went back to do some more shooting. Each of the kids was given a chance to shoot the gun, and they are all still talking about that today! Just look at the concentration in their faces!
Okay, maybe Mango wasn't concentrating to much...it's just so hard for her to stop SMILING!
And then there were the last pictures with a favorite second cousin. Everyone took their turn sitting on her lap to pose for a photo...I'm sure this is not exactly what she had in mind.
Boy, do I miss waking up to this view!
On our way back down from the mountain, we stopped at Shell Falls. The picture can in no way show the tremendous amount of water that was falling. My brother-in-law said he'd never seen the water level that high.
And Aunt C? This pic is for you! :-)
Monday afternoon, we headed up onto the mountain. Below is a fossilized dinosaur track! There were enough of the tracks that we could follow where they walked!
We also did some actual fossil hunting (on land where it was legal to take the fossils!). The kids found some "devil's toe nails" (sea-shells) and some teeny-tiny fossils called cloynoids (sp?) which are actually tiny coral. 
I wish you could've been there to watch Mango's eyes get big when she realized exactly where and when those fossils came from. I asked her how she thought sea-shell and coral fossils might end up on top of a mountain. She answered "water", and I asked her to imagine just how much water it would take to cover this big old mountain we were on, and asked her if she knew when that happened. Random helped her out by answering Noah's flood, and I told her that was right - that what she was holding in her hands were most-likely fossils made during the time of Noah's flood. It was a pretty amazing idea to me too!
Because he's an avid hunter, he owns a wide variety of guns from small to big, and they get to try pretty much all of them!
And I am sure that Random would like you to know that he won some sort of shooting contest that they held - beating out both his big brother and his uncle (though I am quite sure the details on that are a bit fuzzy!).
After horseback riding, Uncle D took us all out for some 4-wheeling in the Wyoming badlands. It was absolutely gorgeous out there, and the kids all loved it! We found out we have several thrill-addicts in our family!!!
Sunday morning we awoke slightly stiff (okay, the adults were anyway!) from the previous day's adventures and headed off to church. We attend a larger-sized church at home, but there is something very special about a small church where everyone knows everyone. The people were very warm and have a genuine passion for making a difference in their community. It was a good reminder to be praying for the smaller churches, their pastors, and the impact they are making in lives, even without a big budget.
We jumped, soaked, and played together for a couple of hours. (That's Random in mid-air!)
This is my niece's daughter "A" with Lily and Mango. She and her two sisters spent three of our four Wyoming days with their grandparents and us, and we all really enjoyed our time together. I think I would've brought them home with us, if we only had had room in our vehicle!
Mango and her second cousin E rode on Molly; while Random rode on Major. I don't think Mango stopped smiling the entire ride!
And of course there were darling farm kittens to play with. And though we had only gone to the neighbors to ride, cold lemonade, delicious brownies, and very enjoyable conversation were waiting at the picnic table when we all returned. It was a great afternoon!
After spending the night in Wall, we loaded up and drove to see Mt. Rushmore . It is always an incredible sight, and I wish we had more time to just sit and gaze (but kids who are anxious to see their aunt and uncle don't sit and gaze so well!).
In case you are wondering what they are doing, they are posing like the 4 heads on Mt. Rushmore. Yes, we had spent too much time in the hot vehicle by this point!
Later, we went inside the Visitor's Center and met one of the men who had actually helped carve Mt. Rushmore. He was a rather crotchety old man, but it was really a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he did agree to a picture (even though he's not looking at the camera!).
Afterwards, we left the Black Hills area and headed into Wyoming, and over the Big Horn Mountains. It is an absolutely gorgeous drive, and perhaps has become one of my favorite places. It was quite cloudy as we ascended that day, but I think that made it only more beautiful.
There was still a little bit of snow at the top, and the temperature was a cool 42 degrees Fahrenheit...a very pleasant change from the 95+ degrees down below. We descended into Ten Sleep, Wyoming, a small town at the base of the Big Horns, where they still ride their horses in the street (and talk on their cell phones at the same time).
We arrived in the town of Basin, around 5:30 Friday evening, and were warmly welcomed by two of the most genuinely hospitable people anyone could ever be lucky enough to know. We spent the evening getting settled, and catching up, and I believe there was some gun-shooting and 4- wheeler riding going on as well!
Wyoming is really a beautiful place. I love seeing the antelope eating on the sides of the road as we drive around (we have yet to see them actually "play" inspite of what the famous song says!).
