Yellowstone 2012

So, here we are in Yellowstone Park.  Yellowstone is very pretty with a lot of things to see (although Ciara and I kept joking in the car....look there is a tree, and another tree haha). We saw lots of different animals, waterfalls, geysers, and hot pockets.  Here are some pictures...Note:  It pored rain on us in the morning so we are looking really cute in some of these pictures, not.

Our Trip to Yellowstone 2012

We were excited to go on our trip to Yellowstone.  We left on July 5th and headed up to Idaho Falls...who knew how pretty the falls are in Idaho Falls?  I was impressed.  We spent Thursday night walking around checking out the town.

Rise and shine Ciara and Cora

Why are my kids not looking at the camera? 

So pretty here

Cheese

Did you know that this was taken on National Kiss Day?

I am serious....we really have a national kiss day

feeding the ducks

After spending time at the falls it was time to head to Yellowstone's Bear World....This is a drive through wild life park.  It was really cool!!  The first thing we did was the drive.  They have lots of different animals throughout their park but what they are known for it their bears.  They have both Grizzly Bears and Black Bears.  It was really neat to have them just walking around your car.  There were several times I could of (wouldn't have...but could have) just reached out and pet one.  Here are a few pictures of the bears.

Now because it was National Kiss Day....Thad and Cora kept joking that they were going to kiss a bear.  Here was as close to that as they got haha.

The park also had amusement rides for the kids

In the petting zoo

I can not believe how use to people these animals are.

Jace feeding the deer

After a day at the Bear Park we headed to a dinner show in Jackson, WY....

We fit a lot in on this day......then it was off to bed.

Happy 4th of July 2012

Fire in our backyard!!!

Friday, June 29, 2012 started out as a pretty normal day.  I had been doing some cleaning and was just trying to get things done around the house.  Cora and I ended up taking a very late shower (around 3pm).  I had gotten out of the shower and got dressed when my cell phone started ringing.  It was my friend Megan, she said, "Is your backyard on fire?"  I look out and sure enough I see smoke coming from the top of the mountain.....I ask Megan if she called 911.....she said "No, I called you".  I immediately called 911...They said they were aware of the fire....I ran next door to the Browns...They had no idea there was a fire (I also would have had no idea if it was not for Megan)  During this time my mom, sister, two brothers, and one girlfriend were also aware of the fire and were racing up to my house.  This is so important because they block the roads off quickly so if you do not beat the road closures then you can not get up here. 
     Of course Skip is at work.  A few of my neighbors started running over to my house (thank the stars) to help because my side of the street is going to get hit first.  My neighbor Bob was truly a heaven sent.  He started turning on my sprinklers, hoses, etc. He was unlocking both of my fences and getting my house completely ready.
     My family then showed up....My brothers girlfriend Meghan took Cora and Jace, Casen apparently thought he was old enough to stay, and headed out.  The rest of us began grabbing things and literally throwing them in the car.  Every time we looked our our back windows the fire was worse.  Here are some pictures of what we were looking at.

It was coming so fast.  We sent my van and my moms car, completely packed with random stuff, out of the neighborhood.  Because their was no room for passengers in these cars my brother Brady and myself were going to ride bikes out.  We were also going to stay for a little bit and see if the fire actually hit the house (the worst part of a mandatory evac is that you have no clue on if your house is still there or what is going on).  We were brave.  Our plan all ended when the police literally ran into my house (without knocking or anything) and were yelling at us to get out. So we went to grab the bikes...Of course my bike had a flat tire so a police officer/ Friend gave me a ride out of the neighborhood.

     By this time Skip had left work and was heading our direction.  He met us down at the pond where we tried to watch the fire/ fire fighting.  We were hoping that our house was going to make it.  We stayed down there for a couple of hours talked to some neighbors and heard rumors that our houses were still there but with damage.

Saturday, June 30th
     By this time we knew our house was still there but it was a very very close call.  We knew this from talking to a police officer and our neighbor Bob.  The neighborhood was still under mandatory evacuation but we decided to go to the command central and plead our case about going up to our house with a police escort.  We were eventually escorted up to our house....where we grabbed a few things and then was escorted back out of the evacuation area.  This is what we saw when we went up to the house for a few minutes.....Our house was still there but our scenery had definitely changed.

upper deck

lower deck

It was not until 6pm that they lifted the mandatory evacuation and allowed us into the neighborhood.  We did not have power however so we were not planning on staying there.....

In the end we felt very lucky that our house was still there.  Our side of the street had damage to homes and landscaping, ours included, but the important thing was that we all still have homes.  We can not thank Bob, the fire dept, police dept, red cross, and many many more for all they did.  Here is a video that shows a lot of the fire and fire fighting efforts.  I still get chills when I watch it.

Herriman Fire 2012 Video

We totally love where we live (good thing because 2 fires in 2 years is a little much).  We have such incredible neighbors and friends here. 

Ciara's Surgery

On May 7th Ciara had surgery to correct her Scoliosis.  This is a big surgery that they place rods and screws in her back to correct the curvature.  We knew for months in advance that she was going to have this surgery....finally the time had come.

My mom and I doing Ciara's hair (they wanted it like Pippy Longstocking so they could place all of the monitors into her scalp).

Ciara's support group (pre-op)

They are taking her back to the OR

and so the waiting begins...........

 Waiting......................

and still waiting................

 Finally Ciara is out of surgery....They said it went very well....but poor

Ciara was miserable and in a ton of pain.

 It did not take to many days for her personality to come back fully haha.

My brother and Mom checking her incision

Doing a lot better on day 5-6

 Finally home!!!

Ciara now has a perfect back (good bye scoliosis...)  and is feeling great.  She still has a lot of restrictions and can not lift more than 10lbs or do any sort of physical activity for 6 months.  Glad this went so well and is over!!