August Trip to Virginia

 By: Erin

At the end of August, we took our family vacation to Roanoke, VA, to kayak, hike, and visit our family and friends there.  Due to our longer trip in June and the difficulties the virus has brought, Dad wasn't able to come with us, so we made the trip shorter.  Nevertheless, we had a ton of fun!  We always enjoy being in God's creation and are so thankful for the beautiful places in the world He has given us!

On our way to NC to spend the night with some wonderful friends!

Before having dinner (a Mexican casserole Luke prepared), we sang some songs we'd been working on.

All of us with our wonderful Aunt Emma!

The next day, we drove up to VA and spent the evening with the family we stayed with.  After dinner, we got to play with their recent litter of very friendly Labradoodle Puppies!

The next day, we embarked on our yearly kayak trip in the morning and spent the whole day on the James River.

Passing through the legendary rapid!

Enjoying the water!

Isaac brought his drone and took some pictures of the landscape above our level.

The leaves had already begun falling...

After a fun time on the river, we visited our wonderful Aunt Elizabeth and she threw a mini birthday party for everyone!

The next morning, we had breakfast with a friend we have known for several years.

Then, we went horseback riding!

Joseph and Benjamin did a great job with their horses!

Our whole crew!  It was a beautiful day!

The mini donkey babies were so adorable!

We enjoyed more visits with friends, and delicious pizza!

On the beginning of our drive home on Saturday, there were some interesting cloud formations over the mountains.

We enjoyed going to a church in North Carolina before heading home on Sunday.

"O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: 

the earth is full of thy riches." (Psalm 104:24)

Happy 11th Birthday, Joseph!

Joseph Phillips

Happy Birthday, Joseph!

We love you and thank God for you!  We pray that God blesses you abundantly this next year in your life!  We thank God for your cheerfulness, energy, and joy!

"Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD."

(Psalm 150:6)

Adventures in the Wild West - Part 3

 By: Erin

After we left the Pryors on Tuesday, we drove back in the direction of Yellowstone and stayed in a cabin that was right outside of the east entrance.  For the last 2 1/2 days of our trip, we visited Yellowstone again.

Wednesday:

Cooking breakfast.

Beginning a long, strenuous hike up one of Yellowstone's tallest mountains!

There was a lot of snow along the hike, too.

The views were beautiful along the way!

The snow made everything even more exciting!

Leaving the trees behind...

Although this little animal looks like a chipmunk, it is a Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel.

The snow was 6-8 feet deep in places!

Almost to the top!

There were some amazing views!  God's creation is amazing!

This was the largest snow patch we encountered.  In one place, we basically had to slide down!

The snow was melting fast!  The path was mainly a stream when we climbed down.

Safely off of the trail and ready to rest!

At the bottom, this little mule deer buck was calmly looking around and eating grass.

Thursday:

On Thursday, it rained most of the day, but we were still able to visit many different places - although we got quite soaked once.  Here, we were visiting the Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

This was when it really started to pour!

We drove to the Midway Geyser Basin, where Yellowstone's largest hot spring is located.

Steaming water from the hot springs poured into the Roaring River, which actually made the spring-fed river warm!

The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone, spanning about 200 feet across.

One of our favorite parts of Yellowstone were the amazing gift shops!!

Then, we headed to the steaming Old Faithful about fifteen minutes before the predicted eruption time.

Waiting...

Under Yellowstone is actually one of the biggest volcanoes, considered a mega-volcano.  It releases its pressure through geysers and hot springs, like Old Faithful.

After seeing Old Faithful, we rented bikes for thirty minutes and drove around, seeing different smaller active geysers in the basin.

Coming out of the forest, we rounded a curve, and there was this bison!

Yellowstone Lake

The scenery around the east entrance is beautiful!

Friday:

The cabins we stayed at were amazing, and we especially enjoyed the gift shop!  We would definitely recommend Pahaska Tepee.

We had planned on going horseback riding, but that didn't work out due to a lot of rain recently.  Since we had only seen the Grand Canyon in rain, we wanted to go there again.  This time, we stayed in the canyon for awhile longer, too.  It was beautiful to see the sun shining off the canyon!  First, we went to the brink of the Upper Falls where we saw the water plummeting down.

The Lower Falls (at about 300 ft) was one of my favorite parts of Yellowstone.  Canyons and waterfalls are a perfect mix!

When we drove out of Yellowstone, to go to the Jackson Hole Airport, we stopped at a viewing point in the Grand Tetons.

The highest mountain in this picture is the Grand Teton Mountain.

We enjoyed delicious homemade ice cream in Jackson Hole before heading to the airport!

It was kind of hard to leave that beautiful area, but we were looking forward to being back home.

Joseph and Benjamin got to sit in the cockpit many times.

Looking down on the prairie was so interesting!

Dad was waiting for us at the airport and we all went to Panera Bread!

Judge (and all of the other animals) was very excited to see us!

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, 

that bringeth out their host by number: 

he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, 

for that he is strong in power; not one faileth."

(Isaiah 40:26)