Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!  We love you!

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; 
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."

(1 John 4:16)

Trials

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”  (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Adventures in the Wild West - Part 2

 By: Erin

On Saturday, before leaving for the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana, went boating on Yellowstone Lake for an hour.  We didn't start out until about 11am, and didn't realize that the water gets very choppy at mid-day. 😬  Thankfully, the boats were very sturdy and made it safely through, but it was an interesting experience...!  I didn't get any pictures during that time, because I didn't want to drop my camera overboard!

                       

It's amazing how tiny you feel against these enormous mountains!

The water averages 41 degrees.

We enjoyed beautiful scenery as we traveled out of Yellowstone's East Entrance into Cody, Wyoming.  The Buffalo Bill Reservoir was especially pretty!

Buffalo Bill Reservoir

We entered the Pryors by Burnt Timber Road (a desert area), but the landscape slowly changed into grassy hills and mountains.

Arriving on the top of the mountain at sunset!

The horses were nearby when we arrived.

When we woke up the next morning the most popular band (family group) of horses on the mountains was just across the road.

For those who wonder why we chose to go to the Pryors, it is because I volunteer for an organization, The Cloud Foundation, that works to preserve wild horses and burros on our public lands. We had also heard about the Pryor Mountain Wild Horses over ten years ago through the Cloud; Wild Stallion of the Rockies Documentaries we watched (they are available at most libraries, or you can buy the series here).  Cloud is likely the most popular wild horse ever and the same horse that I named my Cloud after.  The wild Cloud went missing in 2016, so we didn't see him, but we saw his beautiful look-alike daughter, Encore (pictured above), and her first foal, Tor, as well as many of his family.  The Cloud Foundation's wonderful Deputy Director, Dana Zarrello, met us on the mountain and we enjoyed spending time with her!

Another picture of our wonderful chef (the Blueberry Biscuit was a breakfast staple!)! 

The Juniper Forests were perfect places to play!

Ms. Zarrello's dog, Noah, loved Benjamin and Joseph.

A wild horse stampede!

Cloud's grandson Echo and his newly acquired band.  A wild horse band consists of a band stallion (far right), a lead mare, other mares, and foals or young horses. 

Our matching wild horse and burro shirts with Cloud's grandson in the background!

Purple Mountain Lupine is one of my favorite flowers!

God's creation is amazing!

Cloud's last born, Pride.  The Pryor Mountain horses are mainly dark colors, but there are a few that are rare like the buckskin coloring (above).

The sunsets were so colorful!

The foals like bothering their older siblings!

Two bachelor stallions (stallions that don't have bands yet).

Though this may look like a sweet picture, but it's not!  This is what the stallions do before fighting, almost like "sizing" each other up!

Our family with Ms. Zarrello!

This is just a sample of the beautiful flowers that grow there!

Watching the horses.

The last evening we were on the mountain, Luke and I hiked up to where the horses were.  One of the young stallions, Quanah, was challenging all of the older stallions in the area...not the best idea.  Quanah is the blueish/gray colored one.

The foals were having a ton of fun!

This is a huge snow patch that slowly melts into a water hole.

We hiked to Krueger's Cabins the morning before driving out.

Before leaving, we stood in the meadow and prayed that the horses would not be removed (the Bureau of Land Management is considering removing over half of them unnecessarily).

On our way out, we stopped at the Big Ice Cave.  It was one of the most interesting caves we have experienced!  As we walked down the steps into the cave, it was a gradual change of temperature from 65+ to 30- degrees- almost like air conditioning.

All frozen ice!  In the upper left corner is someone's breath!

"The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 

For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods."

(Psalm 24:1)

Adventures in the Wild West - Part 1

By: Erin

What a wonderful trip!  We so enjoyed being in God's amazing creation and soaking up the beautiful views!  Seeing so many different animals was a highlight, too.  We are so thankful that God blessed us with safety, health, provision, and a lot of time to do plenty of activities.

Tuesday:

Heading off!

Benjamin and Joseph got to tour the cockpit a few times!

We took a nice, long tour of the Atlanta Airport!  As you can see, it is very empty due to the virus.

We had about a two hour layover in Salt Lake City, so we enjoyed visiting the gift shops and relaxing near the windows.

Off to Jackson Hole, WY!

At Jackson Hole Airport, you walk straight off of the plane onto the tarmac. 

The first antler arch!

Our first drive through the Grand Tetons.

After shopping, we went to a hotel to spend the night.

Wednesday:

The next morning, we drove an hour to Yellowstone's South Entrance.  The drive was beautiful, all through the Tetons!  We stopped at Glacier Overlook along the way.  Glacier Mountain is right below Grand Teton Mountain, which was directly in front of where we stopped.

When we were almost to Yellowstone, we stopped at Lewis Lake.

Exploring the Snake River, right inside of the South Entrance!  At this point we were about 1 1/2 hours from our campsite.

The first hot spring we saw on the bank of Yellowstone Lake.

Yellowstone Lake

The very first Bison!  It was peacefully grazing in front of a big hotel!

This is the view going into our camp loop.

Thursday:

This wasn't our campsite, but this is common all over Yellowstone.

Our first smelly spring! :)

When we entered Hayden Valley there were lots of Bison!

Mammoth Hot Springs

This stream came flowing from near the hot springs, so it was actually warm.

Lower Terrace

The Virginia Cascades

When we came back from Mammoth Hot Springs, the Bison were crossing the road.

Back at our campsite, five Bull Elk had wandered through.  Two young ones were disturbing items at people's campsites!

Luke was our amazing cook!

Friday:

Another beautiful waterfall!

We hiked to Trout Lake where the trout were spawning.

Trout Lake

Spawning Trout

In Lamar Valley, we went, trying to spot wolves.  We didn't see any, but we had a lot of fun climbing to the tops of hills!

The wildflowers are beautiful!

Our next hike was Beaver Lake, one of the most popular areas to see bear.  In fact, last year a grizzly bear had two cubs and a black bear had two cubs, so this year there were six bears living in that area!  We stayed on the alert, but, unfortunately, we didn't see any.

We always love the scaly friends, too!

Aspen trees.

Beaver Ponds Trail

At the end of the hike!  Although five miles long, it took much longer than we expected.  This picture was taken at almost 8:00 pm (and we were almost two hours from our campsite).  One unique aspect about the west is that the day begins to get light at 4:00 am and the sun sets at about 9:00 pm (meaning it is totally dark around 11:00 pm)!

"The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory."

(Psalm 97:6)