Well gang, we're onto the last part of the American Adventure pictures. We've returned home after having spent our last week travelling from Moab up through Utah, Idaho and into Wyoming, the Grand Tetons and finally landing in Yellowstone National Park. AND the fun part was, I knew that some of my Flourishes Family would be meeting me there! How amazing to bring us all together from so many parts of the US. I wish it could have been all of us, but 6 of us met there and 3 of us brought our families. How awesome it was, I still shake my head that it all actually worked out! These people are so precious to me, and I count myself blessed to have them in my life.
Here's a few shots of what's typical with us. Julie, Cindy and Tosha cozied up on the couch....then
Stacy and I joined (Sharon must have been upstairs). And then so many cameras are taking pictures you're not sure where to look, so this happens below....
Lots of laughter and general goofiness. These girls are so fun. And we do laugh a lot together.
We really enjoyed the hotel we were staying at in Big Sky. There was a real homey feel to the place and they did extra things to make us fee;l at home, like provide S'More Ingredients for us to cook on the outdoor firepit at night. This is my youngest and Julie's youngest enjoying those gooey treats. The marshmallows were huge!
It was so special to have some of our family's there....I call this one above "The Men of Flourishes" :) Honestly, we wouldn't be able to do the things we do without their wonderful support. We feel very blessed.
And here's the families together who were there posing at Yellowstone Lake. It's a pretty awesome thing to hear your kids say "Mom, I really like your friends and their kids".
And here's all of us girls gathered together at the Lake, from left to right - Tosha, Me, Sharon, Stacy, Cindy and Julie. Best girls around!
Here's us the day the rest of the girls left. Pretty hard to say goodbye!
Me and Julie. Love this lady! Glad you can't tell that we'd been crying in the picture! She and her husband were such good Montana hosts :) And she's such a special friend!
These next two photos below are at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Talk about spectacular scenery! The canyon and the waterfalls are gorgeous! We spent 12 hours one day in the park together and we hiked and saw falls, geyers, ink pots, heights and depths - the whole works. A tree almost fell on us, we saw buffalo, elk, an osprey in the canyon, had fun watching chipmunks, seeing fly-fishermen, and generally filling a day as much as you possibly can.
A lovely spot on the canyon called Artist's Viewpoint. It's one of the most photographed spots in Yellowstone.
Then we ended the day at sunset waiting for Old Faithful to blow. This is what it looks like above before it begins....and every 92 minutes or so it does this...
A spray that shoots up for 3 1/2 minutes probably a couple hundred feet in the air. We all ooohed and ahhhed appropriately :) What a special thing to be able to see it all together.
But what's best about it all? That this is where we get to end up at the completion of our American Adventure...
After just over a month we headed back HOME. Our friend who was house-sitting for us greeted us with a Welcome Home banner hanging over our table.
We covered 9 722 km or 6 041 miles on our trip. We travelled through two provinces and 9 states (ND, SD, IA, NE, CO, UT, ID, WY, MT). We had amazing weather with most days 37 degrees Celcius or 100 Farenheit or over, with a feel cooler ones in the mountains of MT - but that was welcome. We showed our kids amazing sights they'd never see before (a lot we hadn't either!). I took 3000 pictures (can you believe it?) As a family we laughed a whole lot, renewed friendships with some special people we haven't seen in years, created many memories together, saw God's handiwork in deserts and mountains, and felt very abundantly blessed. It was everything we hoped for and so much more. We really feel like it was the perfect time for this trip for us as a family, and we'll never forget it.
Thanks for joining me for the American Adventure!
13 comments:
Fabulous pictures! Such amazing scenery and so nice to see everyone so happy and enjoying each other's company! What a great trip!!
How FUN to be able to have a Flourishes weekend together! Looks like you all had a great time! I love the flubbed pic with everyone looking in all different directions! Too cute! And, I've enjoyed seeing all your vacation photos. Some of them are so breathtaking, that it doesn't seem possible that they were real places! :)
Sounds like a wonderful time and to see friends to that is just icing on the top... we are planning on going to Yellowstone for our anniversary this year, hope it won't be too cold in October
I relished every minute with you as I gazed on your photos. Thank you so much for sharing your fun trip. Loved seeing your friends and your family enjoy it too. dfmorgan
Glad you had such a great time and your pics are beautiful.
Beautiful pictures!So glade you all had such a wonderful time!!!
WOW CHRISTINE!!!!!!!!!! HOW FUN to have met up with your Flourishes Sisters!!!!!!!!!:) WHAT A SUPER TIME you look like you had!!!!!!!:) TOOO FUN!!!!!!:) AND your photos are FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOW!!!!!!!!:) LOOOOOOOOOOVE seeing them!!!!!!:)I KNOW EXACTLY what you mean about "HOME!" :) There's NO PLACE LIKE IT!!!!!!:)
Beautiful photos, Christine! So sad I wasn't able to make it, I can see you ladies had an amazing time. Thanks for sharing all the memories. Glad you made it home safe. :)
Outstanding pictures! And what an amazing adventure for you all! God truly works in mysterious ways; and the fact that you all were able to be together, see people you haven't seen, as well as just spending time, well, nothing is ever better than that. I love your Sunday photos and it's an honor that you share them with us. Thank you so much Christine!
ACK!!! I love all the pictures and the one of the 3 guys... I have to have that one. It was such a BLESSING to meet your family and spend sometime together. Truly was fabulous and we all need to do it again next year! :-)
WOW! Over 6,000 miles! I just lived your trip vicariously through these photos! It was awesome! Glad you had such an amazing adventure and saw some familiar faces!!!!
What amazing pictures!! Not only is the scenery simply stunning, but I'm *green* with envy that you were able to hang out with the Flourishes girls!! You look like you all had such a special time together! :)
I love, love, love seeing your take on our little adventure and amazed that you couldn't tell we had been bawling! ;-) Love you sister and so blessed to have shared some fun with you and your family!
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