Jonathan's Trip to Wyoming

So I want to be done blogging about our NE trip. And since blogging isn't such a priority to Jonathan, I guess I'll just blog about his adventure in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. He had a great time. He loves hiking and was in some of the most beautiful country. They were gone for four days. They slept in tents, or in the back of my dad's truck. Jonathan did all of the dutch oven cooking. My dad and brothers said he was a great cook. Hmmm...I'll have to remember that :).

My two favorite men: my hubby and my dad.



I was amazed that this deer let him get this close.There are lots of buffalo in Yellowstone. I'm glad Jonathan got to see them. He really wanted to see a bear, but I am so grateful he didn't get to see one. I was so worried that they would run into a bear and get attacked. I know...I worry too much.
Three of my brothers went on the trip, as well as Jonathan and my Dad. On the left is Ben. He is married to Marcy, and they have three kids: Julia, Sarah, and Nathan. I admired Marcy for going on this trip. She wanted to go camping and so she went and they took their kids, and Nathan is only 8 months old! I was worried about the kids camping, but Jonathan said they loved it, and Nathan was such a trooper it was unbelievable. (My dad had asked me if I wanted to go camping with my little girls and I remember saying "heck NO" in a very loud voice.) My brother, Danny, is on the right, and Mike isn't in the picture, and neither is Marcy. I'll try and get a picture of them in later.


They camped by this lake for three nights.

On the last day, Jonathan and my dad hiked up the Grand Tetons. They didn't go all the way to the top, only because they didn't have enough time. But the Grand Tetons really are so beatiful, if you haven't been there, you should try to go sometime. It's truly magnificient.

And I leave you with a Hall redneck moment. Jonathan says everytime we visit my family, he's involved in a redneck moment. So here is this years moment: my huge brothers trying to squeeze between two skinny, close-together trees. Danny really did get stuck, and my dad pushed and Mike pulled to get him out. They all told us that story a couple of times when they got back. I'm glad they had a good time. (Oh, and Mike is the big guy in the black shirt. He's my youngest brother.)

I'm glad they had fun, and it was so nice to see them when they got back. Jonathan wants us to take our girls there one day, and I really hope we do. I was blessed to grow up with my outdoorsy dad who made sure we went to Yellowstone often. They are memories I treasure now and I hope my girls will also enjoy family trips to Wyoming.

And the winner is...

Jonathan has been at a medical convention in Tucson all weekend. He entered a poster presentation contest, basically so he could put that he was published on his residency application. And he won first place in the student division! He won $200 and a plaque. And the best part is that he doesn't have to go to Canada!! I know that sounds weird, but he thought that the first place winner had to present in Canada next summer. And while I'm all for world travel and adventures, I'm kind of a party pooper when it comes to leaving the country for a week when we have two babies at home. Or my husband leaving me, as it may be. But we were wrong, he doesn't have to go to Canada. I'm relieved.

Oh, and Sami has pink eye. Boo.

Riverside Zoo

One of our most favorite places in NE was the Riverside Zoo. I hadn't been to the little zoo in over 10 years, so I didn't know that they had a new attraction call the "water pad." Sami was dying to get in the water, so I stripped her down to her diaper and let her have fun. I love these pictures!!

After our first visit, I remembered to bring her swim suit.

This little cutie pie wanted to join in the fun, but it was way too cold for her. The water was freezing (I was surprised Sami liked it as much as she did). So Janie girl sat on the sidelines looking cute. Maybe next year, Janie.


Sami knows all of her animals and their sounds, so to see them all in real life was so exciting for her. She loved feeding the ducks.

There isn't much traffic in the zoo, so the monkeys were happy to see us.

They also had a petting zoo where you could touch a pot bellied pig, llamas, and donkeys. The donkeys really wanted the food (you could buy a handful of food for a quarter). Sami was cautiously thrilled.

I love this hubby of mine!
We loved the Riverside Zoo and can't wait to go back next year!

Homefront

For the past four weeks, the Olsen family has been in my hometown of Gering, Nebraska. Jonathan was able to do an ER rotation there, so we felt blessed to spend the whole month with my family. Jonathan's rotation was super easy for him. He only had to work three 12 hour shifts a week, and the days he did work were not busy at all compared to what he does here.

We had so much fun, our time flew by. We couldn't believe how fast it passed, until we came back and it felt like forever since we had been home. It was fun to go, and nice to come back. The only real downside of our trip was that we all got sick the last week. Jonathan was mostly spared, but us girls were so sick. We are still recovering, but I think the worst is over.

I am going to do a couple of posts about our trip, but I just wanted to do a quick post about some of the things we loved about Nebraska.

Jonathan was able to go camping at Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. He loved it and a whole post will be dedicated to his trip with my dad and brothers.

We loved swimming. The weather was perfect there and my mom bought a little swimming pool that was just the right size for the girlies. The only problem was that the girls had so much fun swimming that getting out brought out tears and protests.

Auntie Rachel was a familiar favorite at my parents' house. She adores the girls and the girls feel the same about her. She loved buying them presents and playing on the floor with them. We will definitely miss Aunt Rach.



And then there was the zoo. Gering has this cute little zoo, with lions and tigers and monkeys. You can walk through the whole zoo in less than an hour, but it is the perfect size for the munchkins and they had a blast every time we went. This is a picture with my Grandma, their Great Grandma.


And of course we saw lots of cousins. Ben and his kids came from Gillette, Wyoming, and spent several days with us. Ben and Marcy have two girls, Julia and Sarah, and one little boy, Nathan. Nathan is two months younger than Janie.



Ben and Marcy's family:


And Danny. Danny loves his nieces and nephews and Sami got really good about saying "hi Da" for "Hi Danny." He read and played with her almost every day. He lives with my parents while he is going to the community college there. He is the only one of us living at home and I know my parents are glad he's still around.

We had a great month and are so grateful for all the good memories.