The End is near

Sad but true.  Summer has come to an end.  Brielle had to go back on Wednesday for meetings about teachers not hitting children, etc.  How ever she has been going to the school the past couple of weeks for soccer practice.  That is right.  Brielle is now the coach of the freshman girl soccer team.  She is also going to be sophomore class adviser.  She is going to be quite busy.  She will be getting students on Monday.



 I will also be going to classes on Monday.  I am so excited about it.  Brielle has told me I am supposed to positive and happy about school, so Yeah, School!  How I have missed the drive to UNLV, but not for much longer.  There is nothing like a long drive in traffic to calm one's nerves.

To celebrate our last week of freedom, we invited Marcus and Rachel over for dinner on Thursday.  We had been wanting to do a dinner for awhile, but with all of the traveling, it just didn't happen.  We also had invited Jordan and Elizabeth over, but they were out of town.  So I guess we will have to have another party with them.  Brielle had made pasta primavera and I made french bread to go with it.  For dessert, we did fondue. It was a fun night of just visiting and having fun.

Last Trip of Summer

Our last trip for the summer was going to St. George and visiting with Maranda, and boys and Linda.  Maranda invited us to come up and see Aladdin at Tuacahn.  Aladdin is a great show.  The actors did a fantastic job.  Brielle and I both loved it.  It seemed that the boys enjoyed it as well.  We got to just sit and visit with Maranda and clan on Wednesday before the show.  Thursday morning was just being bums.  We went to Bunkerville Thursday afternoon so that Brielle could make freezer jam with Michele and Kenzie.  We now get to enjoy the fruits of their labors so speak.

Cedar City Trip

We went to Cedar City for the weekend just to visit our friends.  We stayed with Joe and Tricia while we were there.  We spent the weekend playing games, eating good food, and chatting.  Friday we went to the Green Show at the Shakespeare festival and had pizza with Joe, Tricia, and Bambi.  We spent the rest of the night just chatting.  Saturday we went to the Hong Kong Buffet with Joe, Paul, Kylee, and Bambi.  It was fun to take part of our tradition.  It has become tradition for my old roommates and I to go to the buffet and visit.  That was why Brielle and I wanted to do it.  Saturday night we used up some punch cards and point cards for places that are in Cedar but not Vegas.  After dinner we went to Paul and Kylee's to play games.  Saturdays was more games and watching movies.  Clinton came up from St. George and it was a blast to play charades with him, Bambi, Joe, and Tricia.  Monday we left early enough to be able to visit Oma since it was her birthday.  We then spent the afternoon with Michele and Fred.  It was a fun little vacation to just spend time visiting.  There was nothing pressing that needed to be done.

Yellowstone Trip

We spent five days in Yellowstone with Brielle's family.  I have never been to Yellowstone and it has been years since Brielle has been, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to see some sights together.  We had to drive through Yellowstone to get to the house that we were staying.  So as we were driving to the house, we decided to stop and look at one of the waterfalls and stretch our legs.  When we stopped, I noticed a couple that looked very familiar, then I realized that it was Brother and Sister Jensen, whom I met in Stroudsburg, on my mission.  It was my first area, so I haven't seen them in almost six years.  It is truly a small world.  They were nice enough to take a picture of our entire group for us.

Louis, Brielle, Michele, Fred, Kenzie, Elese (Kenzie's friend)

The house that where we stayed on our vacation was about three miles from Yellowstone.  Michele found a website where someone can rent a house while on vacation instead of staying at a hotel.  It is quite nice to vacation this way.  It was nice to have a kitchen so we didn't have to eat out for every meal.

The living room

We spent two days traveling in the park.  We enjoyed seeing the wildlife, such as bears, buffalo, elk, deer, sheep, and antelope.  A couple of times the buffalo were so close, you could have stuck your hand out the car and touched them.  They are some impressive animals.  It was also fun to see the antelope running around and playing.  

Antelope were literally running around everywhere.

Baby!

Must have been the chicken's day off.

A bear.  Far away and not eating us.

Not just stopping to smell the roses, but eating them too.

Baby big horn sheep.

We also saw lots of hot pots, geysers and waterfalls.  

Hot pot.  Literally.  The steam made things unpleasant, as did the stench.

Little geyser.

Big geyser.  AKA Old Faithful.

Artist point.

We had a blast on this trip.  We are so glad that we went.