West Yellowstone

For part of our summer vacation to Utah, we headed to Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and Palisades Reservoir with my family for a week.

We had such a great time with my family and LOVED the cooler weather!!! (notice the sweatshirts in the middle of the summer!) It was actually chilly in Yellowstone, a welcome temperature compared to the 101 degrees we left in Texas. Also I loved how this family picture turned out. (notice the look on Makayla's face--too cool for family pics.)



I also had to include this shot of our sweet motel in West Yellowstone that Brandon and Mike scored. It was actually not so bad on the inside and fit all of us with 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and family room. (But only 1 bathroom) Needless to say, we were a little scared pulling up to the place.
I absolutely loved West Yellowstone! It was such a quaint little town with an appealing ambiance. We had so much fun touring all of the cute little shops . . .

. . . and even picked up a cowboy or two! : )

. . . or 3!

Yee Haw! Jeanette--getting her cowgirl on.

But probably my favorite part of West Yellowstone, was ditching the kids that night (THANKS Mom! ) and heading out on the town with the boys. We hit some more shops and came away with some sweet t-shirts! I was most excited about the awesome wolf shirt I bought in honor of New Moon coming out this fall.

But who would really want to ditch these cute little faces??! . . . REALLY--you can only take so much of all this cuteness!

Happy Birthday Savannah!

Savannah was lucky this year and got to celebrate her 4th birthday in Utah with all her cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles. She got spoiled with lots of fun presents, (thanks all) and was a star for the evening!



There were lots of cute cousins . . .

. . . and lots of grandparents!

. . . and OF course, there was LOTS of cake!

Fun on the 4th!

Best Cousin Buds: Makayla, Logan, Brynnley, Ryder, Brooklyn & Savannah (We missed Emmy)

All the Gang watching the amazing backyard firework display That Is The Warnick Show!

Such Sexy Spectators! (and 1 cute little man! : )

And of course you can't have a firework show without a crazy wheelbarrow ride, courtesy of Mike, and a fabulous dance party to some sweet tunes, courtesy of Brandon.

What a fun way to celebrate Savannah's birthday! Too many fun things to do on the 4th, so we had the big backyard firework show on the 5th after her birthday party. I think she thinks all the fireworks are in honor of her birthday. What a fun way to celebrate!

And what's the 4th of July without the annual West party up at Mutual Dell??! Lots of cute cousins! And lots of fun seeing all my cousins.

Savannah's way of blowing bubbles. Makayla found herself a great walking stick for the hike.

Logan is so happy to have a boy cousin . . . finally. And Makayla and I were super excited to see the Jonas Brothers at the Stadium of Fire that night. Thanks, Mom for the tickets!

Stadium of Fire

Sexy little Jonas Brothers = Happy Makayla!

Bear Lake

Fun with the Manwarings and Robinsons didn't end with just camping, we also spent a day enjoying the sun at Utah's beach: Bear Lake.

I have many fun memories of spending weekends on the lake with my West cousins. Growing up, I thought Bear Lake was as close to the ocean as I could get since we didn't make it to the coast much (3 times ever???). We certainly make up for it now living close to the beach. I love that about living in Texas!!!



Fun in the sun . . .


Fun playing 500 in the water and showing off some extreme skills . . .

And much fun playing in the sand building sand castles!

Family Camping Fun!

The Mountains have to be one of my favorite things about visiting Utah!

I love summer nights spent in the canyon roasting marsh mellows over the fire. This summer we got to see the mountains up close and personal camping with Mike's family in Logan canyon for 2 nights. The kids were in heaven sleeping under the stars, since this was their 2nd official time camping. They had fun playing with their cousins and we all had a great time family bonding.



I had to snap a shot of the A as we drove past Logan on our way up the canyon. Being a "True Aggie" brought back lots of fun college memories. . .





. . . and you can't visit Logan and not stop for Aggie Ice Cream. I will go out on a limb and say it is by far the best ice cream you can get. :

After setting up camp, we headed up the mountain for a family hike.

Savannah loved walking Rocco.

The view was beautiful at the top!

What's camping without a campfire??! I think Mike, Mr. Pyro, created another follower in his pyromania ways.

The Boys: Steve, Mike, and Ari

Oh, and Thank You, Steve, for starting a beard growing contest with his brothers and Dad for the camp out. I really loved the whiskers effect . . . although Mike's goatee grew on me by the end of the 2 weeks.

The Fam

Mountain Men

And Cute Cousins with Aunt Rina

Strike a pose: me, Mike, Eileen and Jeff, Jen, Steve, Ari & Stephanie