The Christensens

Scott, Ashley, Brad, Steph, Ben, and Nin at Mammoth

I took this picture out the car window. The buffalo were so close! We thought they were going to ram the van...which would've been awesome, but probably wouldn't have been good for the van. (I think this is a boy buffalo :))

Ninners and Benners in front of a pretty waterfall.

Ok, this is an awesome picture of a bear's footprint. My dad just decided on a whim to take the upper scenic loop, and we came upon two bears wrestling by a hot pot. We kinda spooked them when we came around the corner in the car, so they ran up the road. We chased them (at a slow speed) for probably 10 minutes until they ran up the hill. We went back a little later to see if we could see any footprints, and lo and behold there they were!

Cute little Benners in front of Old Faithful.

Over conference weekend, the Johnsons were nice enough to take us on a quick trip to Yellowstone. They picked us up late Friday night where we stayed in Pocatello at a fine establishment. (You'll have to ask Scott about his hearty continental breakfast.) Since the breakfast was, well, less than sufficient, we decided to bag it and go to IHOP. (Excellent choice.) Afterward, the boys had to make a stop at Wal-Mart to get some decent boot-shoes to walk around in the snow with. (For some reason, the girls were all prepared...hmm...) Then it was off to Yellowstone for some great adventures.

We were so glad to have Ben with us because he has the best animal-spotting eyes! Before we were even in the park, he spotted two black bears running at each other in a field about to fight. It was AWESOME. He also spotted two coyotes and a wolf. Mom was the one to spot the two Grizzlies wrestling. (Jim: "Question- Which bear is best?" Dwight: "Well that depends, there are two schools of thought..." Jim:"False. Black bear.") There were also tons of buffalo and elk.

The weather was pretty dang cold, but we still had a great time. It was Ben's first time, and he loved it. I'm pretty sure we'll be taking Lima and other kids there on vacation later on in life. :) On the way back, we drove through Jackson Hole (which totally made me think of Eric Davis) and stopped at a quality (not) Wendy's. They refused to give any Frosties with the kids meal! Who does that? Or rather, doesn't do that? Then they gave Scott a smaller-than-kids meal hamburger. (See Scott's blog for visual) Plus, the worker was really crabby. He shall be hereafter known as the Frosty Nazi.

Anyway, lots of great memories. Thanks Mom and Dad for the great trip! It was a blast!