Jackson Hole

We've been back from Jackson Hole for an entire week now and it was lovely. I am so grateful that I have a job where I'm given an opportunity like this, and to experience it with my husband! I was driving to Fort Wayne yesterday morning and every time I'd cross a flat field, I kept thinking I'd see wild buffalo roaming - but I guess that only happens in Wyoming... I apologize now for all the pictures. With over 400 to choose from, here are a few of our favorites.

Our hotel was in Teton Village, about 15 minutes or so from Jackson Hole at an elevation of around 6000 feet. We took a tram (that serves as a ski lift when there's snow) to about 10,000 feet. It was real cloudy with a rain storm headed our way but I was still struck with fear that people actually ski off mountains like this. Crazy.

They say there are moose, bear, bison and elk everywhere. I prayed that IF we saw a bear, it'd be in a "safe environment." I guess I should be thankful we didn't see any, but I am a little bummed.

This is some famous barn that is captured in lots of famous photography. It's out on Mormon's Row and we saw tons of wildlife on our little venture out this way. We stopped at a bakery called The Bunnery and had the most divine almond concoction and scones I think we've ever had.

We also spent a day at Yellowstone. It was less than 45 miles from where we were but it took ust about two and a half hours to get there since we had to drive through Grand Teton National Park (which was only a mile from Teton Village) and the maximum speed limit was 45 mph. It's truly amazing how God created this world. The beauty that mountains create is truly breathtaking. And then here's what Yellowstone looked like 21 years AFTER the forest fire that swept through in 1988.

We would have kicked ourselves had we not gone to see Old Faithful. I kid you not, there were probably 1000 people seated on benches and standing around waiting for this famous geyser to erupt. It goes off every 92 minutes and we arrived with about 15 minutes to spare. Pretty neat but truly only something you need to see once.

We saw two or three waterfalls in Yellowstone. Each one lovely.

There's also part of the park that they refer to as the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone." Although it doesn't come close to comparing, it's still an awesome sight to behold.

Here is a mud volcano. This area stunk due to all the sulfur.

Our last day in Wyoming started out very cloudy. It didn't stop us from taking lots of pictures! That's Grand Teton in the middle, standing at over 13,000 feet.

Once we heard that there was a waterfall in GTNP, we decided to take a hike around Jenny Lake and find Hidden Falls.

It was about a 2 hour hike to the falls and once I saw the sign that the falls area was a highly active Bear area, it probably took us about 75 minutes to get back. I made Ryan walk with a large rock in his hand almost the entire way back. It wasn't the smoothest trail I've ever been on, so I praise God that we made it back bear and injury free!

This was the only threatening wildlife we saw on our return trek. See the little monster?

This, unfortunately for Ryan, was his view the whole way back. Seriously, I've not been that scared in a LONG time!

Seriously, if you ever get the chance to visit Wyoming, we highly recommend it. It's God's country out West for certain.

And a great thanks goes out to YiaYia and Papou who so graciously watched Phoebe while we were away. I believe Mom could have slept a good 18 hours the day we returned. We love you guys!!!

Pita 2005-2009

We returned from Jackson Hole this past Wednesday to an empty home. Not sure whether we should invest more money for shots just so she could be kept in a kennel while we were gone, I called the vet to ask her opinion one more time. We were forced to make the very hard decision to have Pita put to sleep the day before we left for Wyoming. The vet said there was nothing more they could do so Ryan had the hard task of taking her in by himself. Dr. Short informed us once she saw her again that it was the right thing to do. She was under 5 lbs. (at her healthiest she was over 11 lbs.).

Pita was a great dog, our first "baby." It was hard to come home knowing she wouldn't be here, but we have to believe she's better off now. Here's just a small photographic tribute to our little one - of all she put up with from us and of the joy she brought us. She is greatly missed.

Getting OH so big!

We love long weekends at the Wallis house! Especially when we're not teething and sleep through the night! We headed to YiaYia and Papou's on Saturday to celebrate YiaYia's birthday. Uncle Steve drove down from Chicago for the event so it was nice to catch up with him.


He pushed Phoebe high in her swing which she enjoyed - YiaYia didn't care for it overly much. So we settled on watching airplanes fly overhead. Phoebe has a great set of ears and as soon as she hears anything says "Oh!" and you just see her eyes start searching for the source, be it airplane, dog or fire truck.

She even got some one-on-one time with Papou. Kali entertained everyone by playing with sticks. Phoebe is going to have SUCH a great time at their house this week while we're away in Wyoming.

Dad grilled out his famous steaks but we made sure to save room for dessert! We celebrated with Mom's traditional Dairy Queen cake and even Auntie Kate helped sing "Happy Birthday" via speaker phone.

Phoebe is very much into imitating what we do. Here she is wearing my shoes (yes, I've had them since middle school and will wear them till they absolutely fall apart - I love them but try to only wear them around the house).

And since our old house doesn't have a dishwasher - she's picked up on the rubber gloves as well.

Ryan picked up a new lens for his camera over the week for our trip and tried it out at bathtime. She seems to want to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" particularly at bathtime - she just looks at you and says, "Row, row, row, row..." till you start singing the song. She's also picked up little actions to "Twinkle, twinkle" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider." She's so bright!

And we finally caved - her bangs were getting so long that we made our first at-home attempt. She sat still for the most part which largely surprised me. They may be a little short and perhaps a bit crooked, but at least they're not hanging in her eyes anymore. We've tried little barrettes but between her fine hair and the fact that they usually end up in her mouth, we had to find a different solution.

We leave Thursday morning for Jackson Hole. We're pretty excited about having some adult interaction/conversation while we're there. Please pray for YiaYia and Papou - that they'll have extra energy and patience and that Phoebe will make a great transition while we're away. And for Ryan and me - we've never been away from Phoebe longer than a night and I know we're going to miss her!