Wyoming/South Dakota Trip

Our trip to Wyoming/South Dakota came up at the last minute.  My grandmother passed away on May 11 after battling cancer for the past few years.  She was 84 and we were able to come together to celebrate her life.  It was amazing how God worked out all of the details to make it possible.  Alek was done with school, I was done with Bible study and Nina had a long weekend off from school when her funeral was scheduled.  We flew into Denver, for a reasonable amount no less, and met my parents and brother, sister-in-law and niece.  Most of my cousins were there and we had a good time talking and hanging out as family.  I heard some stories about my grandma and my mom and my aunts that I never knew before.  We were able to visit the farm my grandmother grew up on and the ranch where my mom and her sisters grew up.  It was a beautiful celebration of her life and to hear about her life of faith was awesome.  So, since we had flown all the way out there, we decided to turn it into a little vacation with my family.  Douglas, Wyoming is a pretty quiet town.  This picture of the kids with the jackalope is about the highlight.  What is a jackalope?  I'm still not sure. 

In front of the one room schoolhouse with Grandpa, on my dad's side.

 Kendra, Alek and Nina in front of the jackalope.

Kendra and Dennis in front of the train.

 My Aunt Cher and her 3 boys all dressed up.

Most of the family that were able to gather for the funeral.

At the gravesite

Nina stealing Grandpa's jacket to stay warm.

 Nina playing at the park on the horse swings.  I haven't seen these since I was a kid.

 The slide got Alek going pretty fast.

Playing in the hamster wheel.  Do they allow these things on newer playgrounds?  I don't think so.

Nina and Kendra at the museum above the restaurant/bar in Douglas.  They moved the dance hall here that my great grandfather built.

Kendra sitting on the rock that my grandmother found a snake on when she was 2 and was feeding.  She asked her mother for oatmeal about 3 times and by the third time, her mother was curious as to what was going on.  Turns out she was spoon feeding a snake.  Yikes!

 Nina in the house my grandmother grew up in.

My mom and 2 of her sisters standing on what used to be their one room school house.

 Grandma's house that she grew up in.

 On top of the hill on the property where Grandma grew up and yes it's windy.  It's Wyoming!

 Kendra and Kathleen

This is the 3 holer that was by the one room school house.  My mom always talked about this and throwing a ball over the top at recess.  So Kathleen is holding up 3 fingers.

The Crazy Horse Monument.  It's enormous and a little crazy.

A model of what the complex will hopefully look like one day.

 Isaac getting a better view of the monument.

 This is a 1/37 model of the monument.

 Driving on the scenic highways and seeing Mount Rushmore through the tunnels.

The cousins!

Alek climbing on the rocks.

 Nina and Kendra had a fantastic time together.

Sometimes, it's just necessary.

 We drove to tour the Wind Cave.

 Still can't believe we got my mom to go in there.  It was not very wide open, especially at the beginning.

 This cave has the most box work of any explored cave.

We saw a few of these bison along the way, but not as many as I expected.

Stopping along the Needles Highway on the way back from the cave.

 The scenery was amazing.

Mount Rushmore at night.

Isaac and TK with the sculptor of Mount Rushmore.

 We stopped at the Mammoth National Site where they have unearthed some amazing creatures.  Not sure about all that they try to get you to believe about the age of the earth and all, but cool none the less.

 Kendra is not interested in being in the stroller right now.

A stop at the state capitol in Cheyenne on Memorial Day.

A tour of the Anheuser Busch Brewery in Fort Collins.  The samples were generous and it was a good way to just relax before our flights home.  What an amazing time we had together touring around the area.  It was a lot of time in the car, but the kids had a blast hanging out with their cousin.  Wish we didn't live so far apart, but that makes times together that much more special.