lots of stories to share. We laid low on Thursday and Friday. I think the most exciting thing we did on Friday was go to Walmart and the park to play for a bit. Luke grilled a few steaks on Friday night-delicious as usual! Saturday the fun began. We drove up the canyon to a small ranch just outside of the east gate to Yellowstone. We got to take Liz horseback riding as her Birthday gift. Liz, Luke and Matt went for a trail ride 
and Max got to ride a pony around the ranch. He was led by a guy named Blake. Max said he was the best "cowboy teacher" ever and waved and beamed every time Blake walked by. Max, for those of you who may not know him, is a cowboy. He wears his boots all the time, has cowboy shirts for every occasion and loves to wear his hat. He even had a lasso for a while(he calls it his yee-haw rope!). Emmett and I walked the ranc
h and played in the stream that ran thru, as well as pick up horse poo and play in the dirt. We headed back home to clean up and then went into town for the Cody gunfighters. They have a show outside of the Irma Hotel every night at 6pm. It was nice to see once, but not something that I need to see again. Liz and Max enjoyed the show. It was a really fun day for everyone. Sunday was Yellowstone day. We drove in to the park thru the East gate and headed north. We decided to drive the top loop and see Mammoth Springs. It was a really long day, but we got to see a ton of really great sights. Not very many animals which might have been due to the "bears" we had in the car. The kids did pretty well for a 12 hour day. We stopped and had lunch at a great spot with a slow stream access. It was a blast.
Emmett had a great time in the water especially when both Luke and Matt got down to their skives and dove in! He and cousins clapped and screamed. It was a sight let me tell ya. Way to cold for this lady! I was in the stream for all of 15 mins before my feet were popsicles.We had dinner in Cooke city after we left the park then headed back to home. We got 
half way there and were greeted by crazy smoke wall. There had been a storm (actually passed over the ranch while they were trail riding) that caused lightning to start a fire. The smoke from this fire was eerie as the sun started setting. We are still getting quite a bit of smoke from the fire, as well as another fire started outside of Red Lodge, just a few miles from the Ski runs. Smells like a campfire pretty much all hours of the day around here.
half way there and were greeted by crazy smoke wall. There had been a storm (actually passed over the ranch while they were trail riding) that caused lightning to start a fire. The smoke from this fire was eerie as the sun started setting. We are still getting quite a bit of smoke from the fire, as well as another fire started outside of Red Lodge, just a few miles from the Ski runs. Smells like a campfire pretty much all hours of the day around here. One last day to fit another cowboy activity in. The families jumped in the car and headed to the rodeo(called radio by Max. He almost had it by the end of the night!). The night rodeo doesn't start til 8pm, already past bedtimes. It was a great time! We did leave a little early cause the children (and adults) were starting to get tired. The adults ended the evening with a bit of porch sitting. We had to finish off the bottle of wine-no sense in letting it go bad. We had a great time having the Andersons here and look forward to seeing them again at Thanksgiving. 
Mammoth Springs
Luke on Cricket
Liz on Gilmore
