Montana Vacation Part 2

Blake and I took Emma and went four-wheeling. The mountains are so beautiful here! I wish we could have had more time to go four-wheeling!

We also went and swam at Fairmont Hot Springs. There was a large pool outside that was as warm as a bath tube and a large pool inside. The girls, Blake, and Daris went down the Dragon Slide.

Maddy and I had a ton of fun riding in the car together and taking pictures.

Lauren's under bite is cute. Her family calls her the "Barracuda."

Blake, Lorraine, and Daris making us some awesome grub!

One of the mornings we went to a Sapphire Mine. We got large buckets and then we put the dirt in the sifters.

We had to shake and bounce the sifters in the water so the Sapphires go down to the bottom in the middle.

It was a perfect day and we didn't get eaten alive by mosquitoes luckily!

Shaking the sifters in the water was my favorite part, then flipping it over to find the hidden gems.

Everyone was able to find at least 10 gems a person.

Blake was cute. He would secretly find a gem and then put it back in the pile and tell Emma to look in that pile to find that gem.

The day before we went to the Sapphire Mine we went Crystal Mining. Crystal Mining was another whole experience! When we got out of the car thick swarms of mosquitoes came and attacked us. We all sprayed every inch of our skin with mosquito repellent. Those mosquitoes were RELENTLESS though! (This is why I have no pictures of us Crystal Mining). I ended up going back to the car and tried to take a nap. But everyone eventually gave up after an hour because of the mosquitoes. In this mining, you had to dig in previous wholes to find the crystals.

After mining for crystals, we drove to a Ghost Town right down the rode. (I ended up taking my much needed nap while everyone walked through the Ghost Town... man pregnancy makes me so tired!)

Here are some videos of the Ghost Town:

Teton Creek

On Memorial Day, Blake, Christine, Apollo, and I drove to Teton Creek. On our way there, we met some people who got their car stuck in the snow. Luckily we had a shovel to help dig them out. You might ask, "There is still snow?" And my reply to you is YES! There is still a ton of snow in the mountains. Most of the time we hiked we were on snow. Christine and I wore snow shoes for the first time on a part of the trail.

Blake climbed up this rock and saw a big, red fox about 10 feet away from him. Christine and I didn't see it...dang it.

On our way back, as were were taking a picture, we saw as Moose just right off the trail. This trip was the first hiking trip for Apollo. He did alright, but on the way back he kept stopping because his little feet were cold and he was shaking. He had to carry him a part of the way back...LOL

It was a beautiful day in the Tetons and we can't wait to do lots more hiking this summer.

Afterwards, we made a camp fire at Eagle Park and roasted hot dogs with Fielding and his new girlfriend. Of course we had smores.