Katelyn's First Camping Trip

Bad News: We didn't go to Glacier National Park
Good News: We had lots of fun in Swan Valley

So as we were packing for our Montana trip, we were getting some bad feelings about going. We decided not to go and save the trip for next year...I thought we'd be devastated, but we felt so peaceful after making the decision that we weren't that disappointed. And we decided to go camping in nearby Swan Valley instead.
We camped at a little campground at Palisades Creek Thursday and Friday nights. On Friday morning we hiked four miles into Lower Palisade Lake where we saw a bull moose. The water was too cold to go swimming in, but we put our toes in. And that felt really good on our tired and hot feet. The hike was a pretty easy hike since it was not steep and was mostly in the shade, but Katie didn't like the hiking backpack very much when she was trying to fall asleep, so we ended up carrying her most of the way in. Luckily she did better on the return trip and stayed in the pack most of the time. Next time we won't pick such a long hike for her sake.

Here's a list of fun things we saw on our trip:

1. bull moose
2. beautiful lake
3. Falls Creek Waterfall
4. Golden Eagles
5. hummingbirds
6. a snake
7. natural springs
8. snail shells

Fun Things

We have done some pretty fun things in the last few weeks.
To celebrate Justin being done with the semester we went to Ashton to a cute little old-fashioned restaurant and had the best pizza ever and some good ice cream. Then we went swimming in the river. Katie loved the river. When we pulled her out, she was trying to wiggle out of our arms to get back in.
We had a fun Pioneer Day. We went to St. Anthony with Toni and the Ostlers and watched a good parade (Being a Stevens girl, I just love a good parade). We collected a whole bag of candy from people throwing it out. In fact I thought we got more than kids get at Halloween.
After the parade, we went to Ashton Reservoir and played in the river. Ethan caught a fish and ate it, and Justin, Emma, and I floated down the river several times. Ainsley made a lot of progress from last year. She actually put her feet in the water and wasn't scared of the mud. Katie and Linay were sick, so they chilled out in the shade with Mary and Toni. Then Emma and I played against Don and Ethan in a game of water balloon volleyball.

Earlier this week, we went to the International Dance Festival Parade and then the workshops on Thursday. The Chinese were our favorites in the parade, and it was a hoot watching Emma, Ethan, and Ainsley doing disco.

On Friday, Justin and I roasted marshmallows at a campground, and yesterday we hiked "R" mountain which is really a butte formed by an extinct volcano. Next on our list of things to do is Glacier then on to Trout Creek.

New email

Due to the fact that I haven't been a student for over a year now, my byui email account has been deleted. I tried to import all my contacts to my new email address, but our internet was being temperamental and I only got half transferred over before I couldn't get into my inbox anymore. I can get all my family's email addresses from Mary, but friends....I'm not really sure how to get to all of you. So if you would like me to have your email address, leave a comment. Sorry for the inconvenience...And Reanna, I think I remember your email so I'll be emailing you back as soon as possible.