In July 2019 we had an amazing family trip out west.
Here is a short highlight video that really shows off the trip:

7/3/2019
We drove up and over the Alpine Loop rd and made our way to the Olympic Park where we got to watch some ski jumpers practice by jumping and flipping into a pool. We then got to meet up with our friends Emily and David and spend some time in downtown Salt Lake City. Emily showed us around the famous Temple Square and then we got to see their amazing photography studio a few blocks from there. Their kids and our kids are the same age so they got to hang out today too.
Here’s some iPhone shots from today. Thanks for the extra pics Emily!

This evening we went out to Saltair on the edge of the Great Salt Lake. It definitely lived up to the hype of being stinky and kind of gross with bugs everywhere.
The bonneville salt flats are a bit too far out of the way, so in lieu of that, the boys had an epic (not epic) race here.

7/4/2019
We started off with a long drive from Salt Lake City up to Bear Lake in Idaho. It’s just like Torch Lake in northern MI with the beautiful turquoise water.
Next we drive up past the Palisades Reservoir with a stop at Fall Creek Falls on the Snake River which is a gorgeous multi-tiered waterfall.

During the afternoon we drove a few hours from Bear Lake up to Yellowstone Bear World which is a drive through nature park where the animals walk right up to your car in some areas.
After that we went to check in to our hotel which I had prepaid through Hotwire. Unfortunately I had booked and prepaid for yesterday which we no-showed for and now the hotel was booked so that left us scrambling to find a new place at 8:00 at night in an area with limited options and high prices. Thankfully we found some cabins nearby. During that process we drove by signs for the rodeo which was a fun find. We had never been to one before so that was a unique experience for all of us!! Kole and Reid even got to run with lots of other kids to see who could pull a tag off of a running calf.

In the evening we ended up at a rodeo (Driggs, ID) with a backdrop of the Grand Tetons! The boys even got to go down and run around and chase a calf.

7/5/19
Today has been awesome. Absolutely perfect weather. We drove around the Tetons into Grand Teton National Park where we did a hike out to Taggert Lake. The cloudscapes today have been amazing.
One of the highlights was seeing a giant moose near the road.
The day hasn’t all been perfect though. We started the day leaving our cabin very early in the morning where I dropped our room key into the locked key box. About 30 seconds later, Cheridy got pooped on by a bird and she wanted to wash her hair but there was no way back in the room. Later in the afternoon, she left her phone inside the porta potty at the trailhead and we didn’t realize until many hours later. Thankfully it was still there when we went back!

So…this evening was incredible. We drove back into the park late on the day to catch the sunset and look for animals and we got both. We had a herd of buffalo crossing the highway so they were super close which was amazing. We also got to see some antelope way off in the distance but thanks to my iPhone on a digiscope, we got a nice closeup.
The sunset with the Tetons over the Snake River surely didn’t disappoint either!

7/6/19
Today we started out at Mormon Row which is one of the most iconic scenes from the Grand Tetons. We then made our way to Jenny Lake which is a really popular spot to start a hike.
We took the boat across to the other side of the lake and then hiked to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. It was an absolutely perfect morning for it.

This evening we started at the Jackson Lake Lodge where we had dinner. The panoramic view of the whole Teton range through the lobby windows is incredible!
After dinner, we headed out looking for animals again. A storm front blew over the mountains giving us some dramatic skies. We saw more buffalo tonight today along with a lot of horses.
The moody skies over the mountains made for an excellent sunset.

7/7/19
Made it to Yellowstone. The cheapest hotel we could get was $430 per night and it has zero amenities. Not even WiFi. I wish we would have stayed outside the park. We stayed inside because we wanted to be close to stuff but the park is so big, we are still an hour drive from a lot of the stuff.
We started our day with a relaxing sleep in day which felt fantastic. We then drove up to Yellowstone National Park. Our first stop was Old Faithful which we learned was not very faithful after all. It is supposed to blow every 70-90 minutes but ended up going off almost half an hour early which was then confusing for everyone because we didn’t know if it was the full eruption or just a quick spout. It was still neat to see.
The park was insanely crowded so we decided to just make our way up to the hotel and come out later in the evening.
We had a quick stop at Gibbon Falls and the Artist Paint Pots on the way. The Paint Pots has a bubbling mud pit which was really cool.
Our hotel is right by the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone so we took advantage of that and went to view the 300ft Lower Yellowstone Falls.

Our hotel was really close to Hayden Valley. We took advantage of that this evening. Hayden valley is known for having tons of animals. First we saw a grizzly bear from far away. Then it was a couple of bull Elks followed by herds of Buffalo with their calves and herds of elk as well. There were animals around every corner!!

7/8/19
Driving around Yellowstone during peak season in the middle of the day is not a fun experience. Some of the turnoffs you have to park half a mile down the road. So for our second day in the park, we woke up at 6:00am and went to some of the popular spots long before they got crowded. We started at the Grand Prismatic Spring. Unfortunately the weather was much colder and with the hot water coming from the ground and the cold air temperature, there was a lot more steam which was masking the color of the water. However, it did provide a dramatic backdrop for a silhouette picture of Cheridy and the boys walking together.
We then walked around the Bisquit Basin area followed by the Upper Geyser Basin which is where Old Faithful is.
After that, we started to loop back around and stopped at the mud volcanoes. There was a bubbling mud pit with a Buffalo sitting right next to it. There is nothing that says “Yellowstone” like a bubbling mud pit and a buffalo.

In the evening we drove up to mammoth hot springs for dinner. On the way, we saw multiple black bears which was amazing.
Reid yelled out “bear, I saw a bear!!” So we had to turn the car around and go back. What he thought was a bear was actually just a burned out tree stump. The crazy part is that near the burned out tree stump, there actually was a bear!
We then went into Lamar Valley and saw a coyote, antelope, and LOTS of buffalo.
Some of the photos and videos are not super clear because they were shot with my iPhone from 100+ yards away using a 60x spotting scope. Having my phone attached to the scope drew a crowd because the it was hard to see the bear from so far away but the scope brought it real close.

7/9/19
We headed out of the park to Bozeman. We’ve been spending so much time out in nature that it was time to mix things up for the boys.
Our hotel had an indoor pool so the kids got to do some swimming. We then went and watched the new Spiderman movie.
After that we met up with cousin Paige and her boyfriend Ryan for a yummy dinner followed by some time at the climbing gym for some bouldering. Paige and Ryan do a lot of mountain climbing so it was fun to be able to go with them to their local climbing gym.
Reid is like a spider monkey and really took to the walls well. Kole and Mayz has fun with it too.

7/10/19
Time to head home!

At the end of Christmas break this year we took a family trip out to Las Vegas and San Diego to explore a different part of the country.
Based on our flight times, we had 5 full days which was perfect for what we wanted to do.

Next, we drove to the Mojave National Preserve through a fresh snow storm which was really pretty to see the lifting clouds over the mountains.

Next, it was on to Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree is a really beautiful dessert park.

The boys did rock scrambling near Skull Rock and LOVED it there.  We then went for a nice short hike around Hidden Valley.

1/1/19

First thing in the morning, we drove to the Salton Sea.  We were surprised just how dumpy the area was.  Lots of garbage and abandoned buildings with graffiti everywhere.

We then went up into the mountains to the old mining town of Julian. It was straight up winter there. There was ice everywhere which made walking around the town a bit treacherous. We really struggled to get the car out of our parking spot which was parallel parked on an icy hill…yikes!!

After that we drove down to sunny San Diego. I was shocked at how cheap the hotels are here. I was expecting everything to be super expensive but we are staying at the Hilton for $100 per night with a beautiful view of the Coronado bridge.
Our first adventure in San Diego was to explore the USS Midway.  It’s pretty amazing that this ship was still in service in the early 90s. One of the best parts about it is that they have lots of vets on board who give talks about different parts of the ship.

1/2/19
Today we had some perfect weather and decided to spend the day out at the San Diego zoo which is one of the best zoos in the world.
The animals were out and about and it was fantastic!

That evening, we went over to the coast to catch the sunset at the Sunset Cliffs.  A wonderful finish to a wonderful day.

1/3/19
Today we had to drive back to Vegas.  On our way back, we stopped off at the Calico ghost town which was pretty cool to see. It was restored back to its original condition and very neat to see all the old buildings and train and mining stuff.


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We arrived at the Palazzo Hotel mid-afternoon.  The Palazzo is attached and connected to the Venetian so it was fun to just walk around and see the beautiful architecture and design.

We spent a few hours out, then got a break and headed out again at night to see the buildings all lit up at night.  Ceasar’s Palace, The Bellagio Fountains, Paris…all amazing!

1/4/19
This morning we started the day exploring the Neon Museum.
It was pretty neat to see but it was much smaller than I expected. There were basically two small rows of signs and you could walk through it in just a couple minutes so paying $85 for the family to go through was a bit much.
After that we headed over to Fremont st and had a walk around and some lunch. Then we went to Circus Circus to catch the quick Ladderman show.

This afternoon we went to the Forum shops at Caesar’s Palace. Absolutely amazing design and architecture and some fantastic photography galleries.
We caught the Atlantis show at the end. That was super cheesy but fun for the kids.

Earlier this year, Cheridy and I had gone to the actual Trevi Fountain in Rome so it was neat to compare the two.

Our last night in Vegas, we saw La Reve at the Wynn hotel.
That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
The physical abilities of the performers is mind blowing but what is equally amazing is the engineering that went into it. The moving platforms that made the pool go from 1” down to a pool deep enough to dive from 60’ up was crazy. I’m not even sure how many different pieces there were but it was a lot. The lights, the fountains, the acrobatics and aerobatics were mesmerizing.
The theater was also incredible. With only 13 rows of seats in a circle, everyone got an amazing view. We paid a premium for our seats to be in the back row which also included tv screens which gave us behind the scenes views for the prep work before the show along with many different camera angles that showed us what was happening from up in the rafters down under water. It was really neat to see how the scuba team was assisting the performers from underwater.
I had never heard of La Reve and some of the other cirque shows we looked at were sold out so we are very thankful to have been able to do that.

1/5/19
We flew home and had an uneventful flight back.  Desert, mountains, ocean, and cities, it was a packed 5 days!!

This past Christmas, our family had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico to build a small home for a family in need.
Here is a quick highlight video that summarizes our trip:

Our family met up with a group of 16 other people from a church in Kansas and headed down to Texas where we crossed the border into Reynosa, Mexico.
There, we met up with a much larger group of another 160 people made up of various teams from around the country.  This was all organized by an amazing orginazation called Strategic Alliance (www.StrategicAlliance.org).  The founders, Roland and Carolyn, have been going to Reynosa for 25 years.  They’ve built up relationships in the community and go there to help build houses in this extremely poor part of the world.  The community we got to serve has a large infrastructure built up around the nearby garbage dump where people scavange most of what they own.  Most shelters are build from old pieces of plywood, bricks, tires, tarps, anything they could find.
The houses that are getting built would be considered sheds in America but to them, they are huge upgrades.  They are 12’x20′ wood walls built onto a concrete slab.  They have windows, a door, a loft, and a metal roof.
When we arrived on site, the foundation had already been poured and there was a pile of lumber, metal, and screws for us to work with.
The materials had to be counted to make sure we had what we needed and then separated for what parts would be used for trim, walls, studs, roof purlins, etc.
It was then moved to an area where a team could start painting.  Unfortunately it was misty rain and cold all day so the paint was not drying properly and with the muddy ground, the freshly painted pieces got dirty very quickly.
By the end of the first day, we were able to get one of the walls put up.

The hotel that we were staying at was much nicer than we were expecting.  Other than not having hot water, it was actually a very comfortable room.  Their cafeteria provided our meals and drinks and we were well taken care of to make sure nobody would get sick from eating or drinking the wrong thing.
The hotel was a 20 minute drive from the worksite so on some of the days that were really long, some of the people could bring some of the younger kids back to the hotel to rest/relax.  The kids all helped out with painting and stuff and they also were able to play with some of the local kids down there.  The only problem was that every day we were there, it was cold and rainy so many of the kids didn’t come out in that unusual weather.  After we left, it was back up in the 70s and 80s.

By the end of day 2, we had all the walls up.

By day three we got most of the roof and loft done and then the 4th day we had to finish the house, decorate it, and hand over the keys.

After lunch, all the teams walked through the area leading to the dump and the dump itself where lots of people live and we handed out rice, beans, and tangerines to all the locals.  It was an amazing experience.  This little house that we built will be a home for grandma Marisella and her husband Saul along with potentially 13 other people (kids and grand kids).  I hope that it helped all the kids to realize just how blessed we are to live where we live and have the opportunities that we do.

If you are interested in going on a trip here, we will probably be going back over Thanksgiving with a group from the Detroit area so please reach out if you are interested.  To learn more, you can check out StrategicAlliance.org