2009 Park City Trip

The annual Jones family gathering in Park City has come and gone. We had a great time as usual and did alot of things, including swim, eat, golf, play games and shop. The cousins had so much fun together and it's neat to watch them grow older and begin to establish friendships. I need to start giving myself a photo limit on family vacations. It's way too hard to pick which ones to post on the blog.

All nine of the Jones family cousins...

Grandma Jones and nine of her favorite people...

Carson couldn't get enough of the pool...

The girl cousins. Darn that binky...

Our baby girl is growing up...

Elijah and Clarissa pose for a photo, while Carson sings the blues...

Elijah loads up on the Alpine Slide. He said it was his favorite part of the trip...

He literally laughed the entire way down the mountain. It was great...

We did a few fireworks...

We spent a couple hours at the Utah Olympic Park. Carson was fascinated by the bobsled...
Rocky Mountain climber Carson, hanging out below the ski jumps. It was amazing to see the jumpers...

Rocky Mountain thrower Elijah, launching yet another rock into the condo pond...

Christina and boys near Smith Morehouse dam. We all had a blast skipping and throwing rocks into the river...

Clarissa practices her dance moves...

A photo near the base of the dam. What a beautiful place...

Oregon Trip for Grandpa's Funeral

Christina's Grandpa George passed away earlier in July so we made a drive to Oregon for the funeral and to spend a few days with family. The funeral service was very nice and paid tribute to a great man who led a honorable life and was loved greatly by family and friends. It brought Carson, Elijah and Clarissa together with all of their cousins on the Candland side. They had fun spending time together and didn't stir up too much trouble.

Not sure if this grab was a "don't fall off the bench" or a "don't you dare go anywhere"...
The kids spent hours in the pool...

And hours in the yard...

Let's see how many cousins we can cram into the sandbox...
The 2005 babies...

The 2003 babies...

The most recent of the babies, cramming in the marshmallows...

Family members placing roses on the coffin...

Christina and her mom looking at the graveside flowers...

Christina's dad and two brothers...

Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks

We recently returned from a vacation in Yellowstone. We joined up with Christina's parents and her sister Beth's family and rented a little cabin outside of West Yellowstone. We visited many of the popular spots and saw various kinds of wildlife throughout the park (no bears...too bad). We had a fun time and the kids really enjoyed it, despite all the time spent in the car. It's a beautiful spot and there is so much to see. Here's a random sampling of the 300 photos taken...


Standing at the west entrance...

Don't mind the guy in the reflection of the bumper...

Elijah trying to spot a couple of distant elk, but most likely just seeing the back of Carson's head...

Didn't need binoculars to see this guy...

Despite our concerns, the boys did very well at staying on the paths and away from certain death...

So many diverse landscapes throughout the park...

The wind tried to blow our hats off the first day...

Clarissa just happy to be staying at the Brook Trout Inn...

We had steady rain one morning. The official Yellowstone rain slickers we bought instantly transformed Carson into a Jedi Knight from Star Wars...

This is Yellowstone Lake. If you're a U2 fan this may look slightly familiar...

Elijah stares at something in the water...

The rains cleared just in time to visit the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone...

I know she ate at least a couple of dandelions during our trip...

Looking into the canyon below the Lower Falls...

Since we hadn't seen any bears in the park, we decided to visit the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. I believe the cousins are demonstrating how they'd react in the event of a bear attack. Elijah apparently believes that prayer will be the most effective means of preserving his life...

Fortunately, the bears at the Discovery Center came out to see us...

Carson and Elijah, along with cousins Kayden and Boston, scaling the boulders...

The view from the Paint Pots trail...

All the cousins on a bear couch. Somebody on my left must have told a pretty good joke...

On the way home, we went through Grand Teton National Park. The mountains are amazing...

Carson and Clarissa at Colter Bay...

Elijah loved this moose he found in Jackson. According to the tag, he is named Melvin...

The standard, obligatory family photo in front of the elk antler arch in Jackson...