More Yellowstone Pictures

Here are pictures that Glenn took while we were in Yellowstone. They are very good. And here is Glenn and Christy’s blog- http://www.christyandglenn.net/
If you go there and click on their picture link you can see them all- they are amazing pictures.

























Brea always wanted to see a Moose...but alas, no moose!


This is a picture of Brea realizing she had forgotten and missed Women's Conference.

Ballroom at the Middle School

I (Brea) needed two more dance classes for my Dance Cluster to graduate from BYU-Idaho. Instead of taking classes, I am doing a practicum and teaching ballroom dance lessons at the local Middle School. I am teaching the 5th-6th graders and I love it. I am just a Teacher's Assistant for now but I love to see the kids grow and develop.
This last week I have been teaching manners- such as asking a girl to dance, offering the girl your arm and not leaving her in the middle of the dance floor at the end of the song. It has been fun seeing and remembering the emotions of 5th grade (such as cooties and awkwardness) and to be able to relate and help the kids grow. I absolutely love it and hope that I can get this worked out to count for all of my credits- so I can teach for the rest of the semester.

Yellowstone National Park

We went to visit the Yellowstone National Park for Free! … It was National Land Day and all the National Parks were free to enter. We saw a ton of wildlife and a ton a beautiful trees and mountains. Hot sulfur springs were cool to look at, but after a little while they were a little bit stinky. We were also able to see Old Faithful (a famous geyser) and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (which was Brea’s favorite spot).
We went up with the Brownlee’s from our ward (Glenn and his wife Kristy) and it was a ton of fun. Glenn is an amateur photographer that knows his stuff; He took some really cool pictures. They both love the outdoors and told us some useful tips about animals and nature. Yellowstone was amazing!



















It was so amazing to be able to spend a day together in nature. It was a HUGE reminder of Heavenly Father’s love for us and the amazing creation of this earth.


Interesting Yellowstone Facts:
• Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park.
• Yellowstone spreads across Wyoming , Montana, and Idaho. It is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.
• There are over 400 waterfalls (over 15 ft tall) in Yellowstone National Park flowing year round.
• Yellowstone has over 300 active geysers
• Yellowstone is an active super volcano. (Only 30 exist in the world, the Yellowstone super volcano is the only one on land.)
• Yellowstone is the home of 3 threatened species (the bald eagle, grizzly bear, lynx) and 2 endangered species (whooping crane. gray wolf).
• There have been over 9,928,561 visitors since January of 2000

Dancing With the Stars

Dancing With the Stars has started a new season and Brea is very excited. She already has decided who is good and who is...not so good. She is enjoying watching the ballroom and it makes her so excited. (She even gets up and dances during commercials.)

Zucchini/Meatloaf Boats

Brea woke up this morning with an unusual surge of energy and cooking vigor (both very rare). She was excited to cook with all our new vegetables. She made two loafs of zucchini bread (Ben loves it) and zucchini/meatloaf boats for dinner. Brea is not usually a cook; however the food was great (she made so much we gave most of it away) and she is very proud of herself.
Thank you everyone for the wonderful veggie ideas and recipes.

Stewart Veggies

Brea has been going to a woman who does holistic healing from out of her home. Saturday, after another session, we walked with her and her husband back to look at their garden. They have been living in their home for 40+ years and have a beautiful home, yard and garden. They had so many vegetables and they just started picking and bagging TONS of them for us. They said they had to much so they probably gave us over $50.00 of free veggies. They gave us beans, red potatoes, cucumbers, beats, zucchini and squash. We are so grateful and thankful to the Stewarts for their hospitality. It is amazing how simply and unexpected prayers can be answered.

Medical Trials- Sep 7, 2008

During the night (before school started) we woke to a medical emergency... Brea had another seizure. As a brief history, she has been fighting some medical problems since this past January when she had her first seizure ever. Since then, she has been making improvements while attending school in both the Winter and Summer semesters.
Until last night, there have been no other seizures. We spent the week in and out of doctor’s appointments and tests. Unfortunately we missed the first week of school- however our teachers and professors have been so kind and understanding.

Thank you to all the prayers and warm wishes. We will keep you updated on Brea’s progress.

Something Old, Something New, Something BROKEN?, Something Blue

Well a lot has happened to us the past couple of days. We are back in Rexburg (after spending our 7 week break living with Ben’s parents in Colorado). It was weirdly comfortable and familiar to be back. We went to visit Grandma Lewis and she mentioned you and wishes you luck on your mission. She is such an amazing woman and such a great example of a steadfast righteous saint. We also found out that our ward was split up while we were gone and we have a brand new ward- that meets at 1 in the afternoon (ugg that is late). But we went to the ward today and it was great. I love knowing that when I walk into a church that I am going to be welcomed and loved no matter what. Testimony meeting was wonderful and I was able to feel the spirit so strongly.
So here is a funny story. We have an island counter in our kitchen and we got home and put our groceries on the counter and then I leaned on the counter. And all of a sudden the whole counter top fell off- it flipped forward- throwing me, all the food and our beautiful fruit bowl all over the floor. It was so crazy. I broke the counter top off…that doesn’t do great things for a self image (weight wise). Ben is going to try to fix it and get in screwed back on (before we tell the managers and get charged lots of money).
We both start our last semester of our Bachelors degree’s tomorrow. I am really excited but kind of anxious and nervous at the same time. But we are sure that this semester will go well and all will be fine.

Rockies vs Giants

We got to go to a Rockies game with our friends from college, Tyson and Joci Allen. I had never been to a Rockies game so everyone was very intent giving me the full ‘baseball experience.’ We ate tornados (cinnamon chiros), sunflower seeds (and spit the shells on the ground), and cheered with the best of them. The game went four extra innings but in the end the ROCKIES WON!!

Fun with the Gibson's

Danny and Amy Gibson came into town and we hung-out with them Saturday Night. We played the wii, ate banana splits, and played cards. As always, it was wonderful to see the Gibson’s (it’s hard to live so far from them). They are going to be lifelong friends and they have touched our lives so much. Ben and Danny wii boxed so much that their arms were sore (haha).

Swim Party

Saturday, we all went down to Mat’s house in Denver for a Swim Party (and to celebrate Mom’s b-day). We swam all morning- Mylie is a fish and Andrew can swim so fast with his flippers. Andi made amazingly taste sloppy joes and we all ate and had fun. It is always so great to hang out with family.

Missionary Experiences at CU

This past week I had the opportunity to go and run an Institute booth on the University of Colorado campus. It was the first week of school at CU, so the church always has a table set out with free material and information about the Institute classes offered. I was really confident at first that it was going to be an easy experience and that I would be fine; however the longer I was there the harder it was. It was hard putting my beliefs out for everyone to judge (especially since it was a group of my peers) and it was intimidating to talk to these people who so obviously chose a different way of life.
While talking to Erica about it, she said I was feeling the steps of a missionary; Enthusiasm, doubt, a lack of self worth, constant trial/error and then in the end satisfaction. It was really hard, however by the end of the second day I was able to smile and realize that even if I did not talk to every student (or even make eye contact) that the booth was there to help even one person think about Jesus Christ.
I ended up giving away a Book of Mormon (which I hear is a BIG deal) and giving away an institute schedule (I gave something to the only two people who would actually stop and talk). It was such an awesome experience and great for me to see the trials and faith of missionary work.

Lunch Date

Ben ditched out on work Monday (August 25) and we went on a lunch date. We went to KT’s BBQ- which is one of Ben’s favorite places to eat in Boulder. We ate on the Boulder Creek and then got to walk up the river and then down Pearl Street. He also drove me past his high school (Fairview), which I had never seen. It was such a perfect beautiful day and it helped us see how beautiful of a place we live.

LUAU Cake

Rachel’s friend Wendy had a birthday, so we threw a big Luau Birthday Party at our house. Rachel is AMAZING at planning parties with decorations, food and the works. Rachel made the cutest cake- a hula dancer. It was from a shaped pan and she did such a remarkable job decorating it, so I thought I would show it off for her…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!!

Andrew turned 7 and had a Racecar Birthday Party. It was so much fun to hang-out with family (and the Wilson family) to celebrate Andrew in our lives.