Margene's Bridal Show

Jenna from Madison High School

Karli from Teton High School

Allyson from Snake River High School

Shay from Malad High School

Chelsie from Idaho Falls High School

Alane from Blackfoot High School
Lisa from Shelley High School

This year, I got to be in charge of the Bridal Show in Pocatello for Margene's. It was fun teaching the girls how to model, and then see them get up on stage and look stunning! Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Margene's Fashion Show

Here are some pictures from the Fashion Show this year, Enjoy!!!

Fashion Show Modeling

They let some of the girls from the crowd get up on the runway and dance to a song during the show. Lissa, Ted's little sister, is in the red, two people to the left of the boy in the white tux.

Yellowstone Trip

As we were headed up to Yellowstone, we stopped and ate lunch at the Relay Station. This is one of my favorite places to eat. It is north of St. Anthony, so when I lived in Rexburg, I would eat there a lot. It has been over two years since I have eaten here, so I had to take Ted.

The hotel we stayed in. We really liked it! Very clean, and lots of storage space.
Ted at Three Bears. Ted was on a photo shoot at Three Bears Restaurant, so the next couple are of the booth we sat in.

The lantern hanging over our table at Three Bears

Another Three Bears Restaurant

These are the sleds we rented up at West Yellowstone. I am ready to ride!!!

Ted on his mighty Arctic Cat F570!

I love the scenery of this picture. Oh, and the sleds are nice too.

Me, posing with the pine trees

Cute little ducks on the river

Ted eating lunch as we take a break at Big Springs

Big Springs, the beginning of the Snake River. It looks quite calm, but the springs make a loud rumbling noise.

Just as we were entering Yellowstone National Park on the snow coach tour, we noticed the temperature. This is actually a warmer day up there!

Isn't it breathtaking? This is the first mountain range you see inside the park from West Yellowstone.

A bald eagle up in a tree.

A little elk down by the river eating.

I can't remember what the real name of these birds are, but they look like swans, and they are really big! Their wing span is over nine feet!

Bison crossing the Gibbon River onto a little island in the middle.

Fire Hole Water Fall

Fire Hole River

Here is a Bald Eagle we saw in the park. Isn't it beautiful? I couldn't believe how big the birds were.

Lots of Bison on a hill. We learned that Bison is the correct name for these animals. Buffalo don't even exist in the US. Buffalo are like water buffalo. In fact, the bison in the US are more closely related to Yak than Buffalo. Crazy huh?

We got really close to some bison. They look tame enough from inside the snow coach, but outside, they are huge!!!

Bison with the hot pots. The animals actually like the warm ground, and when it is cold in the winter, they will go to where it is the warmest. On some chilly mornings, they go and stand in the hot steam. It is like their own personal hot steam bath!

This is Ted and me at Old Faithful right before she exploded.

Geyser steam rising into the air. Look at how many different ones there are.

I think Ted looks absolutely adorable on this bridge. I had to take a picture! Yellowstone would be one of the best places to take engagement pictures! I wonder if anyone has done it before.

We walked around over 140 geysers and hot pools on this walkway at Old Faithful. It was amazing!

Isn't the rock in this picture so amazing! I haven't seen anything like it in my life. The picture doesn't even do it justice.

This geyser is the Beehive Geyser. It went off for over three minutes, and it got us all soaked in spray and steam that smells like rotten eggs from the sulfur. Yuck!!!

This stream's water is over 150 degrees, and that is why the color of the rock is orange. The lodge in the background is one of Old Faithful's and the park's oldest lodges. It is one of the two original hotels built in Yellowstone. It is beautiful!!!

A hot pot. The water is over 150 degrees, and there is sulfuric acid that is dissolving the rock and minerals. The rock was different colors, depending on the minerals it contained. Some was yellow, red, brown, and black. I can't remember all the minerals that go with the colors, but it was amazing!

Ted with one of the lower basin geysers.

This is our snow coach we rode on. Very nice!!!

Ted and me at the entry into the park from West Yellowstone.

So, as some of you know, we won a trip to Yellowstone! So, we decided to take our trip this last weekend. It was a lot of fun! We saw lots of wildlife, and the snowmobiling was awesome! On the first day, Friday, we drove up to Montana and kicked back for the night. We ate at Three Bears Restaurant (it is a famous place to eat in West Yellowstone), then we went back to the hotel and stayed in for the night. We stayed at the Brandin' Iron Inn, and it was really nice! We had the last room, closest to the road, so we got a great view down one of the main roads in town.

Then, on Saturday, we got up early and rented two snowmobiles. It was great fun! It has been three years since I had ridden, and it took me about an hour to get used to riding again. Ted hasn't ridden for longer than that, but he is a natural and drove like a pro the whole time. Most of the trails were well-groomed, but Two-Top Loop was terrible. I had to stand up the whole time, the ruts being too bouncy for me. I almost got bounced right off the sled a couple times!!! We rode all day, up to Big Springs (the beginning of the Snake River), and Lion's Head. We wanted to go up to Two-Top, but it was too foggy. It was so amazing to see how the beginning of the Snake River comes from a spring that comes up from the ground. Nature is amazing!

On Sunday, we took a snowcoach tour through Yellowstone National Park. Everytime I have went to Yellowstone in the winter, I have always ridden snowmobiles with my family, so this was a new experience. I was a little skeptical of how it was going to be, but now, I think it was one of the best ways to go, unless you love snowmobiling. They have new rules in the park that you have to ride "approved snowmobiles" and have a guide, which has really cut back on the snowmobilers going through the park. When I was younger, there would be over a thousand snowmobilers in the park in one day, but the tour guide said the most snowmobiles they have had this year in one day was 280. I was shocked at the difference! Most of the tourists prefer the snowcoaches over the snowmobiles now, because of the regulations, and because of comfort. The snowcoach was a lot of fun, you have a guide (your driver), and he tells you all these amazing facts about the park. I learned more on this trip about Yellowstone than I ever have. If you haven't been up to Yellowstone, I would suggest going! The town, West Yellowstone, is small and cozy, and the park is magnificent. Going inside a huge park that is the center of a volcano is the most inspiring and unique experience. You will see and experience things you never thought possible. And, the wildlife is a bonus to all you will see from the land.

Sweet

Okay, so this Valentine's was a little on the busy side... Ted worked all day, and when he got home (at 8:00 pm), we went up to Idaho Falls. We ate dinner at TGIFriday's, and their food was delicious! I had Barbecue Chicken, and Ted had Barbecue Ribs and Shrimp. Then, we stayed the night up in Idaho Falls. Ted's brother, Zach, had his missionary farewell yesterday in Idaho Falls, hence the reason why we spent the night. It was great, we got family pictures after the farewell, and my friend Miriam came down from Rexburg, and took an hour to have a photo shoot with the family. We are so excited to see the pictures. I will post them when we get them. Anyway, it was a great weekend, and although Ted has had to work both Saturday and today, it is nice getting to spend time with him at night and with his family all day yesterday. I just love them!!!

As you can see from the pictures, Ted and my mom got me flowers. Ted ordered the red roses online, and had them shipped to me. It was my first time getting flowers by mail! And, he got me 3 dozen roses, which is a first as well. My mom got me the 3 peach roses, which I also love. There was something with the number 3 this year...

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day Weekend too!

Bar J

Okay, so as some of you may know, my family loves, and I mean loves, the Bar J Wranglers. We have been up to their show every year, and we also go to it whenever it comes within an hour from where we live. We went up to BYU-Idaho on Saturday to watch them perform, and it was a lot of fun! We sat clear up in the front and side, so we got good seats to see the show. It was Morgan's first time to go to Bar J, and she seemed to like it as well. Now, I know from the picture it looks like some old-time cowboy show, but it is really awesome once you go and see them! We stopped at Stockman's before the concert, and it was sooo good! If any of you have not been there, it is worth the trip to Rigby to get some steak there. Anyway, it was a really fun night!

God Blesses Our Crazy Lives

Okay, so life is a little crazy around our house right now.
I (Kaylee) have started to help with the junior miss program here in Snake River. It is a lot of fun, and a lot of work. I am working with the girls on their fitness area of the program...so basically, I teach the girls how to do a workout routine to a couple different songs, and then they get to perform it the night of their competition. I didn't realize I was making the routine so hard until I did it a couple times through. The girls are going to get whipped into shape by the time we are done. Luckily, I have some help, Emily Jones, is helping me with the routine. She does great at teaching the girls, and counting off for us over and over as we practice. It is nice to have someone to work with, and thankfully we get along really well, which helps too.
Well, not only do I have junior miss to do now, I also have a fashion show I am in charge of for Margene's Bridal. I helped the fashion team girls this morning with modeling, and the show for Prom is on Feb. 24th, at the Shiloh Inn in Idaho Falls, so I will be there. Also, I am in charge of the wedding gown show in Pocatello on the 28th of Feb. So, that is going to be crazy!!! Two shows in one week...I think I am going to pull my hair out!
I have also been really busy with conferences for the farm. We went to a Hay Conference on Tuesday in Burley that was really good. We have also went to a Water Conference, Grain Conference, and Water Conservation Meeting. Some people think that the farm work slows down when it is winter, which it does, but we are still busy. I think taxes are the worst part about farming in the winter. They are all so confusing, and we try to do as much as possible by ourselves. I could never be an accountant. I admire people who have that talent.
We are also worrying like crazy over the prices of grain and hay. We can't sell our grain because prices are too low, so we are storing it, which costs us more money. It is amazing how the market was good last year, and then this year, everything is at a record low. The saddest part about it is that people still need food, milk, and meat, yet nobody is going to be able to produce it at the prices it is going for. Milk is at an all-time low of $9 a hundred, and grain is low ($5 a bushel). I don't even know what potatoes and beets are going for, but I know they are lower than average. Our hay has dropped price, and it is still hard to sell. It is kind of scary sitting back and watching everything fall. It makes me wonder how we are going to pull ourselves out of this mess.
But, I think the hardest part about all this is, my sister, Barbara, just got diagnosed with cancer, and so we are hoping and praying things will work out for her. She went in for surgery yesterday, and the surgery went well, but she isn't waking up from the drugs. So, they are keeping her on a respirator. She had a tumor between her pancreas and liver that was so large it was cutting off the valve between the two. Then, after they took her into surgery, they found the cancer in her pancreas. If she does eventually wake up, then she only has 6-9 months to live. Our family has been through such a hard year already with my dad passing away, so this is tough news for all of us to digest. We hope that things will work out for the best with her, and any prayers on her behalf are welcomed. Thanks!
So, as you can see, life is a little crazy right now, and I am just hoping it will all slow down some day. If any of you have any words of wisdom, please feel free to offer them!
P.S. If any of you are worried about Ted, he is doing great!
You know, for all the trials and hard times in life, there are always the blessings that counter them. The Lord is truly blessing us through this hard time with our own health and safety. We are so thankful for the gospel in our lives and the help and strength it provides to us even when life gets hard. Things are never too hard to overcome when you have the Lord on your side. I am so grateful that I have that knowledge in my life. I hope everyone's lives are going well, and remember that the Lord is always there to help you! Never turn your back on Him, because He will never turn His back on you. Love you all!

PBT2 V-Ball

There's me, on the side lines in white, cheering my girls on to victory.

Go T2!

Good Game!

It's Volleyball season again! Yeah!

This year, I was lucky enough to get to work with the young women as a coach for their Volleyball games. It was so much fun! At first, we struggled, but by the end of the season, we were doing awesome, and winning our games. The girls from my ward don't play much Volleyball, so I was very impressed with their skills. They all worked together, and kept a positive attitude. Sometimes I had to hold back a laugh when they would mess up, because their flailing arms would look hilarious compared to other team's practiced passes, sets, and spikes.

For the title of this post, PB stands for Pepto-Bismol, because our shirts were pink like Pepto. The T2 is for Thomas 2nd Ward. And of course, V-Ball stands for Volleyball. At the beginning of the games, we always tried to do a cheer to get pumped up, so we would yell "PBT2" really loud and everyone would look at us weird. I don't think anyone ever got why we were yelling PB. Oh well, it was our little inside joke.