Black Hills

We just returned from a York/Ellis family vacation taken in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We had an incredible time. We were all amazed at the plentiful wildlife and the gorgeous scenery. Celebrating Independence day at Mt. Rushmore was definitely a highlight and one I will never forget.

Here are some of the photos taken during our trip.

Black Hills South Dakota

Hawaii Vacation

We just returned from a great family vacation. We were in Hawaii for 10 days. We had a fabulous time. We spent every day on a beach snorkeling and playing, swimming in the pool, and roaming the island looking for fun things. We weren't too pleased with the crowds of Oahu, but once you got off the beaten path, it was a lot of fun.

Some of the spots we visited were Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, Dole Pineapple plantation, the infamous North Shore beaches, Hanauma bay, BYU Hawaii, plus many others.

Just when Robyn and I were wondering why we brought our kids with us to Hawaii, we stopped by the Temple and saw a great film in the visitors center on Families. We realized that even though they drive us crazy sometimes, life is much better with them here.

We thought we would spare you from the 700 pictures we took. Here is a sample of some of them.

Hawaii 2008

Trip to the mountains

New Years Eve 2007

We went up to the mountains for a few days. Rachel was excited because we let her have 2 friends come up and spend New Year's eve with us. It was her first sleepover in almost 3 years. We had a blast snowshoeing, playing games and just hanging out. But the most fun thing was when Chris decided to fly down the mountain and drove our car off the road. It took hours to dig out only to have him drive it off the road again on the next turn! We had to call a tow truck to get us out. The kids thought that was such an adventure. Apparently even after living here 3 years we are not the best drivers in the snow.

Rafting Trip

The Yorks and the Ellis' met halfway between our homes in Durango, CO for a great Camping/Rafting trip. We spent 4 days hanging out relaxing by camp and entertaining ourselves with the humurous comments of the 11 year old boys. We swear Dallin and Josh share a brain everytime they are together.

Even though it rained everyday, we were able to stay dry and have a great time.

The highlight of the trip was the River Rafting trip we took down the Animas river.

Our guides brought 3 different boats and a River Surf board for us to use.

Robyn and Jessica took the 3 littlest kids down the class 3 section in the largest boat. Although the real reason Robyn and Jessica went in that particular boat probably had more to do with who was in the back than in the front. You can't tell by their faces, but afterwards Zach, Ty, and Brick all said they enjoyed the ride.

The older kids went in their own smaller boat.

Chris and Ike went down in a 2 person "Ducky" kayak.

To see all the pictures, click here

Camping Trip to the Tetons

We spent the last 7 days in some of the most beautiful country that exists. Camping on the banks of a glacier formed lake with the dramatic backdrop of the Teton mountain range above us. During our stay we were able to raft down the Class 3 whitewater rapids of the Snake river, Go horseback riding through the alpine forests, Josh and Zach were able to experience their first fishing trip by catching some lake trout and having it cooked up by the local restaurant. Wildlife sightings of Moose, Bison, Bald Eagles, and Bears made for an adventurous week. Highlights include a walk around a pristine clear blue lake to stop at a white sandy beach and take a dip in the water with a view of a glacier above us, getting hailed on while floating down the snake river when moments before it was 80 degrees outside and we were commenting on the heat, walking back to camp to look behind us a see a Black bear cruising through the campground only a few feet away, and having a bison charge towards our car only to go about a foot in front of our parked car as he crossed the road. We had a great week away as a family and have mixed feelings about coming back to reality.

Trip to DC

I had a 3-week project in Washington, DC. Robyn and the kids came out over President's day weekend and we were able to see a lot of the wonderful musuems and exhibits here. We had a great time and wished we had more time to spend here.

My friends at the secret service were able to get us in to visit the White House and tour the wonderful rooms and furniture collected over the many years of presidencies and only a few feet from where President Bush was working, we then got a personal demo of the Secret Service Counterfeiting department. They showed us all the techniques they use to catch counterfeiters. We were able to see the new 10$ bill (not yet available to the public), as well as look at the amazing counterfeit bills. I couldn't tell the difference in the real ones and the fake ones. We were able to visit a couple of the Smithsonian musuems. We saw the Dinosaur bones at the Natural History musuem, Dorothy's shoes from the Wizard of Oz, the Space Ship one spaceship, several of the Wright Brother's planes, One of the original Sunstones from the Nauvoo Temple, Lance Armstrong's bike that he used in one of the Tour De France wins, plus many, many other cool things.

On President's day we were able to adventure out to Mt. Vernon and see where George Washington spent much of his life. We walked through his house and saw the bed he died on and the furniture he sat on, and the grounds he walked on. They had the smallest parade in America featuring a fife and drum band. We had a great time and it was awe-inspiring spending time in a place with so much history behind it. We saw the Chair General Washington used for 40 years. Think of the many decisions he made sitting in that chair!

DC proved to be a great place to take the kids. There are so many great things to do here.

Here are some of the 200 photos we took over the weekend.

Zion National Park

We just returned from a week's vacation at Zion National Park. Here are some of the photos. We took almost 400 pictures so it was difficult to choose just a few. We had a great time and would recommend it to anyone. This is a great place to camp, hike, play in the river, and just relax.


Rachel and Caitlin inner-tubing down the Virgin river


The water was 50 degrees and moving fast.


Josh thinks he is a GQ model. He posed at every rock we came across.


Me in the narrows. At some points it was 1000 feet high walls 15ft across. This was my highlight of the trip.

The girls.


Rachel showing the boys how to swing on a rope.


Zach and his Dad.


The log that kept the kids busy for a day. They floated this log down the river for hours.


Is that Gollum on that rock?


We went to the Pizza Factory in St. George for Caitlin's 8th birthday. She loved the fact that the pizza was an 8!