Yellowstone National Park and Teton National Park

Our family has a goal to visit every National Park in the continental U.S. So far, we are well on our way through the list. This year we visited Yellowstone National Park and Teton National Park again. What spectacular places to see that we never get tired of! This was Jadeyn's first time and he of course will remember every minute of it!! :)

HAPPY HIKER

We have started Jadeyn out well. He loves to hike! We took a boat ferry across Jenny Lake to the base of the Tetons and hiked up to a beautiful waterfall. He was a trooper the whole way. Then when we got to the top of Inspiration Point, he was plum tuckered out so he and Kevin took a nap on the edge.

Jackson Lake Lodge

We treated ourselves to two nights at the Jackson Lake Lodge staying in a little rustic cabin. What a beautiful lodge and location. The whole west end of the lodge is a picture window overlooking a vast meadow, Jackson Lake, Elk Island and finally the Great Tetons. What a sight! In the evening, the sun would set behind the Tetons and the elk would begin to emerge. What a peaceful setting to sit back and enjoy the wondrous nature. And what an amazing photo opportunity.

Johnson Family Reunion 2008

All the Johnson clan got together in Park City, Utah for a wonderful time of catching up and joking around. Everyone was able to come to meet the latest grandchild. Jadeyn was a hit with all his cousins. It was so nice to have everyone in the country again even though we all had to travel. It had been the longest since we had seen Shelly and her family since they recently moved back from Kuwaitt.

Since we were right there in Park City, we just had to visit the Winter Olympic Park. They had the alpine ski jumps going for people to ski down, twist around and splash into the pool. The Olympic museum was amazing and fun to reminisce about the amazing games two years ago.



Talent night was a great hit complete with great skits and a fantastic "I will Survive" song and a perfect impression of Michael Jackson!

Family pictures were a lot of fun and a lot of work to get that many people all arranged and facing the same way smiling! We took them on a beautiful waterfall.


Of course the Johnson clan cannot get together without sufficient time in the swimming pool. This was Jadeyn's first time and he loved it! To end the reunion right, Kevin, Jadeyn and I went out to lunch with grandma and grandpa and got lots of great giggles out of Jadeyn.

Cottrell Family Reunion 2008

It was a complete spur of the moment reunion and it is really quite a miracle that all 32 people were able to congregate from all over the country. What a wonderful way to spend the 4th of July. Food, Family, and Fun! Oh, and of course the fireworks!


Lots of Fireworks. We headed out to Evanston, WY where there are three massive firework warehouse stores with all the "good ones." You know, the ones that are illegal in Colorado. All combined we came home with about $300 worth of fire power. All the grandchildren had such fun with Uncle Kevin and Uncle Shawn who headed up the nightly festivities.



Jadeyn had fun as well and nearly got whiplash turning his little head from person to person as they all ran around. 17 cousins surrounded him and smothered him with love.

All 17 grandchildren.

Just the main Cottrells having fun.
Melanie, Kevin, Stephanie, Jennifer, Shawn, Danielle and Jessica.
Gordon and Darlene.

Sweet Baseball Boy!

Jadeyn is so wiggly that we have to swaddle him just right so he won't wake himself up when he flails his arms. We swaddle the top half of him and leave his legs free so when he kicks, he doesn't kick the whole thing off. However, when he does free his arms, he ends up with the blanket on his face and just cries and cries!
I used to think how wonderful it would be to have a child say "I'm cold" and then he covers himself up. Now I'm just waiting for "I have a blanket on my face, maybe I'll pull it off!"
His wiggliness began way back around 5 months in the womb. He was always active. Very active!

These are my Innocent Looks!

Exploring Daddy's Face

Jadeyn has really begun to explore anything and everything he can get his hands on, including Daddy's face. One of his favorite activities (and Kevin's favorite too) is to lay under his crawl through aquarium and bat at Daddy's face instead of his fish!

Jadeyn's First Tent Camping Trip!

We headed out to Chambers Lake to try out Jadeyn in a tent. He was a great little camper! This little guy loves the outdoors, was mesmerized by the campfire, oogled over the trout and slept like an angel! Even though it was pretty chilly and down poured on us a few times, the trip was wonderful. Its the one thing that Kevin and I have really missed since having Jadeyn: camping.
But its a good thing that it looks like he'll fit right in to out lifestyle. Jadeyn enjoyed his Snugli and he smiled the whole hike!

Kevin finally got to dunk a worm this summer and caught the rainbow trout left and right. We released several fish, but kept five of them to give to our neighbors.

Jadeyn didn't get to play around in the dirt like he will be able to soon, but his little feet did get plenty dirty, or at least flinty from his sleeper!

Nice Hair!

Kevin thought that it was cruel to mess with Jadeyn's hair like this, but I thought it was hilarious. His whole person seems to change with each hairstyle. I got a big kick out of it!

Hair Options!! Hee Hee!

Bounce Bounce Baby!

Jadeyn's first time in his new toy was a hit even though he was too little to let his feet touch! He's going to love it soon.

Second trip to Rocky Mountain National Park

We met Kevin's parents and Jennifers family at the Park and enjoyed some wonderful times hiking and roasting s'mores and E.L. Smudges! He was a great little hiker in daddy's arms. We were met with tons of smiles and comments by fellow hikers on the trail!

Jadeyn's first campfire. We can't wait for next summer when he will be able to dig in the dirt and throw pine needles in the campfire and enjoy a s'more!

First Eye Exam compliments of Dr. Daddy!

Ready to Play

Busy Boy!
From day one Jadeyn has been so interested in everything around him. Now that his little hands are getting more coordinated, he is so excited to be able to reach and grab anything and everything he sees. Now he has started the investigations with his tongue too!

He loves to have daddy read to him from his favorite book: The Hungry Caterpillar.