Yellowstone 2011

We finally took our annual trip to Yellowstone about the middle of May. We usually go about mid April but with the crazy weather this year we decided to hold off for a bit.  It actually turned out to be Super weather up there, we barley needed a jacket most of the time and we heard we missed a pretty rainy weekend back home. We headed up Saturday after Braden got off work and met up with Todd, Mary, Jaron and Colton at the Three Bear Lodge in West Yellowstone. It was pretty late when we got up there so we just made our plans for Sunday then it was off to bed. 

We were EXTREMELY lucky with the Bear sitings this year!!! I'm glad we get to go with Colton because I kinda feel like he is the only one who can pray that we see bears and it be ok.  : )  It's been a while so I don't exactly remember the order we saw them in or total number of bears but I think it was around six or seven with seeing a couple of them more than once.

I am So fascinated by bears, they are such beautiful, interesting, and unique animals to watch! I love going and being able to just sit and watch them in their natural habitat instead of at the zoo.  I also love going to Yellowstone early spring because all the animals are just coming out, and having babies and there are not a lot of people so the animals aren't scared of being by the roads yet.  I really enjoy the scenery of Yellowstone but I'm not sure I'd enjoy going every single year if it weren't for the wildlife we are able to enjoy! 

This bear was literally RIGHT by the road, Braden took this picture inside the car.

I love seeing the Grizzly Bears, that is usually what we see most of.  But this year we saw a couple black bears, and also a Brown Black Bear.  I think the black bears seem more cute and 'pet type', their faces and ears just make them look so friendly and cuddly.

This year instead of staying in West the whole time we only stayed there the first night then the rest of the time over in Gardiner.  Last year it seemed like the only place we were seeing wildlife was over on the other side so we decided that we could cut down on driving if we stayed over there. I really liked that idea!!!

I am always amazed at how Stupid people are!  This man was literally JUST across the river from this bear, maybe..... 25 feet away? Not to mention like 100 yards, uphill away from his or any vehicle! I was pretty positive at this point that we were only seconds away from witnessing a bear attack!

So with as lucky as we have been with seeing bears the last couple years it was Braden and Todd's mission to see a wolf this year. Low and behold......

If you look really close you can see that they succeeded. We saw one eating a dear kill. We were all able to see it earlier in the day then everyone left but Braden and I so we were able to go back later that evening.  It was in the same area but had apparently dragged its kill across the road and up the hill a little ways. Interesting to see, but lots littler and harder to watch than bears.

And of course, one of My VERY favoritest parts of Yellowstone in the spring....The baby bison! 

One year I am just going to bring one home with me, they are so dang cute!

Thanks to Braden for taking me, and family for making it so fun!

Todd, Mary, Colton, Jaron, Annie, Braden

Treats

Made another birthday cake!  Braden's cousin Jayden turned 8!!  He is a big BYU fan so I made a 'Y' cake.  I know, I know!! That blue is not true BYU blue, but I'm still working on that. Anyways, I couldn't help myself from making some mini cupcakes with the batter dyed blue as well as the frosting.  : )

I also made some cupcakes to share at the family Easter Parties!  I went to mom's family party first then ran a quick lunch to Braden before heading over to his family's.  He surprised me by saying he was going to leave work for a minute and run over with me!  We had a great Easter, I love family parties!

He Did It!!!

Braden Graduated last Friday!!! 

It was a very long awaited day and we couldn't have been more excited! I am so proud of Braden, he has worked so hard and it has been far from easy for him. Between the stress of work and providing for our family, a few health problems along the way and of course some hunting he managed to graduate with a bachelors degree in Business Administration/Human Resource Management.

We stared the morning off by watching Braden walk at 10:30.  Then Britney walked at 12:30 so we all stayed and watched her. She graduated in Elementary Education.  Then of course had our photo shoot outside with the graduates.  

The Graduates

 Family

Brit's Family

The Grandparents

Then we all headed over to Chick-fil-a for some lunch.

Then we came home and Mitch, Dave and Todd came over for a trap shoot. Todd and Braden needed a chance to try out their new 20 gauges.

And I played with Mitch's new puppy Molly.

She is SO cute!!

Then for dinner we all met back up at The Mandarin in Bountiful.

Where they started off with some tasty lettuce wraps....

Then the entrees

They have turn tables in the center of the table so everyone just put their food on there and tried some of everything.

Then I made a cake to help us finish off the celebration.  I used a cake set that Mary let me borrow that makes checkerboard cakes, it turned out pretty good for my first time using it.

CONGRATULATIONS Braden and Britney!!!

The rain came down and the FLOODS came up

The other night Braden went yet again to go help with the flood. Three nights in a row he has gone to help fill, move and stack sandbags! I love my husband!  He is so willing to serve and help others but when you just spent a week in the hospital I think you should be excused from some of that, not Braden though.  I gave him until 8 pm to be home the last night. When he still wasn't home at 8:15 I went down to find him.....

 

 I swear there was at least a qt. of water in each boot!

more cake please!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADEN!!!!

I asked Braden if he had any requests for his birthday cake and he pulled up this picture....

And this is what I came up with....

Levi had to help blow out the candles. Then he proceeded to tell me all the different cakes he wanted from age five up to ten, he will keep me busy.

And Kate would be our friend as long as we were feeding her cake!

Happy Birthday Braden!! Thanks for being such a great Husband, I LOVE YOU!!!

And here's some cakes that never quite made it........

 Colton's Elmo Birthday Cake

 

 Todd's BYU Birthday

 Retirement Fishing cake

 Mom's Flower Barrel Birthday

 Mom's other M&M Birthday Cake -- we made it the night before, stuck in the freezer, and it came 

out looking like this DiSasTER!

 Dad's Pop Corn Cup Cakes

 My mother volunteered me to make some cake for my cute cousin's wedding shower- 4 of them actually. They didn't quite turn out how I would have liked, but they were okay. She had a themed "Four Seasons" shower so we made a cake for each season. Luckily I have Jenilyn who came and helped, she is really good at keeping me on task, I tend to focus WAY too much on details that do not matter.  The winter cake was my favorite, but I could not get a decent picture of it.

Fall

 Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting

Spring

 Lemon Cake, Cream Cheese Frosting

Summer

Yellow Cake, White Buttercream Frosting

Winter

 White Cake, Raspberry Filling, White Frosting

 

MARY KAY ORDERS??

It's time to do another Mary Kay order.  So if you or anyone you know would like to order some just let me know. I will be doing about 30-35% off.  You can email me at anniewestergard@yahoo.com or call me. I need all orders turned in by January 31st, the faster I get the orders turned in, the faster we get the makeup. Please feel free to tell friends, co-workers and family and to call with any questions.You can look online at HERE.

Three Years!

We've been married Three Whole Years today! Time has flew by, but it has definitely been the BEST THREE YEARS OF MY LIFE SO FAR!!! Braden is such an amazing husband and man! I could not have asked for anything more! We decided to celebrate at home this year and hadn't decided anything for sure, so I was just planning on like dinner or something. But Braden came home in the middle of the day to surprise me with these Beautiful flowers and lunch! (I LOVE him So Much!) Then after work we went to a movie, which I really enjoyed!

Thanks Sweetheart for everything that you do for me, and the flowers!  I sure do love you a lot!