My Birthday

I've officially been 21 for a day. How crazy is that? Doesn't seem real.

Starting yesterday my friend Lara came over and gave me a hand-made box (by her sister, another best friend, Haley) which was full of chocolate and an owl necklace. The box was origami made from National Geographic pages so when I looked at the inside I saw animals while the outside was textual. The artist in my loves it like crazy!

 

Then we met some friends at Chili's for dinner. It was originally a get together since they had been in Texas for the summer break and were driving through back to Idaho, but since it was the day before my birthday, it became my birthday dinner. I wasn't complaining, I got to celebrate with all my friends.

My friends Lara and Allison make very silly faces. And then there's my friend Celisse.

My friends Gayle and Shelley with Shelley's new husband Eric.

My camera got passed to Shelley so I could be in some pictures.

 

When I got to work this morning, I had this beautiful banner waiting for me! It made me so happy! Unfortunately, I only worked till 2pm, and most everyone comes around 3pm. I wasn't going to wait to hear their best wishes and took off home.

Later this eveing, my sisters Stephanie and Kristi, Mom, and I all went out to celebrate at the Cheesecake Factory. What can I say? After girls night here before the last time I went away to school, I got hooked (though a few more lights in there would be appreciated). I wanted chicken tenders and was happy to get just what I wanted plus mashed potatoes with lumps, my favorite!

Thank you to everyone. It certainly was a happy birthday!

The Birthday Month

In the Stewart family, August is our busiest month. Birthdays include Parker (actually July 31st but its celebrated with the Augusts), Amy, Dallin, Karl, Stephanie, and me. And of course Ammon now! (Amy's new little boy born August 28th). With my returning home July 27th from my first semester away at school, it was part reunion and part birthday celebration. But special through and through.

Parker and Amy

Starting off with Parker and Amy, it was certainly a night of happiness and laughter. Evelyn was trying on Dallin's church shoes and parading around. And Sophie darted back and forth as she ran with her cousins. Thank goodness I snapped a few pictures with everyone.

Parker's biggest gift was probably from my brother Karl and his wife JaNel as he received a Paper Jamz guitar, he was excited.

 

Sophie intermission.

 
 Amy followed Parker, with quite the array of gifts. I think the best was Mom's pot with a fern. Such a pretty pot, Amy said she has a smaller one but wanted a bigger one to put a fern in. She only asked for the pot, but Mom gave her a little more with an extension from her own ferns to start Amy off!

Tradition in our family says that the birthday person's spouse/parent makes their dessert-or at least this month. Ryan made Amy's cake and Stephanie made Parker's. It is very difficult to take pictures of 2 people blowing out cakes unfortunately.

 Dallin and Karl (ish)

The next celebrated birthdays were Dallin's and Karl's. They had their traditional birthday dinner of pizza (Dallin) and steak with twice-baked potatoes (Karl). But afterwards Karl and JaNel had to leave for a young adult fireside which they were participating in, so Dallin was alone in opening presents tonight.

Evelyn's new dance move?

Dallin loves legos (probably an understatement) and so 90% of his presents were legos or Lego-related. Thank goodness for Amy and Ryan who got him a Star Wars book and Karl and JaNel you got him Paper Jamz drums. Even I fell to the Lego temptation.

Babysitting Thursday night, Dallin asked me to make him the Ninjago map from one of his books. Seeing all the details in the map didn't make feel up to fulfill his request till his mom suggested to him that I could make it for his birthday. Well, it was certainly cheaper then buying him a lego set. So Saturday, as I watched "Thor" and "Captain America" on Netflix, I drew up and colored the map and then had it laminated so he could play with it anywhere. I was glad to see that Dallin liked it (probably because it was a full sheet of drawing paper (18x24")) and not a small one.

I thought it was funny how much the kids crowded around Dallin to see what he got.

My present to Dallin.

Dallin went around and hugged each and every person, it was adorable. Then Parker serenaded us with his new French Horn (5th grade means he can join the band!), with the 3 notes he knew.

Stephanie and Me

 After some tough discussions, Stephanie and I decided on taco salad/pile-up for dinner, it was definitely not a usual dinner but so good and I think everyone was happy with the turn out. Though, we all could have done with a little less noise from the kids; they were LOUD!

Heather has a watermelon patch in her backyard and bought 2 of her 13. I was surprised how big one was while the other was smaller than a volley ball.

Stephanie has been wanting an Ipod Touch for a while and for her birthday her husband decided she needed one. So he rallied together a band of family members to get enough for it. The best part was how Aaron wrapped it. Starting with a large, square box, followed by a bubble wrap package, then brown paper, to a Kraft macaroni box, then cream cheese, and finally made it to the ipod, her face when she realized it was priceless (I may have missed a wrapping step). Then after hugging Aaron, finding out how much effort went into it, and then double checking it really was in her hand, she went around hugging everyone (sounds like a certain 9 year-old I know), even those who had no part in the specific present.

Jenna's been working on her standing and walking, makes me happy to see her so tall.

Kimble was attached to her earphones and shuffle mini, here Dad let her use his phone to play a game.

Since Karl couldn't open his presents last time, he opened his next. It was great seeing him smile. 

A shovel from Ryan and a Rake from Mom.

Finally it was my turn. I love seeing what my family can find. I consider myself easy to shop for because if its an owl, art supply, or chocolate, there's a 99% chance that I'm going to love it. And I loved everything I got.

I asked for a nice portfolio case for my Illustration BFA application. Got it!

Everything I received Sunday except a little gold owl necklace.

Yellowstone - Monday

Our last day in Yellowstone started with elk! Dad thought it was funny I was taking pictures of them when all you could really see were their tails, I replied I have tail reference now. Something we had seen on a previous day was a water lily pond--a huge one--that ran right along the road and under a bridge to the other side. We stopped to take pictures. Sadly, we didn't see an frogs and it was difficult to take a picture without a stranger getting in the frame but it was beautiful. Dad seemed impressed and I was able to get some beautiful reference for future works of art. 

 

Accidentally caught Dad in this photo.

There is no shortage of geysers and hot spots in Yellowstone. While visiting this geyser, Mom and I stopped to wait for Dad to catch up and were lucky to hear a near by tour guide explaining a little bit about it and its neighbors. The one shown used to be known for the perfection of its timing, every 3 minutes, so precise you could set your watch to it. Then an earthquake in the 50s shifted its balance and made it irregular. Listening to the tour guide was very informative, but I don't know if I would take one. It's one thing to learn snippets of information but another to hear someone drone on without a way to escape (I already get that in class).

We took the North Entrance Road through a town called Mammoth. We had lunch at a very crowded fast food cafe (a tour bus had just stopped also so that didn't help), got ice cream bars across the street and walked the town. Our first stop was a visitor's center, where I found a really good book full of amazing pictures and good information on the park's animals. There was supposed to be a video on the park but there was a small black out or something, and it wasn't finished. The center was 2 floors and though I was hesitant to leave Mom alone on the first floor, my curiosity overcame me and it was amazing. I am so glad I did because there were stuffed animals everywhere! I took tons of pictures. It was probably the closest I will ever come to some of those animals. Needless to say I was excited.

We finished off the adventure with Dad buying me an early birthday gift: the book I had admired. They had a stamp desk and I put one in it to make it doubly special! I read the book throughout the trip, impressed by how well it was put together.

Buffalo skull that was sitting in the movie room.

One of the taxidermy animals. A mother wolf and kits.

Because we were so north, Dad suggested we drive through the arch just past the north entrance. I was confused at first when Dad dropped me off on the side of the road and told me to take the picture as they drove through, but then they picked me up and we drove through together, because Dad and Mom had seen something on the other side that they wanted to show me. ELK! A football field of them. Keeping a respectful distance I was able to take some great pictures as they just laid there. And the best part, no one else had seen them so it was a moment just for me.

Cars and trucks kept getting in the way as Dad drove through the arch. I had to cross the street twice to get a clear shot.

Football field elk!

Mom was just fine sitting in the truck while Dad and I got a closer look at the arch.

The rest of the day passed with us driving around, up and down a mountain, and seeing more "yellow" stone. While visiting Roosevelt Lodge, we got trapped in the driveway trying to get out because a momma black bear with 2 cubs were crossing through. I was so happy I could see them, unfortunately they were out of range of my camera.

On this trip I learned quickly that I needed to be just as fast with my glasses as with my camera. I have glasses for distance and working on a computer (yes, I am wearing them right now), but when I don't need to read anything, I keep them off. But I needed them to see the animals that weren't as close as the buffalo that was on the side of the road.

At one stop there was a crowd of people watching a few little creatures scurry out of the brushes, grab a piece of crumb or popcorn, pose for a picture, and scurry back into the bushes. I was shocked listening to the crowd and what they called the creatures. The kids were certain it was a prairie dog or hamster. One person called it a chipmunk. A couple of older women insisted it was a squirrel. Well, they were the closest. After returning to the truck, I looked through my new book and discovered that it was in fact a ground squirrel. I just wish it had been a pica--tailless mouse--since it is the origin of the Pokemon Picachu.

Ground squirrel.

Driving up, look back, saying "aww."

 Driving down the other side of the mountain, we were surprised to see all the yellow! Not in stone but flowers! Millions of sunflowers coated the hillsides and Dad and I got out and took pictures.

I love this picture.

The last stop of the day was at Canyon Village, including another visitor center, shops, and dinner at a fancy restaurant (or as fancy as you can get with all your guests dirty from hikes and camping). At the Mammoth Visitor's Center they had a buffalo head, here they had a whole buffalo! And a calf, and a grey owl posed in flight (and hanging in a dark corner)! So exciting. Also on display was information on the rock formations and the types of rock and sediment around the area. I was a mix of emotions as I was happy to use my knowledge from geography and geology to understand the displays but sad to see how much I had forgotten!

Throughout our trip I noticed these soda machines with their special fronts. The buffalo was my favorite.

A quick stop at a hot spring doesn't count as a stop when you can't see anything because its after 9pm. However, Mom did notice this safety barrier and the smoke coming out of the vent. Apparently the hot springs had extended their reach underground and were billowing out wherever they could.