some vacation posts

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I've got so many awesome posts just milling around my head but alas.....AT&T does NOT like national parks!  Therefore we don't have service much of the days of this trip.....and that's ok.  I can post retrospectively too because we are getting some great memories and great photos!  This photo shows our kids and Roger and his parents, Ken and Dee with cousin Harlan Kredit.  Harlan has been a forest ranger at Yellowstone for decades in the summer.  (he teaches high school during the school year).....and we had the honor to greet him when we entered Yellowstone park yesterday. 

We commented on how devastating it was to drive into the park and see all of the dead burned out trees and he told us that it was nature's way....and they leave it alone.  Only when a tree dies, can a pine cone release delicate seeds that will plant a new tree......and as proof of that, when we left the park that night we saw all the new pine trees from a forest fire in 1988......

Ken and Dee, though in their 80s, were troopers in Yellowstone.  We did lots of sight-seeing and drove out of the valley in the dark with Claire helping Roger navigate and me in the back with littles....and Ken and Dee following in their van. 

Awe and wonder and respect and endurance.....not just the national park....but my in-laws as well.

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