Mount Rushmore

The first week of this month we met up with my family in Nebraska and went up to Mt. Rushmore as the highlight of our trip. You will see in subsequent posts that we visited many other sites along the way. Anyway, it was an awesome trip and we all had a great time.

One of the few pics of the whole family.

The Couple and the Man.

Mt. Rushmore, Part duex

They should carve this mugg right next to Washington

# 28 on the map, #1 in our hearts! You know I had to take a picture of this.
oh yeah, its a teepee. I hear flood insurance on these is a little steep.

Mt Rushmore, part 3

Some more sweet pics for your viewing enjoyment

Here is a sweet panoramic

The cutest face on Rushmore!!!

Reptile Gardens, South Dakota

Well, this was one cool stop on our trip that everyone enjoyed. This place had a ton of cool animals. One of our favorites was the bald eagle. We also loved the alligator/crocodile show. It was pretty awesome.

Lisa feeding a humongous turtle
pretty bird
WOW!!

My wife is the next crocodile hunter. CRIKEY!

Part 2 of Reptile Gardens

This is a super upclose picture of South Dakota's finest prairie dogs. This was taken from the observation bubble.

AHHHH!! Help us!!!
One word: AMERICA
This is my friend speedy

An indoor waterpark at the hotel?

I know, wierd, right? But its true. This was a small waterpark with a few slides, a kids area, lazy river, hot tub, and more. It was really cool and it was great because even though it was 50 degrees outside, the water was still warm.

That giant funnel looking thing was a pretty awesome slide.

WOOOOOOO!!!

There I am, in the giant funnel

you can't really see me, but I am behind the giant waterfall.

Chuck Wagon Dinner

One night on our trip we went to a country (pronounced CRUN-TREE) Chuck Wagon dinner. It was a real cool environment and we had a lot of fun as we enjoyed and sang along to some of the old country western songs.



One of the highlights of the evening was when I got called up to the stage to help out by playing the washboard. When the guy asked me where I was from, I told him Scott AFB and there just happened to be a group of people from St. Louis there that all cheered for me. After the show I was approached by a lot of people thanking me for my service and talking to me about the military. It was a ton of fun.

Winter quarters temple

While in Nebraska, we had a really cool opportunity to go to the winter quarters temple. It was a really cool experience because we got to do baptisms and confirmations for one of my great aunts and one of my dad's great aunts. It was very special.

An eternal family


There was a cemetery behind the temple and this was a memorial back there. It was very nice and reverent.

Some great, random pictures

Yeah, these are just some strange funny pictures we took.

This one is Lisa and I with my sisters riding some horses.
Yep, its an outhouse.
Here is my mom in the doorway of a cabin we stayed at for a couple of days. It was sweet!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was playing frisbee golf or FROLF with Lisa, my dad and my sister Katie. I think they all enjoyed it as well.

The South Dakota Badlands part 1

This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. I honestly didn't even know that the badlands existed. It was quite a view and it made for a pretty good pic too.

me and my baby chillin at the badlands!

Here is the whole family in front of a great view.

looks like a long fall!!!

The South Dakota Badlands part 2

Here are some more awesome pics of the Badlands. They make for a pretty good panoramic pic.