Seth and Jennie meet Stiltz

Hungry Grizzly - Yes he caught it with his mouth!

Brigham Newell Bailey

Seth Anthony Bailey

Jensen Leigh Bailey

Noah Claigh Bailey

Jacob Calvin Bailey

Yellowstone Bear World Adventure

Tuesday, July 22nd dawned bright and sunny. The Bailey Crew and Grandma Jensen headed for Yellowstone Bear World. "We had a blast." as Jennie says.

First we enjoyed watching the 6 bear cubs play. One cutie liked to run down the rock pile and pounce on his brother. Hmmmm - a bit like the people world I believe. Next was the petting zoo where Seth was determined to pet a chicken or a duck or a peacock or a goose. - Any bird would do. No success there but the baby goats and deer were very friendly. Jennie had a baby goat that seemed to prefer her to everyone else.

We also met "Stiltz", the three year old moose. He is a gentle soul who was rescued from the wild as an orphaned calf. He let us pet his antlers which were very hard and covered with a soft velvety coat.

After some time with the baby animals, we went to the trout stream. A group of young men were eying the great numbers of trout and wishing they could fish. - Talk about easy pickins! Best of all though - a duckling was hiding his head under his body thinking he was invisible to determined Seth. SUCCESS - Seth got to pet a duck! We also saw a little garter snake like the ones I use to catch as a girl in Southern Alberta.

From the trout stream, we boarded a special truck to make our way through the bear grounds. We passed through the elk and mountain goat range first. They even have a white elk! After feeding the elk, we continued on and finally got to the bears. First the grizzles - one fellow was soaking in a stream but the other came quickly to the truck knowing we were about to feed him. He stood on his hind legs waiting for a tasty morsel of bread.

As we approached the black bears, they came running, excited to see us and they gathered around for lunch. There were many black bears of many different sizes and shades of browns and blacks. Because we chose to go on a slow day for the park, we had the whole truck to ourselves and the kids got to do a lot of feeding. Every time we moved forward to feed another group of bears, the ones we were leaving would quickly follow behind. By the time we got to the last group we had quite a crowd surrounding us.

Once we got back to the compound, we took in the kiddie rides and enjoyed some shaved ice cups. Needless to say, Jennie, Noah and Seth each enjoyed picking out a bear from the gift shop to remember their adventure. Jacob chose a set of marbles which gave us some fun that evening back at home. Thanks to the internet we now know how to play. Carey seems to be a natural!

FUN FUN FUN DAY!!!!

Happy Idaho Times with the Bailey's

Carey made the great drive from Arizona (Yes all 14 hours of it!) with the Bailey babes arriving safely in Idaho Falls Sunday evening, July 20th. Happy Happy Day for us!

Monday was spent relaxing and giving everyone time to recover from the miles in the car. Jacob had returned from Boy Scout camp just in time for the trip so he has had a bit more to recover from than all of the rest. What a wonderful young man he is becoming. He is particularly helpful and watches out for his little brother Brig.

Noah celebrated day one by learning to play "Quiddler" and creaming his grandmother on his very first game. Not only that - he did a repeat performance on game two. This boy is going down! Claigh, Carey, Jacob, Noah and I all play a game or two each night. Carey is wise to make Jacob her partner when we play. The boy really knows his words - a testament to the benefits of the extensive reading he does.

Our Jennie is a ray of sunshine for sure and Seth has really cone into his own this past year. Every night the three of us read before bed. Seth always picks a "true facts" book. Perhaps we have a budding scientist on our hands. So far we have learned a lot about the creatures of the ocean, the Savannah, and the jungle. I really treasure these times. We also have fun playing "Make 'n' Break."

Brig is a busy year old. He seems to appreciate the toy shelf I set up for him, however, his favorite toy is my dust pan and little sweeper broom set.

Claigh knows how to work hard and is just as capable of playing hard. What a delight for him to have a crew waiting for him to come home each evening. We're talking some serious playing here!

Last of all, our Carey Lyn is looking very cute as she five months pregnant with our little Lucy. It is a joy to just have her here to visit. What a blessing daughters are!