West Yellowstone with the Rogers!

This Thanksgiving break, the Mower's and the Rogers teamed up once again for a two day trip to a Worldmark Destination! This trip's choice: West Yellowstone! Although we enjoyed staying in our apartment watching movies, playing games, swimming, and eating, we also found ourselves discovering The Bear and Wolf Museum and Observatory! Because West Yellowstone National Park was closed while we were there (go figure) we spent an ample amount of time learning about bears and wolves. So COOL! It was a lovely short getaway, and one definitely needed
before finals come and the big move. Enjoy the pics!



I guess I'm on my own with this one... My knight and shining armor has no clue what to do!










Lee on the other hand just found his new career: Polar Bear Modeling. Danika doesn't know if this is such a good Idea..






This is Jewel. She's a Bear Dog! They train these dogs to chase away bears. It's a whole system of having the Bear Safety people with them, trapping the bear, sedating it and putting a collar on it (to make sure it won't come back again), then releasing the bear when conscious. The bear wakes to a surprise of rubber bullets hitting it on the bum, and dogs chasing it away. Once it is back in bear country, it all stops. They hope this conditions the bear to know that they have there safety zone - and human places are not one of them!



At this Bear facility, they do testing on Bear Safe containers. Manufacturers send their "Bear Safe" containers here, and test it on the bears (while videotaping the process) . If the bear can break in to it (which is more often than not) then they send the video to the manufacturers, and they modify the container and try again. The bear has one hour to attempt the break in. This bear opened this container in about 15 minutes!!! So smart!!!!






One of the wolves we saw. There were two packs with four wolves in each. They are in separate areas to prevent any fights from breaking out. These animals are so smart too. And beautiful!









At this facility, they try to keep the environment as real to life as possible for the animals. The bears are only partially trained to come to the sound of a bell (tempted with food), and go back inside their little sleeping areas inside. While the bears are inside, the workers will hide fruits and vegetables outside under rocks and what not, then release the bears to find the food on their own.






Life can be rough when hunting for food.










Lee and Danika in front of the bear observatory.









Jason and me in front of the bear observatory. For all those who are wondering, there is a fence and 20 foot drop separating the viewers from the bears. No worries!









Boys will be boys. The funny thing is, this is right across from the wolf pack area. They started making barking noises and the wolf pack came running to see what it was. It was way fun, because the wolves had been just sleeping the whole time we were trying to watch them!








The big teddy bear in the souvenir shop!











Lee and Jason as fish. Jason is the fish that is scared out of his mind.









This is the female wolf in one of the packs. This pack is made up of a brother and sister, and two brothers. They are only two years old! She is the Alpha female, and the other wolves knew it! I love this picture. She is walking towards me, and I'm on the other side of the viewing glass. She was looking me in the eyes! And let me tell you, this look is not the look of a tame dog.

Visiting California

I got to visit family in California, and had so much fun! I did miss Jason terribly, but now we are together and don't want to be separated again! Lol... Here are some pics from my trip. I got to babysit Kylie, who is 4 and a half months old, for three days, and have night duties for two nights. Great preparation for becoming a Mommy! I miss her already...

Bread Bowls!

I finally attempted to make bread bowls, and they actually turned out so good!!! I had to be creative with how to make the shape, but the glass storage containers worked perfectly. We had potato soup inside. YUMMY!

Our Mission Reunion!

We had lots of fun at our Mission Reunion, but unfortunately didn't get as many pictures as we would have liked. But here are some of our past companions as we reunite!




Sister Barry, Sister Mayfield, and Sister Robbins! We served together in a threesome for four months in Ashland, Kentucky! Those were some of my most memorable times during my missionary service.
Lindsay, Mollie, and Seavenly








Elder Robison, Elder Staheli, and Elder Mower.
These three served together in a threesome for one transfer in Harrison, Ohio! I think the picture pretty much explains how that transfer must have gone. FUN times, and yet very productive!
Shawn, Matt, and Jason







Sister Clark and Sister Barry! We were MTC companions, and missionary companion in Ashland, KY! Sister Clark, now Sister Bird, is one of the most adventuresome and spiratic persons that I know. You can just see it in her smile!
Meredith and Lindsay









Sister Palmer and Sister Barry. I served with her on an exchange, and then in my very last area, Hamilton, OH. She's quite the character...
Etienne and Lindsay

Summer 2008 Collage

This collage is in tribute to the fun times had and meaningful memories made summer. These are memories we will keep us warm inside as the blizzards bombard and the winds howl here in Rexburg. Thank goodness we're migrating to California in December!

The Fam brings Em to Rexburg

It was so much fun having Dad, Mom, and Saren bring Emily back up to BYU-I. Lindsay and I really enjoyed hosting the Mower's in our modest size apartment. While the Fam was here, we did a lot of fun things, including helping Emily move into her apt, Lee & Danika were honorary Mower’s for a night (dinner), we played Scattergories (Saren did so well), we hiked Cress Creek, went to Applebee’s, and of course we all sat, talked, and laughed as Mowers do!
A personal milestone for me occurred that weekend, that I felt excited to pursue PA as my career. YAY!
(I'm going to ask Lindsay to do the comments on the pictures... she makes it more fun than I do :)

Jason:We all enjoyed the drive out to Cress Creek. Lindsay and Saren show'n off their pearly whites.
Lindsay: Saren isn't showing her pearly whites Jason - besides, now she doesn't even have any in the front that we can see anymore.


Eating our lovely meal comprised of roll sandwiches, caramel corn cakes, corn cut from the cob, apples, and that horrible apple dip we wanted to feed to the girls by the river singing Disney Songs. Cheers to the Mower Clan!

Mom and Dad posing for the beautiful scenic picture. Lori is absolutely glowing - it's like it's helping Barry's hair to Celestialize!



Saren beating Dad at the word game... Sorry Dad - Saren got 12, and you only got 34.

Mower Disneyland Trip Nov 2007

This is the Mower Family Disneyland Trip video that Celeste and Emily created. YAY! We finally got the video compressed enough to post on the blog but still are intending on burning the dvd version. I love you all!

The Mower's and Rogers at Bear Lake

We stayed two nights in Bear Lake, Utah and had lots of fun! Activities included hanging out on the beach, volley-ball, swimming, playing games, taking turns cooking meals, and watching movies. It was a blast, and a great way of ending the summer before getting back into school!



Jason and Lindsay on the beach... the water was a beautiful Caribbean blue!!!












Lee and Danika on the beach!












Nice try buddy.










It started out as "testing the waters"...















Then Jason and Lee decided to go for a dip. The water wasn't that bad - it was the 63 degree weather and wind that did it...









The smart ones...














We found the Lochness Monster Nessi!!!












We really wanted to keep her as a pet...














But there wasn't quite enough room for all of us in the car.... Oh well.. Would have had to pay a $1000 fine for pets at the apartment anyway.















Little did we know, Nessi wasn't happy...











On our way home we went to the Fair in Blackfoot, ID, and found ourselves as a main attraction.







All in all, the trip was tons of fun, and we were able to survive without any blow-outs, flat tires, or accidents along the way. Our friendships were strengthened, and each couple enjoyed the fun time with their spouse. We even were able to confirm that our husbands are most excited to be father's to sons someday, as they "practiced" what to do on the beach with the next generation. "Boys will be boys!" as the video confirms.