Boots, Chaps and Cowboy Hats

So far things are going great in Wyoming. Ella had a bit of a melt down on the drive from Casper to Jackson, and then again from Jackson to Old Faithful. But other than that she’s been great. And the Wyoming air seems to be doing well for her skin. It’s cool and dry, which we hear is good for EB skin.

We arrived in Casper late Saturday night. Joe and I were exhausted from the long day, but Ella slept the entire flight from Chicago to Casper, so she was ready to party. By the way, she did great on both flights. She played on the first flight and slept on the second. So we got to Casper and Gi Gi had a nice soft blanket laid out for Ella with toys galore! She loved exploring the new toys, and it didn’t take her too long to discover the one item in Gi Gi and Paw Paw’s house that all kids love…the apple barrel. All kids, including me when I was little, love the apple barrel. The stand at the barrel and throw all the apples out, then pick them up off the ground and put them back. It took Ella all of 5 minutes before she spotted the barrel and was throwing apples out.

Sunday we went to Boyd Avenue Baptist Church with Gi Gi and Paw Paw. It is a wonderful church with a lot of people who have faithfully prayed for Ella and sent us hundreds of encouraging notes. It was wonderful to be able to thank them in person for all their prayers.

We arrived in Jackson Monday afternoon. On the way we stopped in Dubois for a picnic. Joe, being the nice east coast boy he is, kept calling it Doo bwah, like the French pronunciation. While that is technically the correct way to say it, here in Wyoming we say Doo boys. Before Dubois Ella slept the entire way. After Dubois came the melt down. She practically screamed the entire way to Jackson.

Tuesday we spent all day in Yellowstone. It is still as beautiful as it was the last time I was here. We spent most of our time at Old Faithful having a picnic, walking around and watching Old Faithful go off.

Wednesday morning was the relaxing day. We rested all morning, then went into Jackson Hole for lunch and to walk around the town. While there we got Joe and Wyoming hat and shirt. He already has both, but it was time for new ones. We also got Ella a video of Wyoming bears, and a pair of cowboy boot slippers. They are very soft and fit easily on her feet. Wednesday night we introduced Joe and Ella, along with Casey, Christy and Ginny, to the rodeo. They saw real cowboys riding bulls, riding bucking broncos, roping calf, and cowgirls barrel racing. Joe and Ella even got up close and personal with Gus, the wonderbull. I tried to explain what was going on the best way I could. Even though I’m from Wyoming, I’m a city girl and I didn’t do any rodeoing while I was growing up. We went to the rodeo, and I had friends that participated in rodeos, but that’s as close as I got. Joe said that the rodeo was his favorite thing so far. We met up with Grammy Janet and a couple of her friends while we were there. I think everyone had a great time.

Today we went to the Craig Thomas Visitors Center in Grand Teton National Park, then went to String Lake right at the base of the Grand Tetons. We had a nice picnic where Ella finally decided that she wanted to check out this stuff on the ground. I put her on the blanket and turned my back for one second. The next thing I knew Ella was crawling through the dirt, her hands and pants covered. She got her leg stockings, socks, and pants filthy! And her little hands were covered in dirt and left a nice hand print on the blanket for Gi Gi.

Tonight is dinner at the Bar J Chuckwagon. This was my request for the trip. We used to go every year when I was a kid, and I really wanted Joe to see the show. I know he’ll love it as much as I do.

Tomorrow we head back to Casper and Saturday is the flight back to Virginia. It’s been a great trip so far!