September is for Apples!

We celebrated Labor Day by going to Yellowstone National Park with Mom Squires. She had never been, and since we had a 7 day pass, we decided to make a day of it.

Look closely at this picture...you can see mom's encounter with a bison!

This time, we went around the northern loop of the park and saw Mammoth Hot Springs, a bunch of falls, more geysers, awesome dynamic landscape, and some more animals. The animals were still sparse, only male bison and a few coyotes (don't forget the Elk behinds), but it was still fun to see them. We read something about the part of the park known as Porcelain Basin being extra hot, and we assumed it was just the geothermal stuff going on. But even the sunshine felt hotter. The heat wasn't too much of a problem, though; lots of water and plenty of munchies kept everyone happy and going strong most of the day. We decided to hit up the town of West Yellowstone for some end-of-season sales (which were actually pretty sweet) after we grew tired of the wild and had some BBQ at Buffalo Bill's (not like good Southern BBQ, though :(  ). By the end of our adventurous day, we were in need of a good nap, and the car was in need of a good wash (and a wax, which we gave her).

Who doesn't LOVE macro photography?

The terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. Easily one of Daniel's favorites.

In other news, the seasons are starting to change, and that means it's harvest time.




At our little villa in the city of Rexburg, we have an apple tree in our yard. Technically, it's our landlord's, but he never comes by to pick the apples (or mow the lawn, or fix the house, or...or...or...) and there are a bagillion! Daniel and I decided we needed to take executive action, so we picked a whole bunch and then made homemade apple sauce!

We opted for the healthier, non-sweetened (none of that wicked processed sugar added) version, so it consisted of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Yum. Our first batch turned out pretty good so we decided we should make 3 more batches. Now, the question remains: what to do with dem apples (sauce)? Well, I'll tell ya; since another semester of classes is starting next week, and since I have a bee sting on my belly (not sure, but it may be more serious than a bee sting), it is good to plan ahead and make little snacky-snacks in advance. We are going to freeze them in baggies and then take those baggies to school and eat it! (Portable applesauce snacks. Who knew?!?)

We are excited.

We like apples.