Lilli and Olivia, My Two Adorable Nieces

One of the most exciting things I got to do on this trip was see my brother, sister-in-law and two nieces. The oldest is two and her name is Lilli. The youngest is 9 months and her name is Olivia. They are both absolutely adorable! Here are some pictures and two videos of them! Enjoy!

Lilli on her new tricycle

Precious Olivia close up

Lilli getting a ride from Grandma

Olivia exploring the world

Lilli being silly trying to put on Olivia's shoe

Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park

One of the awesome things I got to do on my trip out West was to go see Old Faithful Geyser. Here is a short video of it erupting.

Trip to the West

Well, a whole lot has happened since my last post. I am sorry I haven't posted for so long. The last thing I did this summer was go on a vacation with my family to Seattle to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and two adorable nieces(Lilli-2,Olivia-9mo.) This trip was not only extra special because I got to see them it was also special because I have never been out to the West before. The farthest West I had ever been before this trip was Kansas City, MO. We drove out there because we knew that we might never be able to do it again. We stopped at a lot of tourist destinations along the way there and back. Some of these include Yellowstone National Park, Mt. Rushmore, The Battlefield of Little BIghorn, and Cody, Wyoming where we saw a real Western rodeo, and the Badlands of South Dakota. This is just to name a few. We were gone for 14 days and almost every night we stopped somewhere where there was different sightseeing opportunities. I very much enjoyed the trip and was so glad to see a part of the country that I had never seen before. One of my favorite things was touring a gold mine and panning for gold. Here are a few pictures from the trip. Enjoy!
Yellowstone National Park

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Grasshoppers were everywhere in South Dakota

Old Faithful Geyser

Mt. Rushmore



Gold Mine

The Badlands in South Dakota

4th of July Celebration

Last night, I went to the 4th of July Celebration and Fireworks at my church. I had a lot of fun and was very thankful to be able to celebrate the freedom we have in America. Even though we have a lot of problems as a country, I am still very proud to be an American and have the freedoms that I have today. Here are a few pictures of the fireworks.

Wisdom Teeth Removal

One week ago, I got my top two wisdom teeth removed! The surgery itself went really well and didn't take very long. They put me out, so I don't remember anything, which I am very thankful for. I didn't have to get them out right now, but I think I am going to lose my insurance under my Dad in a few months when I turn 22, so we decided to go ahead and get it done now. Also the tooth on one side had already popped through and left somewhat of a whole in my gum where food particles could get stuck and cause an infection. The recovery went fairly well. I am doing much better now and can eat pretty much anything. I am so glad that this is done and over with. I don't have my bottom two wisdom teeth, so I will never have to worry about them. Here are a few pictures to show you how I looked afterward.

Class

Well, on Monday I started my main class of the summer, Microbiology. This has been a hard week just because having to get used to getting up at 6AM everyday is a big change for me. The class itself is going well so far. We are learning about bacteria and how they grow. In lab, we have already gotten to look at several cultures, which is pretty exciting. I like my professor so far. He is nice and willing to help and answer questions. Overall, things are going very well. I just wish I didn't have to get up so early. There hasn't been much going on other than class. We did have a garage sale on Wednesday and we are going to have another one tomorrow. This has been great because we have been able to get rid of a lot of junk.

Zoo

Today I visited the zoo. I had a lot of fun. I got to see some animals and got to ride on the train. I enjoyed myself and it definitely brought back memories from childhood. Here are a few pictures from the day. Enjoy! A stork, I read a story about storks in 6th grade
Gazelle
Camels with a cute baby
Zebra
Penguins at Penguin and Puffin Coast
An elephant named Raja that I remember when he was born
A beautiful bird