In All of Living...

One of my favorite quotes from Gordon B. Hinckley is, "In all of living have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." I love to laugh and have fun and have tried to teach my children to do the same. We are far from perfect. We argue, tease, torment, and do all those things that bring contention into our home. But, Trent and I also try to do activities that will build great family memories and provide for much "fun and laughter." So, this last weekend we took a trip to the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana. It took nearly three hours to get there. Seems like a long way to go just so we could hike in some cave. But, we had a great time getting there.


Once we got there, we had a small wait for our tour guide. Notice more laughing. The girls aren't sick to their stomachs. They are doubled over in fits of laughter. We noticed a large rattlesnake warning sign. If I had seen a rattlesnake, the tour would have ended for me. Luckily, no snakes were on the 3/4 mile hike up to the cave. The view of the Jefferson River valley is beautiful. I wonder what it looked like when Lewis and Clark passed by. Oh, yeah, those two explorers never saw the cave. Teddy Roosevelt just named it in their honor. And, when did Collin grow taller than me?



The cave is beautiful inside. There are 600 steps that go down - luckily you don't have to climb back up them. It is about 2 miles long inside and takes roughly 2 hours to get through. Some of the passageways are very narrow, some are very short, and some are down right dangerous when wet. We had to do some bobbing and weaving to make it through a few of them. Inside each "room" the formations were spectacular. There are so many colors and interesting things to see. It was awesome!


Leaving the cave was almost blinding. When the doors first opened, I thought, "Go toward the light." After our eyes adjusted we enjoyed the 3/4 mile walk back to the parking lot. It wasn't uphill. That was nice.

We enjoyed a lovely picnic below the cave. Don't you just love it when people take your picture and your mouth is full of food?

I made the kids pose for pictures next to this cute little stream that runs down the mountian. At least they look like they are happy and having a good time.

We stopped in Virginia City on the way home and had homemade ice cream and played at the Gypsy Arcade. The ice cream was delicious and the arcade was hilarious.

I think we accomplished what we set out to do. McKenna posted on her facebook page that she spent the day hiking in a cave and being with her family and that it was "way fun." I think that is a good way to sum up the day. Can't wait for the next adventure.