A Poem

Broken Dreams
Author: Unknown
As children bring their broken toys
With tears for us to mend.
I brought my broken dreams to God
Because He was my Friend.

But then instead of leaving Him
In peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help
With ways that were my own.

At last I snatched the back and cried,
"How could You be so slow"-
"My child," He said,
"What could I do? You never did let go."

"There and Back Again"

For our Fall geology trip we went on an 8 day trip to Mt. St. Helens and back.  It was quite fun and educational.  There is so much to tell, but I will just give pictures for now, a somewhat condensed look at our fantastic trip.

Quake Lake

Camas Prairie (ripple marks from the Missoula Flood)

Lake Pend Oreille

Scablands

Me in front of the Grand Coulie Dam

Banks Lake

Dry Falls

A large rock in the middle of a prairie (I'm in there for height reference)

Many people on top of the large rock

Jared with a great look on his face. :)

This is basically how we got to the large rock in the middle of the prairie

The Feathers (Large basalt rock columns)

Some beautiful girl we found along the way. ;)

Jake (He's only been here "teen minutes"...)

The delightful Klase sisters.

Hieroglyphics 

 Alyssa, Natalie and I being silly

Mt. Rainier 

Mt. St. Helens

Studying erosion from Mt. St. Helens eruption 

 Memorial to those who died in the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption

Maltnoma Falls

 My adorable roommate

Wade 

Morgan 

Stone Henge Memorial

Palouse Falls

The Lower part of Palouse Falls

Yellowstone on a Sunny Day

There we were... riding in the bus on the way to Yellowstone.  It was a beautiful sunny day, the kind of day where you feel so perfectly comfortable in your t-shirt and jeans.  Yeah, you know the kind of day I'm talking about.  So, here are some pictures from that perfectly wonderful day.

*sings* "Everybody has a buffalo..." 

Joe, Wade, Aaron, and Kevin 

JD (left) and Morgan (right) were a little tired I guess.

Waiting for Old Faithful... 

Thar she BLOWS!!!! 

The Whole Gang

Hiking in the Hole

A few weeks ago we went on some hikes.  A day hike, then a backpacking trip, then another day hike.  Such beauty! It amazes me that we live in a fallen world, yet it is still so beautiful.  I can't imagine what beauty the perfect world would have had, and what beauty there will be when the earth is restored.  Here are some pictures from my hikes.

The first hike - Ski Lake

We then went on a 3 day backpacking trip to Glacier Lake with a day hike up to Paintbrush Divide on the second day.

 Some of the group while taking a break.

Me and my dear Analea. 

My roommate Leah.  She is hilarious and I love her. :) 

Isn't she just the cutest?!?!

Leah's older sister Sarah.  She is also adorable and she makes me miss MY older sister! 

One of my RA's, Cally.  She is so cool. :) 

I don't know why I have so many pictures of Leah, but she is so photogenic! 

(Love her...)

The "other" Melissa.  She is a nut and she is so much fun! 

Does this even need an explanation? ;) 

A couple days after we got back from our backpacking trip we went on a day hike to Phelps Lake.  Beautiful!

This is Joe.  He's funny. He's good at posing too. :) 

It may be hard to tell, but this is a picture of a reflection on the lake.  So amazing! 

Me and my roomies! (Natalie in the middle, Leah on the right.)