Rocky Mountain High

We just returned from spending 6 days in the 

beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains.

I'm not gonna lie . . . I wasn't real excited with

the idea of camping out for 6 days but that's

what my guys wanted to do so I bucked up

and went along and I'm glad I did!!

We spent the first night at a campground near Aspen.

While headed to our next campsite we stopped

at a picnic area which was the trailhead for a short 

hike up to this waterfall.  We also went over

Independence Pass which makes you feel like 

you're on top of the world

The second night we camped at Turquoise Lake  (below)

with the town of Leadville in the background.  It was

 home to the"Unsinkable Molly Brown"

On Wednesday we made it to our destination of

Rocky Mountain National Park.  Jeff, Julie and

the kids met us there

After setting up camp at the Moraine campground,

 we set out to explore the wonders of the Park

We took a shuttle ride up to Bear Lake

and from there hiked to Alberta Falls

which was awesome!!

Day 2 was a short hike to this place called

the Alluvial Fan.  It was formed when a dam broke

in 1982 sending boulders down the hillside.

These crazy guys took the opportunity

to cool off in one of the pools at the bottom

This is Sprague Lake which had a boardwalk

making it possible to walk all the way around the lake

Meanwhile back at camp, above is the view of Longs Peak

that we woke up to every morning, yea . . . it was tough

Dr J cooking us some pancakes for breakfast, below we're

roasting hot dogs and of course we consumed LOTS of s'mores

The happy campers :)  really, the smiles on our faces say it all . . .

we LOVED Rocky Mountain National Park!!!

My Mountain Home So Dear . . .

Gary and I and the 3 boys spent last week-end

visiting Gram & Grandpa in beautiful Salmon, Idaho

When we're there we love to just relax and 

enjoy the beauty of their amazing yard

First thing Friday morning Dad was out cleaning

the pond and every day was trimming, pruning,

mowing or watering.  Nic asked, "Does he

ever stop?"  Nope--And let's hope he never does!!

Sunday morning another favorite . . .

pancakes hot off the grill

Of course you can't have pancakes at Gram's house

without Tang and chocolate milk!!

Sunday also happened to be "someone's"  50ish

 birthday and you know what I decided?

It doesn't matter how many birthdays you have

there's just nothing quite like coming "home"

Thanks Mom & Dad--we love you!!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Gary and the boys just enjoyed a fun filled week-end

of major league baseball at AT&T Park in

San Francisco watching the Giants play the Cubs

The Park is located right next to the  San Francisco Bay

and is an amazing ball park as you can see

Friday night was "orange" night

 Of course a trip to San Francisco is never complete

without a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge . . .

 A burrito from Zona Rosa on Haight Ashbury . . .

 A chocolate fix at Ghiradelli Square . . .

 And some sourdough bread at Fishermans Wharf!!

 The game on Saturday was "Retro Day" where

the teams wore commemorative jerseys from 1912

(back when the Giants were in New York)

The Giants won both games which made Gary 

VERY happy but not as happy as being able

to spend the week-end with his boys.

I think a  good time was had by all 

in the "City by the Bay" 

A "Grand" Week-end

It's always fun when Grandkids come,

when Grandkids come hooray!!

We had a fun conference week-end with all of the

grandkids here since Jeff & Julie came for Spring Break.

We had an early Easter egg hunt which the kids loved.

Livi Jane

Miss Avrey

Mo (Buzz Lightyear)

Kaden (Batman)

Trey (Tebow)

Gary and his "boys" all ready for the Priesthood

session of Conference

We ended the week-end stuffing ourselves with

Grandpa's famous "Conference Doughnuts"

It's always fun for everyone when

Grandkids come!!!

Denver Visit

I recently went to Denver and had a great visit

with Jeff, Julie and the kids. We went on a "field trip"

to the Denver Mint which was very interesting

and then we spent an afternoon at a place called

"The Garden of the Gods" near Colorado Springs.

It's a beautiful place with amazing red rock formations.

The one below is appropriately named

the "Kissing Camels"

There were lots of fun places for the kids

to explore and climb around on

Right near all the red rock is another amazing formation

of pure white rock. A very neat place to see . . . Thanks guys

for a great time, can't wait to visit again!!