A few more pictures...

After we left Megan's house we headed south to check out the sights a different way home.

This was Garden of the Gods and it was pretty cool. There were people rock climbing and I told Russell maybe that should be our new thing.

Then we drove up to Pike's Peak. It cost $30 for us to drive up the road and we didn't even see the Bigfoot!

But it was a beautiful drive and the view from on top was amazing. It was 14,110 feet high (3 thousand feet higher then Timpanogos!). There was a gift shop at the top that got more of our money and Russ and I could feel the altitude up there with a tummy ache. But it was well worth it!

Oh wait, we did see Bigfoot! On the way home we drove through Aspen and that was an amazing drive. We drove over a 12,000 foot peak that day. I love the mountains and it was fun to be in the Rockies. Saturday we ended up in Moab. We stayed at a hotel with a swimming pool. We swam everyday of our vacation but two.

On Sunday we took a little hike. It was gorgeous and fun, but the bugs were out, the kids were slow and my patience was about gone so we didn't go the whole way. But we had a great Colorado vacation and now school!

Colorado

We had the best week last week. We took off on a 1,600 mile road trip to see my sister Megan and her husband Kenny in Colorado. We took a couple of days going and coming to see some sites. It was a lot of driving, but we listened to Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites (3 books) and it made to miles fly by.

We went through Vernal and stopped at the dinosaur museum there...here is Eliza digging for bones.

They had all kind of life size dinosaurs out in the yard of the museum. They were fun to look at. We got to Megan's on Sunday and went to Water World on Monday. I didn't take too many pictures there because we were too busy swimming! The kids said that was the funnest day.

Then we went to the Denver Zoo. Aiden was picked at the bug show to dress up like a bug. It was a huge zoo. My favorite was the Komodo Dragons. They eat people and their own young. Fascinating!

I don't know if my brother Curtis ever reads my blog, but this picture is for him!

Russell of course found a project. He helped Kenny put in a new kitchen sink and counter top. It turned out really nice.

Then on Wednesday we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was very pretty. This is Bear Lake. The kids got junior ranger books and filled them out along the trail and then they got to talk to ranger and get a badge. One of the things was to find signs of animal life so I pointed out bird poop to Eliza and we wrote it down. The ranger said it was the first time anybody had written that down that she had seen! :)

Sisters! Megan was such a great hostess. Cooking dinners, planning activities, babysitting so Russell and I could go on a date...Thanks Megan and Kenny it was perfect!

Eliza and Aiden and the beautiful mountains. We saw elk and chipmunks in the park and that was about it as far as wildlife goes. But the mountains were awesome.

Jack playing in the river. Anything with water and the kids didn't want to leave. I have a few more pics I 'll post later. It was the perfect thing to do the week before school starts.

Uinta Adventure 2010

We made our annual trek up to the Unitas and Ruth Lake this past weekend. We had such a great time and we even took Jack with us this year. He is getting so big! The pictures aren't in order because my brain doesn't work today but that is OK.

This is the view from our tent. It was the lake right above Ruth...maybe Naomi but I'm not sure. We caught two frogs here and saw two moose. The flowers were spectacular and it was the perfect camping spot.

This is Jack eating his breakfast. Aiden made the menu bacon sandwiches. So we had English muffins, cheese and precooked bacon all toasted together over the fire. I thought they were great.

Aiden caught a salamander. He got soaking wet in the process, but he got it.

Can you see Russell and the kids at the very top of the cliff? We were fishing at the lake below and they climbed up the cliff while I watched the poles. They could see the fish swimming in the lake right by the poles but none of them took a bite!

Eliza and Jack had the best time with the worms. They built this little worm house, they named them and had the best time. Those worms were great pets for the afternoon.

Here we are at the trail head...ready for our adventure. It was cold so we were prepared with our big coats.

Here are the backpackers. Eliza carried all of her cloths and band aids the whole way up and back. Jack carried his blankets most of the way up, but then they got "too heavy" and his awesome brother Aiden carried it the rest of the way up and back. Aiden was a big guy this year and carried his own sleeping bag and cloths. We are training them well!

Here is Aiden with his pack. He was so much fun on the trip, so nice, never complained and very helpful. He might be growing up a little bit!

Isn't it gorgeous? Both Eliza and the meadow! I love the little stream and the green grass. It was so beautiful up there!

Here are the hikers by the Ruth Lake sign. We had such a fun time. Can't wait for next year.

Eliza's Pictures

Whenever I download pictures on the camera there is usually ten or more that are taken by Miss Eliza of random things around the house. I don't know when she takes them but they are usually of things she really likes. I tend to just delete them, but I decided to save a few so I could remember what my sweet 5 year old finds interesting!

She got these pajamas from Grandma Liston and she must have laid them out and taken a picture of them.

A library book.

Another library book...she had me read this to her a million times while we had it.

And zuzu pet with puppy! Eliza is the best.