Better Late than Never

I have been wanting to put these pictures out of our wonderful time with my family in the Colorado mountains for a long time now. I started with the pictures in Colorado Springs and now I'll finally post the ones from up in the mountains. Thank you family for a wonderful visit!

Spending a rainy afternoon just hanging out.

Having fun at the pool (heated I might add). Though the days were warm, the nights get very cool so they keep the pool heated so that you don't freeze thank goodness.




Fishing with Grandpa and Dad.

Family Pictures
Drew being extremely cooperative as usual. Something about the whole family in the picture seems to bother him.

Fun Happenings

Mason got his Bobcat in Boy Scouts awarded on July 30th. He was supposed to get it two months ago, but because of some cancellations and what not, the awarding happened nearly three months after he did all the achievements. Mason got into scouts right after his 8th birthday and then did all he had to do for his Bobcat within the first 4-5 weeks. He did it all on his own. I am so proud of him. He loves cub scouts and is more than well on his way to getting his Wolf! Mason we love you!

After the awards they launched rockets they had built. It was a lot of fun. Especially watching the boys all run after the rocket on it's way down.

So these two pictures are just for fun. Drew is doing his Saturday chore of "swiffering" the bathroom floors. I just loved what he picked out to wear this particular day. The navy blue Buzz Lightyear socks that are almost worn out, but not quite (you can see the holes in the heels). In the summer matching is optional around here - in the school year mom gets to choose the outfits.

Right after I took the previous picture I came down stairs to Dallin vacuuming. I ran right back upstairs and grabbed the camera. Dallin does NOT like loud noises, can you tell? Mark got the vacuum out and then left Dallin to it - I guess Dallin went and got these ear muffs (or whatever you call them) that we got for a Monster truck rally we went to and used them! I love you Dallin!

Dallin is our resident gardner. He has mini sunflowers, a basil plant, and a bean plant all in pots on our deck. The sunflowers he planted from seeds, the basil he bought little from the farmer's market, and the beans came home from school in a baggie with a wet paper towel. It's been so fun to watch them grow. We love the sunflowers, fresh basil to eat, and the four beans we got from the plant. Too cute!

Colorado

So we went to Colorado July 19 to July 26 and I'm finally going to blog about our fantastic trip! I think I'm going to do it in two seperate enteries. The first about our time at my parent's home and then I'll do the second installment when we went up to Breckenridge, Colorado - a beautiful ski resort town that is just as amazing and beautiful in the summer. So here goes...

We arrived on a Saturday and then spent Sunday going to church and then having a big Sunday night dinner together as a family. Oh how I wish that could occur so much more often. On Monday those who could went on a picnic and a drive through Garden of the Gods (an amazing state park in Colorado with these red rock formations).

L to R - My dad, my younger brother Patrick, Mark, my mom, and my niece Hannah.

This is in the state park. This particular place is called balancing rock and with the two pictures you get two very different views of this rock!

L to R - Drew, my nephew Braiden, Dallin, Mason, my niece Hannah, and me.

More of Garden of the Gods.

Growing up we saw deer run through our yard and eat trees, but they would run away when humans got near...now since the neighborhood has grown more than 10 times the size it was when I lived there the deer have little place to run to. So they camp, we could not run this deer with her twin babies off our yard. The kids loved seeing this mom and her twin babies come several times in the few days we were there, so I had to include a picture. Though Grandpa was not happy with the bushes they were snacking on.

Trip to Oregon

Getting this entry in has taken me several days. I have to keep coming back...It's really July 16th now. We spent 10 days with the Hamilton family in Oregon. It was a whole lot of wonderful days just being with family. There are now 15 grandkids ranging from 16-2 in ages...and it was a blast. Our kids loved having playmates constantly. And Mark and I enjoyed catching up with everyone and playing with all of our nieces and nephews. We spent the 4th of July up in a big mountain home with most of the family, just enjoying the mountains and each other. We are so blessed with amazing family. We feel blessed by the love we feel from them no matter where we are. Here's some of the highlights of our trip.We had lots of pictures, and I didn't do a very good job of only using a few. Oh, well...


One of the first nights there, we went out to Mark's sister's new home out in the country...the kids had a great time learning to drive the 4-wheelers. Drew spent most of the night holding on to his "buddy" cousin Shane, while Shane drove them around on his 4-wheeler.

For the 4th of July weekend the whole family went up to the Blue Mountains (about an hour from Pendleton, OR) and had a great time enjoying the mountains and eachother.

This is Dallin and his cousin Caden taking care of their frog Hopper. That little frog survived a whole weekend of lots of little fingers...I have no idea how.

There was a little pond not too far from the cabin that the kids threw rocks in - for a very long time.

There was this great, very long table to eat at...it didn't fit us all, but pretty close.

There was an elk farm very close to the mountain lodge...it was pretty amazing to see those huge animals so close up.


There were no fireworks allowed due to fire danger, so we spent the 4th night with a contained fire pit roasting marshmallows for s'mores and telling funny stories about each other.


Mark and his mom.

Here are a few pictures of just some of the fun things we did while at Grandma and Grandpa's home.

The cousins had a craft afternoon and it was so fun to watch all of them create. Grandma has all the good stuff for a perfect afternoon of crafts.

Drew and cousin Clayson had fun with the hot wheels and building tracks. It is really a neat experience to see our children interact with their cousins. We feel blessed to live where we do, but we do wish our children could be with their cousins and family more often.

Dallin and Tyler showed there BYU spirit (do you think their dads have influenced them at all?).

The cousins just having fun!

Mason and Grandpa building Legos -- the boys talk about Grandma and Grandpa's millions of Legos all the time...they always spend a lot of time building while we are there. We went bowling one afternoon and Mason got the highest score of all the cousins (even the teenagers) - 112.

Some of our special visits...

Mark and Grandma Davis (his grandmother on his dad's side).

4 generations are represneted in this picture...

Great-grandma Last, Grandma Hamilton, Me
Dallin, Mason, Mark, and the oh so happy Drew
Some of our most favorite people happen to live only one hour from Mark's parents - we are so excited that we get to see them when ever we visit Oregon.

We met the Sumsion's in Ottumwa, Iowa and Mason and Logan were the best of friends. It is amazing to see them together because still after all these years apart, they are very much alike. They have so many of the same interests. Thank you Heavenly Father for bringing amazing people into our lives.