Trip to Colorado...

Back in mid-June, we took a very LONG OVERDUE trip to Colorado. We stopped at my brother Jaren's house for a couple of days to visit and then headed to Mike's family reunion.The girls, Ashley (Mike's grand-niece), Emily, Brooke, Coral (Jaren's youngest girl) looking at otters swimming at the Denver Zoo.

Family picture in front of the gates at the Denver Zoo.

Mike's Aunt Josephine. I loved this picture of Brooke and Aunt Jo together. It was great seeing Mike's family again.

We went to an aquatic center while at the reunion. The girls and Mike had lots of fun playing in the water!

While we were in Alamosa, CO (where Mike's family lives) we helped re-shingle part of Mike's parents' home.

Emily, Brooke, and Jamie (cousin) having fun while we travel to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

Checking out the dunes and info at the tourist center.

A small river runs at the bottom of the dunes, making for a grand time for the girls. They loved to play in the water and the mud.

Here is a great shot of the dunes up close. I can't remember how high the tallest dune was, but it was huge! If you look closely you can see little specks of people climbing to the top. Mike, Jamie, and I decided we would try to tackle this beast as well.

After 2 1/2 hours of battling hot, hot, HOT sand uphill, we finally made it. We only had flip-flop sandals on our feet and the sand burned our feet (the tourist center said the sand could get up to 140 degrees), so we'd have to climb for a bit, and then dig down to the cooler sand to let our feet cool off. It wasn't so fun at times, but made for a great adventure and fond memories!

Mike helping the girls build a sand castle and then built a canal to fill the mote around the castle. Hmmm, who's the water engineer? The kids had a lot of fun and some boy ended up joining the fun as well.


Mike's dad celebrated his birthday while we were visiting. Since Brooke's birthday was only a week away, she joined in the celebration, too!

Three Catch-up Posts...

So I have a lot of pictures I've needed to post, so I decided to make three different posts out of them.

This first one is of a camping trip we took with my sisters over Memorial Day Weekend. My brother-in-law's grandpa owns a dry farm up above Heise/Kelly Canyon area. Every Memorial Day Weekend, their family camps up there. We were invited to go with them this year. It was beautiful up there. It was perfect camping--the area was beautiful, the weather was great, and there was lots of things for the kids to do! Thanks Josh and your family for letting us invade your family get-together.

Mike, Brooke, and Kyler (Jason's oldest) setting up the tent.

This is the view at dusk...you can see the Snake River below. It was absoluetly beautiful!

Emily brought a toy truck from home and was playing by herself...she was lost in her own little world (until she noticed I had a camera)!

Brooke is right at home playing in the dirt, so is her cousin Adam. These two had lots of fun playing in the dirt and spraying with the hose. Unfortunately, Adam was on the wet end of the hose, by the time these two were done playing, they were MUDDY and WET but they had lots of fun playing and it kept them busy for a long time.

Josh's grandma brought up a slip and slide for the kids to play on. This is a picture of Kyler going on the slide. The kids loved this and played on it for quite a while.

Dutch oven cooking is something Mike LOVES LOVES LOVES to do. When he was working at Ricks, the guys we worked with introduced him to it and he's been hooked ever since. We haven't been able to break out our Dutch ovens for a couple of years, so Mike jumped at the chance to help Josh and Jill cook Dutch oven chicken and potatoes. Yummy, yummy! Ahh, the fruits of your labor! It really was delicious...people went back for seconds and thirds!

And the best part is, we've been invited to go again next year!

Princesses...

So lately Emily has been a little escapee. She comes and goes as she pleases, and sometimes I don't know she has even gone outside. One day she brought me a dandelion from outside and said, "I picked you a flower, Mom!" Great, except for I need to know when you go outside. Our yard isn't fenced (except the back and it is barbed wire) and she meanders wherever she wants--to go see her "friends." She thinks it is okay to go outside as long as she has shoes on. I can't tell you how many times I have brought her back inside wearing only her white church shoes and a diaper! (For those who don't know, Emily LOVES wearing her church shoes and NOTHING ELSE but a diaper!) One day, I saw her outside in her pretty princess dress and church shoes and she was watching the cows in the field behind our house. I thought it would make for a cute picture.
A short time later, her cousin Brielle joined her in her pretty princess dress and they went and played on the swing set.

My sister Katie took this picture, so I'm not sure what happened, but I thought this was a cute picture of Emily, even though it is kind of a heart breaker shot.

One Sunday after church, before I had even changed my clothes, the door bell rang and not long after that, it rang again. Brooke's neighborhood friends came over to play. They all got dolled up and each grabbed a puppy to play with and had lots of fun! They asked if we could go for a walk, so we took our merry bunch of princesses for a walk around the neighborhood. It was a lot of fun and we got lots of smiles from passerbys.

Fascinated...

The other morning, I noticed in the field behind our housea man on a horse. I believe he was working with his horse, training it to work with the cows. He would lasso a calf and tie it's legs and he would make his horse move backwards and in circles and other "tricks." The girls thought it was great having a mini rodeo in our backyard!


Brooke had the opportunity to go fishing with Dad, Grandpa Tolman, and Great Uncle Daren last Saturday. Daren asked before they left if she'd be okay fishing in the rain...I chuckled and said, "That little girl will out last all of you!"

We also were able to go to a small circus that came to town. Because it was raining, they held it in the indoor arena at the fairgrounds, so the picture with the lions/tigers isn't the greatest.

Brooke, Brielle (Katie's oldest), Adam (Jill's oldest), and Emily watching the intermission fun at the circus.