Colorado // Saturday

I really slacked on the picture taking on Thursday and Friday.  I ended up in town twice on Thursday. Once to grab some groceries and again to pick up a prescription.  Ben prescribed me some penicillin for strep.  Thank goodness I caught it in time and it didn't become full blown strep throat!

Jared showed up at about 2:00 in the morning on Saturday.  I waited up for him then laid awake in bed until almost 4:00 tossing and turing until I finally fell asleep.  I had so much on my mind and the middle of the night is the only quiet time I get to think.

The next day we took a Ranger ride until, you guessed it, it started pouring rain.  So we headed off to add another chapter to Adventures with Jared.  I wish I could remember the name of this place.  It was a manmade wooden above ground ditch.

Look at our chins!  She had my chin!!  I've never noticed that.

 We then made our way to Silverton and Ouray.  Both beautiful quaint little towns but a bit too much of a white knuckled drive.  This is the view coming into Silverton.  And this is also where the guardrail stopped.

The drive was Ouray was terrible.  Nerve-racking to say the least.  Jared is a good driver and I'm confident in his skills but even he was nervous.  The road had no gaurdrail and dropped off completely.  Straight 1,000 foot drop offs!  Thankfully the little town was cute.  I kind of felt like I was in the Swiss Alps!

 Ouray is known for their Hot Springs.  I couldn't believe how many people were swimming in 45 degree weather!  I talked to some of them and they said that pool was over 90 degrees and the jacuzzi was over 100.  Still, I can't imagine swimming around in warm water with a bunch of strangers and their warm bodily fluids.  Blah!

Colorado // Wednesday

We had so much rain in Colorado!  It was awesome!  But it also put limits on what we could do at the cabin.  On Wednesday we decided to take a drive to Vallecito Lake to enjoy more of Heavenly Father's beautiful creations.

This is the reality of what it looks like to get a picture for us.

 Vallecito was so beauitful!  I'm not really a nature lover but I found myself soaking in all of the beauty that surrounded me the entire time.

When we got back to the cabin we had a clay competition.

I believe this is Lucy's version of me.  Yikes :)

 Here's Kimber's rendition.

 And Addie's.

 A few more of the girls' creations.  I think this is Jared by Kimber.

 Kimber made a fire extinguisher.

 I love Kimber's antlers :)

That evening Colton was super grumpy.  Lucy was the only one who could figure him out.  She spread this blanket out on the ground and fed him a pancake.  After that, he was happy as a clam!

Colorado // Monday

Monday morning we headed to town. We did a little shopping for a few necessities then hit up the Fish Hatchery where they had the most fantastic {free!} wildlife museum. I'll be honest, I was sorta freaked out the whole time but I acted cool so no one would catch up. Thank you Richardson Genes!

This elk had some freaky looking antlers. Apparently, it had a hormone problem which caused its antlers to grow wrong. 

They had a variety of animal pelts. Everyone but Kimber and Colton stayed away from them. Here is Kimber petting an elk pelt. 

The kids LOVED feeding the trout.

 After the museum? We took the walking path to the river. It was a very muddy river but a great view.

That path les to the park where the kids played for bit. Cities like Durango, that are so outdoor and family friendly, make me sad that we don't live somewhere that is more like that. 

The kids had been such troopers so we found a frozen yogurt joint and treated ourselves.

By the time we headed back to the cabin everyone was pretty wiped out. Vacation can be exhausting!

That night we had a talent show for FHE.  Colton's talent was eating a banana then "sharing" it with his sisters.

 My talent was smiling.  Because moments before I wasn't!  I was running around crazy and trying to meet everyone's needs.  It was chaotic and I was grumpy but everyone lived.  I don't let my girls wear short shorts or tank tops around or sleep in them, but at this moment I was just glad we had all come together!

 Kimber's talent was shadow puppets.

 Addie lip synced a song on the staircase.

 She really got into it!

Last of all, Lucy arranged cards.

Colorado // Tuesday

The kids were so excited for Tuesday to finally roll around. They were finally getting their chance to go to the Rec Center!  I spent over $50 just getting stuff together that would make the trip to the pool less stressful for me. A life jacket for Colton, floaties for Lucy, sunscreen for the splash pad, etc. 

To my suprise, the trip went much better than I anticipated. I was prepared to be on wdge and freaking out the whole time. Instead, the kids did great!  The pool was laid out perfectly. There was so much shallow area and lots of toys that everyone played without any problems. A huge blessing for me!

The big girls got to climb the rock wall. They loved it!

I forced them out to the splash pad. They resisted and argued. I believe their exact words were "it looks stupid."  Haha!  They had a great time and later told me how much fun it was. 

You know, having your kids alone on vacation is really hard but these smiles make it all worth it. 

And this little guy too ;)

This afternoon after we got back to the cabin, I took some time to go outside to read my scriptures and think. It's amazing how peaceful life is when you take your schedule out of it. It's also amazing how peaceful you feel when you think about God's creations. They are so vast and amazing in their own way. Just a few weeks ago I was sitting in Aravaipa enjoying the dessert scenery. To compare that with the mountains and trees of Colorado tells me that Heavenly Father truly blessed us when he created nature. It is for our enjoyment of we will only stake advantage of it. 

Colorado // Saturday and Sunday

We love spending time in Colorado. We look forward to it all year long and we're always so thankful for the time we get to spend at the cabin. 

This year Jared wasn't able to spend much time there, which left me alone with the kids. We did get a good 18 hours with him however before he had to head home. 

I never knew a set of stairs could be so exciting. We had a great competition seeing who could make it up and back in the fastest time. 

It rained and rained on Saturday and we lost power at the cabin. After a few hours with no electricity we decided to head to town for some food and entertainment. 

We ate some disappointing BBQ them let the kids play some mini golf. 

I was dreading the time that Jared had to leave. I actually cried!  But, we stayed busy and didn't allow ourselves too much time to miss him. One of the easiest ways to stay occupied is just to enjoy the beauty. 

We went to a ward in town on Sunday and had a great fast and testimony meeting. It was a great ward!  After church the kids once again found a way to entertain themselves on the stairs. 

We just relaxed and hung out. My favorite Sunday activity. 

That night we pulled out the facial masks. The girl had a ball with them!  Peeling them off had to be the best part. 

We ended the night with a game of Uno. We wouldn't be in Colorado if we didn't play a few card games!