Yearly Archives: 2013

Happy Birthday Zach!!!   Big number 9!  We hope you have a GREAT one!

Today we got up early and took off on the next leg of our journey…  Four Corners and Grand Canyon.  The Four Corners area was neat but it was SO touristy!  The area is on Native American land and the whole area around the monument is surrounded by shops.  It’s fun to visit once!  🙂  The kids even got arrowhead necklaces.  We stood in all four states (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona) and took pictures (as does every tourist)!  🙂

After visiting the Four Corners area, we decided to take a little detour up into Monument Valley in Utah to see that.  It was breathtaking!  The rock formations were great and the kids really loved pointing out things they could see in them!  🙂  It never ceases to amaze at how beautiful the earth is with all it’s varying geology!  One day you’re in forested mountains, and the next you are in an arid desert with beautiful rock formations!

We then dropped back down into Arizona and drove on to the Grand Canyon.  It was pretty foggy and the views were not very spectacular, but we had a fun time and the boys were in awe at how BIG it was!  We decided that since it was foggy and rainy, we would change plans a bit and drive back up to the canyon tomorrow in hopes the weather would be better.  The kids had fun though!  The boys did the Junior Ranger program and we rode the shuttle around taking a look at some of the sights.  It was interesting to see the fog roll in thicker and lightning shows start!  Beautiful!

We left the canyon and drove down to Williams, AZ.  We had a GREAT dinner at Route 66 Cafe.  Williams is right along Route 66 and they definitely take advantage of the history!  The food at the cafe was great and there was live music from a pretty talented solo musician that was really fun with the crowd.

Hope that was a GREAT bunch of activities for your birthday Zach!  🙂

Today we started our Family Vacation down through Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California (Hobbs Reunion) and back!  We left early and kept our fingers crossed that we could make it down to Durango, CO with no problem.  There have been incredibly bad and huge forest fires down there and they just opened the road.  When we got down to the pass that had been closed for quite some time, everything was on heightened alert.  You couldn’t stop on the road the entire time, and everything was hazy from the smoke.  The air was heavy with the smell of smoke.

We got through OK and headed into Durango, where we saw the original Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store (for Sarah), and also saw the Durango/Silverton train station and line I had gone on when I was a kid.  Things sure have changed from what I remember!

We then headed over to Mesa Verde national park and spent the rest of the day there.  It was great seeing all the Native American ruins and the boys loved doing the Junior Ranger program!  We took a ton of pictures!  The only unfortunate thing that happened was that Zach’s hat got knocked off his head and over the rail down into the canyon.  It was his hat that he got from Cub Camp and he was really sad.  🙁  We promised to get him a new hat on our trip and that helped make him a little happier.

We are really tired from all the hiking now and are at the hotel in Cortez, CO.  We’ll sleep great tonight I would assume!  Tomorrow it’s off to the Four Corners area and over to the Grand Canyon!  🙂

Today the girls went to see X-Factor up in Denver.  They were SO excited to see Simon Cowell and the crew.  They had a blast and really enjoyed watching all the performances (some WAY better than others).  🙂

After they got home, we went over to the Liddell’s for dinner and Family Home Evening.  We enjoy doing things with them.  They were also really helpful in helping us find a home out here and in helping us move.  We owe them big-time!  Thanks Terry and Bonnie!  🙂

On Friday we left to drive out to Utah to go to Aunt Mary’s funeral.  It was a quick trip, and we were back on Sunday afternoon.  The services were nice and it is so comforting to have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation that we do.  All the family was there, and we got a picture of all the grand kids…

We’ll miss Aunt Mary but know that she is in a better place now and she is without pain.

We just found out that Aunt Mary (Grandma B.’s sister) passed away today.  She had taken a sudden turn for the worse, after being healthy and walking every day, sweeping sidewalks, etc.  The funeral is on Saturday and so we’re going to drive to Bountiful then and support the family.

Today, Kirstyn babysat for some friends of ours in the ward.  They are ranchers, and Kirstyn had to move one of the steers from one place to another for some reason.  We didn’t see it, but it was absolutely hilarious to think of Kirstyn, our TOTAL city girl, pulling a stubborn steer across the yard and into the corral.  It stepped on her foot while she was trying to pull it around, and that hurt, but she’ll be OK.  Pretty funny, huh?  🙂

Today, Brittany threw a birthday party for herself!  She had about 15 friends over and they had a great time!  It’s great that she’s making some good friends out here.

They played all sorts of games (inside and out), and had a blast!  They ate cupcakes, drank pop, and opened presents!  We took lots of pictures of everyone who came so we could remind Brittany that she does have friends when she thinks she doesn’t!  🙂

Happy Birthday Brittany!  Big 17!

Today, after a day of cleaning house and shopping, Angela and I attended a housewarming party in Aurora for Matt Coupas and his family.  Matt is the local IT guy in the Denver office and I’ve worked with him for awhile now.  It was good to see him.  We were hoping that more of the work-at-home IT people would be there, but we were the only ones, so it’s good we went.  We had some great food and enjoyed visiting with some of their friends as well.

Tonight we were planning on going camping (Devil’s Head) and had everything packed and ready to go.  When we got in the van to leave, it wouldn’t turn over (hopefully battery and not alternator)!  What a bummer!  🙁  What’s crazy, is that it turned out for the best.  Right after that, it started to lightning, thunder, and rain.  We found out that a fire had been started by lightning right around the area we were going to go, so it was a good thing we weren’t up there!  🙂