Vacation #2

*Program note - I got frustrated with editing so sorry about the inconsistency with spacing and font and whatever else.

More Vacation Pics

Hiking with Grandpa

Eating out some more!

"Racing" Grandma & Grandpa to Denver to have breakfast with Uncle Murray

Uncle Murray is Salyna's stepbrother who we hadn't seen in about 4 yrs! We enjoyed a couple hours of visiting... not long enough!

Finally... Salyna got another tattoo, yes, another tattoo. It is in memory of her mom... she loved dolphins and her favorite color was green (the eye of the dolphin)

Vacation

Our family was extremely blessed to be able to take a vacation to Breckenridge, Colorado last week. Before I go off into details let me back up a little bit...

Overlooking Breckenridge

On July 12 Davis headed for South Dakota with Grandpa and Grandma (Salyna's dad & stepmom). He had a fun week of playing in the dirt, fishing, spending some time with his cousin, and just having a little vacation of his own, away from the rest of us!

Davis leaving for his vacation

Then on the 17th the rest of us headed for Alamosa, CO... where Miles' mom & stepdad live. We spent a relaxing night and morning there before heading to Breckenridge on the 18th where we stayed for a whole week! Davis and Grandpa and Grandma joined us the 22nd-25th... then it was Sydni's turn to go to South Dakota!

This is the view we had of Lincoln... he did great traveling!

This is the view we had for most of the trip to CO... not our favorite!

Now this view is a little better... near Alamosa.

Who had more fun, Lincoln or Grandma Cookie?

Andrew riding with Grandpa Don. Another good-bye

This was our first "real" vacation in over 3 yrs... by "real" I mean, not visiting family for a holiday or funeral. We had a lot of time to relax and just enjoy being together. Of course we did some fun stuff too... Sydni & Salyna went horseback riding, we took a couple scenic drives through the mountains, played at the park, walked downtown, enjoyed different restaurants, and did just a little shopping.

Sydni's 1st beer... root beer!

The river through townSydni said, "I've been waiting my whole life to ride a horse!"

Mom said, "Are we done yet? I need the hot tub!"

Beautiful wildflowers are everywhere! An old abandoned mine site/town we found on one of our drives.

The condo where we stayed had a beautiful view with a nice deck and hot tub... which we also enjoyed very much!!!

The most important part was that we were able to refocus on the Lord and the work He has for us. We had lost some of our passion as we got overwhelmed with work and with all the things that have taken place over the last year or so. God is gracious and SO good!

This afternoon we were in the hot tub and it rained on us, after getting out we saw this double rainbow

LOTS of pictures...

Chipmunks everywhere too... this one played hide and seek with the kids

After a long day

Another beautiful drive!This is Sydni's "Old Navy Manequin Pose"

Now this is our idea of vacation!!!

Lots more pics to follow in post Vacation #2

Family, Friends, Frogs, Fireflies, Fellowship, Fireworks = FUN

Our summer continues...

Grandma Cookie and Grandpa Don (Miles' mom and stepdad) came to visit for a few days. This was the first time they met Andrew and Lincoln. And it was the first time that they really got to bond with Syd and Davis.

While Sydni and Grandma had some girly time together, Davis and Grandpa did some boy bonding (that is where the frogs part of the title comes from).
We went to the zoo of course, Lincoln's 3rd time already!
Oh yeah, and after the last blog about Lincoln's sleeping habits he changed... he now sleeps in his crib for naps too!


We spent time playing games, shopping, playing and exploring outside, & catching fireflies. We had a great visit and look forward to more of them since Mom & Don now live only 8 hrs away!!
On July 3rd, after grandma and grandpa left, we didn't slow down. It was the annual WI drive-in night and the celebration of 3 birthdays. We all crashed about 11:30pm and headed home to our beds to rest before another busy day!
4th of July was great fun for the whole family. Our friend Ms. Pat came over for dinner... BBQ!


Then of course came the fireworks. Some friends who are missionaries with WI came to join in the fun, Ryan, Amber, & Ben (who is one month younger than Lincoln), and they brought Amber's sister and mom with them.
Miles and Ryan couldn't wait for it to get dark - they thoroughly enjoyed their "manly" (not to mention loud) fireworks!

Left: Amber's sister holding Amber's baby, Ben-jammin Right:Amber holding Lincoln
Sydni holding Ben! She loves all the babies around WI!


This is a picture taken after Miles lit a firework and said "RUN!"
Some other WI staff joined us but it was already too dark for pictures. What a great time of fun and fellowship!