Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park

This year for spring break Dustin wanted to go to Colorado to see Danielle and our friends.  We had originally planned to visit some National Parks during spring break so we just changed the parks we visited.  We were able to visit 4 national parks.

After spending a couple of days with our dear friends the Padilla's we headed up to Estes Park.  Dustin was able to score us a REALLY good deal at the Historic Crags Lodge.  We were unable to check into our room when we got to Estes, so we drove around Rocky Mountain National Park.  We took routes that neither Dustin nor I had ever been on.  We were able to reminisce about our snowshoeing and hiking adventures of days long ago.  The boys were asleep in the back seat this whole time.  It was snowing while we were in the park.  We of course stopped at the visitor's center to get our cancellation.  We checked out the gift shop and picked up a couple of things.
When we were done at the park we headed back to Crags Lodge to check in.  It was a nice little space.  It had a living room area where the couch pulled out to a bed, window seat, a kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom.  The boys LOVED having the space to move around in and thought it was fun to run through all the doors.  Dustin ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things for us to make dinner for the night and  breakfast and lunch for the next day.
The next day we went back to RMNP to do a little hiking.  We hadn't brought our snowshoes and seeing all the snow David was concerned that we wouldn't be able to do any hiking.  However, knowing the park as we did we knew that we wouldn't need our snowshoes.  The trails are so popular they get pretty packed down rendering snowshoes pointless unless you are exploring on your own.  We had a great time and although we didn't do the trail we though we were going to we enjoyed the beauty of the park.

My boys in the snowy mountains!

1st Birthday

Matthew turned 1 on February 22nd.  I was able to have my friend Kelly take some amazing 1 year old pictures of him.  Here are some of our favorites.

Valentine's Day

We did normal Valentine's Day things here.  We do have a countdown to Valentine's Day complete with valentine's related activities.  David really enjoyed it and next year I will have to come up with new activities to keep it exciting.
This is the Valentine I made for Dustin.

Some friends of our brought over Red Velvet cupcakes, which are David's favorite.  I had put them on the table to be ready for dinner when Dustin got home.  I put them on the table and continued to watch the news until Dustin got home.  Little Mister Matthew had other ideas.

David was really sad and worried about Matthew getting into the cupcakes.  Mostly David was upset that Matthew got one before dinner and he didn't.

Cold Snowy Days

Oh what do you do in the wintertime when all the world is white?

Do you sled down a hill or drink hot cocoa and watch the white world outside?  

Is that what you do?  So do I!

Oh what do you do in the wintertime when all the world is white?

Do you wrestle with Dad or snuggle with him and watch movies on TV?

Is that what you do?  So do I!

Matthew dressed in David's hand-me-down snow gear.  It's all a little big but he'll be able to wear it again next year!

David and Tanner sledding down Bartz Hill - it's a VERY good sledding hill.  I took them everyday that week as long as it wasn't snowing when it was time to go.

 

My three boys.  Matthew LOVES soft fuzzy blankets.  David LOVES snuggling with his dad.  Dustin likes to sleep but that's not going to happen when two little boys are snuggling and watching a movie with him!

January 17, 2011

Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We headed down to Salt Lake City to do some exploring.
Dustin & I decided that we would go to Clark Planetarium.  It was free to get in and explore since we decided not to do any of their special shows.  David enjoyed reading about the planets and Matthew enjoyed walking on the moon.

***These pictures were taken with the camera on my phone.  We had left the camera at home.***

After the planetarium we explored the stores at The Gateway.  We enjoyed walking the streets, browsing through stores and ending the night with pizza from California Pizza Kitchen.

It was a fun way for us to spend the day together as a family and explore something new.

Date Night: Long Distance Love Poems

Our thirtieth date

May 27, 2011

I was in charge.

Dustin is away in Washington working.  The boys and I will meet him there in June.  For now we are a long distance away.  Luckily we have phones and skype.  Oh, I don't know if I would have agreed to being apart for a month without skype.  Anyway we set a time for a skype date tonight and I found a site that would allow us to make up love poems madlib style.  We had a great time.  There were only 2 poems that would generate but we had a good time anyway.

Poem #1

Once More, My Love

This night I shall dream of your bedazzling GREEN hair and LEOPARD-eyes.

Wrapped in echoes of your mellifluous ARM-music,

I long to sip from your KIWIful lips.

In my dreams, we fly on the exquisite winged CARROT of ORANGEness-

skimming vast continents of LEGS and MONKEYS.

The depths of all the oceans of the universe shall never separate our BANANAS.

Brilliant as THROWING TABLES, the seas greet us from afar.

In the twilight we feast on chocolate-coated CATS and tender TREEhearts of love.

Adorned in white silk, we pluck our RUMBLING love chimes from our NOSES.

I press the CAR that you wear around your neck against my LEG-muffin

so that our KIWIs melt into one.

Poem #2

My Love

Your skin glows like the APPLE blossoms JUMPING as the HIBISCUS in the purest hope of spring.

My heart follows your FLUTE voice and leaps like a ALLIGATOR at the whisper of your name.  

The evening floats in on a great PARROT wing.

I am comforted by your SWEATER that I carry into the twilight of BOOKbeams and hold next to my FINGER.

I am filled with hope that I may dry your tears of MILK.

As my FOOT falls from my WIMPLE, it reminds me of your  CHAIR.

In the quiet, I listen for the last CRASHING of the day.

My heated THUMB leaps to my TIE. 

I wait in the moonlight for your secret magnificient purple and mystical TELEPHONE of love.

The all-caps words are the ones we chose.  We had a great time and it was fun to laugh making up poems mad lib style.