Colorado, Part 3

Part 3 will show the following adventures:

Biking 14 miles down through the mountains

Hiking an unexpectedly long time and reaching a gorgeous waterfall

A hike with just the three of us around our "neighborhood"

Gwen was practicing her "bunny hat" in the van on the way UP the mountain

I love the view of Willa in this picture :)

The girls on their first bike ride together.  They did great!

It was SO beautiful!  We rode beside a creek on the left which offered a lovely natural soundtrack.

Ivy with the beloved Elmo book

Check out those cool pink corduroys!

In constant motion...  This is running around Copper Mountain where we stopped for a picnic lunch

And back on the bikes!
(Bert most definitely did all the picture-taking.  My hands were white-knuckled on my bike.  It's not my most comfortable or confident activity.  But I still had fun!)

This is me being sanctified.  God was working on some ugly anger and impatience in my heart while I sat by this stunning vista.  Kinda wish I could've skipped this picture, but might as well be real about my life.  I am deeply flawed.  And God still lets me be Gwen's mom and sit by mountains.  Lots of grace, folks!

This is the boys showing how tired we felt after the bike ride!

Bert stayed around Frisco after the bike ride and went disc golfing with Ryan, Ben and Miles

Then we went HIKING!  This was the set up for Bert and Gwen

Love this group of adventurers!

Crossing the treacherous river

Always uphill

Jonah checking out the crystal-clear river

Me with Willa, the rock star. This was not an easy hike!

 

Happy to finally reach a waterfall at the end! This was only the bottom section of a huge series of falls

We were around 12,000 ft here, huffing and puffing like crazy and wishing we'd brought water and snacks!

Here's us three on a walk in our neighborhood

Colorado, Part 2

Here's where all the fun stuff happened, just outside of Breckenridge

A quiet moment inside the house,
there's a view of Quandary Mountain's peak through the top window from the right angle

Took this photo the morning we left and it looks so sad and empty to me

Can you tell we had a big bedroom?  Holy cow.
Gwen slept in the tent that's beside the bed.  She kept waking up every time the covers moved and waking up way to early in the morning, so we stuck her in the laundry room or bathroom some nights.

We were all so excited to be together, as you can see in Ivy's face :)

Lots of cribbage was played at this table, even by ME!
I've always refused to learn because the math aspect was intimidating and the rules seemed complicated. But I was able to make it work with counting on my fingers and loved the challenge of the game.  I like doing things I never thought I could do!

Another sweet smile from Ivy

Making Mediterranean Pita Pizzas for dinner, one of our new favorite recipes!
(It's not about the glamour :))

This HORRIBLE puzzle was missing over 50 pieces, yet a faithful few worked on it until the end.
I was NOT one of them.  I believe in puzzles that have all their pieces.

Got a lot of use out of our cling-on highchair on vacation!

So fun to share meals all together like it was no big deal

Just me.  Hi!

Colorado, Part 1

Gwen and Ivy at the airport

They were very excited to see each other

Jordan and Manda, our kind hosts

Old roommates

 Gwen has a couple facial expressions that she does for fun, almost every night.

Here are a few photos to remember them by...

the fishy face

Pancake Breakfast

Jordan and Gwen play with the stuffed cheetah, which Gwen affectionately called "kitty"

Bring on the altitude!

A beautiful hike with sun-baked pine needles, wild sage, and crunchy gravel

Driving from Longmont to Breckenridge

The strangely small windows of our rental car, and a good-looking driver

Mountain passes here we come!