Fun with My Sister and Her Kids

My sister Carla came out from Utah a couple of weeks ago and brought her four kids and two dogs to visit. We had a lot of fun visiting Rocky Mountain National Park. We went on a hike, did a little scrambling on some rocks and then went to Estes Park and had some delicious pizza!

We also went on a bike ride around Macintosh Lake in Longmont with the whole family and couple of the kids friends. Note the gigantic pile of bikes in the back of Jim's truck!

We also spent a day at the Butterfly Pavillion where the kids got to hold a giant tarantula, checked out all kinds of bugs, and a beautiful butterfly landed on Becca.

The girls helped me make bread for dinner one night. We pretty much covered the whole kitchen with flour but they had fun and the bread tasted great! We also went climbing at the indoor climbing gym where Sara amazed us all by turning into an amazing little climber. By the end of the afternoon she was climbing like a pro! It was a wonderful visit. We miss the Stone family!

Anniversary in Pagosa Springs, Colorado

This past weekend was our 10th wedding anniversary! WOW - Ten years of wedded bliss! Jim and I went to Pagosa Springs, Colorado for the weekend and had a wonderful time riding our mountain bikes, eating great food, and of course, soaking in the famous hot springs. Unfortunately we didn't take very many good pictures but we did have a wonderful time. Here is to another 10 years!

My Strange Looking Family Members

Here are some photos that my friend Lauri took. Nick thought it would be fun to have these on our new family blog! Some of these are pretty freaky looking!

Climbing My First Two Fourteeners

Colorado has 56 mountain peaks with an elevation over 14,000 feet. When you climb these it is called a "Fourteener". I explain this because it had to be explained to me when we moved to Colorado. In September I was able to conquer my first "fourteener"! In fact I climbed two in one day. That isn't such a remarkable feat like it sounds as the two peaks were right next to each other, but it was exciting to accomplish two in one day.

With my new good friend and climbing buddy, Laurie Normandeau, and her fiance, Jim, we climbed Gray's (14,270) and Torrey's (14,267) one beautiful Sunday in September. It was pleasantly brisk on the way up and actually quite cold at the top. The wind was howling and the air was thin but it was a wonderful day standing on top of the world! Thanks to my new friends for letting me go along on this adventure.

Only 54 more to go!

Jim and Diane Hiking the Subway

Jim and I hiked the Subway in Zion National Park last month. The weather was perfect, the water was cold, and the scenery breathtaking! We started bright and early and finished in the dark, which is pretty normal for some of our hikes. The group included my sister Carla and her son, Nathan, my brother Brad and his wife Laurie and their two kids, Kala and Zack, and my daughter-in-law Jodie. Kameron was not able to go on this trip and we really missed having him along.

After a good hike and some scrambling and downclimbing we had to climb through a hole in the rock to get to the canyon floor. Once down in the canyon we downclimbed over boulders, did a little rapelling and a fair amount of swimming through some bitterly cold water. Then we were rewarded with walking through the actual "subway" portion of the hike.

The day was an absolutely wonderful experience. It is so beautiful in the canyon and it was so much fun to be there with Jim. We can't wait till next year to explore some other wonders in Zion National Park. Thanks to everyone in our group!