Friday, July 26, 2013

Getting High!

Colorado, Rocky Mountain High, that is! :) 
John's Sister Pat moved to Durango, Co. almost a year ago. 
John helped her move there, but the rest of us had never been there. 
And we were in for a real treat!
Take a look . . .

Around the Animas River:
The girls & I

Cute Cousins!

Don't forget to Look Up! 

 And once in awhile it pays to look down. 

 Sisters Hanging Loose! 

Me & my Love!

 
 Daddy & Daughters making music on giant Xylophones in the park! 

 
 Once a Band Geek, always a Band Geek!

 
 Pat putting her feet in.

 Austin is King of the World! (Or at least the River)

 
Erica found a perfect Triangle rock. 
Did she keep it, or skip it? ;)

 Lovely Lexi!

Brother & Sisterly Love!


Doing Durango:
 Downtown!

Horsing around!

Visiting Pat's neighbors horses.

Making Friends. 

Love!

 Us!

Lexi with the Bees at Honeyville in honor of her favorite book:
The Secret Life Of Bees!

Cute Crepe Cart in Downtown!

 
 Breakfast outside

 
Lovely little town! 


Durango And Silverton Small Gage Railroad Museum:
 There's some really cool stuff in here! 

 "I think I can, I think I can!"

All aboard! 

"Play us a song, you're the Piano Man"

Cute Caboose! ;)

 "Lean on me, when your not strong.
I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on.
For it won't be long, till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on."



Adventures in Purgatory:
 Yes, we were in Purgatory.

Austin & Erica on the Chair lift

It's Beautiful at the top!

Pat and her Men; BF Steve and Grandson Austin

 
I don't know why so many people are afraid of going to Purgatory,
It's Beautiful here! :)

I'm on the top of the world looking down on creation . . .

 Getting ready for the Bungee Trampoline!

 Erica's up first

 Here we go!

 Flipping out! 

 Lexi's turn. 

 There was no way, she was gonna try a flip. 

 No, it's not Superman, it's Austin!

 Music in the Mountains
with my Music Man!

 Austin on the Alpine Slide!

Erica racing to the bottom!

Lexi, Last but not Least!

 Water Runner with Erica

 I think Austin won this battle!

 Oh yeah!

Bubble Trouble!



Biker Babes:
 Steve about to give Erica her first Harley Ride!
A retired Police Sergent, who's been riding since
he was younger than she is now.
Who's expertise would soon be put to the test.

 Little did we know what was about to happen . . .
 It started with some rain and Luckily my little girl loves the rain!
Erica had all her hair up in a bun, 
which kept the smaller helmet from fitting her head, 
so Steve gave up his helmet for her.

But it didn't stop with rain, it turned into a Downpour and HAIL!
Mom and Dad were scared to death! Thankfully she wasn't.

Even though she said the Hail hurt,
when they got off the Bike Steve told us:
You're gonna have to watch out for this one; she's loving this! 
So she now has new rules:
She can NEVER date a boy with a Motorcycle, fast car, 
or any dare devil tendencies what so ever! 
I told Steve & Erica now they can say
They've been to Purgatory & they had to go through Hail to get out! :) 

Lexi getting ready for her turn on the bike.

Now that Steve's head is dented from the Hail, 
guess we'll let him wear a helmet this time! :0
Lexi loved it too! I think we've created Monsters!

Austin got to go too!
And loved it just as much as the girls.



Silverton:
 This town is just so Adorable! 
So Quaint!

We ate at a place called Handlebars!

 So cute & such Amazing food.
Or maybe after Erica & Steve's wild ride, 
we were just so happy to have made it there alive
it tasted so good!

The rain left some Beautiful Waterfalls behind!

 It's the ripple effect!



Vallecito Lake:
 TOEtally Gorgeous! ;)

 Lexi, Austin and Eri taking it all in!

 John and I enjoying the view!

 
 A storm moving in over the lake.
God is pretty Awesome if I do say so myself!

It was hard to have to leave such a Beautiful place.
But Durango left it's mark on each of us!
Forever in our hearts.


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The Family That Vacations Together . . .

One of my Favorite things in life is Family Vacations! I just Love getting away from it all with the people I love more than anything! Making new Memories! And finding new Adventures! But, now that my Boys are older & have Jobs & Lives of their own, they couldn't go with us this year. (Who told them they could Grow Up? It certainly wasn't me!)


This summer after their Graduation, Zach & his best friend Jordan took a trip to Cedar Point in Ohio. One of the top amusement parks in the world. They had a great time celebrating all their hard work on their way to their Associates Degrees!



And Kyle is going this week to San Diego with some Friends as well. But it's getting harder & harder to all go on Vacation together! Two years ago Kyle didn't get to go with us when we went to see Zach at Mt. Rainier & Visit Seattle. But this is the first time Zach hasn't been able to go.



The night before we left for Vacation, Zach had to work late & we were already in bed when he got home since we had to get up really early the next morning. But, I found a note he left on my Suitcase. It brought tears to this Mother's eyes. It read: 

I realized that this is the first family vacation that I will miss 
and it is so very sad.
It made me think how in just a few years I'll be moving out 
and starting my own family
And I only wish it's half as good as this one.
You are amazing parents, 
Thank you for all you have done
and for this incredible family I'm blessed to be a part of 
and don't want to leave.
I love you mom and dad have a great vacation. 


All my kids are car sleepers, since they were little! Especially on Road Trips! :) Every time we take a trip, we see if we can see License plates from all 50 states! I think on this trip we got them all but like 8 states! That's pretty good, considering this was a pretty short trip! I've also Blogged about tips for traveling with small children. See it here.



 A funny thing that happened on this trip was we walked into a Truck Stop, while John was gassing up the car, & Erica squealed "Oh look, it's one of those kinds of phones! Take my Picture!" Then I started singing Maroon 5's song: I'm on a Pay Phone, trying to call home. All of my change I've spent on you! :) Yeah, we can always laugh at ourselves!

 

Our little dog Tinkerbell stayed home with the boys. We left early Monday morning & she didn't  eat much of anything all week. I guess she was just too grief stricken we had left! So on Wednesday afternoon we Skyped with her & told her to eat! And then they were able to get her to eat a little! :) Just one more benefit of modern technology! :)


We had a great time! I'll be sharing some of the Amazing things we did in upcoming posts. But wanted to just remind us all that you don't have to spend an obscene amount of money & go on big fancy vacations, we never have. But what really matters the most is just being together! Having fun & making Memories. I'm so thankful for my family & all the times we've had together, and will continue to have together.



Thursday, July 11, 2013

23 Years!


23 years ago today I gave birth for the first time,
and became a Parent! 

Happy Birthday to my Baby Boy
Kyle Micah Forbis
I Love You!

Yikes! 
Where has the time gone! :) 

What an Incredible Man you have turned out to be! 
Happy Birthday!