Glenwood Springs & Aspen

We spent a weekend in Glenwood Springs and Aspen and had such a good time. I love these little getaways! We drove through Glenwood Caverns on the way in, and I am hoping we get to go hike it when we go back in a couple of weeks because it is so pretty! On our way to Glenwood Springs on Friday we stopped at a rest stop (for obvious reasons) and had this scenery to enjoy! This is the Colorado River, and it is at a 10 year high. In fact the rapids are pretty fierce, so you have to watch where you go white water rafting unless you are an expert. Don't you love the train in the background, too!

We spent Saturday morning at the Glenwood caverns. We took a cave tour, and they have other attractions up there as well. The alpine coaster was really cool! We had to bribe Ashlea to get on, and there was no getting Alysse on no matter what. Even Austin was a little reluctant, but after it was all said and done, he thought it was awesome. The view from the cavern park was amazing! Colorado is an "awe"some state because everytime you look around you are in awe.

This is the tram ride up to the caverns. Most people might think I would freak out on the tram, but I am more of a railing/edge scaredy cat than anything else.

One thing I will definitely miss when we leave Colorado is the mountains. They are gorgeous, and you just can't get enough pictures of them. Of course, no picture matches the majesty of them in person. Also, look at those beautiful kids!!!

This is the kids inside the cave on our tour. I like caves, and this one was pretty cool because the top part was dried out because the original owner left openings at both ends. The bottom part was the wet cave which is what you usually see when you go to caves. I guess I like caves because it was part of childhood for me. If there was a cave around on our vacations, we always went.



Saturday afternoon we spent at the Glenwood Hot Spring Pool. It was a blast! The water was nice and warm, and as you can tell we had a great time. I highly recommend going here if you are ever in the area.

One of James' favorite movies is Tombstone, and his favorite person to quote from the movie is Doc Holliday. So we could not miss out on the chance to see his grave!

On Saturday night we spent the night in Aspen and enjoyed the day on Sunday there. If you can get past the fact that it looks like my boob is squishing Alysse's face, you can see the ski slopes behind us. I have to say I wasn't impressed with the slopes in Aspen. I am used to seeing a lot more slopes, but James assures me that the slopes in Aspen are super cool because they are blacks, black diamonds, and whaterver else there is out there that is difficult in skiing. As you can tell, I am not a skiier. You will find me on the bunny slopes!

Austin took this picture, and I thought he did a great job! We stayed at the cutest hotel in Aspen. It was very Swiss Alpish!

I don't know anything about flora or fauna, but I thought these trees were beautiful. This is in downtown Aspen. We had a great time and enjoyed every bit of the gorgeous scenery!

Alysse's recital

Our beautiful Alysse is getting ready to go on stage as I am taking this picture. She did an awesome job! It was definitely worth the two and a half hour wait. That's right, she was at the very end of recital. I am so proud of her and am looking forward to next year's recital!

Not 1 but 2 graduations!

OK, I know we are behind the times, but I am trying to play catch up. Austin and Ashlea had their graduations on the same day, so we basically went from activity to the next that day. Austin started us off first with his 5th grade graduation. I admit I cried. I can't believe my baby will be off to middle school next year! The first picture is of Mr. Piper (our school principal) giving Austin his diploma, and the second picture is of Austin with his teacher, Miss Perreault. She is on a mission trip right now, and I can't wait to hear about it when I see her in the fall.Next, we were off to Alysse's class bazaar. Here she is at her booth selling her brownies and lemonade.

Finally, we had Ashlea's graduation from kindergarten. She was so proud of herself and told me all about what was going to happen so that I was sure not to miss anything! Mr. Piper read them a book. As you can see, he was quite the busy man as well that day.

Here he is handing Ashlea her diploma along with Mrs. Love, Ashlea's teacher.

These next two pictures are of Ashlea with her teacher, Mrs. Love and the para in her room, Mrs. Norris. Isn't Mrs. Love a great name for a kindergarten teacher? I will miss Ashlea being her in her class since she was an awesome teacher!


It was a great day for us proud parents!

James hits the big time!

James had an opportunity to bowl in the men's national tournament in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The family went to show support (even though we slept through his bowling since he started at 7 in the morning). While he bowled some of his highest scores, don't expect the PBA to be calling anytime soon. We are presently in a family league for fun and also for James to get in his games for next year's tournament in Vegas, baby! He's hoping to get his average up to about 185 and hit the 200 mark a few times. The kids' summer goal is to bowl a 100!