Dear Denver, I Like You!

I was home from Wyoming for only a week and a half before venturing onto my next destination. Denver, CO. My cousin Matt and his wife, Alex, were having an open house and vow ceremony to celebrate their wedding that had actually occurred year ago. The actual wedding was very small and intimate and held in Oregon on Alex's family's property. Only a handful of family and friends were able to go so they held this open house as a way for everyone to come and celebrate. The trip was originally going to be Wes and me with little E in the back seat once again and we were going to just follow my parents in their car. Wes decided to stay home with E at the last minute, my sister, Colett, decided she wanted to go too so it ended up that she and I just rode with my parents. I was really sad at first to not have my hubby and boy with me. I really wanted Wes to see Colorado and be able to go on another vacation with each other. But then reality set in and I thought of how great it was all going to be! No pushing a stroller everywhere, no one to get bored and annoyed while I shopped for 8 hours, no one to run around and have to be chased down the aisles at the Rockies game, no one to worry about what to eat for lunch because an ice cream cone for lunch just isn't sufficient enough! It was awesome!

No offense boys, I love you, but this was a great trip without you!

Our first stop was the Main Street Cafe in Grand Junction. It is a classic all American diner with the usual menu items and it's decorated in vintage memorabilia. The food was delicious! 

The city has several large sculptures and art pieces throughout the streets and this one caught my sister's attention! Her climbing on it and riding it caught mine! Yee-Haw Lett! 

Next stop: Vail. What do you do when on vacation in one of the most beautiful towns in the Rocky Mountains? You find a lot of photo ops! Cheeeeeese!

My father and mother. They kind of felt like the hosts of the party while my sister and I were like the hired entertainment. 

A river runs through it. When your child or husband isn't with you on vacation, you end up getting a lot of pictures taken of yourself! 

Vail. You rock.

Me and my sis.

I wish this was my view when I looked out my window. But, no. 

The next day my dad and uncle went golfing and the girl's had a great day without them! We used my parent's GPS (aka Lulu) to navigate us though the city to all our shopping destinations! We spent the day shopping and touring the city waiting for my dad to meet up with us. It was so much fun and I am really glad that both my mom and sister love to shop as much as I do! We wore ourselves out!

We stopped at a cute little cafe and ate homemade ice cream. I got the salty caramel! Oh my! It was heaven on earth and I have been craving it ever since!

We finally met up with my dad and he took us all to a Rockies game that night. Our tickets may not have been the best, but the people watching and the mass amounts of food my dad bought for us was fantastic! In this picture my dad is saying, "Eat your heart out, Wes!' Seriously, he is! 

Coors Stadium.

The players entering the field. Notice the fountains in the back. They shoot off whenever something exciting happens. The Rockies were playing the Milwaukee Brewers and were down quite a bit by the 7th inning so we decided to leave. Just so happens that right when we left, things got real exciting and the Rockies were able to pull ahead and win the game. We could hear the fans screaming as we walked down the street to the car! 

Looking back at the stadium and wondering what all the cheering is for! 

City of Denver. It is huge!

We walked around downtown on 16th street. We caught this guy playing his electric guitar in the alley. Way cool! 

The next day we headed into Boulder where the reception was being held and where we planned to stay the night. Boulder is a big college town and it was back to school season so there were a lot of people in town. Boulder is very "earth friendly" and it was interesting place, to say the least.

There is a large promenade that is open only to pedestrians. There are street performers on every corner and we watched (and listened. yawn.) to this guy for awhile. Stop talking and do your thing Mr. Really Tall Unicycle Guy! 

We hit the city's Saturday Farmer's Market. If you like lactose and gluten, this is not the place for you! If you like over the top all natural, organic and allergy free everything, this is the place for you. What I found really interesting is that everyone was so concerned with eating healthy, but the town is notorious for it's large consumption of alcohol (think Coors) and EVERYONE there smokes - tobacco and weed. Hmmm? I think I'll have that Duncan Hines made-from-a-box brownie with a tall glass of whole milk, please!

That evening we went to Matt and Alex's party. It was held at a little farm just outside of town and it was gorgeous! They used the produce from the farm to make the food that was served at the reception. Everything was delicious! Favorite tasty treat of the evening, SALTY CARAMEL cupcakes! How did they know I needed one of those?!

That evening we retired to our hotel room and hit the hay. We knew we had a long drive ahead of us in the morning.

We didn't make as many stops on the way home since he hit everything on the way there, but we did go into the gas station to pick up a few lottery tickets. The Denver Lottery jackpoct was up to almost 80 million! No such luck for me, though! It just wasn't my day to be rich, I guess! 

Thanks mom and dad for toting me along! You guys are great tour guides and I hope I get to vacation with you again someday! 

Family Vacation 2010 - Part 3

The final photo chapter of the trip! I am really glad to get this whole catching up thing over with so that I can move onto things that are a little more current! The last leg of the trip was incredibly relaxing! There were a few days that we had to fill between the Pioneer Day celebration and the family reunion on my father's side. The reunion was held in the mountains just a few miles from my mother's side of the family. We got the whole gamut of family fun in on this trip! 

One day we drove to a place that has a whole cliffside covered in pictographs. I had never seen any before so it was really interesting. 

Here are my mother's parents in the visitor center.

A very small sample of what was written on the walls of this rock. It is unfortunate that parts of the wall have been vandalized. Stupid teenagers.

Me and my boy hiking and trying to stay cool in the 100+ degree temps. Oh my gosh, it was hot that day!

My grandfather, a bear hugger, a Patriarch and temple sealer. He is an incredible man and I love this picture of him.

I think this picture says, "We ate so much buffalo, all our bellies are bulging".

I love this little guy! He is my very best buddy!

The next day we went up to the Big Horn Mountains to scope out the site for the reunion. We had a picnic and did some great sightseeing. Emerson is a true mountain man! He was such a rock star and loved being up there!

Make a wish! Emerson doesn't quite grasp the concept of blowing and just makes a "ttthhhffff" sound. Daddy had to step in and help out!

The beautiful scenery of the Big Horn's.

Boyd's Ridge. A favorite lookout and the place where my father wants his ashes to be scattered someday. The camera doesn't do it justice. It honestly takes your breath away when you step out onto the ledge and see it all. 

Emerson was quite scared being up here. He didn't want any part of it. My mom held him and took him to the car so he wouldn't be afraid anymore. Then he cried when he thought about Wes and me still at the overlook and told my mom to go and get us and tell us to get back because it was too scary. He didn't want us up there either. He is too cute!

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Wes acting insane! 

The men got some good fly fishing in on this trip. My dad gearing up for a cast. The fly fishing is really good here!

The next day we drove back up the mountain to the reunion. It was such a beautiful location!

It was really great to see so many family members again! Some of which I have not seen (or met!) in over 20 years! Am I that old?

The men got the horse shoe pits ready for some serious competition!

My cousin Matt grilling up some good grub.

A volleyball game in the mountains has been a tradition in the family. There is a lot of trash talking that goes on in these games. It used to be that I would sit and watch all the adults play. Now I am one of them and the oldies sit on the sidelines and cheer us on!

The river runs through it. Literally. This was right next to our reunion site!

Wes showed Emerson how to roast a marshmallow. He liked the fire more than the marshmallow. Just like his old man!

The ride home went smoothly and effortless! Little E was worn out and took a few naps between Little Einstein and Toy Story videos.

It is hard to believe that it is all over! We had looked forward to that trip for SEVERAL months, planning and deciding where were going to go, stay and do. We are already planning next year's trip and I can't wait! 

Family Vacation 2010 - Part 2

After we left Cody, WY, we went straight west to the small town of Cowley where my grandparents and many other family members live. It is also referred to as "home" by my mother. I love this small little town so much I can't even begin to put it into words. I beg Wes on a near weekly bases to buy me a vacation home there. There is just something about this town that makes you feel so at home and so at peace. I have a thing for small towns, but this one holds a very dear place in my heart! Do you want to know a cool tidbit about the town? Cowley was established and settled by Mormon pioneers under the direction of Brigham Young. It was named after Matthias F. Cowley who was an apostle at the time of it's settlement. When Matthias came to dedicate the town he offered a prayer upon it. In his prayer he stated that all children who were raised in this town will be blessed and bestowed with a great talent in music. - It is true folks. The residents of this town, past and present, bear more musical talent than you could even dream! Because of it's rich Mormon heritage, they too celebrate Pioneer Day, just as Utah does. It is a great excuse for family and friends from all over the country to travel there and reunite. Hence our journey.

The water tower that sits in the center of the town's park.

The town's population grows from just under 600 to several thousand in a matter of 2 days. It's pretty incredible!  Many people still refer to it's Pioneer Day as "Cowley Days or Cowley's Day" but it is not very P.C. to do so since several of the surrounding towns all come to participate as they were settled by pioneer as well. Don't make the mistake. Especially if someone from Byron (major rival!) is around! 

Wes giving E his breakfast

This town's parade is not complete without these ladies!

Can you can can can?

After the parade all the grandkids dumped out their bags of candy on my grandparents table and had a 

sugarfest, which will be pleasing to many dentist's pocketbooks in the near future!

The weekend was full of entertainment, BBQ's and games held in the town's park. We were fed quite well and it was nice to not have to worry about what we were going to cook each night! Sometimes the food was even free!  

After the celebrating comes to an end, there was a lot of down time during the week to just relax, take long walks through the town and sit on the porch.

These Tiger Lilies have been coming up every Spring in the front of my grandparent's house for over 60 years. 

There are days where I long to be in this exact spot. I get homesick for it and it makes my gut ache. The front porch is one of most favorite places to be and where I spent many hours during this trip. 

 I don't know if you know this, but Wyoming has some serious fireworks at a really good price. We took full advantage of it. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Utah! 

Here is the view from my father's cousin's back yard. We stayed with him while we were there. He is like an uncle so I just call him Uncle Wilford instead of 2nd cousin Wilford. I think it's weird calling people "cousin" when they are 35 years older than me. Uncle Wilford owns a very large ranch and is surrounded by nothing but his crops in the fields and large cottonwood trees. Do you know how wonderful it is to leave your bedroom window open at night to feel the crisp air come in and hear NOTHING outside!?

We took Emerson to the park every night during the week, either before or after our walks through the town. 

I may have participated in some of the fun. 

To be continued. Again......