June 11-13, 2010: Grand Junction, CO

Our dear friends invited us for a weekend getaway to Grand Junction. They actually live near Aspen, but have a house in Grand Junction that serves as a perfect "mid-way" point for us to congregate for the weekend. It's about a five hour drive for us, so not terrible.

We took off Friday at around 1pm and arrived at 6pm just in time to all go out for some very yummy Mexican food. That restaurant is going to be a permanent fixture in our GJ weekends from now on. After dinner we came home and the kids ran around while we got their pop up tent trailer set up. Dave and the kids camped out in there, while Ginny and I had our own rooms in the house. Very decadent.

Our plan for Saturday was to sit in the yard all day long while the kids ran around in their swimsuits. Waking up to a constant drizzle changed those plans quickly. Instead, we headed to a movie for the afternoon. When we got out, there was a lull in the storms so the kids quickly got their swimming suits on. Ginny and I put Dave in charge and headed out the door to go shopping. I found some great, comfortable summer clothes at Kohl's. Not remotely stylish. I was just going for comfort for places like the splash park.

When we got back from shopping, Dave was prepping our grilled chicken. Bill was almost to GJ from Aspen and once he arrived we ate a fabulous dinner of grilled chicken, ramen noodle salad, green salad, corn, chips and salsa, and for dessert we lit a fire in the outdoor pit and roasted marshmallows. It was the perfect evening for a fire because it was rather cold.

Sunday morning we woke up and ate breakfast and then got ready to leave. After talking for a while, we finally headed out. It was a short vacation, but a nice break. Now we will tackle getting the house ready for our next house guest, who arrives on Friday.

Ginny and William (born the same day as Josh)

Bill snuggling with Clara - she fell asleep in his lap

William and Josh being silly

Josh on the slip and slide in about 55 degree weather

Clara freezing, but having fun anyway

Spring Break 2010: A Taste of Vacation

Jedi Josh - Battling the Empire

Island Park, Idaho

A few weeks ago we went up to Island Park, Idaho for a family gathering. We stayed in a cabin and this was the view from the deck. It was beautiful! We went to Big Springs, which is a clear water river that comes from some lake that was a volcano or something like that. I was clearly paying attention. It's beautiful and I would recommend it!

Clara holding her grandparents' hands while walking on the trail. Probably one of my favorite pictures of Josh right now. He's such a cute kid. Even when he isn't being one. One of those rare family pictures!
Ama Ancy and Papa Rick at Big Springs The next day we headed to Yellowstone where we were just in time (after lunch) to see Old Faithful blow. Those are people below. It's pretty big! Josh and Clara with Old Faithful in the background. Should have given them the lollipops after taking the picture, right? Part of the Grand Prismatic Spring. It's fantastic! I would love to go in a helicopter and fly over these pools of water. My sister, Carly, and her kids came up for the day to visit Yellowstone with us.
Sometimes they like each other.
Artists Paintpots. Jacuzzi anyone?
Another family picture! With the waterfall in the background that you can't see.
TaTonka
Beautiful Yellowstone Lake!

Downsized!

A few weeks ago I started working for a new company and quickly realized that it just wasn't what I wanted to be doing. I'm still working for my old company, but the bad economy has hit and so things have been slow. So today my company asked me to "take a vacation". No, I wasn't fired or laid off. It's basically a take it week by week to see if they have stuff for me to work on. They hired a new salesperson that needs to ramp up.

This comes at a perfect time. I have a zillion projects that have been on the back burner because I just haven't had the time to get them done. My house needs a major overhaul and I want to get rid of stuff that just isn't being used even with the best intentions. I need to gut the kids' closets so that they stop wearing too small clothing. I also need to get my kids away from the tv, and since it is warming up, now is the perfect time to do it. In fact, we are thinking of canceling our tv for the time being. We want to see if we can do it and see how much more gets done. There isn't anything good on in the summer anyway, and anything we want to watch can be seen on the internet.

So this morning I cleaned up the garage a little bit and pulled some early weeds. I put some stuff in the greenhouse. My kids are outside playing with the water table because it's 60 degrees out. I'm about to go out there and read a book while they play. I think I might like this vacation.