Friday, December 28, 2007

Day 12 Christmas

Day 12
"On the tweleth day of Christmas my three men gave to me, twelve days of "forever memories", eleven runs on the bunny hill, ten scary mountain passes, nine dollars to visit Four Corners, eight sandstone hoodoos, seven amazing vistas, six petrified wood chips, five Indian dwellings, four yummy tacos, three spinning windmills, two fighting boys, and an exciting road trip for our family."

On Christmas we were in Colorado Springs. We took the kids to Garden of the Gods where we climbed on the rocks. Later that evening we went over to a friend's house (Sarah, it was so nice seeing you and your family).

THE END

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Day 11

"On the eleventh day of Christmas my three men gave to me, eleven runs on the bunny hill, ten scary mountain passes, nine dollars to visit Four Corners, eight sandstone hoodoos, seven amazing vistas, six petrified wood chips, five Indian dwellings, four yummy tacos, three spinning windmills, two fighting boys, and an exciting road trip for our family..."
Monday the 24th we went skiing at Monarch. It was awesome! I was amazed at the price of it too. Daniel with the lift ticket, skis, and helmet was $5 total and Ethan was $20. I thought that it would cost a lot more. They picked it up quite quickly. By the end of the day they looked pretty good.


John and I didn't get to ski alone too much --- we both got an hour each. It was so nice though. Just looking at the peaks surrounding us was worth it. The runs were long, wide, and powdery--in other words, everything that North Carolina skiing is not! =)
SORRY!!! NO PICS!!!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Day 10

"On the tenth day of Christmas my three men gave to me, ten scary mountain passes, nine dollars to visit Four Corners, eight sandstone hoodoos, seven amazing vistas, six petrified wood chips, five Indian dwellings, four yummy tacos, three spinning windmills, two fighting boys, and an exciting road trip for our family..."

Okay so there weren't exactly ten mountain passes, but they sure were scary! We drove from Durango, Co to Gunnison and the whole way was mountainous. There were restrictions on 2/3 of the passes making chains or 4wd mandatory. Red Mountain Pass was the scariest. It is a two lane road with a steep 1,000 foot drop off the side and no guard rails. The road was covered with packed snow and ice. Let me tell you, that is NOT a good combination. However, obviously, we made it safely to Gunnison, CO on Sunday night.

On our way to Gunnison we stopped at Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP. The pictures don't show how dramatic it was. It was beautiful.

In Gunnison we took the kids ice skating! It was so cool. We skated on a pond for a couple hours that night. The kids were really good at it. They ended up playing tag with 5 or so kids that were there. I, on the other hand, had only been ice skating twice before this. I did just fine, but I am sure that it was pretty ugly! In my defense, John's skating was pretty ugly too. =) I thought that it was really cool that you can skate for free though and skate rentals were only $3 for as long as you wanted.

This is a herd of elk that we saw off the side of the road.




Monday, December 24, 2007

Day 9



"On the ninth day of Christmas my three men gave to me, nine dollars to visit Four Corners, eight sandstone hoodoos, seven amazing vistas, six petrified wood chips, five Indian dwellings, four yummy tacos, three spinning windmills, two fighting boys, and an exciting road trip for our family..."



Saturday we visited Capitol Reef NP, Glen Canyon, Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah, and Four Corners. The drive from Capitol Reef NP to Four Corners was amazing. The pictures with the overlooks and also the pictures with the red sandstone in the foreground and the white capped mountians in the background are from the drive.



Saturday, December 22, 2007

Day 8


"On the eighth day of Christmas my three men gave to me, eight sandstone hoodoos, seven amazing vistas, six petrified wood chips, five Indian dwellings, four yummy tacos, three spinning windmills, two fighting boys, and an exciting road trip for our family..."

Friday we went to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Zion was pretty, but Bryce was the coolest place ever!!! At BNP we took a snow covered trail down into the canyon past tall rock towers that are called hoodoos. The view was indescribable. The pictures don't really do it justice but hopefully you will see at least a glimmer of the beauty that we got to experience.
Zion NP






Bryce Canyon NP









Friday, December 21, 2007

Day 7

"On the seventh day of Christmas my three men gave to me, seven amazing vistas, six petrified wood chips, five Indian dwellings, four yummy tacos, three spinning windmills, two fighting boys, and an exciting road trip for our family..."

Thursday we went to the Grand Canyon. The views were beautiful.





















Day 6

"On the sixth day of Christmas my three men gave to me, six petrified wood chips, five Indian dwellings, four yummy tacos, three spinning windmills, two fighting boys, and an exciting road trip for our family..."
Wednesday we visited the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.

















Fire Station Field Trip

Fire Station Field Trip

Bat Man

Dakota aka "Dog"

Mr. Man