WALL FAMILY

We went to Monster Jam on a recent trip to see Jordan and our family.  The kids loved it!  It was so so loud but fun to see! Everyone had their own favorite. Everyone went in already wanting to see grave digger, who is very popular but he broke down very early in the show.  Rylee liked the Mohawk truck and I think Kirk and Dylan both liked the dog one the best.  Best of all it was nice to spend family time together! While we were in Salt Lake we spent some time with family!  My aunts and girl cousins all get together for an aunts birthday.  This happened to be one of those gathering times.  so even though it was for a very short time it was good to see them all! Of course no one was looking at me for this photo!!  We also enjoyed time with my brother and his family and Jordan.

This year was horrible in Colorado for fires resulting in fire bans all over the state. We feel like a campfire is an important part of camping. We cook with it, stay warm with it and it helps keep Mosquitos away. They finally lifted our fire ban in September so we decided to go one time before it got too cold. We had fun and found a great new area to camp. Maybe we will have more opportunity next summer.

Our family had the opportunity to take a short trip. The original plans we had didn't work out so we switched things around and decided to go to Glenwood Springs. We first visited Glenwood Caverns which is an adventure park and caves high up in the mountains of Glenwood Springs. The kids had so much fun there! They had thrill rides, 3D movies, cave tours, music entertainment and more! Our kids rated this as a 12 on a fun scale of 1-10! That night we camped overnight then did a little shopping. Then we were off to hike to Hanging Lake. This place was so beautiful! It was a long uphill climb the whole way and we were all feeling it but once you got to the top it all felt worth it! It was a short fun filled weekend but we had so much fun together. We really needed this time away together to just enjoy things!

Kirk and Rylee both have birthdays in July.    We didn't do much for Kirk on his birthday, he just wanted to relax but we did make him a dinner a cake and gave him lots of kisses...  Rylee on the other hand wanted a party, of course!  We had to wait til the weekend for the party but we celebrated on his birthday at home.  He also got to pick his dinner and we made him a cake.  Plus...Presents!!!  Rylee chose to do a bowling party again so we invited some friends and family. The kids at one point got them to turn on the disco lights and music and they were dancing.  I didn't get a great photo of it, here is the best I have...  Grandparents came too!  Grandma Teri made this army helmet cake for him. He really enjoyed his birthday and the party!    And here is his official BIRTHday... Wow, how long ago that seems!

Colorado had a bad fire season this year.  We had hotter than normal temperatures, hardly any moistures and LOTS of wind.  A recipe for disaster.  Most of Colorado has had a complete fire ban for most of the summer.  Although we didn't have any major fires very close by we still could  see and smell the evidence of the fires all over Colorado.  The mountains were coverd with smoke and the sun would set a firey red. The last half of July finally gave us some much needed moisture and hopefully it continues so we can maybe go camping before the summer is over, with a campfire.  My sister and her family came to visit us as well as Kirk's brother James and our nephew Derek.  Everyone was enjoying having Gray, my nephew here too!  He is so adorable and lucky to have Amanda and Jammie as his mom and dad! Kirk's brother was here because Derek was competing in the triple crown.   I think that they won the champion...