Laramie

I realized I haven't been home in almost a year, so I gathered up three of the kids and we headed to Laramie Wednesday morning. There really wasn't much on the agenda, just seeing mom and dad. We ended up packing quite a bit in: some really good home cooking, a trip to the movie theater, the carnival at Jubilee Days, looking at vacation pictures from Mexico and dads trip to Palm Springs, and a driving lesson for Noah on a manual transmission. Also drove by the Ryan Roth Boyhood Home.  Not too bad for 32 hours at home! 

TBT

So, here is a throw back Thursday to the late 1950's, possibly early 1960's. Several unnamed family members were flying through the Black Hills of South Dakota, when the pilot asked the two passengers if they wanted to see Mount Rushmore. The answer was yes. So the pilot made three passes in front of the famous faces before flying off in a hurry. Here are the three pictures that were taken on a single reflex Nikon camera. Don't think you could do this today.

Dreams

After making it through customs, finding our Apple Vacations rep, and an hour and 20 minute shuttle ride further south on the Cancun peninsula, we finally arrived at our home away from home for the week: Dreams.  

It was incredible. Beautiful. Like nothing I had ever seen or experienced. They greates us at the front of the lobby with cold towels and champagne. Took us by golf cart to our room. Ocean view! Mini-bar! Paradise! All-inclusive!! Time for steak and shrimp for dinner with my beautiful bride followed by a walk on the beach. Blessed. 

Countdown

Cancer sucks. It was an awful, hellish, painful, lonely, no good rotten two years. But we did it. We defeated cancer. We won. 

To celebrate that, we were given the opportunity to travel to Mexico to spend time together as husband and wife. Passports! Reservations!! New beach clothes! As the day of departure drew closer and closer, the excitement built. Then, finally, it was Sunday morning and we were at DIA getting ready to board and begin a week long adventure at Dreams Talum Resort and Spa! 

Aca Penta Part 2

National Championship time in Omaha! At the end of May, Andrew loaded up with his team for 2 days of competition in Omaha against teams from 22 other states. Andrew did incredible, including a medal in math??? Must have gotten those genes from his grandmother Roth. So proud of Little D and all the hard work he put into studying and applying himself to his team this year. Nice work D! 

Aca Penta Part 1

Very quietly and rather under the radar this past school year, Andrew has been a part of the Frontier Academy Academic Pentathlon team. This years topic was World War 1. The team studied it week after week throughout the year during one lunch period each week. In late April, they competed in the state competition. While all the testing was computer based and taken at Frontier, a state tournament is still a state tournament.  Guess what? They won!! Here is a post from their coach on the medals each team member won. On to Nationals in beautiful Omaha, Nebraska!! 

Alaska

Jennifer's summer got off to a great start as she was able to travel to Alaska with two good friends of hers for 5 days of sightseeing, seafood, and sleeping. Here are several photos that were sent to me back in Colorado. I'm thankful Jen was able to go, and even more thankful that all we had to pay for was the airline ticket and her meals! 

Hola!

Hello again to all my faithful readers! Sorry about the nearly three week lapse in posting. Although things on the blog have been slow, nothing in our family has been. Trips to grandparents, a trip to a national championship, Alaska, Estes Park, Mexico, July 4th celebrations, and other random family activities have been filling the calendar these past several weeks. So much good stuff!! Where to even begin? Let's start several weeks ago on the highest continuous paved road in the United States...

After surveying the damage on Highway 34, Brock, Nathanael and I continued into Rocky Mountain National Park and Trail Ridge Road. It was a very cloudy and overcast day, but still a beautiful drive in the park. Quite a bit of snow had already melted at the top. The boys enjoyed hiking around the visitors center and several small trails. I was thrilled to just be back in the Park.