Thanksgiving In Colorado

This year we traveled to Colorado to be with my family. Everyone was there, well except our missionary, Carrie. It was a very relaxing and fun weekend. We also got to stay a whole week because of Connor's MULA (mandatory unpaid leave of absence) for every quarter. He did a TON of networking. So we got to have some fun Daddy time as well.

We are truly grateful for family and the rich blessings that come with them. We are grateful families can be together forever through the love of our Savior. We are grateful that the season is upon us that we get to embrace His gifts and love even more. We are grateful for so many things!

But here are just a few of the things we did...

Ashlyn has fallen in love... With her baby cousin, Lochten. She wanted to help care for him in every way possible. She actually was a big help. When he left she said she missed him. Good thing she loves babies, we just have to wait awhile!

The day after Thanksgiving we went on a hike at Castlewood Canyon. The kids had a lot of fun in the ruins...

And on the trail... Sadly, Dylan accidentally stepped/fell into the stream immediately after I explained to all kids not to get too close in case of this very incident. He wasn't too happy, I don't think the water was very warm! He got a piggy back ride out of it.

We also road the horses twice...

Ashlyn could have stayed all day, she is born to ride...

If she wasn't on the horse she was helping lead it for everyone else.

Corbin was unsure at first... The Jeep is always a big hit... (as well as my parents basement- filled with swings, a pin pong table, huge balls and tents- sadly not pictured)

Somehow the lasso came out and Dylan got hooked. He spent hours outside practicing. He and his cousin, Morgan seriously took on the task of trying to lasso a wild rabbit. They soon settled for just trying to catch one by hand.

As you can see, Dad was the easiest thing they could catch...

Then we found out that the neighbors had a rabbit. That satisfied the rabbit need- a lot easier than catching one!

We took the kids to the Denver Zoo. We loved it. All the kids said they loved the monkey's the best, they gave off quite a show... (but this is a snow jaguar)

And we couldn't leave without seeing the pachyderms...

We were so lucky to have such great weather the first few days. The cold weather at the last part of our trip helped remind us how mild our winters are in Raleigh (we went from a high of 10 and flew to a high of 59!)

Enjoy the Holiday Season!