Camping in Ouray

We just got back from a camping trip to Ouray, CO where we also visited Silverton, CO. These were very prominent mining towns in the late 1800s, but now are wonderfully beautiful tourist towns. Ouray is called the Switzerland of America, which you can believe as you drive into the town, the high peaks on either side really make you think you are driving into an town in the Alps. We decided to go here as the first project I worked on at LSI was called Ouray4, so why not visit the town that had reference to a hard drive chip that I worked on.

We camped for three nights in a secluded campground, nestled on the mountain above Ouray.

We all loved the fire, especially Emily...

We also visited the Durango/Silverton Train line that travels precariously along the edge of the mountain between Durango and Silverton. We didn't ride it this trip (expensive and 3.5 hours one way) so we will do that on a future trip.

With Bekah still crawling, her only freedom was in the tent, so we let the girls play in there fairly often. They did really well, until Emily decided to cover Bekah with toys and blankets (which obviously didn't go over well)

We took a few short hikes, Bekah did really well in the backpack.

Emily had fun, but did get tired quickly with the uphill.

We then had lunch in the park.

The best part of the trip though was the family of deer that were constantly in and around our campsite. We ended up seeing them every day somewhere. Several times as we walked to our tent, the deer would be just behind it, grazing. The picture below you should be able to see 3 deer, a mom and 2 fawns. Emily was constantly asking if Bambi was around.

We had a ton of fun, and it is amazing how grown up the girls are getting.

We loved the beautiful country, and we will be back as soon as we can.

4th of July!

The 4th of July was a great fun holiday for us. We decided to spend the entire day in Loveland with my family. Our first stop was the traditional breakfast at Viestenz-Smith Park up Big Thompson Canyon.

Then after some naps and helping Shauna get her old desk out of her room we went to Winona Pool for a great afternoon. It was pretty hot during the day (we got up to about 95), so getting into the pool felt really good!

It took Rebekah a little longer to enjoy the water, but she did finally start splashing and having a great time...

... before taking a nap with Grandma...

After all of the fun we still went to the park for a band concert and fireworks.

We are so grateful for the wonderful nation that we live in!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Memorial Day Fun

We had a great time over Memorial day with Steven and Shannon and their kids visiting from Utah. Here is some of what we did while they were here:



It was a bummer that it rained Sunday to Monday so we couldn't go to the mountains for breakfast, but we had a great time anyway. We are so glad that the sun is shining and that the grass is green. We are hoping to have a fun time this summer!