Utah Trip

It was also really good to see Jared's family. We pretty much just split up our vacation...one week with his family in Utah, and one week with my family in Idaho. Here are a few pictures of what we did in Utah :)

We went to the show with Kris & Nate to see "The Amazing Spider-Man". Then we stopped by Sub Zero for some ice cream..nice purse Nater.

The beatiful Paizlee at the 4th of July parade in Farr West

 

Sitting and waiting for the parade to start.

The cute Erikson family!

Tanning

Sitting on the porch...it was SO HOT

These are all the slip n' slip pictures. I am pretty sure the adults had more fun going on it.

Yeah Jared got a quart of Italian Ice..and Aiden got the kiddie size...BIG DIFFERENC!

Camping/Idaho Trip

Camping...

Our first stop was camping at Mirror Lake with Greg & Julie. We had so much fun with them. We were only there for two days, and one night. We went fishing for most of it. The second we packed up all our stuff in the truck, Titan and Tundra were OUT! They had so much fun running and running and running and running. There was a stream right next to us that they love swimming in. Jared caught 6 fish, and I caught 5. I was very proud of myself that I caught that many!

Sitting out on the lake together.

Our camping spot with Greg & Julie

The view from where I was fishing: Mirror Lake

The order goes: Jared, Greg, Kate

Jared and Titan fishing together.

Idaho Trip...

Here are some pictures from our Idaho trip. I love being with my nieces and nephews. They have grown up so much since the last time we were home! My parents have two four wheelers. The grandkids are always begging to ride them. We miss Idaho so much!!

Caleb and Kayleigh trying to ride the four wheeler.

Sophi will snuggle with anyone who is willing to sleep with her. I think she found her new snuggle buddy.

THEY LOVE UNCLE JARED! All five grandkids adore him.

Kayleigh loved riding in Uncle Jared's truck. She was telling me all about it.

Classic picture of the men talking

The oldest grandson on the Lyons side. Love you buddy!

Garrett wanted to go to Taco B for dinner

Playing Botche in the back yard. I believe Parker and Dad won (not surprised at all)

Dad shooting his new Smith & Wesson hand gun

Garrett is home!

           Welcome Home Garrett!! I can't believe that my baby brother is finally home from his mission in Baltimore. Two years really does go by so fast. Jared and I got married while Garrett was on his mission, so we haven't really spent that much time together with him. We are so happy you are home little brother...you were missed!

Robyn, Mom, and I stayed up late making signs for when Garrett walked into the airport. Everyone at our house was very anxious to see him.

We were watching him get off the plane. He flew into the Twin Falls Airport..IT IS TINY! This wasw the only gate.

Jared & Garrett together again

Kate & Garrett

This is the sign we made for the grandkids to hold. We got each of the grandkids a balloon to tie around their wrist...it was a great idea (kept them distracted!)

 

Welcome home buddy!

        

John is the only one missing from the family. He had Jury duty in Las Vegas, so he wasn't able to make it until Friday. It has been a while since all 5 kids have been together. I love our family!

                                     

Great picture of Garrett & Dad

 

Mom is tying the balloons to the grandkids.

 

         

Super cheesy we know..but Idaho really did miss you G-Baby. Oh and by the way, Angie is TOTALLY a Papa's Girl!!

Waldo Canyon Fire

This is the most stressed I have felt in a very long time. North Colorado Springs is almost too devasting to look at right now. Going to work everyday at the Hampton by the fire, hearing all the horror stories, and families crying to me is almost too much for me to handle. My heart just aches for this beautiful city and the people in it who are suffering. Every hotel in 60 miles of the fire is completely sold out. I pray for people to be comforted and protected during this time.

This was the first picture I took on Saturday, June 23rd in the afternoon. I was running to Wal-Mart real fast, and I noticed all this smoke in the air. I heard rumors of a fire, but  I just figured it was a small fire (since it is fire season right now). I honestly wasn't too worried about it...how wrong was I. It never really hit me until I was driving to work on Monday morning how bad of a situation this really was. This picture was taken about 30 minutes away!

    

I took this picture on Tuesday afternoon about 2:30 when I was leaving the hotel. It looked about the same. Still worried, but had no idea that the wind/weather was going to have a shift the wrong direction. Take note that the heat is almost unreal here. Colorado Springs almost NEVER reaches the 100's and this was the week that we got those tempertures.






This one is taken in the early evening on Tuesday night from my back portch. Remember, this is taken about 30 miles from the actual flames!! I had no idea what I was getting myself into for the next morning at work. It was so I just feel very blessed right now to have my home and my family safe.





Going into work on Wednesday morning was at an all time high for EVERYONE...guests, staff, and the community. Tuesday night, there was a massive change in the wind. Figher fighters were not planning for the wind change or the stregnth of it. The fire had tripled by the time I got to work the next morning. (I couldn't even sleep the night before because of how worried I was for everyone) The phones at work were NON STOP FOR 24 HOURS!!! I kid you not. Families were everywhere at the property crying and devasted. We have a policeman in house right now who watched his own house burn to the ground. Every hotel in 60+ miles is completely sold out. I was trying so hard not to lose everything inside of me. It was a very emotional day for everyone...words to do not come close to how on felt on this day. I now feel like I have a glimps of how the people of New York City felt on September 11th. The second I got into my car that day I just lost it. My heart was aching for those families who are left with nothing. We had 27 people sleeping in our MEETING ROOM ON THE FLOOR. We felt like it was the right thing to do to help our own people. MOST people were very gracious with us and thankful for the help...there were definately some I wish I could have taken outside for beating though (selfish, stuck up, bitches...after a super long day, they are lucky to still be alive) I have also listed below some of the pictures going around on the news. It is so devasting to look at. Colorado Springs is such a beautiful place to live, and it is horrible to see it all up in smoke. This is going to be a week I will not forget. It has made me realize that I can't take life for granted. I know no one was lost in the fire, but just seeing the devastation, and fear in people's eyes is enough to make you think twice about how precious life really is.



Drive-In Movie

It has been probably 10-15 years since we have been to a drive in movie. We saw that there was one in Pueblo, so we decided that that was going to be our Friday night date night. There were two movies playing...Snow White and the Huntsman & Prometheus. We popped some popcorn, bought some milk duds, packed mt. dew, blankets, pillows, and sleeping bags and loaded it in the truck. The parking lot was surprising really full when we got there. Of course, if anyone knows me, I slept through most of both movies. It was a really fun night though, just being with Jared. We are trying to do something every Friday night just the two of us. It is a great feeling knowing he is home for good now.  

Memorial Day 2012

I hadn't seen this picture until this Memorial Day. It hit too close to home, but I thought I would share. And everyone thinks Memorial Day is about BBQ's? I would like to disagree. We did actually get together our Army "family" this year. It was really fun to be with military families, because it made Memorial Day seem like it had a purpose.  We love AMERICAN holidays where we can express our patriotism!!

Crazy as this sounds, ALL the litte kids love Jared. All the girls think he is just the coolest guy of all time. Every time we get together, they attach him...as you can see. He is usually pretty tired when we get home. For someone who is not that baby hungry...he sure holds a lot of kids!