Family, Camping, and Anniversaries

These last few months we've gotten to visit with family, celebrate milestones, and just enjoy life (which doesn't seem to slow down often enough).

Mike's brother and his family came out from Wyoming for a couple of weeks. This always means at least one (if not many) barbeques and games of "May I". We have such a wonderful time, which makes it hard to say goodbye when they go back home. This is a picture of our niece Kerriann with Mike's grandma, Shirley.

Drew, Grandma, and Michael. We have quite a few Michaels in our family - there's my Mike, our nephew Mike, my dad Mike, and I have a cousin Mike. :) Make's it hard to keep track. This Mike is our nephew.

Bob and Shae, matching in blue. :)

Ben, Levi, Shae, and Kerriann.

Gabriel and Levi

Kelly, Nancy, and "Mammy" Beth

Here we are playing a round of "May I". I can't believe how many cards Kelly has!

Mike and "Mammy"

My sister, 'step'-mom, and niece came out for a couple of days on their way down to Texas for a summer camp/family reunion. This is a picture of them the night before they left to continue their trip. We really enjoyed seeing them again. I wish we lived close enough for more visits.

One day we took our niece to Whit's End at Focus on the Family. We visited the Soda Shop, played on the playground, and looked all over. It was fun to see the different sides of "Odyssey" in this building.

Our niece talks quite a bit about animals, so we thought it would be fun to go to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - and we were right! She couldn't get enough of the giraffes.

I bought quite a few crackers to feed the giraffes and only K did - she fed them as fast as they would eat them.

The whole herd - my aunt (a zookeeper in Santa Barbara) says she heard this was one of the most prolific groups of giraffes in the country. There were quite a few babies in the pen, so it must be true. :)

K looks so little compared to this giant.

Mike, my step-mom, and niece.

My sister and niece.

K and an orangutan.

This gorilla was so funny - he (or she) was just relaxing near the viewing windows. I love the smile on K's face in this picture.

K on a zebra statue.

The group - except the one taking the picture.

Mike and I only had the opportunity to go camping one time this whole summer. I'm really sad about that but am hoping for more chances next year when I'm done with school. We went up to Tin Cup Alley, and the views were gorgeous.

The dogs enjoying a break from four-wheeling.

Our church's anniversary is the same day as mine and Mike's - they had their first service on Sunday, September 18th, 2005. That's the exact day Mike and I got married. Very interesting. Anyway, our church had an anniversary celebration in September at one of the local arcade places. It was pretty fun. Here is a friend of ours playing one of the games.

Here's her husband skiing. Quite a variety of games.

A few people playing Guitar Hero - the one in the white shirt also plays for our worship service. I never did find out how he did playing the video game. :)

Mike racing.

For our anniversary, Mike and I went up to Silverthorne, CO for the weekend. I took him hiking at my favorite spot, Hanging Lake. Here are some really pretty pictures on the way up.

This rock was interesting because of the pattern in it. I'm not sure if it's from decay or actually a 'made' rock. I'm guessing natural.

Mike and the sign pointing the way up - which is really all you do. There's even a point where stairs are carved into the rock and there are handrails. Well worth it though.

I was surprised to see this butterfly (moth?) in September at that altitude.

The lake itself. Legend has it that the lake bottom fell out and this is now where it sits, complete with waterfalls. It's so gorgeous. I could stay there for hours. The lake is so clear you can see to the bottom.

Mike and I on the way down.

This was the last day we were in Silverthorne. We went shopping at the outlet mall (thanks, Hunny!). Again, more pretty scenic pictures. I liked how the mountain looked cloaked in clouds but poking it's head through the middle.

In Denver we stopped for gas and I was able to get this picture of a double rainbow. So beautiful. Well, thanks for joining us again. I'm sure there will be more pictures to share - hopefully it won't take until after Christmas to post them. :)