Camping & Cowboys

After a slightly extended stay in Colorado due to the snow, we arrived safely back in Texas, ready to begin the next phase of our home assignment; visiting supporting churches.  Our first stop was Dallas where we enjoyed the very generous hospitality of the Phillips family.  So thankful to them for giving up bedrooms for us, babysitting, feeding us, setting everything up for us to go camping, for listening to us, and for giving us our first taste of Duck Dynasty :-)

Two. Tired. Kids.  

I am so thankful for these two and crazy proud of them.  We just truck them around on planes and in cars, tuck them into a different bed every few nights or so and they just totally roll with it.  There are moments of grief for sure but I don't think I could ask more of a 3 and 4 year old.

And . . . we got to have our first family camping experience in Mineral Springs, Texas.  One of our supporting churches, Lake Cities, invited us on their family campout.  So much fun!    Our kids had a blast with new friends and this new experience.  Devotional under the stars, roasting s'mores, hiking and a scorpian.  We were comfortable and VERY well fed thanks to some of the young families at Lake Cities church.  Tye, you certainly set the bar high for camping!

Noah and the string lights guiding us to our tent

Getting ready for our nature treasure hunt

Noah getting in a swing on Alan's arm

New friends

Self portraits in the tent

This is Jason's dream come true...tent camping with his family

Out on a hike after a good nights rest 

Our time with Lake Cities was such a blessing.  We always feel so welcomed and at home with them.  We enjoyed a rich time with their missions committee and ministers.  It's really a sweet thing to have these times to connect with people who support us.  Thank you Lake Cities -- you are a blessing!

Before heading south to Austin, we made a quick stop at the Fort Worth Stockyard for a true taste of Texas.

My Sheriff

And a true taste of Texas wouldn't be without corn on the cob, brisket, beans, and sweet tea.  And this was just the beginning (of the gaining of pounds) . . .

Sledding Fun

Two of my favorite things...snow and Super Target :-)

Snow Cone - the real deal

Aubrey and Noah just chilling out before a little sledding

Ella and AJ on the sled

The neatest thing about sledding...we all we had to do was just walk across the street to this hill!

A lot of cuteness wrapped up in this larger than life little boy

Big adventure for our Aussie kids

Our sledding hill the next morning.  Goodbye Colorado

Bound for Texas

Colorado adventures

Thanks to some Southwest frequent flyer miles and the generous hospitality of Jason's cousin and his family we've been enjoying Denver and the Rocky Mountain National Park for a few days.  

We visited them during our last home assignment and skyped a time or two since then.  The kids wasted no time enjoying their Colorado cousins

We had all sorts of adventures.  Crushing rocks to find the crystals . . .

Watching Luke's first soccer game

Since their kids were on Spring (?!?!) Break we took the chance to have a mountain getaway in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Spring in Colorado still involves snow

Brian carrying the girls through the snow.  We did a short little hike through a LOT of snow.  It wasn't ALL smiles for these little ones.

Standing at the edge of the still frozen lake

At a different place, we hiked waaaay up these rocks behind the girls in this picture

Our little mountain goats

The reward at the top were some natural rock slides.  The kids had a blast sliding down these

These two shared a bed every night we were with them.  Even Luke and Noah shared a top bunk.  That was a little scary for this mama...but it was thankfully without incident.

We stayed at the YMCA at Estes Park.  The kids swam and enjoyed their craft hall. 

Oh, Noah.  How you love your goggles!  Notice there's snow beginning to fall.  But Noah would not/could not accept wearing any clothing over his swimsuit.  He was ready!

Craft at the Y

Ella and Aubrey made beautiful mosaic treasure boxes

Noah happily hammered away on a leather keyring with his Dad.  A good exercise in trust for Jason as he held the nail :-)

We spent some time on Sunday praising God together.  Cade (age 7) did a fantastic job of leading songs for us

The kid's loved singing.  Aubrey and Ella packed an amazing selection of things to enjoy during our mountain retreat...including a glamorous Ariel dress up.  They sure can climb over boulders and hike, but oh, can they be girly girls.

Families work best when everyone pitches in, right?  Aubrey was an eager dish washer, and Noah was eager to lend a helping hand.

 And a mountain retreat just wouldn't be complete without roasting marshmellows for s'mores

One child thinks through her plan of attack . . . 

. . . the other just dives right in

The scenery is just breathtaking in Colorado and we loved the wildlife.  So many deer, elk and mountain sheep.  This picture was taken from the cabin porch

A visit to Lake Lily before we drove back towards Denver

We left the mountains a day early to beat a blizzard.  Thankfully our plan to meet the Ford family at a Chick-fil-a (of course!) on our way home still unfolded. Such a sweet blessing to see them and their children. 

And, thanks to the snow storm, we gained one extra night in Colorado and some fresh powder snow to send the kids down the hill on a sled.  Heather and I got in a run to Super Target...outfitted in all our snow gear.  Reminiscent of my days in Canada.  It was so, so cold. 

One last bedtime story time...cousins reading to their kids in a most animated way. So much cuteness.

We had such a wonderful time with family.  I don't have a pic of our time with Jerry and Cindy, before they flew to warmer temps in Hawai'i.  Thankful for you all.  And . . . sledding pics to come!