The Face of Travel

When we moved to Alamosa we made the decision to buy a simpler house, so that we would have more money available to travel. We have had some great trips and have traveled through the South as well as across much of the West. This year with a new baby our travels came to a screeching halt, but recently we have started to go on short trips.

The month of February was a whirlwind month for me. I was literally out of town for half of the month. The first week of the month, Danielle and I flew to Sparks, to stay with my mom after she recovered from surgery. It was a nice slow week with plenty of visiting, and it was a good chance to let all the extended family see how big Danielle has grown.

Nathan had his yearly Colorado City Manager’s Conference in Glenwood Springs, and we tagged along. Just getting there was quite an adventure. We weren’t sure if we’d end up having to put on chains, but we dodged that bullet this time around.

Even though the roads were a bit scary, they sure were beautiful. Colorado has some gorgeous views.

We love going to Glenwood, and our favorite spot is definitely the Glenwood Caverns. They are rated in the top ten cave tours of the U.S. They are absolutely gorgeous.

What makes them even more fun is that you have to ride a gondola up a mountain to get to them, and it is quite a view.

They have added several new attractions to bring in more tourists. We got to ride an alpine slide (my personal favorite activity), play unlimited laser tag, watch several 4D movies and finish the day with a snack at the restaurant. We had a wonderful day.

Just a few days after we got home we left again for Denver. Nathan had to meet with the new Governor, and we were excited to renew our membership with the Denver Science Museum. They have a new exhibit we’ve been dying to see all about the body. It definitely exceeded our expectations. We spent almost the entire day just in that exhibit.

Some highlights included watching a lung dissection, a fabulous interactive demonstration on anti-oxidants, and a real lab that they could use to perform experiments. Andrew was able to extract some of his own DNA, and Connor got to see the effects of sleeping pills and caffeine on some microscopic critters.

A day after we got home, Nathan and the older boys headed to the Scout winter camp. I was happy to stay home for that one. They got home the night of Danielle’s birthday in time for chocolate birthday cake.

It’s been a fun month and nice to see so many people, eat so much yummy food, and visit so many exciting places. We are really quite blessed.

One-Year Old

How is it possible that Danielle is already one year old? In just 12 short months she transformed from a helpless 5'14" wee one, to a talking, moving, aware creature.


This has been a hard year where I felt torn in so many directions. Still, I really tried to savor each stage Danielle went through. Each month they change so much. When I felt like I was going to drown in my responsibilities of teaching my children, staying on top of my church calling, keeping food on the table, and maintaining some sense of order in the house, I would remind myself to slow down a moment and inhale the beauty of that fleeting moment.


Danielle is such a sweet happy little girl. She loves to be held by her mama, but she is steadily becoming more independent. She scoots around the house rather than crawls. She pulled herself to standing for the first time the day before her birthday. She is very vocal and loves to say, "hot!" accenting the 't'. She also says kitty, mama, dada, and duh-duh for "Brandon." She loves to be read to and looks at her books independently. She makes everyone in the family smile and has made us all a little younger.

I have several more gray hairs this year, but she is worth it. Hopefully the next year will bring more sleep, but hopefully I will remember to continue to savor these moments.

Winter Wonderland

Living in a colder climate comes with its own set of challenges. I start to feel trapped in my home. Snow, ice and mud get tracked into the house. I have a hard time getting warmed up. We have a really short growing season.

Still, I really do love the winters here for a number of reasons.

I enjoy having our warm fires at night. It feels so cozy and brings the family together. We enjoy the tasty popcorn cooked in the fire and both our pets lounge on the rug until we put them to bed. I don't even mind too much when Danielle plays in the soot and ashes the next day.

I LOVE to iceskate. We have a short season, and I don't get a lot of opportunities with Danielle, but I've managed to go a couple times this year.

I am also happy to see my kids skating. It makes my heart happy to know that they will have fond memories of being out on the ice. Brandon and Connor both love Hockey and are pretty good at it.


The city also started a new tradition last year that has been popular. This weekend was our second annual ice sculpture event. We watched artists carving the ice for a couple hours. It was fascinating how they started from a stack of blocks and went from this:


To this:


From this:


To this:

And from this:


To this:



To this:


Our boys loved watching and even tried their hands at it with their pocketknives.


I could have stood there all day, but Danielle was fed up and tired after a while. The sculptures are just beautiful, and we had a nice sense of community as people walked up and down Main St. and visited with one another. It's times like these that I am happy to live in a small town where people know one another.


Tonight, Nathan and I went back down there after we put the kids to bed and as we were walking along a woman approached us. She thanked Nathan for bringing something so nice to our community. I was happy that he was appreciated. We are where we are supposed to be.

My favorite present

This past Christmas Season I knew that I would have to slow down what I usually try to do. It just isn't as possible to make every dessert and participate in all the holiday events with a baby. I am happy to announce that I bought nearly all our gifts online, and had everything purchased, wrapped and mailed before Thanksgiving. It made the month much nicer and easier to remember the meaning of Christmas.

Every night that we were home in the evenings, we sang songs around the Christmas tree. This is what always helps me to feel the Spirit of Christ in the season. In the past I enforced the tradition that I had growing up, but I now have created my own jailers. The kids insist that we sing, and Brandon often proclaims it his favorite tradition. Nathan even made up a new song: "Randolph the red-nosed Beagle." It seemed a little less blasphemous to sing that than, "Hark, the Herald Beagle Barks," or "O Come, All Ye Beagles."

We went caroling a couple of nights, saw a play, celebrated Andrew's birthday as a family, visited our friends for a few days and spent several evenings reading Christmas stories. I baked in a new order this year. I made something new every few days. We all had a taste of each treat, and then wrapped up the rest to give away. No one got the variety plate, but they got something. I never felt overwhelmed, and we still enjoyed most of our holiday treats....just one at a time.

We kicked off the month with our traditional holiday fondue shared with some friends and ended it with a Christmas Eve day at Hooper Pool.

The weather was glorious, and the water felt perfect.

This year, I planned my school so that we could have a three week break. It helped me to feel less rushed. Instead of trying to cram all our traditions into one day, we watched a movie near the beginning of the month, made our seafood dinner a few days before Christmas and went out to pizza on the Eve of Christmas Eve. It was a nice pace, and kept our household from becoming quite as chaotic.

Christmas Day itself was nearly perfect. We had the right balance of gifts, we had the missionaries and a lady in our ward to dinner. We ate something we've never made before: Cornish Game Hens, played games and watched a devotional by President Monson. I wouldn't change a thing.

My favorite present was from Nathan. He made my first year blog into a book.

It was the perfect gift for me and is so pretty.

And I love it.

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Asomala, there lived a livestock herder and his family, as well as a city imaginer and his family.

These two families met, and despite their many differences, became close friends.

Their children spent days together building dams along the mountains of sand, firing weapons at their enemies, and earning medals of honor in their patrols.

They travelled great distances to see wild beasts, climbed mammoth webs in search of glory, and shared many meals across the reaches of their kingdom.

In the evenings, they played near the campfire and vowed eternal friendship.

But, unbeknownst to the livestock herder’s family, there was an evil Duke in the kingdom of Asomala who plotted to destroy his family. He used his magical powers to cast a spell on them, making their home vanish and leaving them destitute and homeless. They were forced to travel for many miles to find a new kingdom where they could herd their livestock in safety and peace. It was a dark time for them, and they conquered many giants and ogres searching for a place to settle. Often when they thought they had found a new home, they would set up camp only to discover that there were sorcerers who had cursed the land. Then they would pack up and continue their journey.

After years of travel, they finally came to a new kingom of Nedlaw that they trusted. There, they could finally freely herd their animals in safety.

The city imaginer’s family was heartbroken when they learned of the tragic loss of their friends. They felt helpless to defend their friends but sent heroes to protect them and did all they could to keep the Duke’s power away from their friends. They vowed that they would follow them to whatever lands they discovered and thus, continue the link of their friendship.

After they knew their friends were safe, they travelled vast distances to the kingdom of Nedlaw. This was an icy kingdom with many treacherous paths, but despite the ice there was warmth and kindness in the kingdom. It was a joyous reunion with both families celebrating their time together.

Their children wasted no time exploring this new Kingdom of Nedlaw.

The city imaginer's family learned about the work involved in the life of herding wildstock and what challenges they faced.

They found an enchanted field that contained all the tools and equipment they needed to build protection for their new home. They enjoyed the healing powers of special waters that flowed only in this country.

They ate the delicious cuisine provided and slept only when absolutely essential. They encountered adventures and enjoyed the snow of this region, but most of all, they talked and basked in the sharing of ideas.

Though they knew that the city imaginer’s family would have to return to their own kingdom, they also knew that their bonds of friendship would never be broken.

And, as in all fairy tales, they lived happily ever after.