Life with the Lindseys: A Trip to Colorado... Elder and Sister DeCoria

Colorado or bust! Grandma and Grandpa DeCoria were begging for us to come visit during the summer but it never worked out. Then Dad received an invitation to a Standard Process seminar in Denver the middle of September. Normally, he would never consider such a thing right in the middle of elk season but, he knew it would mean a lot to some grandparents who miss their grandchildren. Hyrum was in the middle of his football season and he was the quarterback so he chose to stay home. We left on a Thursday afternoon and drove about halfway to Evanston, WY. We stayed in a hotel there and made the rest of the journey the next day. I came down with mastitis and a fever just after we crossed the CO/WY border. From there we had pretty bad traffic and what should've taken two hours took over four. It was an extremely miserable drive. Everyone was tired and cranky and had had enough time in the van to last us months! Ephraim was extra cranky and I was too sick to deal with him so he cried a lot. Thank goodness for our saintly daughter, Lydia, who dealt with a screaming baby so Dad could drive.

Pretty cool clouds in Utah

This was at a really cool Visitor's Center on the Colorado/Wyoming border.

The boys on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's church (Barnum Park Branch)

Lydia had been wanting to get her ears pierced for quite some time so for her birthday I gave her a certificate to get them pierced. Since we don't live near a place to have it done we found a Claire's near Grandma and Grandpa's.

The last two nights of our stay we spent at a timeshare in Estes Park. It was beautiful!

The playground at the timeshare and the view from our porch

We spent part of a day walking around downtown.

These are some toys we stopped to play at. Mr. Social (Zerin) quickly made a new playmate, Olivia. They played hide and seek and a couple other games. It was fun to watch how naturally their friendship formed. Children are amazing!

Queen of the monkey bars

The littlest two trying to keep up


Grandpa and I took the children miniature golfing and as were paying I noticed this sign I liked. It says, "Recipe for Happiness Take a cup of kindness Add a dash of charity. Mix with understanding And a bit of courtesy. Top it off with patience. Sprinkle liberally with cheer. Serve generously to everyone you meet throughout the year!"

Estes Park is known for it's elk herds this time of year. Pretty spectacular!

Heading toward our van...

Lydia and Grandpa woke up early one morning to go see the elk. These are some pictures she took.

Love this picture Lydia took! What a perfect reflection.

This is Friday night when we finally arrived. Once we got there I started to feel a little better but I was still pretty miserable. I've never had mastitis before and now I have empathy for women who have. It was HORRIBLE. Extreme pain, shaking with a fever and so sick it turned into an almost migraine that I was able to ward off with Excedrin. After a priesthood blessing, lots of oils, an Excedrin and rest in bed I was able to get up and visit with Grandma for a bit. Grandpa had taken Dad to the hotel where his seminar was, about 30 minutes away, because it started bright and early in the morning (and SP paid for it).

Dad had a seminar all day Saturday and then a dinner that night. I drove over and went to the dinner with him. He had a few more hours of the seminar Sunday morning and then flew home. He only spent about an hour at Grandma and Grandpa's. Hyrum stayed with Jace Geary over the weekend and Jon picked him up Sunday afternoon when he got home.

Grandma decided to give all the kids their birthday presents then instead of having to mail them later. The kids loved this idea and it also gave them some toys to play with while we were there.

Porter loves his tools and his jeep!

I love the look on his face!

It was a treat to have Uncle Dustin come visit while we were there. Sunday at church everyone thought Dustin and I were married. It was kind of funny some of the conversations we had with people who didn't know we were actually siblings.

After church we went up to Red Rock. It's a large amphitheater carved out of the side of red rock mountains. There was a concert going on so we weren't able to drive up to the amphitheater though. Instead we took a nice long walk thru town along the river. It was beautiful and lots of fun.

These two are amazing! It was so wonderful to have their help with the children. They are some of the most hands-on grandparents I know. Our children are so blessed to have them! (And even more blessed to have them serving as missionaries!)

Uncle Dustin was also extremely helpful with the children. He loves little children and played and played with them. Most of the time Porter enjoyed his time with Uncle Dustin, but not this one. Dustin thought he'd be helpful and carry Porter around. Little did he know Porter is terrified of heights and doesn't like to be on shoulders, even his own Dad's. It's kind of hard to tell in this photo who's more miserable??

Every boy needs a stick.

My precious 11 month old

These slides are steeper than they look and Porter was quite hesitant about them. There was one other little boy at this park, about a year younger than Porter, that loved these slides. Watching him go down them helped give Porter a little more confidence.

Monday morning we drove to Echo Lake elevation 10,600. From there you can make the drive up to Mt Evans elevation 14,265. Echo lake was high enough for me, plus they don't recommend taking young children up there. The kids and I hung out by the lake while Dustin and Grandma and Grandma drove up.

Echo Lake

After Echo Lake, Grandpa took Uncle Dustin to the airport and the rest of us stopped for pizza at BeauJo's in Idaho Springs. The pizza was spending but definitely the best I've ever had. They call them pies because that's more of what they're like. Lots of toppings and a small amount of crust. After pizza we found a fun little playground in town.

Lots of fun was had by all, including this cutie!

Zerin mastered these monkey bars. It was really quite impressive for a four year old!

We spent a fun day at the Denver Zoo.

These are made out of Legos. There were several displays like this.

Taking a bath at the timeshare in Estes Park

We sure missed our Hyrum!

Lydia's zombie face

The morning we had to leave, Grandpa took the kids for a walk to give me time to pack and clean up. Again, so helpful!!

Fun times with Grandpa!

They loved this little toy!

Grandpa, 70 years and 10 months. Ephraim, 11 months

Grandpa wasted us all but we all had a fun time!

Lydia sure missed having Hyrum to play with.

This mobile little guy was quite the handful to watch around the pool, hot tub and river. Grandpa got lots of exercise!

Brothers and best buds!

The farewell picture right before we headed for home. Such a fun vacation and so wonderful to get to spend time with Elder and Sister DeCoria! (This was a Friday. We spent Friday-Tuesday night at Grandma and Grandpa's apartment, Wed. & Thursday night at Estes Park and then Friday night in Evanston again at the same hotel.)

The road through Wyoming is almost completely desolate. (Thankfully, the speed limit is 80). This is a little Oasis along the way called Little America. It's a large truck stop/hotel. The kids were in need of some fun and an ice cream cone so we stopped and played for a while. Despite not having Jon with me to help drive, the drive home was SO much better than the drive there. On the way there we hit construction in Laramie that completely stalled us for at least an hour along with all the traffic in Colorado. After leaving Estes Park we took a back road to Laramie. It was WONDERFUL!

Large green dinosaur. Zerin has liked green dinosaurs for quite some time so this was quite the treat for him.

Zerin breezing across the monkey bars. Several people there were quite impressed that he could do them! That's one strong little kid!

Enjoying some ice cream before packing back in the van.

About ready to leave the hotel in Evanston and head for home!

One more pit stop at Chuck A'Rama. Lydia had a coupon for a free birthday meal there that was expiring so we figured we might as well use it.

Another fun thing this month was having Matt come visit. He came while we were in Colorado so the younger kids and I only saw him briefly Saturday night and Sunday morning. He spent a few days hunting with Dad but unfortunately they were unsuccessful.

This is what I found one morning on my way to CrossFit. The sign says, "Rock Sale." Quite the entrepreneurs!

Porter and Dad and I went to a lot of Hyrum's football games this season. Lydia graciously stayed home with the other two so I could actually watch the game. His team didn't do so good but he had fun and did well as quarterback. It's always fun to watch Hyrum play!