Colorado

The longest leg of our trip was the drive from Omaha, NE to Grand Junction, CO - 11 hours of driving and about an hours worth of stops! The kids did great though and we made it to my Aunt Janet's house without a single melt down. We got to spend a week in Grand Junction visiting family. I hadn't seen anyone on my dad's side of the family in 4 years, so the visit was over due! It was really fun to finally meet all my cousin's kids that I had been watching grow up on blogs. Tyler and Riley were in heaven with so many kids to play with! We all had a great time, I only wish it could have lasted longer!

My cousin's Dustan and Ben before their softball game.

Tyler was thrilled when he got to be the bat boy!

The boys with Chasee and Carter.

Can you believe Ryker is only 5 days older than Madison?

Golfing with Khylind and Khorben.

I remember going on these bumper boats as a kid!

We went on a hike and Tyler led the way!

The views from the monument were amazing!

Saying good-bye.

A day at the zoo.

We spent our second day in Omaha at the zoo. A friend of mine told me it was a fantastic zoo, and she was not kidding! I spent 6 months interning at a really nice zoo in Texas, and ever since I'm pretty picky about zoo's, but this one makes it into my top 10. The boys had a great time! The weather in Omaha was much cooler so we didn't mind walking around all day. It was a nice way to wear the kids out before our marathon drive the next day!

They had a tunnel you walked through and were surrounded by sharks, sea turtles and a variety of fish.

Riley wasn't so sure of the sting ray!

After a while it did start getting hot, but these fun misters were everywhere!

My happy girl!

Winter Quarters

The next leg of our journey was five hours long, which by then felt like a pretty short drive! We stayed in Omaha for two days. On day one we visited Winter Quarters. This is where the pioneers stopped to wait out the winter and plant supplies during their historic trek west. In my mind I always pictured Winter Quarters as a camp ground, but in actuality they built a small city which consisted of about 5,000 log homes. We toured the Church's visitors center and learned a lot about the building of Winter Quarters and what life was like for the saints living there. During the first winter they stayed there close to 600 people lost their lives. Across the street from the visitors center is a dedicated cemetery where those people would have been buried. The temple stands just down a small hill from the cemetery. It was a peaceful place to visit. Once again my mom let me sneak away and do some work in the temple. It was even more beautiful on the inside! Thanks again mom!

The boys got to dress up like pioneers and practice loading wagons. They loved it!

Tyler all ready to head west!

Riley didn't feel like he needed to take quite as many things!

Below this statue are plaques with the names and ages of all those who died at Winter Quarters and are buried in the cemetery. Over 50% of those names were babies and young children.

Riley in the cemetery with the temple in the back ground.

A side view of the temple.

The front of the temple.

I loved the entrance doors!