A Bit of Family Time

I have to admit I get a wee bit jealous when I hear about the time my kids spend with their significant other's family.  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them and so glad they have them as part of their lives.  But, the few times a year I get to see them just isn't enough!  So, this past weekend, I was extremely grateful to go and visit them.  We had hoped for a beautiful fall weekend, however, the rain never moved out until Sunday afternoon, so we had to postpone our little hiking trip to Table Rock State Park until Sunday.  And, then, unfortunately, Beki got sick and couldn't make it.  Our time there was nice.  We celebrated Ari's birthday, even if a few weeks late, enjoyed dinner with everyone, spent a little time at the coffee shop, decorated fall cookies. 

 

When the rain finally stopped Sunday, we drove to the state park.  The fall colors were just starting to dot the landscape.  It stayed overcast and wasn't the best day for photos, but here are a few from our trip.

 

 

A little rock skipping!  I wasn't any good at it!

A Walk in the Park

There's a park practically in my backyard that I didn't even know about until a friend of mine mentioned she'd been there called Lone Elk Park.  There are a couple of trails in the park, but what makes it special are the Elk and Bison that live there.  Our first trip, we walked a part of the one trail.  We went near sunset the second time and saw some deer near the lake.  Had hoped the elk would be down near the water...not this evening.  It'll be beautiful this fall with the lake against the changing leaves.  A great place to go practice my mountain hiking, get ready for our next trip!

 

The whole family

 

 

Awww...a baby! 

 

 

 

 

 

Colorado Side Trip

Part of our fall vacation was spent in the Colorado mountains.  It was unplanned, but I'm glad we went.  We cut our Moab sightseeing short and headed to Monument Valley where we were treated with a beautiful sunset.

We spent some time in Snowmass and in Breckenridge.  It was not yet skiing season so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Being right at the end of fall was a beautiful time to be there with the fall color still around yet a bit of snow in the mountains.  The sun was warm enough for us to enjoy the hot tub then lay out in the sun even though it was in the 30's!  We were treated to a great breakfast with our room.  While in Snowmass, we drove to Aspen and took the ski lift up the mountain where we saw incredible views of the city. 

Fall in the Mountains

I really did get way behind this past fall.  I had so many trip photos I wanted to share, but with the moving and settling in, visitors and Christmas, I just couldn't keep up.  Things are quiet now, the kids are gone, back to school and this mom is left with time on her hands.  When we planned our trip for October, we were hoping for good timing, spectacular color.  We were disappointed a bit.  Fall color in Zion came late this year, however, as we drove to higher elevations we did run into a little color.  The aspens up in Bryce Canyon had turned golden and a lot of them had already dropped their leaves.