Glenwood, Party of 2

The week after the kids had spring break, Blake and I decided to have a little break of our own. We love Glenwood Springs and have been a few times. The last time we went was when Grant was 4 months old, so we thought we were due for a trip back.

I loved spending time in the car with Blake on the three hour drive to our destination. We talked and laughed and even sat and enjoyed the silence!

Once we got to Glenwood, we parked and did a hike along Mitchell Creek. It's a 6 mile one way hike..12 miles roundtrip...yikes! You are practically hiking uphill the whole way so it was tough! The idea is that you hike to this peak that is supposed to have stunning mountain views, but after about 3-4 miles in, we reached a part of the trail that still had heavy snow on it, so we had to turn around.

I had a hurt shoulder the entire trip and hiking uphill wasn't making my shoulder very happy. Blake made me a walking stick that made hiking a lot more comfortable for me!

We didn't make it all the way to the top, but still got to enjoy some of the view!

After our long day of hiking, we ate dinner in town then went to the hot springs to soak our sore muscles! The hot springs are amazing and felt so nice!

The next day we hiked Hanging Lake Trail. This has been a trail I have wanted to do since we first started coming to Glenwood. It's about a mile and a half one way and is also pretty much uphill the whole way...we've always had little kids so we could never do it. This time I was determined that we hike it because I've heard amazing things about it.

The last little bit is VERY steep. People we passed coming down would say to us "You're almost there! The view is worth it, I promise!"

And it was! This lake was truly stunning. We did not expect something so beautiful to be waiting for us at the top of the mountain.

After our hike back down, we packed up and headed home. It was a short but fun and much needed getaway!

Marching Right Along...

March has been the month of snow and sun and wind and rain. You never know what the weather is going to be like or how fast it will change! Brooke, Porter, and I all got the flu early in March. It was no fun and we were pretty miserable for a few days. Luckily we're all recovered, but unluckily all of us have a nagging cough that won't go away.

Blake: has spring fever and is thinking about buying a jeep for our family to take off-roading. We had a Polaris RZR, but sold it last year. There have been problems with the RZRs catching on fire due to a pinched fuel line and that made us too nervous with the kids all buckled in the back. 

Courtney:The young women and all the leaders in our ward learned the song "Peace in Christ" and sang it in Sacrament Meeting. It was beautiful! I'm so grateful to part of this amazing organization; this song has a beautiful message and will stay with me for a long time. I've been gradually increasing my running distance and am now at 8 miles! Slowly, but surely getting ready for the half-marathon in May.

Brooke: Finally passed off her multiplication facts! The goal for 3rd grade is to pass of 100 facts in 5 minutes. Brooke has struggled with math and she finally did it! We're super proud of her and her hard work!

Porter: We've been noticing some big changes in Porter lately. He seems to be maturing and growing out of some of his mischievous/destructive tendencies. He is learning how to be a good friend and be kind to others. He loves to work on crafts and do puzzles and has become quite the little reader and speller!

Grant: loves to tease everyone and wrestle with Dad. His two great loves are reading books with mom and being pushed in the swing at the park. He talks about his "singing class" all week (singing time at Primary) and loves going to church.

Grant showing us his muscles (I can't wait to bring this picture back out when he's grown up!)

 On March 10 we went on a little "staycation" to the city. We took the kids to Disney on Ice, out to eat afterwards, and spent the night in a hotel and swam.

 It looks like a skater is on top of the guy's head in the forefront of that picture!

Blake and I loved watching the kids' expressions during the show. Brooke especially loved all the skating.

Grant loves telling "secrets" to everyone!

Blake was so excited for Brooke to ride his awesome BMX bike he had when he was a kid. Brooke's purple bike will get a makeover and be ready for Porter to ride. Porter's little bike will get handed down to Grant.

 Brooke LOVES to sleep on the floor on the weekends.

 I tried to be festive on St. Patrick's day and help the kids decorate rainbow cupcakes. It was also the day that Blake decided we had to paint the front door. We took it off the hinges off to paint it and it was supposed to be this "quick" project. First we couldn't get the pain to mix right and kept having to go back to the store, then the weather turned bad and it was windy and cold and snowed all while we didn't have a front door on our house! Needless to say, we got it done, and Blake has threatened anyone not to scratch the new coat of paint!

 Reading stories before bed!

 This Coronet belonged to Blake's dad.

 Grant surprised me one day by cutting some of his own hair. He is my tender little guy and was so upset that I was upset with him!

 Then a few hours later he came down wearing Brooke's swimming goggles and made us all laugh!

And that's it for March! Getting ready for General Conference, Easter Weekend, the kids' spring break, soccer season, and hopefully some warmer weather in April!