In July we took a family vacation to Castle Rock, Colorado. We were meeting at my cousins house with my brother's family, my other brother's oldest girls, and parents. We had so much fun! The kids had a blast! There wasn't a single time out the whole week...I wish that would have carried over to home. No such luck. We visited the Denver Museum of Science and Nature (Dallin was in heaven!), Pikes Peak (which is at over 14,000 ft and where on a clear day they say you can see Kansas), and a great outlet mall. We really didn't have to do much to enjoy ourselves. It was just nice being with family. We ate great food, stayed up way too late chatting, and laughed until our stomachs hurt. It doesn't get better than that!
The gang (minus my parents)
Me and my Taylor. I can't believe how grown up this girl is. She is one of the sweetest, most responsible 10 years old I have ever known. I just love her to pieces!
View from Pikes Peak
Elise actually took this picture. Not bad for a 2 year old!
The newest addition, baby Evelyn. Such a sweet baby!
The Denver museum...They had TONS of dinosaurs and space stuff so Dallin was LOVING it.
They also had an Egyptian mummy exhibit. Pretty gross.
Words can't describe the shock we felt in the early morning hours on Tuesday, August 3rd when we got a call from Jon's mom telling us they were taking his dad to the hospital via ambulance for a pain in his chest. We both thought it was simply a complication from his ankle injury. In July they had gone to Maine and he was hiking and ended up breaking his ankle. He had some complications with a skin infection from that so we assumed it was another complication. Jon got up and left around 12:45am. By 1:45am I couldn't stand the wait so I called. I knew that it wasn't good when my sweet husband was crying. His dad had passed away from a blood clot that had traveled to his heart. The shock was too much to swallow. I couldn't believe my ears. The man who rides his bike everyone, who eats healthier than anyone I know...is gone at 58 years old. My heart broke. What do you say to someone who loses their dad when they are only 29 years old? We are so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge we have of the atonement and that we can be a family forever. That is the only thing that has gotten us through this. David was truly the most amazing man. He loved the Lord and served every chance he got. We all feel like we have huge shoes to fill to try to be half the man he was. He was such a good dad and grandpa. I'm so glad I got to be part of his family; I'm honored to be his daughter-in-law. I know that we will meet again but I wish we had more time with him. I feel like I had so much more to learn from him. I just have to remind myself that it is the Lord's plan... It doesn't make it any easier though.
