The Journey Home (from Summer Vacation)

We had to shorten our trip so that we could go back home with Joseph; it worked out perfectly though, especially since Barb hooked us up with a night at the Worldmark at Estes Park, CO.  Which just happens to be only an hour away from Greeley.

The downtown area was a lot of fun, and the carmel apples were delicious!!

Hiking at Jenny Lake

A Family picture-hoping to motivate myself to get some real ones taken, it has shamefully been 5, nearly 6 years since we had one- it is about time!

Zach and Kaija on top of the world

The kids really loved being able to go hiking- we would love to be able to do more of that! 

This was the hike where Eli said that it was really fun but it was "retiring"! 

I think I could do some retiring there- it is so gorgeous!!

The kids couldn't pass up the opportunity!

So we were going to stay for a night at the home of the Adams family (who were the heaven sent friends that took Joe under their wing while he was in Greeley), it just so happens that our 2 day stay turned out to be closer to a week, and they wouldn't hear of us get a hotel. A family of 7 is quite a brood to take on, and we are so grateful for their kindness to our family!

I helped Joe some at the church mostly cleaning and tuning- well let me rephrase that, Joe tuned- I held keys! But during the moments that I wasn't at the church helping him the rest of us were playing... a lot!

We went bowling

And to the Cozy Cow Dairy to watch them milk cows, 

and to eat delicious ice cream, and drink yummy chocolate milk.

We went swimming at the pool (twice),

And swimming at the lake!

The organ did turn out beautifully and sounds amazing!

We had such a marvelous trip together, on the way home we stopped in Lawrence KS and watched the last Harry Potter movie- the timing didn't work out for any of the other locations along the way. 

It was really fun though to run into one of his old professors (Charles Hoag) and his family at the theater, Joe had recently been thinking about him and it was just wonderful for them to catch up briefly on all the happenings of life that had taken place during the last 10 years. 

As always, vacation was never long enough and we were certainly not ready for it to end!