Labor Day 2012

 Labor Day 2012 was a blast!  We got together with our good friends and booked some cabins in Grand Lake, CO, right outside of Rocky Mountain National Park.  The cabins had heat and electricity and showers along with a playground, little store and lots of visiting wildlife :).  It was luxury camping - the perfect mix for a long weekend with little ones.  The great outdoors mixed with some conveniences. We made the miracle happen of getting work/callings off for 2 holiday/weekend working dentists & and RN and RS presidency & bishopric members.  But we did it.  And was it ever worth it!

 We divide up the meals so each family had one breakfast and one dinner to cook for everyone & lunches were on our own.  It made it delightfully easy & the food was delicious.

 

We divided up our weekend there to include a day in Rocky Mountain National Park, a day hiking/fishing, time on the Grand Lake beach, an afternoon of crafts & games, and a fishing trip for the daddies.

 

Thanks to some advice from a friend we found an absolutely beautiful fishing spot in the Park.  Absolutely breathtaking.  And boy were the fish biting - there wasn't one person who didn't catch a fish (thanks to Steve's very good baiting of the poles).

  

We had a scare when little Cameron slid into the creek down a slope I couldn't see disguised by long grass.  Luckily I think it was Kali who first realized he'd slid down and the only damage done was a major mud bath.  We cleaned him up the best we could & I took off my outer layer shirt to put on him for a few hours until we were home.

 We went on a lovely hike and packed lunch - these are the kiddos helping Cameron along.

 One morning as we were eating breakfast we saw some visitors in the camp - a beautiful mama elk and her twin babies.  Just a few yards away!  They were just majestic.  We kept the kids a good distance from them and watched them peacefully munch on willow bushes.  Then we watched mama not so peacefully chase a dog, then jump up on her hind legs on the above RV.  Don't mess with mama.  We also had a lovely visitor every night after dark - a bear that (luckily) was only interested in the trashcan.  Man alive -was this thing strong and fast.  We watched it flip over the trashcan like a toy ball for almost hours through the nights.  There is something absolutely surreal seeing an animal that huge and limber just 20 yards away from you with no barrier between you and the bear.  We kept this little secret to the adults in the group.  No one wanted to be awoken by kids having nightmares.  No, thank you very much.

 Each night we had a little devotional, which was a perfect close to the days.  There is something about being outdoors that brings you a bit closer to heaven and the spirit.  We spoke of the creations of Heavenly Father, looked up and the stars and spoke of how He has worlds without end, but He knows each one of us and knows our potential.  We also brought some memory making games and did crafts.  LOVED getting away from electronics and screens.  It is SO good for the kids.  So very good.

 We spent lots of time on the beach and just happened to have these three girls in matching shirts on the last day.  How fun is that?  We also went into the park and the kids did a little workbook and got sworn in as Junior Rangers.  They took their oaths to never feed animals, pick flowers or litter very seriously.  It made Steve and I want to take them to every National Park and earn a junior ranger badge (FREE!) from each park.

 We loved spending this time with our dear friends who are like family - the Shermans.

 And the Lawsons.

  As we were leaving camp we drove under this rainbow and without words everyone shared an understanding of & gratitude for a beautiful ending to a simply beautiful weekend.