President's Day Hiking!

For our day off on President's day, we went to Rocky Mountain National Park for some hiking. It was a nice day although the weather looked menacing at times:


On the way into the park there was a herd of Elk grazing along the side of the road:


Austin and I were the only ones who wanted to get out of the car for a picture.


Not long after we came across these 3 deer also grazing in the sunshine.

After parking in the lot, we headed out on foot along the trails. The boys noted that the guardrails that usually come to your waist were covered with snow in some places.


This bridge, for instance, already had a lot of snow pack such that the rails came to our knees.

We came to a fork in the road and decided to first head towards Alberta falls.


Behind the boys is the gorge where water from the falls usually flows.


Not surprisingly, Alberta falls (left edge of picture) was completely frozen and covered over in snow.


After visiting the falls, we headed back down the trail towards Bear Lake.



Bear Lake was solidly frozen and beautiful. We stopped for some photos before walking across.




These pictures of Bear Lake reminded me of a smaller version of Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. Below is a picture I took before walking across Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada, 5 years ago.
After leaving Bear Lake, we headed back towards the car. In this picture we are making Lisa nervous while tennis shoe ice skating across a frozen stream.
Lastly, as we were leaving we came across a herd of big horn sheep grazing along the side of the road. None of us got out of the car for these pictures, but fortunately we didn't need to since they were very close to the cars.



It was a really nice day and a lot of fun. We look forward to going back again soon....perhaps when the snow has melted.

a little bragging.......

I thought of doing this blog because of valentines day. I love love and romance. So I get very excited for valentines day. I get the boys gifts and we always eat out somewhere as a family. This valentines day I thought I'd write about how special my husband is. He is the best! He is the best dad. Always checking on homework and going to all of the boys sporting events. He asks "Does anyone have homework?" And the answer is usually no or it's already done, and he'll say can I check it with you or help you or can I help you study for that test coming up. He is amazing to even ask because I work way less and am so tired from my day. He is extremely patient. I know this because I had to give a talk in church last sunday and only had two days notice. I freaked out and he talked to me for hours making me feel better and giving me the confidence I needed. I leaned on him and he was such a support.

Brian works really hard at work. He is soooo smart. He will never admit to it, he's too modest, that's why I'm blogging. Brian is preparing a poster on his research for a huge AACR (american academy of cancer research) meeting in April. The committee for the meeting liked his research and poster so much that they have asked him to speak at the meeting. This meeting is having about 30,000 people in attendance. I was so excited for him. What an accomplishment! I am so proud! I have an awesome husband. He gives so much to us and work and church. He is a great example to me of love and determination to always do the best in everything you do. I love you Brian!