our summer vacation

We just returned home from a week of fun. We did so much this past week that I am going to break it down into smaller pieces. Here goes:

1. OKLAHOMA

On Saturday, June 27, we went up to Oklahoma and saw a few attractions. First we went to the Sam museum in Norman. The kids had a fun time looking at all the exhibits. They liked the dinosaurs the best.

Later that day we saw the Oklahoma City Memorial. It was very nice and peaceful there. We didn't stay too long because of the 102 degree heat, but I was glad we could see it.

That evening we went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir show that was being held there. We were really amazed at how many people came. We got third row seats. Unfortunately those seats were right on the side of the choir. They sounded great anyway. This was one of our highlights of the trip. The choir really is amazing.

2. COLORADO

The next day we drove onto Colorado to stay with Kris and Rich and their family in Highlands Ranch. They were so good to us and made us feel right at home.

For Breanna's 8th birthday we told her she could get her ears pierced. However, her soccer league doesn't allow earrings to be worn, which starts at the end of August. Since she has to wear the studs for at least six weeks, we told her she had to have them pierced now or wait until next year. She decided to have them done now. We thought it would be fun to have them pierced with her cousin, Emily, who is 10 days older than Bree. (Emily got a bit scared that day so she decided to wait a day to have hers done). Bree was extremely nervous, and shed a few tears, but she did great.

Don't they look cute?


The girls wanted to dress alike every day. Here are a few shots of them.


Next we took them to a rock climbing gym. It was a first for Bree and me, but Jason and Josh have done it before. We all made it to the top a few times, but I must say, I don't think rock climbing is for me. Jason and the kids loved it, but I like my feet on the ground.



We also played at local park to enjoy the nice Colorado weather (much nicer than Texas weather at the moment).


3. Breckenridge, CO

A friend of Kris's has a condo up in Breckenridge that they let us borrow for a couple of nights. It was beautiful up there in the mountains. It was so green and had flowers blooming everywhere. The temperatures were in the 60s which felt so nice. We (I guess that would be "I") had a good time checking out the local shops and outlets.

Jason and the kids also went on the alpine slides too. They loved it.


The most exciting part of Breckenridge was our hike to Quandary peak, which is 14,265 feet high. It was almost 8 miles round trip to the top of the peak. If I had known how hard it was going to be I don't think I would have wanted to take the kids, but I am sure glad I didn't know how hard it was going to be because it was a great adventure.
Quandary Peak


The first couple of miles are just like Utah hiking, but once you get above the tree line, it turns into rocks (thus the name Rocky mountains). We literally had to climb up nothing but rock half the time, which was really difficult. We heard a lot of crying from the girls, and Josh was struggling a bit to keep his blood sugars down (we didn't give him any insulin for what he ate during the whole hike), and deal with the elevation change. I must say though, Josh refused to give up and really wanted to make it to the top even though I was telling him we didn't have to go the whole way. With much encouragement, we all made it to the top (it took over four hours to reach the summit).

Right as we were reaching the top, we saw some really dark clouds rolling in. Then some thunder started to come from the dark clouds. All the kids (and adults) started to panic a bit, so we hurried to get some quick pictures and then we literally ran down the mountain. All the girls were crying from fright and the boys were a bit nervous too.

As the thunder started getting closer, we told the kids to say a prayer and ask for safety (I know I was praying too). I just told Breanna to have faith and we would be OK. It was pretty amazing to see the dark clouds and the thunder go right around us on both sides, and never go over the top of us. We only got a bit of sprinkles the whole way down.

It took us under 2 hours to make it down because we were flying. It isn't easy to hurry down boulders and steep edges, but we made it with only minor aches and pains.Abbie and Bree on the hike (up in the corner you can see the peak).

Look closely to see the mountain goat in our path (up above you can see the peak of the mountain).

Josh and Ethan under the summit.Here we are at the top of the Rocky Mountains. It was beautiful, but we didn't have much time to enjoy it. See the clouds behind us?

The Merrill family at the summit.

Trying to run down the mountain (in the snow, no less).

That is where we were. Pretty crazy huh.

Here are some misc pictures in Breckenridge.

I loved all the flowers everywhere.

We ended our vacation with a 4th of July parade and fireworks. What fun.

So that is a long summary of our vacation. We had such a great time. We got to do a lot of new, fun, exciting things. Thanks to Kris, Rich, Ethan, Emily and Abbie for such a great vacation.