Happy Fourth of July

HEYA,

We had a really fun weekend. We went to the four corners area and stayed in Cortez one night. The next day we visited Mesa Verde and the ancient Aztec (or Publeons) cliff dwellings. That was really amazing to see. Its crazy to think they had nothing and were still able to do so much. I can't imagine how they got there sick, old or really young people up there. It would take a lot with modern convenience. The kids had a really great time.

The next day we went to Telluride, a cute little ski town in Colorado. That whole area is so beautiful. We took the kids on a pretty hard hike up to a really beautiful waterfall. It took well over an hour to hike up to it, all up hill, and the kids were such troopers. We were so proud of them. On the fourth we went to the main street parade, which reminded me a lot of Park City. The kids loved the candy of course and Lincoln was only able to tolerate the whole experience because he was the "Candy Lord" and hoarded every piece. Thankfully our kids are so nice that they brought every piece to him.

Later that day we took a Gondola ride and accidently got off at the first stop. Who knew there were three stops? So, like the crazy people we are, we "death marched" the kids on another, some might say much harder hike to the mountain village. That was really hard because none of us had the right shoes on. We were all wearing sandals. But our kids are little warriors and did a great job again. We rewarded them with the most expensive ice cream cone on earth. Totally worth it. The mountain village was really wonderful. We rode the Gondola back down ... we aren't that cruel. Plus, I could not have handled it ... my poor toes were all blistered.

That night I took Cora and Brig to the fireworks display. We got caught in a rain storm, but once it passed, the fireworks were really great. The setting was so spectacular. It was in a field at the base of a canyon so the back drop to the fireworks was three pine filled mountains and a full moon. It was so beautiful.

Linc has had awful allergies. His ear looks like Will Smith's ear in Hitch when he has the allergic reaction. And a few days ago his eyes were so bad, that I actually took him into an acute care clinic because I was so worried. His eyes were swolen shut and his whites were inflamed and turned yellow ... yummy! So we did not subject him to a fireworks display.

Well, we love you guys and miss you.  Love, Marisa, Rick, Cora, Linc, Brig, Lyds and baby