Dancing with BROADWAY!

For Christmas we got a bunch of wii games that were to keep us active.  For FHE one night we did dancing with Broadway.  We really all had a good time.  Shawn got these two short videos of Jace and Ethan.  It really was rather hard.  Enjoy!

After the Flood

So we had the big flood last September and a lot of things were fixed immediately, but then winter set in and a lot of things just had to be put off, or were worked on all throughout the winter.  Once most of the snow melted and it stopped freezing, people went to work again.  We started having volunteer days where we were continuing to clean up river beds and debris, to clean up yards etc.   As I would drive down our roads I was always amazed at how much was being done to put things back in place.

This is along the river and it had a bicycle path that was washed out as well as  half of the side of the river on the road side.  This spring they started by leveling out the ruts and building up the original riverbanks to put the river back on it's original course.  Then they started to fix paths.  They were still working on the river when we left and hadn't made it to the paths yet.

This is just off of Highway 119, and this road has been closed since the flood.  This was taken in March.  It's county road 1.  In fact just right of this picture the road is completely gone just a big hole where it was.

These two pictures show you that there used to be a lake here, but the river overtopped the banks and washed away the division between the river and the lake.  When the flood receeded the lake was gone too.  This area is called pelican shores.  So they spent a bunch of money to dig out and shore up the lake banks and get their lake back.  It was almost done by March on the west side of the road.  Then they started on the east side.

This is the East side, you can see they are still working on it.

This is along 119 by St Vrain State Park.  The river overflowed the whole road in this area washing most of it away.  They repaired the road really quickly but left the road side for spring.  They started putting the banks back in and having to rebury telephone poles and electrical lines which got washed away as well.  This project is still on going and will take some time.

I am amazed by  the immensity of this flood.  Just after it things were terrible and everyone stepped in to help.  The whole US was out here to get people back on their feet, it was amazing to see it all.  But now I think is the really hard part.  Now the emergency is over, a lot of the real work has to be done.  Clean up, repair,  replace.  Trying to fix the stopgaps.   And since we aren't on the news anymore this is when it gets really hard because people just don't realize how much there is yet to be done.  I never knew before living here. The first part of the flood was amazing to see the outpouring of support and care, the second part is just as amazing because it shows those who are truly dedicated to helping those in need regardless of press.

Valentines

For Valentines, Shawn sent me this beautiful bouquet of flowers.  He knows how much I love them.  Then we headed to Utah.  Since Monday is President's day we took a quick trip home.  We had a party at Lill's with the family for all of the birthdays that we missed and just to all be together.  It was nice.  The Willden's are still in quartzite so we didn't  see them.

Gramps

Olin

Courtney showing us her seefood.  She is so elegant!

Granny

Olin when we said smile. He let us know today that he was having a sister and not a brother as he had hoped.  He would be nice, but he wasn't sharing his toys with a girl.

Regular Courtney

Lil talking to me.

Gramps, he had us take this for his concealed carry permit.

Darin

Me

Ice Castles

In February we went to Breckenridge as a family to see Ice Castles.  If I had known how far Breckenridge was from us I probably wouldn't have gone.  3 1/2 hours one way and we left at around 3 so we got back around midnight.  It was beautiful though.  The kids had a blast as well.  Ethan invited Voren Perry to go with us and he was quite nice.  We all really enjoyed it, even if it was a long ride, and the natural ice sculptures were magnificent, especially when lit against the night sky.

Ethan and Jace

Ethan being intelligent.  Cade behind him

Shawn

Shawn's trip to Mexico with Mauri

Shawn and his sister Mauri, took a wonderful trip together to Cancun.  It was kind of a crazy thing.   Mauri and her husband are getting a divorce.  This was trip they had planned for their Anniversary.  But now it was a no go and Mauri was really bummed.  Place paid for and ticket and her first trip out of the country.  So Shawn decided why should she not go and volunteered (So kind and sacrificing of him - lol) to go with her.  She thought that was great.  The funny thing is he almost didn't make it.  They left on the same day and Shawn was supposed to meet her at the airport in Cancun, but the government wouldn't accept his bent passport and sent him back to the US.  Mauri arrived and was all alone not knowing whether Shawn would make it or not.  He spent a whole day in San Francisco at the passport office trying to get a new one in a day.  Finally managed to get one and then was flown back to Cancun, and this time they let him in.  So only two days late.  The rest of the trip was a great success.  I don't know the name of these places, but Shawn can put them in and identify them.  They are beautiful shots though.  And it was a great bonding trip for him and his sister!