The end of the Colorado pictures

This was the view from one of the windows in the Museum of Natural History. Great view of Denver.

When I saw this picture I laughed so hard. Apparently Evan's swimming suit is a little too big. Luckily it didn't come all the way off.

While we were in Denver we also went to the Museum of Natural History. This was some sort of satellite thing where you can find your house and see it from space. Kind of creepy when you think about it.

Evan and Brock had the same jammies. This is their tough guy pose.

Karissa's brother Zac, has a dog and Evan loved playing with it. This dog was so well behaved and very tolerant of the kids.

Evan also had lots of fun playing with Zac.

Elitch Gardens

How cute is she? She is getting more personality now and is really starting to crack us up.

Chloe and Brock. Brock isn't too excited for his airplane ride. Chloe was reluctant until the ride started and then she loved it.

Ryan had to squat so he met the height restrictions. They pretty much let him get away with it except for one ride.

Evan loved the bumper cars as long as he could ride with Ryan. Since there were so few people there the guy just let them ride over and over without getting off.

Evan loved this little roller coaster, although you can't tell from the look on his face.

We were lucky enough to catch this awesome Bob the Builder show(note sarcasm). Evan loved it since it is his favorite show.

We had a fun day at Elitches. It was overcast and looked like rain so there weren't many people there. We were lucky and it never rained and we got the whole place to ourselves almost. I had the camera with me most of the time in the kiddie section with Evan and Chloe. That's why there aren't any pictures of John and Ryan. They went and did the rides in the rest of the park. They had lots of roller coasters. Ryan loved them all! I think John was a little queasy by the end of the day.

Garden of the Gods and USAFA

OK, so I am still not done posting all of my Colorado pictures. We seriously did so much while we were there and we took so many pictures. I have been going day by day but I might just squeeze the rest in and call it done. Look for the last of the Colorado pics tomorrow or the next day.

Garden of the Gods is one of my most favorite places on the planet, that I know of so far. It is so beautiful and awe inspiring. The whole area is just gorgeous and it made me soooo homesick for Colorado. As an added bonus, for my pleasure I am sure, the whole time we were hiking the trails it thundered and echoed through the rocks. It was awesome! Oh how I miss a good thunder and lightening storm. It was a great day.

Since we were in Colorado Springs we stopped at the US Air Force Academy. It is right at the base of the most beautiful mountains. It is a gorgeous campus. My dad used to take us to the Air Force vs. BYU football games. We didn't have time to walk to the chapel but we hit the gift shop and the B2 bomber. Ryan couldn't believe that the guard searched our car and trunk when we entered. We had to explain to him about the evils of the world and keeping our country safe.


The chapel is in the distance. It is such a beautiful building.
The boys had so much fun chasing these poor geese. I was kind of worried they were going to get annoyed with the boys and turn and attack, but they never did. The smart ones flew up on top of the bomber.

A stroll down memory lane.

Grandpa with Brock, Chloe and Evan at the park.

The guys all played disc golf before we went to dinner at Casa Bonita.

This is the church house we attended in Colorado. It is very unique for a Mormon church. It was previously owned by another church that left town or went out of business or something. Then the LDS church bought it. It is very beautiful and has beautiful grounds. John and I had our wedding reception here.

This is the junior high school I attended. Drake Junior High. They were doing a little construction, but it looks exactly the same as when I went there.

This is the high school I attended, Arvada West High School. It looks absolutely nothing like it did when I went to school here. They have added on multiple times. I thought it was big when I went to school here, but now it is ginormous.

The back of the school.

It was fun to go back and see my old schools and our old house. We were driving by our old house and the lady who lives there now was out in the yard. She invited us in to take a look around at our old digs. It looks so different. They were such nice people to let us look through their entire house. It was lots of fun to talk about the good ol' days. Lots of awesome memories. I miss Colorado so much.

Casa Bonita!

This restaurant is crazy huge and lots of fun. We used to go there whenever people came to visit. It is a total tourist attraction. It took some convincing to get my parents to go there again. The food is less than desirable, but the entertainment is great for the kids. They have a waterfall with divers jumping off, little skits, a mariachi band, a spook alley, puppet show, pinata, etc, etc...

We had lots of fun. Here are a few pics.

Marci and Dan enjoying the authentic Mexican food (ha, ha).

Ryan watching the divers.

Marci had a good time flirting with the diver. He was a character.

John entering the scary spook alley with Chloe.

Wow, Ryan is protective of his candy. Evan tried to get what he could before the big kids gathered it all up.

Casa Bonita has tons of different levels and themed areas to eat. In the bottom there is a mine. Upstairs is the rain forest. There is a lot to see.

It's official. Introducing. . .

Dr. Mark D. Young, M.D.
I am so glad that we were able to go to my brother's graduation. We are so proud of him and all he has accomplished. It was extra special because my dad (who has a doctorate in Chemistry) was able to hood Mark.

Before the "hooding"

Mark, taking the oath, where he promises he won't try and kill anyone on purpose. Or something like that. :)
Mark and Karissa have been very busy since they have been married. Last year Karissa graduated from law school, then Mark graduated from medical school and two weeks after this Karissa got her LLM in tax law. Crazy kids!
Our family now has four doctorates: My dad, PhD in Chemistry, John, JD in law, Karissa, JD in law and Mark, M.D. So proud of all of them!

Swimming at the hotel.

Chloe isn't exactly a fan of swimming yet. We're going to have to work on that this summer. Notice the nice sunburn. Poor baby! Her mother forgot that when it is cloudy in Colorado you can still get fried.

Evan is finally getting over his fear of the water. He had lots of fun playing in the pool with Daddy and Ryan.

Major belly flop.