hey look!  i found those pics that i thought lucy had deleted from ryan, macy and mikes trip out to visit us last spring.  that was a great visit!  we drove out to rocky mtn n. park.  did a few hikes and drove trail ridge rd.  if you come out here during the spring or summer to visit us you are bound to get a trip out on trail ridge rd.  it's beyond what words can describe.  it's definitely not for the faint of heart driving up at over 11,000ft.  but it is amazingly beautiful.  pictures definitely don't do it justice.  when we took my parents this past summer, my mom had just gotten back from a trip to the swiss alps and she said that this was definitely comparable and just as beautiful.  so come on out everyone!

these pictures are so endearing to me.  they remind me that lucy should have family around more often.

there nate is again, off in some crazy spot with lucy

see those poles, thats so when it snows they still know where the road is. crazy the snow gets that high. 

i am so proud of ryan and macy, we took them on a pretty strenuous hike the second day they got here! who needs altitude acclimatizing!

we took a road trip out to utah this summer with my parents.  my dad's favorite place on earth is bryce canyon and i wanted nate to experience it with my parents.  as a child living on the west coast we did a lot of road trips to all the different national parks.  i am so happy that my parents loved traveling and took me to so many places as a child.  i think it fostered a love for traveling that is still with me today.  hope to do the same with lucy.  

we stopped in moab and stayed for 2 nights, visited arches national park, canyon lands n. park. and the following day drove to bryce canyon n. park and spent the night.  bryce was cold and was overcast.  the hoodoos (tall thin spires) of bryce seemed washed out compared to the past.  it could've been the overcast.  the beauty of that place is the contrast of the red rocks next to the brilliant blue skies.  nate and i took a hike down into the canyon and my parents took a hike down a different one while we watched lucy.  we then drove a crazy amount from bryce to aspen stopping in grand junction for dinner.  grand junction is a cool little town i must say!  

we've never been to aspen other then in the winter.  sure was pretty!  the maroon bells were a sight to see!  my parents said it was the prettiest place of their whole trip out here.  i would like to go back sometime during the fall when the aspens are changing. 

it was ALOT of driving but all worth it and thinking back we hardly remember the time in the car.  so blessed to have such beauty all around within a few hours drive. 

mom and the famous delicate arch of utah

see nate with lucy on his back?

that little dot is nate

are you starting to see a trend here…nate putting my child in precarious situations that makes my heart pound 

there's a deep chasm he's looking into, he then proceeded to jump across, grrr drives me crazy

bryce canyon without the blue blue skies

this picture and the one below were taken by lucy =)

maroon bells

this is a "secret" place called false kiva in canyonlands n. park.  it is categorized as a class II site.  it is not on any maps or listed in any park publications.  i was completely obsessed with this place while we were there and wanted so much to look for it.  i had found directions online and they seemed sketchy and a bit dangerous.  it is literally a hole in the side of a cliff.  with a "kiva" a puebloan spiritual room.

these pictures i found online completely had me mesmerized especially the one with the milky way at night.  i made nate promise that we would go back there just the two of us one day and look for it.

acceptance

i came across this today on a friends IG and it really spoke to me.  it is the answer to the power struggle that is constantly going on within me. i can apply this to all aspects of my life.

you are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go:

A magical potion is available to us today. That potion is called acceptance.

We are asked to accept many things: ourselves, as we are; our feelings, needs, desires, choices, and current status of being. Other people, as they are. The status of our relationships with them. Problems. Blessings. Financial status. Where we live. Our work, our tasks, our level of performance at these tasks.

Resistance will not move us forward, nor will it eliminate the undesirable. But even our resistance may need to be accepted. Even resistance yields to and is changed by acceptance.

Acceptance is the magic that makes change possible. It is not forever; it is for the present moment.

Acceptance is the magic that makes our present circumstances good. It brings peace and contentment and opens the door to growth, change, and moving forward.

It shines the light of positive energy on all that we have and are. Within the framework of acceptance, we figure out what we need to do to take care of ourselves.

Acceptance empowers the positive and tells God we have surrendered to the Plan. We have mastered today's lesson, and are ready to move on.

Today, I will accept. I will relinquish my need to be in resistance to my environment and myself. I will surrender. I will cultivate contentment and gratitude. I will move forward in joy by accepting where I am today.