Off to Highlands Ranch, CO for the graduation of our oldest niece and nephew from high school.  We spent two nights there.  It was so great to be around some of Chris’ family again.  We haven’t seen the Sutorius’ since our last “reunion” two years ago and Brent, Jill and Ethan flew in from Ohio for it too.  We rode the light rail into downtown Denver and walked the 16th Steet Mall in the rain.  Ate dinner at ESPN Zone so the guys could watch the nailbiting buzzer shot winner by LeBron James and the Cavaliers.  I was really impressed with the cleanliness of the downtown area.

We then drove to Estes Park (about 1 1/2 hours NW of Denver) and spent time with everyone in our condos.  It was cool and cloudy most of the time we were there.  Decent weather in the morning, then would rain in the afternoon and usually at night.  We walked the quaint little main street.  The guys and Corrin all went river rafting in the 40 degree river and had a blast while the girls and the kids went for a hike around Lily Lake and ate lunch at the historic and haunted Stanley Hotel.  I had a bbq pulled elk sandwich for the first time and it was surprisingly good!  Not gamey tasting at all.

We rode the aerial tram to the top of  a mountain and the kids fed peanuts right out of their hands to the chipmunks who are REALLY tame.  Spencer was so scared they would bite him that he dropped the peanut the first time one came close.  Even Josey got in the action and was so ticked when they ran out.  The kids wanted to go swimming just about every day even though it was an outdoor “heated” pool that didn’t feel much warmer than a cool bath.  They had fun and the adults sat in the hot tub!

Our last day there we went horseback riding and had a great time!   Spencer loved that our horse’s name was Fun.  He didn’t like it so much when I made Fun trot and said, “don’t do that again Mom.”  But I did it again   We also drove up to the top Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park (11,784 feet above sea level) saw a lot of snow and a lot of Elk.  It was really pretty.  The mountains there are so different than the mountains in Utah.  We had such a great trip!  Check out the rest of our trip picts in the Photo Albums.