15th Birthday

Tyson's Ty's birthday came and went over the weekend with little fanfare. They say that your 15th birthday is just a tune-up for the big birthday next year ... the one with the 'fumes (perfume and car fumes).  But we made it as special as we could for him and in typical Edwards fashion, we celebrated all weekend.  This year he wanted an ice cream cake ... so Betty Crocker Paige made him own from scratch. Genius.  When it was all said and done, it's hard to believe we have a son that's 15 years old.  Wow.  Happy Birthday kiddo!

Ty and his 15th Birthday cake.  Note the KU Jayhawks shorts that he still proudly wears!

2011 Edwards Scrapbook

Christmas Vacation, Part 2

After spending the first part of our Christmas vacation in Utah visiting family, the 2nd part was spent from the comfy confines of our new home in Colorado. But they weren't spent just sitting around the house ...

On Wednesday, Cody and Ty headed up to nearby Mesa Verde National Park where they checked out the Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling followed by a 2.5 mile hike through a nearby canyon. Hiking in December? Life doesn't get much better than that.

On Thursday, the family took the ever popular San Juan Skyway drive ... a 230 mile drive through some of the most beautiful country known to man. The drive took us through the scenic towns of Durango, Silverton, Ouray (where we had lunch), Ridgeway, Telluride, and of course Mancos. That is a drive that we'll do time and time again.

On Friday, Paige and Cody spent the day cross-country skiing. Paige had so much fun that she wants to buy a pair of skis. 4 miles of uphill skiing suited her just fine ... it was the downhill part coming back that proved to be more challenging, but she didn't let it ruin her overall great experience. 

We celebrated the ringing in of the new year twice: Paige and Cody went to a party on Friday night at some friend's house ... and then Ty spent Saturday night bowling with the youth from a combined 5 wards (congregation).  That of course created an opportunity for an at-home date for Cody and Paige.  Hooray for New Years!

Standing near Lizard Head Pass along the San Juan Skyway.

Cross Country Skiing in Cascade Creek Canyon.

Christmas Vacation, Part 1

With Tyson Ty out of school and where Cody had a week off of work, the Edwards Christmas Vacation extended from one weekend to another. The holiday break was long enough that it was essentially split into two ... one celebrating Christmas with family in Utah and the rest of it spent as a family in our new home in Colorado.

As for the Christmas holiday, we were "home for Christmas" for the first time in seven years. We left for Utah on Friday, December 23 and went "over the river and through the woods" to Grandma's house (Cody's Mom) where we spent a few days surrounded by good food and family. Paige got to see her Dad (and briefly her Mom) while we were there too. Chaos and laughter filled the house when all of Cody's siblings and their families exchanged gifts and had dinner on Christmas night. Before heading back to Colorado. we got to spend a day up in Cache Valley visiting old friends such as the Stacks, Ames and Luthers before spending the night at Cody's cousin's house (Maria and Teryl Hunsaker). After so many visits and so many miles, it was good to come home.

Hanging out at Grandma Shirlene's house.

Skiing That Requires Work

While Paige went and donated some blood at the local blood drive in town, Cody & Ty took off into the mountains again this weekend to take in some cross-country skiing. They rented some skis in Durango and then headed north into the mountains just above Durango Mountain Resort (Purgatory ski area).  From there they took off up Cascade Creek enjoying the quiet solitude that can only come through cross-country skiing. However, someone forgot to tell Ty that cross-country skiing meant skiing uphill (read: "work").  Thus, he didn't have a great time, until they turned around and headed downhill (and back to the truck). Makes us wonder how he'd do with some downhill skiing ... where there's less "work" and more "thrill."

A Drive to Rico

Cody and Ty took advantage of a sunny Saturday and drove up to the small town of Rico, CO located just an hour to the north of Mancos.  During the summer months there's a whopping 500 people in Rico but that number dwindles to around 200 during the winter time. Those folks that do stick out the winter months seemed to be hunkered down and ready for the cold. There were a number of photo opportunities along the way ... our favorites posted below. If Rico and the Dolores River looked that beautiful in the winter, we can only imagine how pretty it will look this summer. This is why we moved here.

Beautiful Mancos, CO

It's hard to believe that we've been out here in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado for a month now. Our lungs have acclimated. We know which way is north. And we can even tell you where to find a good place to eat (the local pizza joint by the way).  We thought we'd post some pictures of the area we now call home ... Mancos (pronounced "MAIN-cuss") in beautiful southwest Colorado.  The first few were gathered off the Internet, while the last half we took since we've been out here.