So much to catch you up on...

I mentioned that Taylor had her birthday last week, well my family decided to do a 3-person birthday with my niece, Savanna. And also my niece, Stephanie's brother-in-law, Nathan (from Oklahoma), who was visiting here at the moment. So we had a very nice party for the 3 of them. Taylor turned 8, Savanna turned 18, and Nathan turned 19. We had an Italian dinner, cake and homemade ice cream for the party. Then afterwards, we had our own firework show. It turned out to be a great evening. The next day, two of my nieces, Stephanie and Savanna, my kids, me, and two other girls went up to Ouray for the day. It was kind of Savanna's bachelorette party. Except it was just a day trip that turned out to be very nice. We went to the Ouray Hot Springs and soaked/played for 3 hours or so. Then we hiked up to Cascade Falls. It was SO COLD right next to the waterfall. And very windy, so it was hard to get a good picture of it. Then after our fun day in Ouray, we came home and crashed.
The following day, I went to church in Delta and got to meet Lori, Lorraine, and Craig. It was so awesome getting to meet them and spend the afternoon with them. I brought them to my mom's house and we all got to visit for quite a while. We REALLY enjoyed our visit with them, they are such a nice family!!! Both my mom and I thought so ;) I'm so glad I have gotten to know them on here!!!
In the middle of the next week, my niece, Savanna wanted to go to Durango, where her fiance is working, and surprise him. She called and asked me and the kids if we wanted to go with her. I was very excited to tell her YES! So we drove down to Durango and walked around town, it is also very much a tourist town. We went to the historic Durango/Silverton train station and took a few pictures in front of the train. Ryan and I rode it on our honeymoon and it was really neat if anyone ever gets a chance to ride it. When my kids are older, I plan to take them on it. Later that evening, Trevor came in from work and got a big surprise. He was so happy to see his sweetheart. He said it MADE his whole week. I was so glad we got to do that for him.

The following day, we drove over to Mesa Verde, by Cortez, CO. I had been to Mesa Verde when I was 10 years old. For those of you who don't know, it is a place that Anasazi Indians built around 1,000 years ago. They built their homes in covered cliffs. They were preserved from the rain and snow all these years because they were covered, and they were discovered 100 years ago. It is a very amazing place to go. The kids LOVED it!

Blake climbing up the trail to exit Cliff Palace

And last but not least, we came back and had my niece, Savanna's personal shower. Her theme was a Luau. It turned out to be a really nice party. P.S. - All the drinks were non-alcoholic ;)