Amelie's 1st Birthday

Checking out the features...

We still had a little more waiting on the house so we occupied our time by checking out new furniture, visiting Grandma & Grandpa J, checking out a Planes - Trains - Automobiles festival and attending Cousin Amelie's 1st Birthday Party!

Axel launching paper rockets.

Magic water.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMELIE!!! We love you!!

1 years old

Check out this awesome cake!! Nice work Aunt Kate

A double birthday with this friend who was really digging his own cupcake.

It didn't take her long to figure out this cake was tasty too!

Big brother Logan was very excited and eager to help out.

 

Mmmmm....C-A-K-E!

Everyone had smiles!!

Quick stop in Lander

Climbing in Lander is always a favorite especially when the flowers are bursting with color. These yellow guys were still hanging on after our Oregon adventure. Thank you Steve & Ellen for opening up your guest room for us...again!

 

 

Breaking out the new skinny rope from Trango!

Trip to Oregon -- Wedding Time

Our new house!

When June came around, our house was still under construction but getting closer by the day! We had a trip to Oregon planned to attend Uncle Bill's graduation, Army commissioning and wedding all in the same weekend. We packed up the car and headed further west!  Sonora Grill, our favorite Mexican restaurant, is right on the way to Oregon! Any excuse to go through Ogden, UT to hit up Sonora is a wonderful thing!

The Guac Trio was awesome! Bacon - blue cheese. Grapefruit - almond - morita. Pineapple - cucumber- pepitas. DELISH!

After a long haul across Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Oregon we made it to Bend! We headed straight to Smith Rock for a little climbing and of course, a hike to the monkey. This time, however, we discovered a new face in the monkey. Not sure what it is but we really liked his nose!

Mike is in the blue shirt with Axel checking out the Monkey Face.

 

Early morning climbing to beat the Smith Rock summer heat

Uncle Bill and Aunt Rosie had a dessert wedding which was awesome. We did all go home with belly aches but it was totally worth it. The chocolate fountain was a huge hit!!

 WEDDING PHOTOS GO HERE

Father's Day also happened while in Oregon. Here the boys are sharing their homemade lock-n-key cards with their awesome Dad!

After the crazy busy weekend of  Uncle Bill festivities, we headed back over to Bend to stay in a condo on Black Butte Ranch. It was gorgeous and most of the extended family was able to join so we had cousins galore! We biked, hiked, played tennis, swam, climbed, etc. all right from our condo!

Black Butte Ranch is gorgeous and definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. I have condo photos hiding somewhere? Probably along with the wedding photos...

Here are some views I had during my solo bike ride at the ranch!

 

Black Butte

 

Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Washington

Before we knew it, we were back in the car headed home. We decided to take a little detour up to Lander, WY and stopped at the Tetons for a few hours. We tortured the boys and made them hike up Mt. Glory to get a really cool view of the Tetons from the South looking North. The tortured boys had a blast!!!

Beautiful Mountains = Happy Daddy

Long car ride = Crazy Kids

So incredible!!

My Axel Man

Mr. Lucas

This crew was ready to see our new house and get moved in.

Attitude/Altitude Adjustment

Hiking is hard!

It's true, especially coming from Florida. However, with lots of practice and patience, hiking becomes a whole lot easier. The Anderson family wasted no time getting acclimated to Colorado and it was a little painful at first. We all needed a little attitude adjustment to go along with our altitude adjustment. :)

We started "small" I guess you could say. However, in this family, small is pretty significant!

Eagles Peak is located on the USAFA and a hike Daddy used to run up and down in less than an hour. There was no running with the crew, our motto was "slow and steady wins the race!" I don't think Daddy agreed but he quickly realized that we needed practice. Getting to the top is a huge confidence booster. The tough part about being on the top is, you are only halfway done. Going down is usually faster but it can be slippery in these parts. We had to practice the slip and slide technique with the boys explaining that being a little out of control is okay.

Just about to the summit.

Eagle Peak summit photo with Pikes Peak in the background. I'm sure we will soon have a photo from the top of Pikes Peak!

Estes Cone was on our list too. This trail starts out flat for some time then finishes strong up the cone. The boys were excited to hike by an old mine and Mommy made sure there was gold to find. The real gold was finding wild iris flowers!!

Gold! We stuck GOLD!!!

Purple gold!

 Estes Cone starts at the Longs Peak Trailhead. This means you get a great view when you reach the summit. Again, I'm sure one day we will have a photo with the cone in the back ground when we summit Long's Peak!

Lucas, hold on!!! Don't fall off the cliff!!

Everyone is smiling. We distracted to boys by talking about their favorite video game while hiking the steep section. All smiles!

Here's the beautiful meadow where the Wild Iris' live.

The meadow reveals a beautiful view of the cone too.

They did it!! We are getting better!!

 One morning Daddy decided to take a solo hike in the Indian Peaks. It was good for his soul to get out early and go as fast as his feet would allow. He was greeted by some mountain sheep and incredible views. The boys and I had a mellow day with Grandma & Grandpa J.

Furry flowers...so cool!!

You don't get views like this in Florida!

A marmot, a fat one!

 The boys really did great with all our practice hikes. It is hard work but everyone was getting stronger and faster. When we weren't hiking, we were climbing or resting. Grandma and Grandpa J helped out a whole bunch taking the boys while Mom and Dad headed out for early morning climbs. The boys were very thankful not to be woken up at 5am. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Taking a walk with Grandpa J

Grandma J getting ready for an airstream trip!

 

 This is where Mom and Dad would spend our mornings climbing. Wizard Gate is located just South of Estes Park. It's a steep hike but beautiful and all ours!

Daddy resting and soaking up the gorgeous views.

The base of the cliff is on a big slab.

Looking down from the slab to a cool camping spot. This is where the boys hang out when we drag them up there.

 

Team Anderson was getting in shape and starting to love the mountains all over again!