A Day with my Boys

So, Kiley was off to Disneyland with her "other" dad and left me to deal with the boys, alone!! So, we decided to go check out all the Fall Colors near Sunrise.

Fall is Toby's favorite time of year, so off we went for a day trip up to the beautiful Aspens. We have made it a family tradition to get up to Sunrise to do the "Scenic Lift Rides" every year, with the exception of last year since I was days away from delivering baby number three (a.k.a. Chase). This year, we brought Toby's family along for the occasion.

This year, just like the others, was busy and chilly. So, with the smell of kettle corn and hot chocolate in the air and a cold breeze in our faces, off we went. This year was no exception with the cold, the boys had ruby red noses when we reached the top, but the ride up was wonderful, except for some "dip" who decided that bras and Mardi Gras beads were the perfect decorations for a pine tree (didn't really do much for the tree!)

When we reached the top we saw a few people we knew, visited, and then decided

to have some fry bread and pepsi (I know, not a good combi

nation, but if it is any consolation, I did not drink any Pepsi~ that was the rest of the crew.) We had Toby's mom take our picture from the top, the wind was not as strong on the top...weird.

The view was beautiful and the colors were gorgeous. It made me remember why I love fall so much and how much I love living in the mountains of Arizona.

After staying at the top for a while, we decided to head back down. On the way down we got some silly pictures and some good ones of the kids and Toby and I. It was nice to have some family

time, although I will admit, I was missing my little Kiley. The

family just isn't complete without her. When we got to the bottom we visited with some people we know and then headed off for our "cook-out" in the woods.

We went to Greenspeak (Braedon was showing us his driving moves the whole way there) near our family camping spot and parked the truck. Toby, his Dad, and our two nephews began rounding up wood and making a fire pit, while I got the boys and the chairs out of the truck,

along with the ice chest and the foil packets that we had made up for lunch.

After Toby and his Dad got the fire going, we sat around and visited and waited for the coals to get hot. Toby's dad found a nice piece of metal to set on top and we all threw our foil packets on the top and got them cooking. Within minutes you could smell the chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery cooking (mine included some garlic, lemon, butter, salt, and pepper as well). The smell was making us all extremely hungry, what is it about being in the woods that makes you hungrier and makes all food taste better?

After the food was cooked, we all sat around and ate our lunches and visited some more. After eating, we sat around a little longer and then packed up our stuff to head home.

It was such a nice day. Toby and I decided to take the scenic route home, we weren't quite ready to get home yet. The drive was beautiful and QUIET! The boys had fallen asleep not ten minutes after we pulled out from our "lunch spot." It gave Toby and I a chance to visit, uninterrupted, which is few and far between.

We eventually arrived at home and got ready to head out to my mom and dad's for dinner. It was a wonderful day and it was topped off with a wonderful dinner at mom's house. The day was fabulous and nice and relaxing. I am so grateful for days like these!