Sledding During Winter Break

During Winter Break from school, we headed up to Grand Mesa to enjoy the snow and do some sledding. We found snow but it was more like ice. We forever scarred our sleds with all the skidding over the ice.

 Desiree' was able to join us.

 This is Travis' idea of a GREAT day.

Lunch time.

 The girls decided that it was just easier to slide down without the sled.

 Sydney is ready to go.

 All of the climbing back up the hill warms you up quick.

 Katelynn is ready for the "Tailbone Crusher" run. There is a big jump at the bottom and Katelynn did some flying. Ouch!

 The biggest kid, that would be Bob, had to get in on the action.

 Believe it or not that is Meleah and Little David. We frequently had to remind the kids to get out of the way of the people coming down the hill.

This hill is also know for eating tubes. It was fun while they lasted. A good day spent with friends. I forgot to take pictures when Derick, Lori and Wynter joined us but that was a bunch of fun too. It was colder and there was much more snow to trudge through. If you weren't able to join us sledding, we missed having you. Maybe next time...

Grand Junction Youth Group January 2012

We played the Minute to Win it game. David Larsen shows us how it is done. I love the eyes!

Cody vs. Bob and the winner is...Bob.

Katelynn did it!

Photo compliments of (Little) David Larsen.

How hard can this be? Julie and I had to try.

Our buddy, Derick Schmidt. Travis' partner in so many things.

Best Friends: Katelynn and Lori Schmidt

Go Sydney!

Lost them. GRRR!

Fun Times with Laura

Cookie Decorating 101

We had to make some cookies for Christmas.

We also went sledding in the desert near our house.

These look like gentle hills but they are not! There are rocks hiding under all that snow.

This was the nicest of all the hills with only a few rocks to avoid.

Here comes Bob.  The snow sure does sparkle here in the sunshine.

The view from the top of the sledding hill.

Thirsty?

Mad Bomber Travis

Wipe out!

We had a great time. Rocks ate up three of our plastic sleds. I jammed my ankle when trying to avoid a rock while sledding down a crazy fast hill. I think sledding in the Rocky Mountains can be considered an Extreme Sport. Did I mention the shooting ranges on the other side of the hill? Or the hidden holes, covered by snow? Good memories.

Hiking in the Winter

No Thoroughfare Canyon, Just off the Devil's Kitchen Trail

Last time Laura and Michelle were in town, we hiked on Mt. Garfield. That was a difficult hike that left Laura saying that she didn't need to do it again. We decided to go on an easier trail that for the most part is pretty flat. I had heard that one of the hikes we have done in the past is really pretty in the winter because all the waterfalls freeze. We decided to try it out. It wasn't too cold, maybe in the 40's. We started out in the sunny desert of the Colorado National Monument and started walking. Thankfully, the rivers we waded through last spring were frozen so crossing it numerous times wasn't a problem. There were a few snowball fights along the way.

 

  This was the first waterfall. It is very pretty and we skated around on the ice a bit. It is funny to me how the water freezes. I would think that because it is flowing that it wouldn't freeze but as you can see, I am wrong.

 Meleah and Bob stopped to remove snow from a shoe or just take a break at this perfect picture spot.

 This was the first view we saw of the second waterfall.

 Notice that the sunlight has disappeared. It started to feel like winter once we got closer to the second waterfall.

This is really an impressive waterfall. I have heard that there is a way up and over but it involves "scrambling" up a steep incline, then "thrashing" through some bushes. I didn't feel the need to make it to the third waterfall.




We sat down and had lunch on some freezing rocks. We started to get cold and after taking pictures and some videos we decided to head back to the sunshine.



Meleah took this group photo. This was back when we felt warm. It was a great way to spend a winter day with a dear friend.