Adventures in Colorado...Part III, The Final Saga

Mesa Verde!!

Mesa Verde is a national park outside Cortez, Colorado. It is 8500 feet in elevation and is the home of many cliff dwellings where people lived in the 1200 and 1300's. It is very interesting and beautiful! We took a tour to see the City Palace, where Kimsey thought it was her own personal castle! This was how my grandparents and my family spent our one full day together and it was great! The picture below is driving up to the top of Mesa Verde.

You can tell by some of the trees, they did have a fire several years ago.

Kimsey and her Grandaddy...

Andrew and his Little Man

Grandaddy and Me..it was too beautiful not to take pictures with the ones you love!
A Family Portrait!This is the City Palace from a distance


If you look close, at the middle of the picture in the alcove, you'll see more buildings
The Canyon...much smaller than the famous Grand Canyon, but still huge!
My Girl and Me!
We got to tour the City Palace, and to get up to it, we went down a narrow, steep trail, and the climbed a ladder! Daddy and daughter on the tour...
A close up of City Palace

Kimsey Ray!

That's my Girl!



We had a great time! Grandaddy, Andrew, Kimsey and I finished the tour and found Grandmother and Joshua sacked out asleep in the car! It was so sweet! We picniced in all that beauty for lunch, took some more scenice drives and then headed back to Durango! We ofcourse found the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, which I highly reccomend! Our trip was great! This was our first trip off campus since we have been here, and it was much needed! I think we enjoyed it so much we might be checking out more places to visit out west!

Until Next Time,
The Morris'

Adventures in Colorado...Part II

We made it to Colorado, and had a great time! We met up with my grandparents, and had a wonderful visit! We missed them so much, and it had been far too long since we had seen each other! Durango, Colorado had a beautiful playground that we made several stops at to let the kids play! I mean, who wouldn't want to play with the river and this view right behind you?! It is more majestic than the picture portrays!

Dad pushing Kimsey on the swings!

Our little man enjoying a swing, too!

Grandmother and me...boy, do I miss her!

A little family portrait!

We stayed in Durango, which has the coolest Choo-Choo-Train that you can ride up to Silverton on a very scenic tour! It is a neat town nestled down in the valley between the gigantic Rocky Mountains! We drove around looking at the leaves, the sights and the town. We ate dinner and then swam in the hotel pool (heated ofcourse!) before heading to bed. The next day we got up to head out to Mesa Verde! Our friends in Gainesville, the Parkers, said it was amazing, and they were right! After a long day at Mesa Verde, we came back, swam some more, ate a good dinner and were out for the night! We had to say good-bye to Grandmother and Grandaddy as they headed back to Salt Lake City, UT to catch their flight back to Georgia...sad moments. Andrew, the kids and I hung out in Durango a little while longer before heading back to Glorieta in just enough time for me to get back to the Front Desk. Andrew is back hard at work today...not even stopping for lunch! This was the first trip we have taken since being in New Mexico, and I think we are going to have to do more! Stay tuned...Mesa Verde pictures coming up next, and you DO NOT want to miss those!

Lots of Love!
Andrew, Holly, Kimsey and Josh

Adventures in Colorado...Part I

Going to Colorado was a lot of fun! But, to put it in Josh's words, we were headed to "Rodo!!" Today, I am going to take you on the first part of our adventure, which ofcourse began in the kitchen with road trip snacks! We found some chocolate the kids could have, and made up some chocolate dipped pretzels with sprinkles...okay, Chirstmas Sprinkles. The kids wanted to try them out, but the chocolate wasn't quite hardend, yet..well see for yourself! But, Josh was a happy camper!

Here are the road trip snacks before I bagged them up!
The drive up highway 550 was AMAZING!! God has some incredible handiwork that we drove past! Jodi Greenlee, these are for you!!

The mesas and rock formations were georgeous!

They had so many colors!

I couldn't stop taking pictures! It was absoulutely breath-taking! If anyone comes to visit, we are taking this tour! I promise! Well, as you can see, we haven't made it to Colorado yet! So, the journey will continue soon!

Who Let The Air Out of Our Balloon?!

Adventure is our calling, so in the name of adventure, I have been trying to plan these fun family excursions that get us off campus and exploring the southwest. It just so happens that Albuquerque hosts the largest International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in the world. So, I made plans for us to experience this amazing Fiesta! The first plan got rained out, and since the Fiesta was ending this weekend, I thought we should go reguardless of weather so we could have this amazing time! 4am rolls around with a loud alarm beeping for us to wake up...we didn't want to, but it was for the Hot Air Balloons, right? So, we crawled out of bed, much against our own will, go the kids and all the stuff and headed out the door by 4:45. As we drove a little over an hour, in the rain, we were thinking, maybe this wasn't the best idea! But, we were on the way, might as well keep going. So, we got there , paid $10 to park, $12 to get in, (good thing the kids are still free!), and got our coats, hats and gloves on, and off we went! As we walked onto the field, the wind was blowing..hard. We soon learned that Hot Air Balloons do not take off if the winds are any higher than 10-15 miles an hour...that would have been good to know. So, after hanging out in the dark for close to an hour and a half, we discovered there wouldn't be any balloons taking off in the Mass Assention that was to take place. So here is what we did see...

Pilots buring up their propane...

Some airing out their envelopes...
Airing out their banners...
Playing in all that soft grass!
Rolling around in the grass..they really had great grass!
Kimsey got to stand in a gondola basket...
And that is about it! We were disappointed, but we had fun! We learned they have great grass, and DO NOT go to the Balloon Fiesta if there is wind or rain. Well hopefully the Balloon Fiesta of 2009 will be more fun! We will attempt this again, and hopefully have better pictures to share!

Things They Are A Changin'!

As you can imagine, things have been quite busy out here, but I am going to try to catch everyone up on the happenings of all the Morris'! Summer Staff left us and went back to their homes and school. Then, we had 9 interns come and join us here for the next 9 months! They are a great group, and we are excited to know them better. Fall is in full swing, or maybe it's winter...you can decide for yourself! Glorieta stays very busy in the fall with Festival of Marriage, Retired Ministers, Fall Celebration, Pastor's Masters, Fly Fishing, and a bunch of small groups too! Andrew has been very busy and I have picked up working at the Chuckwagon in additon to Front Desk for this month before we head back to Georgia! Here are some recent pictures!

This is a summer night red sky...it was beautiful!!!

Andrew and I decided to take the kids and experience some Fall in New Mexico. Ski Santa Fe opens their ski lift and lets you ride around and see the Fall Leaves. So, we decided to grab some fried chicken (not easy to find out here), and have a picnic and ride the ski lift! It was to be a perfect fall family experience. We had some friends who wanted to take their kids too, so we all met to get fried chicken! Our friends suggested we just eat there, so we decided on that. Little did we know that would be a neccessity! We ate and headed up the mountain...

And, suddenly there was this white stuff...
Fall colors with a light blanket of white, and by the time we got to the lift, there was snow everywhere!
We rode to the top, getting colder and colder! I think Josh froze because he didn't move at all!
Kimsey was thrilled at all the snow!
They let you get off and walk around at the top, but we couldn't see very much, so we got back on and went back down!
And, on the way down...it started snowing on us!

Please keep in mind, the date is October 5, 2008!

In another season of change, Kimsey is growing up on us! She put away her baby blankies in her baby box, so we took her on her first trip to Build-A-Bear to get a big girl stuffed animal!

She was very proud, and excited! She wanted to

name her pretty purple bear, A Kitty Kat! Thankfully she changed her mind

to Shortcake!

Well, that is it for now! We have some fun events coming up. We are hopefully going on Saturday morning to Albuquerque to the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, and then next week we are escaping a couple of days to Durango, Colorado to meet up with my Grandparents! And, on Nov. 6, the kids and I are flying to Atlanta!! So, we hope to see everyone there soon! Lots of Love!