Utah/Colorado: Part 4

First of all, a quick report on this week's weather adventures.

The earthquake came on Tuesday just before 2:00. It lasted 15-20 seconds and we definitely felt it! Nick was at the office and was evacuated for 30 minutes while they checked the building. I was in the Temple, where we went on with business as usual while they checked the building. There was no structural damage, but 4 spire tips did fall off. They chipped of pieces of stone as they went down, and put a couple of small holes in the roof, dented a van, and chipped some cement. You can hardly tell just looking at them from a distance.

This weekend we also had Hurricane Irene. It was a bit uneventful, although they did cancel church in anticipation of possible power outages. We ended up with around 24 hours of constant rain and spurts of strong wind. It was amazing to watch the huge trees swaying. Today it is windy, but settling down.

Okay, back to the Utah trip! Nick was able to fly out for a week. We got to see all of my family, and also attended my 10-year class reunion. It was fun to see some of the classmates I haven't seen often, if at all, since high school. Unfortunately some couldn't make it, and it definitely would have been more fun with them, but we still had a good time.

I didn't take very many pictures, sorry Ady. This is all you get.

Me, Julee, Diane

Kortne, Laura, Julie, Paola, Hyrum, Amy, Me, Diane


After the reunion, Nick and I drove to Breckenridge, CO to meet up with his family for the Jepsen Family Reunion! Nick's dad has 6 brothers, and we get together with them and their families every other year for a fun adventure.
Here is is the condo we stayed in.
I didn't take a great variety of pictures, and sadly there aren't many of the rest of the family. We'll do better next time.

These pictures are from our bike ride. It was very relaxing - all downhill, peaceful and gorgeous.

I didn't take any pictures of the family softball game. That is a tradition every year since Nick's grandpa was a huge baseball fan. Nick hit a home run and I actually hit the ball pretty well every time I was up to bat!


With the change in elevation (and being completely out of shape), I was really winded every time I had to run bases, so I knew I couldn't make it on the big hike they had planned. Instead, I spent the morning walking around the fun shops and art galleries downtown and doing a little shopping. In the meantime, the rest of the family went on a hike up Quandary peak
elevation 14,265 ft.
They said it was a hard hike with steep, rocky trails and very little oxygen, but it was worth it for the view - and the goats.
Along the trail, they met up with a bunch of mountain goats, who would follow them along and get pretty close. Aren't they cute!

Sorry about the eyes-closed picture, Nick, but it's the only one that showed how the clouds would cover one side of the peak, and the other would be clear.