Mountain cabin vacation 2011 Day 1

This post's pictures are especially for Jeffrey.. if the rest of you get bored, oh well. =)

We were so glad that Daddy and Jason were able to get off of work for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for us to go on vacation in the mountains west of Colorado Springs, at a cabin in Lake George. We vacationed there last year as well, except two weeks earlier than this year, when more of the aspens still had their leaves. Despite "fall" already happening for the most part, we really enjoyed the rest that the quiet and scenery provided for us all.







The Phillips-Brown cabin...




We arrived at lunch time on Wednesday, after Jason (student driver), Daddy, and Beth had all driven. We came down via mountain roads, which were more "fun" than 1-25.


This picture of Jason was actually taken Friday.


After lunch we decided to go driving and find some place to hike. Here's Mother all ready to go... she ended up getting hot in her sweater and hat, because the weather was so nice and she has hot-flashes.


We were looking for a trail that Dad, Jas, and Em had hiked at last year, but after a long unsuccessful search for that, explored and "hiked" somewhere else... Lake George Cemetery. This cemetery was very interesting in that the burial sites were scattered all over the rolling ground, AND up a hill, seemingly without rhyme or reason. Death dates ranged from the 1800s to 2011. Some of the grave sites were surrounded by fencing or wooden frames, while some were simply piles of rocks (poor people buried there).



After we got done looking at a lot of the tombstones and figuring out how old people were when they married (if recorded) or died, and musing about what kind of people they would have been, we decided to hike up the hill behind the graveyard.

Hiking


Mother and Daddy opted to sit and wait for us to finish the climb to the top.



And learn some things about Jeff's camera... =)


Here's Em.. we had to rest before getting all the way to the top.


Beth, after her heart stopped racing.


Jason...


Not posing this time, just enjoying the view.


Which was this:


Coming most of the way down to Mother and Daddy again we found some nice rocks to sit on.. that was until Dad told us there was a cave to look at!


This picture kind of shows how deep it was.


Right beside the cave.


Going back down to the van--notice the headstones in the background?


Next we got our curiosity satisfied about someplace else we had passed on the drive from the cabin--the Lake George Community Park (and Arena). Knowing it to be public property, we walked around, then



played in the park, of course! (This is "scarier" than it looks, at least for "cats".)


You look like a 7, Jas!


The 3 "kids":



Meanwhile Daddy and Mother enjoyed the glider swing, and bravely watched us.


Happy 28th Anniversary, Daddy and Mother!! (Saturday 22nd)




Finally tired from the hiking and playing, we were ready to go back to the cabin... ("just one more" picture first, though!)



...and consume some energy.


This picture ::smiling faces:: was BEFORE the smoke got in our eyes, I'm guessing!






That's smoke from the fire...


And after supper, Dutch Blitz

2011 Quilt Show

{Please feel free to click on any picture in this post to enlarge and see the details of the quilts!!!}
Our JHS Quilt/Craft/Demo Show was last Saturday. It was one day only this year, so we helped set up on Friday evening, and took everything down on Saturday evening.
There were a record number of quilts displayed this year, 197, with 52 of them made by our featured quilter, Doris Popejoy. It was a joy for me to interview her for the paper, and Beth wrote up a very nice article about her. She has made around 100 quilts, and inspired her daughters and granddaughter to quilt also! Her daughters had beautiful quilts in the show too. This is Doris standing by her 80th birthday quilt (on the left). Her friends in the quilting club made the blocks and she put them together. The fabrics used in this quilt are all 1930s reproduction fabrics.

The following are the front row of Doris's quilts. Her quilts were on three rows. I loved all of them.




This one is one of my favorites of hers.

More of her beautiful quilts.

We had to get creative to fit all the quilts in this year. We added a couple more complete rows, but also strung a second line for Doris's smaller wall hangings.

This one was made by Doris's daughter, Laura Morrison, and she won the Arias Floral Business Choice. This was paper pieced, and after quilting, many tiny "gems" were added.

Patricia Lamfers won 1st place in the viewer's choice with her "Colorado Gold" quilt. It was also chosen as Hays Market Business Choice. The machine embroidery is truly wonderful!

Daisy Bolter made "Irish Sam in the Fields" and won 2nd place in the viewer's choice. I told her my quilt was honored to hang beside her winning quilt. (You can see my quilt at the right edge of the picture.) The quilting on this one was so special and I loved the mint green and browns.

This closer view shows the quilting better.

This is called "Down on the Farm" and was the 3rd place viewer's choice. It was made by Minerva Lee. The details on it are very amazing!

"Staci's Lighthouses" by Patricia Lamfers was ACE Hardware's Business Choice.

These are some others that our family loved. I voted for this tulip quilt. I loved the colors.

The flowers were so pretty in this one.

Our very favorites are our own, even though they are not fancy or intricate. They are ours! Nine Patch Plaid, which I gave Jason for graduation.

Five Stripes which graces Rowen's and my bed.

My girls "manned" the bake sale table from 9-11 and 3-5. They are old hands at it. This year was my first time to work the bake sale.

We have hundreds more pictures, but won't post them all here! There was also a gym full of vendors selling their crafts, and a hallway full of crafters demonstrating their skills. It was a fun and successful day.