i was excited about it. 
the aspens were beautiful.
my brother was precious
this is cody when we got to a creek with no clear crossing point. we still had a couple of hours of hiking to do that evening so we didn't want wet socks. he was trying to decide our best choice. 
i went first and made it dryly (thank you, thank you) then i watched him cross, all the while chanting, "fall, fall, slip, fall." i am not as precious as he is. 
so then we were hiking in these woods...
we came out of the woods to find....
it was cool to make a new friend but i didn't want him to join our hike.
this is at the top of triangle pass. it took a lot of time and effort to get here but it was entirely worth it. 
this is cody pointing to the pass, we were tired at the end of this day. 
after my time with cody i drove a few hours north to visit my other brother luke and his wife ashley. this is luke and his dog in front of his house.
one day the three of us went to downtown ft. collins. it was a beautiful downtown area.
luke bet me a dollar i couldn't sit on the second pole.
get paid!!!
luke and his wife ashley. as you can see by these pictures...we are not very good at behaving in public. 
we stopped at ben and jerry's for a little afternoon ice cream. 
and jenga...
luke is usually too cool for school so i was grateful that he was being a good sport today.
one day while i was there luke caught 7 fish in a stream by his house so we fried them up that night and it was free dinner. 
then we played guitar hero.
this is on the drive from their house to estes park. it was simply amazing. 
when we arrived in estes park we turned around in this neighborhood while looking for a parking place and found these guys.
i liked watching my brother and his new family.
then we went to rocky mountain national park and it rocked my face off.
saw this guy.
i was again, excited. 
the best sister-in-law ever with her colorado friends.
then we saw sheep with horns...NATURE!!
overall conclusions:
-God is good, he has made a lot of beautiful things and it is only by Him that we are beautiful.
a certain person who i am enjoying the company of a lot lately was pointing out to me one day while we were in the car together that ft. worth is kind of fake. the grass next to the highway is not natural, it was planted there because they messed up the natural foundation with the many highways. this makes this person sound cynical which he is not (ish). a little cynical and a lot wonderful..anyway back to the point.
i thought a lot about what he was saying while i was enjoying the beauty of our Father's natural creation. what He makes is beautiful. He doesn't need our help. He is good all on his own.
what a wonderful thing that why we were
ugly,
sin covered,
He chose to make us beautiful.
-another conclusion:
it is good for humans to sit in front of big things God has made and remember that we are small.
we think we are important, deserving and it is simply not true.
we don't deserve anything but hell.
i wish i could really get this through my head. this is the kind of truth that if i could truly understand it gratefulness would be produced in an amount that might change the way i live.
help me Lord.
but simply, it's good for us to remember we are small.
