24th of July

Ever since I was a little girl my family has made the annual trek to Manassa, Colorado, to visit my grandma, have an Anderson family reunion, and celebrate the 24th of July festivities.  I haven't been there now for three years, and was excited to be able to go back there, this time with Mckay and Logan.  We left Chase behind for a week and journeyed to Colorado with Grandma and Grandpa Sainsbury and Anne.

One of my favorite things to do over the 24th is run the Manassa 5k.  Here we are just before the race starts.  I have run many a 5k in my time, but none are as hard as this one!  Maybe it has to do with the fact that Manassa's elevation is very close to 8,000 about sea level.  Either way, it was exhausting, but I was proud of myself.  Mckay and Logan cheered me on at the finish line.

Right after the 5k the Pioneer Day Parade starts.  Mckay loved the "horsies" most of all.

Logan was a good sport at the parade.  Next year you can get some candy too buddy!

What would an Anderson family reunion be without lots of pictures?  Here we are Sunday afternoon.

Monday was such an adventure!  We road a "choo-choo train" up Cumbre's pass.  This train was super cool.  It was one of those old-fashioned steam engines, and mountain pass we headed up was just breathtakingly gorgeous.

Mckay loooovvvveeed the train. . . almost as much as he loved his Grandpa!

The next day we went to Zapata Falls.  It kind of reminded me of the Grotto up Payson Canyon, or Calf Creek Falls down in Escalante, Utah.  It was a nice, cool place to spend an afternoon.  The water was freezing, so I couldn't convince myself to hike through the river to the falls, but it was fun to wait by the river and watch Mckay throw rocks in it, and let little Logan kick on the ground.

I am so grateful I decided to come to this reunion.  Preserving family relationships is very important, and I am grateful that my kids got exposed to a big part of their heritage, and that they got to know some of their extended family so much better.