We spent the morning sleeping in and eating a good breakfast before packing all of our stuff in the car and heading off on our last fun day in Crested Butte. We had initially planned on hiking Snodgrass Mountain just north of the ski areas, but as we were driving along Gothic road, we saw a sign that said it was closed. We decided to just drive for a bit to see what was more north along the road. The views were great but eventually we turned around to see if we could access Snodgrass Mountain from the western side of the mountain. We didn't have much luck on that side but enjoyed exploring the views from Washington Gulch Rd. We probably spent an hour in the car just enjoying the different areas of Crested Butte. Then we headed back into town and decided to hike the Upper Loop Trail system right on the mountainside of Mt. Crested Butte. We headed on the main trail for a little over a mile and then decided to stop along a pleasant part of the trail, hidden in the aspens, and eat our lunch. We saw a couple of different mountain bikers on this part of our hike. I would definitely like to come back and ride my mountain bike here. After turning around and heading back on the trail, we made it back to the intersection of Upper Loop Trail and Happy Hour Trail. We decided to head up on the Happy Hour Trail to see what the views would be in that direction. I am so glad we decided to do this trail because after hiking several switchbacks, we eventually popped out of the aspens and when we turned around further along the trail we could see how far and deep and wide the aspens stood. We didn't stay on the open trail that long since it was getting a little too hot outside, but we made it far enough along the trail to be happy about adventuring that far. By this point, everyone was ready to turn around and head back to the car. Emma did a great job being Madeline's buddy on this hike and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their conversations as we headed back down the trail. We really got lucky this weekend with the amazing fall colors that we saw. I had always heard that Crested Butte was amazing in the fall and now I know exactly why people claim Crested Butte as one of the best places to visit to see the fall colors! We will definitely be coming back here for another fall adventure!

We woke up to a beautiful crisp morning in Crested Butte and got all ready to do some hiking and enjoy the beautiful fall leaves. We ventured out of the town of Crested Butte on Rt. 12 towards Kebler Pass. On the way towards Kebler Pass Mike decided to venture off on S. Plains Gulch Rd (12F) towards the West Elk Wilderness. At first the road was nothing special and we were amongst a million pine trees. There really wasn't a whole lot of aspen trees or any colorful trees for that matter. It was at the point where we thought maybe we should turn around and then we popped out at the top of this amazing view of aspen trees. We continued on the road as it wound down towards the West Elk Wilderness. Just the drive alone was worth the detour and we took full advantage of the beauty of it all. All the windows were rolled down and I was standing in the front with my head up out of the sunroof so I could take photos while Mike drove really slowly. I'm sure people thought we were crazy. We made it to the trailhead for the Beaver Pond hike and were lucky enough to grab the last parking spot. This was a short hike, maybe 2 miles total, but it was the most beautiful fall hike ever. There were just so many aspens it was unreal and although the leaves had already started to fall off the trees, there was still plenty of yellow left on the trees. Every time a little breeze would blow through the trail it would rain down yellow aspen leaves. Between that and the sun shining through the trees, it was pretty magical. When we finally made it out of the single track trail to Beaver Pond, the views were equally impressive. We walked around the lake and enjoyed the mountainside view of the colors as well as the impressive beaver dams. As we made our way back, the kids had fun running on dead logs, having duels with big broken branches, and for a few minutes we even sat quietly just listening to the sound of the aspen leaves rustling in the wind. It truly was the perfect way to start our fall day in Crested Butte.

After leaving the West Elk Wilderness we headed back on Rt. 12 towards Kebler Pass. It was no surprise when we got to the most prominent part of Kebler Pass because there were more people and the aspens seemed to go on forever. It was quite a sight to behold as this area hosts one of the world's largest aspen groves in the world, with the biggest being Utah's Pando grove. After taking in the views mostly by car, and a quick stop for me to take an epic panorama of this area, we continued on Rt. 12 towards Lost Lake Campground. We parked the car near some picnic tables, ate our lunch, and then headed on the Three Lakes Trail. This trail was a 3.5-mile loop, passing three different lakes, plenty of aspens, and some amazing views. We made sure to spend time at the lakes skipping rocks and just enjoying the beautiful day. After viewing the last lake (Dollar Lake) and making our way back to the trail to make the loop back to the campground, we noticed a small trail that veered off from the main trail. It looked promising for some good views and so we followed it. What we saw was remarkable. We saw the entire main range of Kebler Pass that we had been to earlier that day. Since we were the only ones at this little overlook it was quiet and so we sat down for a few minutes and enjoyed the stillness. Although I took a ton of photos on our hike, nothing quite does justice to seeing the fall colors in person.

I spent a good deal of time trying to decide if I wanted to hire a photographer for our family photos this year. I even researched photographers in southern CA to do them on our upcoming trip but I never really found someone that was good enough for my standards and within a reasonable price. I decided to just bite the bullet and take our family photos myself. I wanted to go somewhere totally unique and remembered our adventure to the Painted Mines earlier this year. I knew that would be a perfect place where I could get even light and not have to fight big crowds. After procrastinating for several weeks in July I finally picked a day where the weather wasn't too stormy. We got extremely lucky because the afternoon thunderstorm that was projected never happened and when we got to the spot I had planned on doing our photos, another photographer was just finishing up a photo shoot. We had the small cavern to ourselves. The kids were well behaved and we got all the photos we wanted before the light started to fade. I was so relieved to find so many photos that I liked, especially because this family photo would be the one up on our walls for the next 3-4 years while the boys serve missions. I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to take our family photos and the best part was I didn't have to pay a dime to do it!

When I was a child, I loved riding the Seattle Ferries to and from Bainbridge island.  I mean, just look at the photos below. It's one of the great things to do on this Earth. I just love standing out in the wind, watching the city grow bigger and bigger. On clear days, you can see Mt. Rainier and its just perfect. On a beautiful summer day, the Pacific Northwest is the best place to be on the planet. I was so glad we could be there.  

One of my other favorite memories is the Big Country Breakfast at Salish Lodge. I used to go there with my mom. I remember going there with our whole family when Jacob was a baby and my mom gave him whip cream without Kim knowing. It was a great moment. The hot chocolate there is divine. The meal takes 2 hours to get through. By the time you are done, there is nothing to do except sit fat in the foyer of the hotel and take a nap. Sometimes, we'll venture down to see the waterfall, but sometimes, you just sit fat. It's a beautiful thing. If there is a heaven on Earth, then it is breakfast at Salish Lodge. I'm so glad my boys enjoy good food. It makes it a lot easier to plan fun excursions. 

Once we were done, we drove over to the Japanese Gardens. It's always wonderful to just enjoy the peace and quiet of a Japanese garden. We love the winding paths, the ponds, and the stepping stones. It speaks to our love of adventure, exploring unknown paths, and enjoying peace and quiet.

With time winding down before our flight back, we headed back downtown for Ivars one last time. We also took in the Aquarium, which was pretty cool. Again, it was nice to see stuff without a lot of tourists. It made the whole experience a lot better. Once we were done with the Aquarium and eating our fill of clam chowder, cod, shrimp, and fries, we headed back to SeaTac and hopped back down to Denver. It was an incredible trip with some incredible kids. I'm so glad that they are a part of our family.  

Written by Mike
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We woke up in Forks. And yes, they still sell Twilight T-shirts there. We packed up our gear and headed back down the road to the Hoh rainforest, another magical place that never disappoints. While there are grand hikes to be done there, the little nature hikes are pretty great. We are definitely hiking in the woods people. Especially, when it is green and majestic. It's crazy how much more green everything is when you live somewhere that's super dry like Colorado. It's also amazing how being out in the woods brings out the best in the boys. They instantly gravitate to climbing up and down logs, crawling through gutted out trees, balancing out over the water, and enjoying everything that the woods has to offer. It was the perfect morning to be there because it was sunny and warm, instead of cold and rainy.  That is a rare treat in one of the wettest places in the United States.

After the rainforest, we went back to the beach. We headed this time to Rialto beach which is also super cool. When we got there, there was quite a line of cars waiting to park in the parking lot. We witnessed a great moment when some Seattle dad in a minivan, cut around the guy in line in front of him and stole the next parking place. The other car (a Subaru) being driven by a bunch of Millennials (the dude was like 22 and had his toe nails painted) went and talked to the guy and he told them some long story about the rules of parking lots in National Forests and in the end, they just sucked it up. We went and talked to them afterwards to get the full story. It was a fascinating study in Human Behavior. I wish we had it on tape.  

Once we got parked, we walked down to the beach and then over to these little islands that are only accessible during low tide. We tried to climb around to the far side, but the danger factor was pretty high.  I wish we had our kayaks!  It was so much fun to explore the tide pools, walk across the logs and rocks (to get there you had to do a 1/2 mile walk across old logs and rocks, it was so fun!). I really enjoyed watching Peter spring board off this log that was sticking out over the water. It was just a cool place. Too bad we don't have something like that in our backyard!

After we were done at the beach, we drove over to Sequim. We had dinner, and then we stopped by our good friend's house, The Turellas. In case there was any doubt, the Turellas are the coolest people ever and so incredibly talented. They have all these amazing devices to 3-D print stuff, laser cut stuff, and so forth. Their Halloween costumes are unreal and their ability to make cool things super fun. It was really fun to see what they have been up to and just to reconnect with friends from days long past. It was honestly one of the great highlights of the entire trip. Thanks Turellas!

After we left Sequim, we headed over to Bainbridge island to stay near the ferry terminal. We did so much in such a short time.

Written by Mike

COVID be darned! Protests be darned! Sometimes, you just gotta get out with the boys and enjoy a little bit of life. So, one afternoon, we drove up to the Denver airport and took a little hop to Seattle. Just the boys. Just the highlights. Just because. The best part of traveling during this crazy time is the lack of anyone anywhere. No one in the airports. No tourists. Just wish we lived in Europe so we could go travel about without hoards of people in the way. Anyway, we landed at the airport, grabbed our car and headed straight to Ivars for some tasty fish n' chips. We also got the awesome experience of seeing Elder Holtom who was supposed to be in Hong Kong, but got reassigned to Seattle. It was the perfect evening. Warm weather, great sunset, great food, and great people. Ivars has played a part of Wilhelm family meals for generations (starting with Grandpa Floyd), so there were a lot of stories to share. Once we had our fill and watched the sunset, we headed down to our hotel for our fishing trip the next day. However, we did have to stop really quick in Dupont. Andrew still has PTSD from going to Chloe Clark Elementary, so it was time for him to confront his demons. It was funny to hear what he remembered about going to school there, the things that were fun, and the things that were awful. After that, we headed to Safeway in Lacey, grabbed some food, and then headed to our hotel in Aberdeen.

Written by Mike

​After Mike, Andrew, and Peter left for their boy’s adventure trip, the girls and I decided to head on over to Flying Horse for their Taco Thursday event. It was kind of overcast so we spent most of the time in the hot tub after stuffing out faces full of yummy tacos. It was nice to be able to spend time with just the girls.

Well, if this trip proved one thing, we are not boat people. This was supposed to be a triumph of manhood. Sailing out into the ocean. Men against the elements. Men catching fish. Men high-fiving and downing drinks as we declared our superiority over the Ocean and her little waves. Instead, it was three grown men laying helplessly on a boat while they took turns throwing up. Yes, there were fish caught, but I think they threw themselves on our hooks out of pity. Somehow, out of the misery, we were still able to have fun, catch some fish and enjoy the beauty of the ocean, but we have clearly lived in Colorado too long and no longer have any ability to tolerate the gentle lilting of the ocean.

When we got back into the docks, we had our fish packaged up for the return home, and then headed up the coast. On our way out of Westport, we saw a group of four missionaries walking down this country road. We had some Oreos in the car, so we turned around and Andrew hung out the window and we fed the missionaries Oreos. Most of them had be reassigned from other missions across the world, and it was clearly a highlight of their day to get randomly gifted cookies. It's always fun when you see the missionaries out and about.  

What we lack in seafaring skills, we make up in hiking and exploring skills. On our way to our hotel in Forks, we stopped at one of my favorite places in the world, Ruby Beach. We spent the evening exploring, climbing, getting wet in the surf and just watching the waves roll in and out. Colorado is a fun place, but I deeply miss the sound of waves on the shore and the smell of salty air on a crisp afternoon breeze. There is something magical about the Olympic Peninsula, and Ruby beach displays that magic in its rocks and grand vistas. Plus, there is an endless amount of rocks to skip. Hours have been spent skipping rocks and sitting on downed trees as the sun fades into the West.  

​Written by Mike

On our family walk the boys were being so cute with Madeline and swinging her up and down the sidewalk. When we rounded the corner to the Garlock house we ran into Grant and both Peter and Grant were wearing the same school shirt. We just had to stop and take a picture.

​Grandma Anne bought a fun little splash pool for Madeline during our visit to Utah. She had so much fun in it almost every day that we were there.

​It was really fun to do home church with Grandma Anne and Grandpa Franz. Both of the boys were able to bless and pass the sacrament which was really special for my parents to watch. Grandpa even had real sacrament cups for us to use which was pretty awesome.

​I was able to meet up with Becca, Melissa, and Brittany while I was in Utah. We went to Becca’s house and just talked for a few hours. It was nice to catch up with some of my BYU roommates even for a short time. Hopefully we can do it again next summer.

​Madeline loves spending time with her grandparents. On our visit to Orem I often found her on the bed watching something with Grandpa Franz or cuddling next to Grandma Anne. It was just the cutest thing. 

​After our hike up Mt. Timpanogos we were all pretty much destroyed. After Peter showered, he immediately fell asleep. I was not surprised at all considering how much this kid loves to sleep.

​Mike, Andrew, and I quickly showered after our hike up Timpanogos so that we could head on over to say a quick hi to Kelvin and his family while they were on their way to a family reunion in Wyoming. We stopped at a nearby gas station while they were filling up to say hi. It’s always so fun to see the Ning family. We wish they lived closer to us. 

​Before we all headed in the car to drive back to Colorado, we took a quick selfie with Grandma. The kids sure had a great time visiting their grandparents in Orem.

​We have had quite a few torrential afternoon rainstorms. One in particular, was so strong that it washed out a bunch of the little rocks on the side of our house.

​Madeline really loves doing the little boxes of puzzles. In the past we would help her, but she picked up one of the puzzles and figured out how to put it together all on her own. It was so fun to watch her do it by herself. 

​Peter loves to take Madeline to the new park in Cordera. She loves to be outside so it’s a win win for everyone.

​We love our afternoon walks. Sometimes it is just Mike, Madeline and I that head out to walk around the neighborhood. Sometimes Madeline does the entire loop without any problems and sometimes she just wants to be carried. A good shoulder ride usually does the trick.

​With only a month before Andrew leaves for his mission it was time to finally start laying everything out to see what else he needed from his packing list. ​By the end of the month all of Andrew’s language books and other missionary books arrived. 

​We love shopping at Costco, mostly for the crazy random things that you can find there. On one particular shopping trip we found a mini keg of beer for Oktoberfest. It was just too funny, so we had to stop and snap a quick photo. 

All summer Abby willingly rode Peter’s old green mountain bike even though it wasn’t the best bike to ride. Part of the problem with the bike was it was a little too small and the shifters didn’t work that well. It was finally time for an upgrade, so we got her a TREK bike similar to Emma’s bike. She has really loved riding this bike and can go farther and faster which is pretty great.

​After finding out that our XTERRA Beaver Creek race was cancelled, Mike and I decided to keep running and biking but to just have fun doing it. I spent a good deal of this month running and biking on a new trail in our area called the Pineries Open Space. The 8.4-mile loop proved to be a great trail. I also spent some time running with Caryn and Dionne at Ute Valley Park, did speed work on the Santa Fe trail and some climbing on the Ute Pass Trail. I divided my biking between mountain biking and road biking and just had fun with it all. I pushed myself to new PRs which was awesome. I may not have been able to officially race this month, but I still pushed myself to achieve new goals

​It’s crazy to think Andrew is nineteen years old. It’s crazy that he turned nineteen in a year that has been totally upside down thanks to COVID-19. It’s crazy that he is living in our basement and completing another semester of school. We’re grateful for Andrew. No one who has kids will tell you that they don’t stress you out and make you want to pull out your hair, but at the same time, life wouldn’t be as grand without them. Happy Birthday Andrew.  

​Being Epic Pass Holders, we were able to take the ski lift to the top of the mountain which was so much easier than hiking or biking up! We took the Royal Elk trail over to the lake and sat on the far side of the shore. It was so pleasant. We then hiked back down to the hotel. Why do trips like this have to end? It seems like it would be better if we could work 2 days a week and take 5 days off.  I think life would be better if we didn’t have to work so much.  

​On Friday, we got up and road our mountain bikes uphill and took the village connector trail all the way through Beaver Creek. It was a bit of a beast to start climbing right away up the mountain, but once on the main trail, it was pretty spectacular. The views, the flower, and the flowy single track were pretty great. The downhill was fun as well. We had lunch down by the Westin in Avon, and then took the bus back up to the hotel. It was a beautiful day with great weather. The best part of the day, of course, was getting massages at the spa. The Spa at the Park Hyatt is one of the best we have ever been to. It’s just great and never disappoints.  

​There are just some places that are great to go with your spouse. Beaver Creek is one of them.  It’s such a beautiful place. We took the weekend to spend without the kids at the Park Hyatt, which is one of our favorite places. The hotel is great, but there are lots of fun things to do there.  Soon after we arrived, we headed over to eat dinner at Splendido. The food was wonderful, but the best part were the souffle’s for dessert. They were ridiculously good. Our dinner was a great way to start our awesome weekend trip.