back from being on the road again

I’ll be short with text and long-winded with photos today. Our little family just returned from another road trip and I’ll share some glimpses. Once again, I opted to leave the dSLR at home. It’s 100% iPhonography (all shots taken with my iPhone 4S). My favorite apps are still HERE (but I do need to update the list with newer faves).

First, I want you to know that while we love to escape the summer heat, break up the everyday routine, and visit loved ones … our business and our customers remain a high priority. We do not let things slip while we’re away. Wheels are still turning everywhere and I take extra care to be sure that everything is still in motion, all our ducks are in a row, and nothing slows down when we’re away.

We are getting very close to having sold-out products available again (but they won’t be here this week as we hoped) and I will have a full update for you later this week or at least by Monday. There are still a few things we are waiting on before I do that.

Stay tuned.

Side-of-the-road shot with amazingly perfect lighting + just the right angle + Instagram filter.

…..

{ higgins family reunion }

We gathered with everyone in a big lodge near Monticello, Utah and spent one of our days in the fascinating and beautiful Arches National Park.

…..

{ colorado springs }

We also got to spend several days with dear friends in the beautiful state of Colorado. As always – when we spend time with awesome people – I am inspired to share several things with you from this visit … but that warrants a separate blog post later this week. Watch for that. In the meantime, some glimpses of our time there.

Remember me blogging about the Incline before?

Oh yes. I did it again. Definitely a love/hate relationship with this climb.

This is the beautiful Garden of the Gods. As we were pulling away from Colorado Springs on Saturday we spotted – unfortunately – a fire coming come from near this area. We have since learned about many acres that have been burned in Colorado Springs, and several evacuations. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by yet another wildfire. We’ve now seen several just in the last two road trips.

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22 Responses to “back from being on the road again”

  1. julie gropp says:

    thanks for sharing your pictures. I am surprised they all came from an iphone! We live in Cortez, CO (four corners area) which is just an hour away from Monticello, so many of the Utah sites are familiar. Glad you had a good roadtrip!

  2. Judy says:

    Your pics are just beautiful and poignant. Sadly, our beautiful Rocky Mountains are literally burning up! There are more than 13 active forest fires, of which, the Waldo Canyon fire (where you were) has been burning for 4 days now. Garden of the Gods is closed as is Pikes Peak. A new fire broke out today above Boulder. We’re on day five of recordbreaking temps (almost as high as Phoenix!). We’re melting and we desperately need rain!

  3. Sarah Bisel says:

    It’s fun to see a “near Monticello, UT” on your blog. I have family in that area, and we also just spent some time at a family reunion in La Sal, UT…a beloved area. I am glad you got to get away…even if you did take some of the business with you. Hope you are enjoying your summer.

  4. Lisa W. says:

    BEAUTIFUL… looks like a awesome wonderful place!!!

    Thank you for sharing:)

  5. Leanne in CA says:

    Wow, beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing. I am thinking of the people dealing with fires in CO as well.

  6. Susan says:

    My family is currently in Colo Springs right now for our vacation. We were actually driving into town when the fire started on Sat. Just this evening, there has been a terrible fire storm with many homes lost. My heart goes out to this City!

  7. Your beautiful photos make me think of our lovely friends in Colorado Springs. One day we will visit them there; just a long way from Australia! I love the shot of the five kids climbing up the rock. smiles

  8. Jen T says:

    We went to Arches NP this spring with our family. Loved it! Did you get to hike to Delicate arch? that was amazing. We also went to Canyonlands NP and Capitol Reef NP. We are so lucky to have the National parks! Thanks for sharing your pictures!

  9. Amy in Woodland Park, CO says:

    Oh, the connections from this post! I lived in Monticello and worked for the NPS for 5 years before moving here (just over Rampart Range west of Colorado Springs). Thank you for the pictures of both places, even the one of the initial smoke plume from the Waldo Canyon Fire. I just want to post on your blog to let everyone know to please prepare for emergencies. Monticello was a wonderful place to learn about being prepared for 72 hours, and we are using that background, along with the Red Cross preparedness information, to be very prepared. I cannot even verbalize how terrifying this is for all of us in El Paso and Teller Counties. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, but most importantly, prepare, prepare, prepare. And if you want to help, please donate to the Red Cross-Colorado. Thank you Becky, for bringing this closer to many people.

  10. Laurel says:

    Gorgeous pictures! I admire your photography skills. And all with an iPhone, wow.

  11. Fiona says:

    Those rocks are amazing! Such great pictures from your phone. Thanks for sharing the beauty of your corner of the world :)

  12. Christine says:

    Arches Nat. Park is on my list of places to visit. Thanks for sharing.
    Praying for the people effected by the wildfire.

  13. oh goodness, I know where our next family vacation will be now! Found you via pinterest — keep posting!

    http://www.greatproofreading.com
    When your blog has attracted too many followers to pretend it’s okay because no one’s going to see it.

  14. Kimberly says:

    I love your photos. But, did you notice in the wildfire picture, you actually caught a RAINBOW? I bet you didn’t. I notice things like that because I write poetry. And that picture is certainly one that I could put a poem to.

  15. Sheryl Pyle says:

    Such beautiful pictures…I am amazed at the photos you get with your Iphone and instagram. So glad you were here before our horrible week has progressed. This is the most horrific thing and our beautiful state is in flames. The Waldo Canyon fire is so far unstoppable and so many brave firefighters here trying to get control. Please pray for their safety and the safety of those evacuees. We live south and so are safe but it is moving fast..today Monument and Palmer Lake were put on pre-evac. This is simply devastating.

  16. Kim says:

    Your iPhone photos are AMAZING! Prayers to all involved in the CO fires.

  17. Jeri says:

    Great pictures! So glad you got to see the Springs before the wildfires got out of hand. Right now 18,500 acres have burned and 300 homes have been lost.

  18. Kathy L says:

    Great pictures. I love the one with the kids climbing up the rock. Truly a perfect moment. Thanks for sharing. Such sad news about the wildfires. We continue to keep all in our prayers.

  19. Susan B says:

    Your name sure caught my eye on Facebook today. I know it well from all of the scrapbooking books I own. To see the new adventures you are embarking on is amazing! So happy you are sharing them. I also live in Colorado & have friends in both the Colorado Springs & Boulder areas who have been evacuated. There was a Beth Moore event in the Springs this past weekend & she opened up the venue *free* to any evacuees that wanted to attend. All of those people stood up as the entire group prayed for them. We pray for the homeowners and all of the firemen there. Over 350 homes lost already.

  20. Rorie says:

    I have a near-identical picture of that same lodge near Monticello that my family stayed at a few years ago for our family reunion. How funny! :)

  21. Krista Nash says:

    So I am just nw scrolling thru your blog because I don’t frequent it as often as I should. So I know this question is from an OLD post and I know you’re busy. Perhaps you can answer it another time. How do you get your creative shots of your famil? The one of the kids all climbing up on the rock in particular. Is that just good timing and a quick shutter finger? Or did you tell them to climb up and position them so they were all in the frame? I never seem to get cute, random, action shots like that and any time I try to arrange something like that, it ends up with my being completely frustrated and with unhappy faces from the kids. {sigh} You have a wonderful eye!

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