Summer Adventure: Buena Vista Day Trip

One of our plans for this summer is to take some day trips to towns in the surrounding area that we either haven't been to, or have spent very little time in. Wednesday, we made our first day trip. We went to Buena Vista. We were away from home for eleven hours, so we'll just look at the highlights from our trip.

For part of the morning, we found a park with a nice playground for the kids to play on. Tai was very excited that she could climb this ladder.

Camden loved the tunnel on the playground.

We went on a walk around a pond in one of the parks, and found this statue. Tai wanted to pose in front of it with her dandelion.

In the afternoon, we went hiking for a few hours. This rock was perfect for the kids to sit in for a picture.

Thom carrying Camden on the hiking trail.

Tai was our little trooper on the hike. She walked almost the entire way on her own, even at the steepest part of the trail.

Tai let her imagination run wild while we were hiking. She hid behind this rock and told us she was hiding from a witch.

Even Camden did a fair amount of walking on the trail!

Near the trail head there was a sculpture of a living room set. We couldn't resist taking a "rest" on it after our hike.

Laci's boss told her about a road where you could drive through some old train tunnels, so on our way home, we took that road. The tunnels were awesome, but it was a little nerve-wracking since they were single-lane tunnels.

Summer Adventure: Heritage Museum and National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum

We're a couple days behind on our adventures now, but we'll catch you up. On Tuesday we went to two more of Leadville's museums. Since we had more time on this day, we tackled the big ones.

Our first stop on Tuesday was the Heritage Museum, which takes you through Leadville's history in two stories worth of exhibits.

Tailynne standing in front of an old-fassioned grand piano. She pointed out to us that there were two "pianos" in this room--you can see the organ next to the piano.

Camden loved the manequine of the soldier from the 10th Mountain Division.

Our favorite exhibit at the Heritage Museum is the Ice Palace exhibit. It has a scale model of the Ice Palace. Every 1/4 inch of the model represents 1 foot of the actual Ice Palace.

Our last stop at the Heritage Museum was the equipment they have on display outside.

After the Heritage Museum, we went to one of the parks for lunch.

After we ate, we let the kids play on the playground for a little while to get some energy out... We played a little, too.

After lunch we went to the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum. This is the largest of the museums in Leadville, and is in what used to be the high school.

Near the front of the museum was a sculpture of a castle made from a variety of stones and precious metals.

Camden loved looking at all the different rocks in the gallery. They had different stones and gems from all around the world.

There were two mine replications that you could walk through. Here is one of the dummies in the hard rock mine, waiting to be lifted out.

In the Cole Mine replica, there was a donkey pulling a cart full of coal.

Laci and Thom tried their hands at prospecting. It just would have been nice to know that the gloves weren't water proof first. It took a long time to get the stink out.

One of the exhibits showed all of the house-hold conveniences that come as a result of mining. Tailynne loved the potty display.

Summer Adventures: Tabor Museums

There are six museums in Leadville, and each summer, you can buy a passport that will get you one visit to each museum. Since Laci works at one of the museums, she got a complementary passport, so Thom got one, and we are going to visit each of the museums. Today we started with the three that are connected to Leadville's famous Tabor family.

First we stopped at the Historic Tabor Home--where Horrace, and his first wife, Augusta lived.

An old-fassioned fold-out bed.

The cradle of Maxie Tabor, the son of Horrace and Augusta.

Our next stop was the Matchless Mine and Baby Doe Cabin--the dying place of our cat's namesake.

Camden trying on a toy hard hat before we started the tour.

Thom, Tailynne, and Camden looking down the mine shaft.

A replica of Matchless Mine, which was originally used as a parade float.

Baby Doe's bed, inside the cabin. Notice the wall paper. While this is not the orriginal wall paper, Baby Doe did line the walls with newspaper for extra insulation.

Our last stop today was the Tabor Opera House. It was really cool... literally... there's no heating in that building.

Camden fell asleep before we started the tour. He was awake by the end though. We think this one was his favorite.

The ticket booth. Each slot corresponds with a seat in the auditorium.

Tailynne walking down the aisle of the auditorium.

The view from the balcony.

The entry way, looking down from the doors to the theatre.

Summer Adventure: Fish Hatchery/Nature Trail

Today is the first day of Summer Vacation and we took advantage of it by going hiking. Leadville has a National Fish Hatchery, with several hiking trails. We started off simple and took the one mile Nature Trail. After we finished the hike we walked around the fish hatchery and looked at the cut throats and rainbow trouts. We just got a new camera and this was our first trial run. We love it! We were able to get several pictures of our family, the beautiful scenery around us, and even some wildlife. We are still learning and our pictures are trial and error but I hope you enjoy. Here are a few of our favorites:

Camden walked for quite awhile.

Tai found a tiny pine cone

Waterfall

Family Picture (it didn't turn out to bad for using the timer)

Squirrel in the tree

Camden and Laci sitting by one of the ponds at the fish hatchery

A sign I found kind of funny

Snowshoesing

A couple Saturdays ago, Tailynne and I went out onto the Mineral Belt Trail to do some snowshoeing. When I brought her snow suit out of her bedroom, she got really excited and started talking about how she wanted to go "snowshoesing!"

We didn't go for very long, but we had a fun time. Tailynne was really excited to get her snowshoes on when we reached the trail, but after a few steps she told me, "It's hard to walk." Fortunately, we were prepared. I took Tai's snowshoes off of her, and pulled our sled out of the back of the car. I pulled Tai behind me in the sled for a little while. Every few steps I took she would tell me, "I having fun!"

After a little while, Tai decided she wanted to give her snowshoes another shot. I took her out of the sled, and put her snowshoes back on. She still told me, "It's hard to walk," but she was a trooper, and gave it her best. Enjoy this video of Tai snowshoeing. To get the full effect, turn the music off, and turn the volume up so you can hear what Tai says.

2009 Quist Family Christmas Letter

M is for Months that have Passed. It has been at least 12 months since we last sent out Christmas cards and Christmas letter and we just wanted to update all of our wonderful family and friends on everything going on in our lives. Since the end of this year has been so busy for us we were not able to get cards out on time. Sorry for that.



E is for Education. Thom is still teaching 8th grade Language Arts at Lake County Middle School. This is his second year and he is still enjoying it. This year the middle school has switched to a block schedule, and it has been an adjustment only seeing his classes every other day, but he still enjoys it, and he loves the people he works with.



R is for Reunion with the Hortons. This summer we drove down to Arizona for the annual Horton Family Reunion. It was nice to spend time with most of Laci's family. There were a few who were not able to attend and we missed you guys. We spent our first night camping and the rest of the time at a resort in Sedona. We went to a place called Wet Beaver Creek and went on a small hike, then we found a great place to play in the creek. Tailynne really enjoyed that part. Other activities we did were: swimming at the resort, our annual Horderve party and gift exchange, shopping in Sedona, spending time with family, and playing games. We were sad to see the time pass so quickly, but we look forward to next year's reunion that will be in Breckenridge.





R is for Reunion with the Quists. We also had the first ever Robert and Wanda Quist Family Reunion in Hermit Park. Hermit Park is located near Estes Park, Colorado. It was a beautiful location to have a family reunion. Thom's family used to go on family trips to Hermit Park when he was growing up, and it was great to be there again with everyone. Thom's parents, all of his siblings and their families were all there, along with Thom's Uncle Glenn and Aunt Bernadette (making 41 people total). Most of the families stayed in cabins, but our family stayed in a tent, which, thankfully, didn't let the rain in. Some of the activities we particpated in were the Q-lympics, hiking, games, catching up with family, holding babies, and shopping in Estes Park. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to the next Quist family reunion in 2012.




Y is for Y-Chromosome. That's right, we added a Y-Chromosome to our family! On November 15 at 5:45 pm Camden Robert Quist joined our family. He weighed 3 pounds 10 ounces and was 15.25 inches long. He was not due until the beginning of January, so he came about 8 weeks early. He spent 4 weeks in te University of Colorado Hospitals NICU. When he was released, he had grown to 4 pounds 12 ounces. He is a handsome little guy and is welcomed and loved by his parents and his older sister, Tailynne.





C is for Church Callings. Thom is staying busy serving as Elders Quorum President in the Frisco Ward, and Laci is serving as the Ward Librarian. Tailynne loves to attend nursery or "church" as she calls it. Camden has not yet attended our ward.




H is for Home at last! Due to complications with Laci's pregnacy she was admitted to the Summit County Hospital at the end of October. She went for her first, and hopefully last, ambulance ride to University Hospital in Denver, where the doctors are trained for high risk pregnancies. We found out that she would be in the hospital until she had the baby, which was not very encouraging for our family. Thom had to work, so with Laci in the hospital, we had to find someone to keep Tailynne for us. We were very blessed to have Thom's mom and dad take care of Tailynne, but this meant that our family of three was in three different cities. This was a huge challenge for our family but we are so happy to say that after eight weeks of living like that, we are home at last and instead of a family of three, we are a family of four!




R is for Running a 5k. Thom decided to run in the Manassa Pioneer Day's 5k race. He started training while he was coaching middle school track. In July, Thom spent a week with Laci's sister Micah and her family where he helped them work on their new house. On Friday of that week, Laci and Tai came down for the weekend. Saturday morning Thom got in the starting line for the 5k. When the gun shot fired, he took off running and ran around "M" mountain. He did awesome, Tailynne and Laci were so proud of him.


I is for Imagination. We have loved watching Tailynne grow and change this past year. One big change is that her imagination has gone wild. We love to watch her play. She cooks pretend food for us, she has her barbies (and her silverware) have conversations, she talks on pretend phones, and she plays with her cousins even though they are nowhere near her. For about a week, she talked about birds flying around in her bedroom. These are just a few things that she does on a regular basis, but daily she uses her imagination and surprises us with something new.



S is for Smiles. Tailynne is all smiles. We love to hear her running around and laughing. If she knows that you are looking at her she will trun and give you the biggest cheesiest smile you have ever seen. She has a way of making others smile when they are having a bad day. We love having this little girl in our family.



T is for Theatre. As if Thom is not busy enough, he had a great oppertunity present itself and how could he resist it? The High School Drama Coaching position opened up and he decided to apply for it. He was offered this position right after the interview. It has kept him busy in the evenings. This fall was his first set of shows. He directed 4 one act plays that turned out great. During the Spring semester he is preparing for an improv night and a musical. Thom has always loved Theatre so when this came up there was no way he could let it pass him by.


M is for Museum. Laci spent her second summer working at the Healy House Museum here in Leadville. She works as a tour guide and a sales person in the gift shop. The gift shop is actually where she spent most of her time this summer. Laci loves working at the museum because she meets great people from all over the world, and she learns a lot about Leadville's history. While Thom was out of school, he took care of Tailynne, but when he started work again Tailynne joined Laci at the Museum. Tailynne also enjoyes the museum and loves getting spoiled by Laci's boss.




A is for Answered Prayers. We have had many answered prayers this past year, and we are so grateful for them. We are grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves us and blesses us daily. We are also grateful for the many prayers on our behalf that have also been answered! In all the weeks that Laci was up in Denver, Thom was able to make it up to see her every weekend. Even in the winter storm the weekend Camden was born, Thom was able to find a safe place to stay the night, and make it up to Denver in time to be there for Camden's birth!



S is for Safe and Happy Holidays! We wanted to wish you a Safe and Happy Holiday Season. We hope that as you celebrate this Christmas Season that you will have the Spirit of Christmas with you!





Merry Christmas!

Love,

Thom, Laci, Tailynne and Camden

Nesting

Well I had my last day of work on Wednesday and I am now home for good (except for a couple hours on Thursday, but close enough). Well my house has been very neglected needless to say, so yesterday I sat down to make a list of things I need to get done. It is long let me tell you. So yesterday I spent a big majority of the day working on it. Have you ever noticed as you cross one thing off your list you think of at least two more things to add. Well maybe I should go see if I can get a few more things crossed off today and a lot more added to it.