Traveling Home from Rocky Mountain National Park 2026

Sadly, our trip had come to an end, and it was time to go.  I was not ready to leave!!!  Much to my surprise, when we walked outside to go to breakfast that morning the ground had snow on it.  It was like a sweet goodbye gift to me. 

 

morning snow at the YMCA of the Rockies 

 

 

our morning view 

 

We love to stay at the YMCA! 

I took this photo on the walk to the dining hall for our last buffet meal. 

 

 

Snow falling as we loaded the car. 

 

 

For the second time we stayed in the Wind River Lodge.  We love it! 

 

Wind River Lodge at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park 

 

 

 leaving the YMCA

I cannot wait to return!!!

 

 

We had snowfall all the way out of town.

 

Checkout was at 10:00 am.  We had an overnight flight that didn't leave Denver until 12:45 am (Wednesday morning).  We had to be at the airport to drop off our vehicle by 10:00 pm.  That meant a twelve hour day to kill.  We left Estes Park that morning and made the 1.5 hour drive back into Denver.

 

 

We killed most of our time walking around stores.  The boys insisted on stopping first at Bass Pro Shop.  

 

We had lunch at In-N-Out, which is a family favorite. We do not have those in the South so it was a must on our list to do while in Colorado. 

 

a lovely Denver sunset

We ate supper at Raising Cane's and then hung out at a Starbucks until time to drive to the airport.  

 

 

driving back into the Denver airport

Like I said on our arrival, I love this airport view, especially at night! It's so pretty!

 

It is hard to sum up this trip in words.  It was incredible and perfect in every way.  If I could do it over again, I would not change a thing.  The memories it provided, we will never forget.   

IMB Americas Homeschool Conference 2026

Our IMB homeschool conferences are top notch! We generally have one every two years. We always have a different educational theme. This year’s theme was Booktopia and focused on reading. I just can’t praise it enough. This year’s conference was a favorite of all. I think it was mostly due to my season of homeschool and the ages of my boys. My main focus was support for finishing high school and prepping them to launch and enter the college years. I left feeling very equipped to do both of these well. 

 

The parent’s days consisted of morning worship and devotions followed by training sessions. We also had daily workshops where you could choose interest based classes. These covered a wide variety of topics related to homeschool. I chose all the high school and college options. They were fantastic! 

 

We had a curriculum fair with several vendors on site to share with us. There was also a college fair for the high school students and their parents. We got to hear from representatives from several schools and some not in attendance sent information and swag to give away.

 

The students had classes of their own. The 2nd- 8th graders all took the IOWA assessment test in the mornings. They had interest based classes in the afternoons. There was a reading fair one evening for the K-8th. Before the conference they had to choose a book that was set in another part of the world and do a presentation on it. That evening they each had a table and everyone walked around and listened to them share about their book. We had so many high school students that we had to do their presentations over two evenings. They had to choose an author and give a 3-5 minute oral presentation about it to the whole group. It was great public speaking practice! We had an evening graduation ceremony to celebrate the juniors and seniors who would be graduating before the next conference. This was followed by cupcakes and fellowship. On the last night we had a talent show where the TCK’s got to highlight their talents. It was very good! 

 

We closed out the conference saying goodbye and thank you to Melody, our education consultant, who will be retiring in late summer. She is going to be greatly missed! We ended with a popcorn buffet that was a lot of fun. 

 

In between we spent countless hours and mealtimes connecting and encouraging each other. I think I love this conference so much because it pours into an area of my life that I spend a great deal of time doing. I’m thankful that the IMB values us as educators of our children and goes above and beyond to provide resources like this conference to help us do it well. 

 

I took very few photos so thankfully Cruz shared a few of his with me. 

 

off to the conference

We left our house around 8:30 am and due to airport delays, we did not arrive at our destination until 3:30 am the next morning. It was a long travel day!

 

 

I always love to see the fountain on the property. 

 

 

Our conference name- Booktopia.  Months before the conference all students get to submit their ideas for a conference name based on the theme.  This year's theme was reading. A list is compiled and then everyone votes for their favorite.  The person who submitted the winning name is always recognized during the conference.

 

 

Cruz and some friends walking to class. 

 

 

The Reading Fair was fantastic!  This was for the K- 8th graders.  It was fun to walk around and hear each of them share about their books.  I also enjoyed seeing all of their creative displays.  

 

Ben chose God's Smuggler as his book and this was his display.

 

ready to share about his book 

 

 

Cruz chose John Grisham as his author to share about.  He chose him because of his ties to Mississippi and Ole Miss. He had a PowerPoint presentation to go along with what he shared. There were at least one hundred people in the audience.  That was intimidating but in spite of it everyone did an awesome job.  

 

 

Walks down to the lake is always everyone's favorite.  It is very pretty and peaceful.  The students spent time there fishing most every afternoon. 

 

Cruz was proud to catch a few fish. 

 

 

 

Ben left for breakfast one morning and came running back in to tell me to look out the window. He then got my phone and took a few pictures. I love that he saw this sunrise and thought of me.  

 

sunrise over the lake 

 

 

Cruz's group in class with their team flag.  

 

These four had a fantastic week together! They’ve all been friends for many years and value times like this when they can be together in person.

 

 

 

Ben with his friend group of middle school boys.  They also had a blast together!

 

Since returning home, we are all in a lull and are missing being together with everyone.  It was a great bonding time not only for the boys but also for me with the other moms. We cannot wait until our next conference so we can all be together again!!! 

Overnight Hike on the Santa Maria Volcano

The last weekend in January, David and Cruz set out on a father/ son adventure.  They joined four other dads and eight other high school boys for an overnight hike/ camp out on the Santa Maria volcano near Quetzaltenango.  In spite of the hike up and down being way more strenuous than they had anticipated, they had a really fun time.  They enjoyed being together with the others and having this shared experience between them.

 

heading out from the house for the drive to Xela

David's bag weighed forty-two pounds.  I think they would have liked it more without all the extra weight to carry. 

 

 

Driving towards the volcano on Saturday morning 

 

 

the group ready to start hiking 

 

 

Somewhere along the way up, the strap on Cruz's bag broke.  That made the rest of the hike a challenge.  It was their first overnight hike like this.  We did not have adequate gear for it, but if they go again, we will definitely invest in better equipment.

 

stopping to rest 

 

 

views on the hike up 

 

  

 

Once everyone arrived at the top, they set up camp.  

 

The sunset was amazing! 

 

Morgan and Cruz 

 

 

 

other volcanoes in the distance 

 

You could see Santiaguito volcano down below.  It is active.

 

 

Sunday morning sunrise 

 

 

 

 

Canon and Cruz 

 

Enjoying the views and trying to stay warm.  A cold front had come through that weekend and it was cold! 

 

packing up for the hike back down 

 

 

a group photo after the hike

 

They drove from there to Fuentes Georginas where they spent some time hanging out in the hot springs. It was a great way to relax their tired bodies after the two day hike.  They had lunch and then drove back home. 

 

 

Cruz bought this patch to remember his trip.  We collect patches from National Parks and will now add this one to our collection.  Before he even unloaded the car, he ran in to show it to me.  He knew I would be proud.

 

I am thankful they had this time together.  They made some great memories and strengthened their bonds with friends.