Joseph Layne Willis is here!

The morning after our great hike to the top of Pikes Peak Grandpa and Grandma Norton came to say good-bye before they headed to AZ.  A text came in from Charina.  Then a phone call.  The Dr. said that October 9th would be debut for Willis number 2!  And it was and now Billy has a birthday buddy!  Here are some pics of the week at the Willises.

The first meeting!

Tyler was just enthralled!

Love those CHEEKS!

The light and the dark of it.

Brotherly love!

Toes, toes and if you look close a MeeMaw toe.

A picture of Dad meeting Joey on Skye.

But baby havin' wasn't all that was going on!

Tyler was the expert helper for projects.

He measured....Everything in sight.

All Dad's dreams came true with a trip to Stacy's.  

It's hard to beat a good air guitar concert.

And lots of bonding time.

Love the super mom accessory! If you give birth you deserve a cape!

Check out the name of this park we went to.  It was awesome!

DONUT DAY!!!  Need I say more.

We were all so happy that little Joey finally "come out, cause the doctor found the key" But other than Charina I think Tyler was the happiest of us all!

PIKES PEAK!!!!

When we got home from our Illinois adventure and I saw that all the snow had melted off Pikes Peak.  I got a little bit excited!  I was bummed we didn't get it hiked before the snow but then with such a warm fall the snow melted.  So I checked the weather report and Wednesday, October 8, 2014 was gonna be a perfect day.  And it was!!!!!  Check out just how perfect...

We hit the leaves just right!

Familiar Barr trail sight!

So far away!

Barr Camp lunch

Another famous landmark on the trail

Not there yet, but it's a long way down.

My 3rd time up but I'm pretty sure the peak has gotten taller in the past five years!

Bill's first time up Barr trail!

110 years worth of humanity.  WHO HIKED TO THE TOP OF PIKES PEAK IN UNDER 9 HOURS!

We had a great cog rail ride down the mountain.

A PERFECT DAY!!!!

Illinois Paradise

Oh, the familiar roads of home!  We had a great visit to see Minnie.  It is pure bliss as always.

  We got an up close and personal tour of DOT foods where Suzy has worked for a long time.  There are acres and acres of warehouse space, including a refrigerated building dedicated to nothing but chocolate!

We were pretty excited to see this guy soaring around with a buddy.  It's a young bald eagle who doesn't have the white head yet.  So magnificent!

We headed out on what is called the Spoon River Drive.  It's basically mile upon mile and town after town of sales.  It was so fun.  We had a great time even though the wind was chilly at times.

The actual Spoon River.

We cleaned off Mom's headstone.  It had grown this crazy lichen stuff that wasn't on anyone else's.  Looks much better!

We got to pick apples and do some chores which is always fun.

Minnie fed us extremely well!!!

The ever curious Felix.  He's the best cat.

And thus we got our fall fix of the beauty of Illinois!

A Camping We Did Go!

Disclaimer:  The Roys have ALWAYS loved camping.  Whether it was YW camp, or family camp, we loved it ALL.  And now, we have a new way to LOVE camping.  Our little home away from home was the BEST!

We got our little guy and headed to Yosemite!  Big trees, HUGE pinecones and gorgeous scenery.

This is half dome.  At this stop we ate breakfast and learned of our next adventure.

You can't see people in this picture, but on the left side of half dome about half way between the front and the back they install a "cable path" that allows people without rock knowhow to climb to the top of half dome.  You have to apply and get in a lottery system to get a reservation to go up but THAT IS OUR 2015 adventure!  

Our 2nd night we had the all american RV experience.  We stayed in the parking lot at the St George Walmart!

Because we stayed in Walmart we got an early start and were treated with visits from WILD TURKEYS on our way to the Kolob trail.

Another wild turkey ready to backpack into the Kolob Arch.

It was a gorgeous day.  Our camp was #5 and about 5 miles into the canyon.  We set up camp left our packs and then did another 7 miles exploring.  SO FUN!!!

This is the arch.  You don't get to get very close but it's the 2nd largest free standing arch (short of 1st by 3 ft) in the WORLD!

We met a couple of people (foreign of course) hiking out from the arch and they were disappointed in it.  We thought it was magnificent!

At our little camp ready to eat our MRE.  Fajitas, so GOOD!  (Check out Dad's bare little feet in flip flops no less)

We hiked clear to that far wall.  The pictures just can't show the beauty of this place.

From Kolob (Zion) we drove to Bryce via a canyon behind Cedar City.  What a great surprise to have 30 miles of turning leaves!  It was breathtaking.  We even passed lava fields with trees growing out of it.  So amazing.

We camped at Bryce.  This is one place you gotta see!

There are lots of trails that drop down into it.

We chose a 5 mile one that not very many people attempt.  So surreal.

I named this "Doug rock"

It was foggy when we started out which made the hike even cooler, in all respects!

Then a thunderstorm came.  Boy does thunder roll around those Hoodoos (that's what they call the rocks).  We hid out in here for a while.  But it just kept storming.  

When we got to the dry riverbed we had crossed earlier it was dry no more and we had to cross to get to civilization.  So a few scary jumps and a find of a fallen tree and we made it back, wet but thrilled for the adventure!

Next we headed to Lee's Ferry AZ.  It was the old Mormon ferry built to get across the Colorado River.  It rained from our adventure at Bryce, then all through our drive and most of the night.  But we woke to see this beauty outside our dry little camper.

Colorado River.

We joked all along that we were glad we brought Kris and Billy with us on this trip.  haha if you zoom in it really does kinda look like them.

We hiked around the Sunset volcano national monument in AZ

We forgot to take any pictures at Uncle Henry's.  But had such an enjoyable visit with them.  Thanks!!!!!!

Conclusion: We liked our little home on wheels and will probably do it again!!!!!