Frightfully Romantic!

My cousin Garrett married his lovely fiance Michelle on Halloween this year... in Las Vegas!

What a perfect excuse for a fun little road trip down to the City that never sleeps!!! We did our best to help the city live up to its name by staying out super late (for us old people :) on our first night in Vegas. We were, of course, trying to show our bachelor and bachelorette a good time!

The fellas took Garrett out to Fremont Street to find some live entertainment... and a whole lot more!

The lovely ladies went to a Zombie Burlesque show at Planet Hollywood. It was a darn funny show!

And we did a whole lot of this too!

We definitely showed Michelle a good time! Too bad she lived to regret those jello shots. :(

On Halloween we were on a recovery mission from the night before, and also in full wedding prep/explore Vegas with the kids. A tough combo to be sure!

Taylee quickly bonded with her new friend Noah, which worked out perfectly, as we left her with Noah and Aden while we partied hardy. Safely in our Condo, of course.

 The wedding itself was beautiful, and hopefully everything Michelle dreamed of.

The Happy Couple

 We did make a solid effort at trick or treating after the wedding was over. The kids were tired, but had a pretty darn good time anyhow.

The Trick or Treatin' Bunch! Aden, Xavier, Taylee, and Noah

 

 

 

And this is what happens at dinner after a late night and a very long day!

Barcelona

This has been a pretty tremendous year for us travel wise. After starting the year with our big anniversary trip to Costa Rica in March, we had several different opportunities come our way. Instead of wisely choosing between them, we chose to do all of them! Our pocketbook is hurting a little, but our passports sure like the attention. 

In September, we had the opportunity to go to Barcelona with Kent's brother Mark and his wife Amber, as well as our mutual friends Brian and Kim, and Matt and Raquel. For a few days we were also joined by Amber's brother Aaron and his wife Michelle. It was a fun little getaway, and notably Kents first trip to Europe!

I will let the pictures tell the story....

We found some fantastic sangria in Barcelona! And it was almost always served in these humungous glasses, with gigantic ice cubes!

Beautiful Barceloneta Beach

The Barcelona Arc de Triomf. Not to be confused with the Parisian Arc De Triomphe. 

Sagrada Familia, the most famous structure designed by architect Antoni Gaudi. His work influenced the architectural style of much of the city. He designed this church in the 1800's, and work continues on it today, even as tourists explore the building and churchgoers worship. Completion of the church is expected around 2030.  

Kent and I in front of Sagrada Familia

Michelle and Amber, in My Bar!

Walking down the streets of old town Barcelona we found modern graffiti marking the centuries old buildings.

One of our days in Barcelona we took the train northwest of the city to the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey. The monastery is very unique in that it is situated high up on a mountainside, accessible only by cable car.

The Central Square at Montserrat Monestary. 

The cable car you ride to get to the monastery. 

The BEST White Russians EvEr!!

Oddly enough... The BEST Pina Colada's EVER!

Me and my fella, hiking around the monastery 

Barceloneta Beach again!

Fountain of Mountjuic -- Kent and I made this our Grand Finale on the final night of the trip. It was Spectacular!

Fountain of Mountjuic

The beautiful fountain show at Mountjuic

Cable Car at Montsterrat

Riding the Hop On Hop Off Tour Bus 

A deli like we just don't see here in America (and I'm kind of glad...Those ham hocks looked pretty nasty)

This is a cemetery in Barcelona. It was beautiful!

The most interesting thing... McDonalds in Spain serves Beer!

And we stumbled upon this cool place. Ocana Bar. Matt and Brian were in Heaven!!

Cheers! A fantastic little Irish Pub in downtown Barcelona, home of the Best White Russian  Ever!

Our local bar, Andrea's. Where we ended every night. Andrea and her minions sure poured a strong drink! And It sure seems like we have a lot of bar pictures. LOL. 

The Whole Gang, hiking up at Montserrat. But we are all looking up at the girl who almost fell down the mountainside. :(

Rainy Day in Barcelona

Mercado de La Boqueria

Me and Lil' Kim inside Sagrada Familia

I just couldn't get over the juxtaposition of the old town garage fronts, older than anything we have in America, painted with Modern graffiti. A bummer really. 

La Pedrera - a Residential building designed by Gaudi

Me, Amber, and Raquel, waiting for the Metro. Its hot down there!!

Torre Agbar -- We had a fantastic view from our hotel room at the Silken Diagonal. 

All in all, we had a pretty amazing trip. We headed out with no idea what to expect, and found a cultural delight in Barcelona. The interesting contrast of a modern city and old world European charm was pretty amazing. I'd definitely love to visit again someday!

Season Opener 2015

With a busy fall ahead of us, we were able to sneak in a quick weekend in Denver for the Season Opener against Baltimore. As per our usual routine these days, we flew in early Saturday morning so we could spend the day with our Colorado family. We drove straight down to the Springs to meet up with my grandpa, and go to Garden of the Gods. Despite living there for years, we had never been. It is a beautiful state park with lots of majestic rock formations. It reminds me a little of Moab, except with more foliage. 

The whole crew at Garden of the Gods

Daddy and Taylee "rock climbing" together

Sunday was a beautiful fall day, and we were determined to get to the stadium early and enjoy the pregame festivities. We actually managed (for once!) to get there by noon, and enjoyed drinks and watching the early games in the Rocky Mountain Mile High Village. Sadly, my mom and I had a little snafu with the concessions, and waited 20 minutes for a bratwurst. This caused us to miss the first F16 Flyover that they have done in years! Boo. :(
Luckily, the game was fantastic, and we quickly forgot our sorrows.
The Broncos started off the season with a win, and all was well in our world.

Thirty-Five and still alive!

Family Fun and lots of love! That's what this birthday was all about. Well, if we are being honest, that's what all my birthdays are about. :) As it turns out, my birthday kinda got squished between Taylee's birthday celebration, and our summer vacation to Yellowstone... Luckily, Kent was able to take the day off, and he and Taylee took me to Park City for the day to enjoy the outlet mall. One of my favorite birthday activities!

After we made it back home, we all had dinner at the Olive Garden. Another of my favorite cheesy birthday traditions!

I was extra special lucky this year, cuz we got to celebrate again during our trip to Yellowstone with Great Grandpa, Aunt Ginger, Aden, and Xavier. 

I have to say, getting older isn't my favorite thing, but it sure beats the alternative! And I am so lucky to be surrounded by my loving family. Happy Birthday to me!

It's hard to take a family selfie when your kid is choking you out!

Birthday Girl!

I know, I know, everybody is always stunned at how quickly their children grow up. But, seriously, how has this happened?! I am quite certain that it was only about two weeks ago that I held my precious newborn baby for the first time. But here we are, celebrating her sixth birthday!! Taylee has truly been the light of my life, and the most precious gift I have ever received. Our little family just wouldn't be complete without her spunky little attitude and her tender caring heart. 

We decided to take advantage of a bit of fantastic timing and take all Taylee's friends to see "The Minion Movie" for her birthday party. And it was a success! The girls loved the movie, and Kent only had to go back for refills on the popcorn twice. :0)

After the movie we headed home and kept up the theme with a Minion birthday cake, and opened lots of cool presents. Taylee is one spoiled cookie, and LOVES every one of her cute friends. 

L to R Lainee, Kate, Eryn, Kinsley, Daphne, Taylee, Aliza
(I think Sarah left for the potty. Oops!)

Minion Beach Party!!

Melty Beads!!

We took Taylee and her bestie Kate to dinner at The Cantina after the party. They definitely didn't mind helping themselves to the chips and salsa bar! All in all, a super fun day! 

We also had a small party for Taylee to celebrate with the family, without subjecting them to the immense joy of 3 fantastic hours with EIGHT 6 & 7 year olds! This year we were lucky enough to have the company of my cousins Denise, Damion, Zach, and baby (toddler!) Danny for Taylee's birthday. Everyone enjoyed playing on the waterslide and in the pool. Plus we had pizza, cake, ice cream, and cookies... It was all fun and games until we tried to blow up the neighborhood with our malfunctioning fireworks. Its official. No fireworks for Taylee's birthday EVER again! We convinced her that the first firework that flipped on its side and shot fireballs at our small crowd was a fluke, but when another (bigger) one did the same... Well, there is no coming back from that. I'm just grateful we don't have a lawsuit on our hands considering some of those rogue rockets went skittering into our neighbors lawns, patios, and backyards. I believe we even heard a child in the neighborhood tell his parents that we were trying to burn their house down. All in all, NOT a successful end to the birthday festivities!

Cutie Pie!

Taylee got to invite one friend to her family party. Can you guess who she picked?!

Minion Beach Party Cake Redux

Birthday Girl!