We miss you!

Mackenzie has been asking about the Colorado gang. If only we could find some way to move the states closer together! Or maybe the desired occupants from each state to one , conveniently central location?

Go ahead, rain on our parade!

We don't mind a little rain! Of course, when it's a A LOT of rain, some of us will cry and whine and complain. And that's just what we did last Saturday during the PumpkinFest parade. We had gone from 90 degree Colorado weather to 40 degree Michigan weather and it was a bit of a shock. Despite how cold it was and how numb our fingers got, Mackenzie still asked to go back to the parade after nap.

Who's that big girl?

Mackenzie has never attempted to climb out of her crib so it didn't make sense to transition her to a regular bed before there was really a need.

While in Colorado, I knew Mack would be sleeping in Brooklyn's twin bed so we talked a lot about sleeping in a big girl bed. The entire time we were in Colorado, she slept both naps and nights in Brooky's bed. She did so well, we decided she was more than ready for a big girl bed of her own.

8 things I love about you

Mike and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary while in Colorado. He arranged for us to see " Second City: Celebrating 50 years" show along with a quietly romantic (and specifically gluten free) dinner on the 16t St. Mall in Denver.

Mack has always been such a good sleeper, allowing us plenty of " in home dates" after bed so we don't really go out alone together except out of necessity. It was really strange to not have her with us. In fact, I almost busted out an impromptu game of I Spy out of habit. Fear not, I did not attempt to wipe Mike's nose or tie his shoes. To be sure, not having to hunt out potties was a nice change. I think we'll have to do that more often!

In honor of our 8th year, I wanted to jot down 8 of the many things I love about Mike:

1- He is so smart. Like a walking, talking Wikipedia, Mike is a wealth of useless ( and not so useless ) information.

2-Oh that smile! Complete with dueling dimples, Mike has a smile that is so genuine and warm.

3.- He remembers " the little things"- Like stopping for a gluten free cupcake when he knows everyone else will be having birthday cake.

4.- FUNNY! This man can make me laugh until my sides ache and tears roll down my cheeks.

5. -He lives with ME. And that's quite the feat. Like any woman, I am a land mine full of pet peeves, idiosyncrasies, insecurities and anxieties. He calms what needs calming, ignores what needs ignoring and shuts me up when I need to be shut up. It's a big job and I can hardly believe I have been blessed with a man who, somehow, finds me worth it.

6.- It's the little things- He remembers them. That I like a specific type of jalapeno. That I use moisturizing shampoo and not volumizing . That I don't like to be cuddled after a big meal and I can't wear socks with toes in them.

7.- His sacrifice- It's not easy to be the sole bread winner of a family. The weight of that has to be suffocating at times. He accepts that responsibility with the same passion that I have for being an at home mom. He works two jobs to insure that our family not only meets it's needs, but can take trips and still have some of the " finer" things in life.

8.- My favorite thing to love about Mike is how he loves our daughter. Whether he's wresting with her, reading to hear, singing her a bed time song or correcting her behavior, his love for her shines through in his every action.


In the grand scheme of what we hope for our marriage to be, it's only been 8 years. But what an 8 years it's been- full of ups and downs . 8 years that we've worked together and over come challenges and bathed together in the glow of triumphs. There is no one that I would rather live out my life with. I love you, Mike!

Golden

My mom grew up in Golden and it's where my parents lived when I was born. Going back to her old "stomping ground" was so much fun even though so much had changed. Mike worked in Golden so he had fun revisiting it, too.

Mack and Mike visited the trail museum while mom and I checked out a few antique ( aka " no touch" ) shops:

After the rail museum, M&M met us and we headed for lunch. After lunch we visited a few more shops and then headed for a walk along Clear Creek.

Kenzie playing on the big butterfly near the river:
You can't get that close with out getting in, can you?
Sweet shot of Grams and Mack:

Old Friends

While there were so many friends I did not get to see during my visit, I was so happy to be able to see the few that I did. Time always feel so cramped while we are there and the struggle to see all my friends while soaking up time with my family is a difficult one. I am thankful to my friends that they are always so understanding of that. Here are my favorite girls"

Annie and me- We met at Emily ( Annie's sister) and Will's and had hamburgers and hotdogs ( and some awesome veggies ). Emily has three boys and Mackenzie loved playing with them. Annie's parents, Marcia and Dave also came over. It was so much fun to spend the evening with my lovely " Adens". I miss you all so much! ( side note: if you look, Annie and I have the same "fake" red hair. We didn't even call each other to coordinate)

Em and me:
Samantha, Jenny, Cass and I ( along with Cass's mom, future mother and sister and law and nephew) went dress shopping for Cass's wedding ( August 2011). Here are Samantha and Jenny:
We were also so glad that we could have dinner with Samantha, James and their two boys:
Cass and I got together again for coffee and to scope out more dresses online

A very special gift

Mike's best friend, Andrew ( Andy) is marrying Andrea ( Andie). They are both Captains in the military , stationed in Colorado Springs. While we were bummed to miss Andy, we were ecstatic to get to see Andie ( are you following all of this? )

We met her in Manitou Springs, right near Colorado Springs. She treated us to a fantastic lunch. My salad was so pretty I had to take a picture of it:
She is so thoughtful. She even brought Mackenzie the essentials: chocolate and princess crayons as well as an envelop and paper to send a note to Uncle Andy in Iraq ( she even found a mail box to send it off right away!)
An extra special treat was getting to follow Andie back to Denver for a sneak preview of her wedding gown! Just before we left, she gave Mackenzie a very special gift:

We had a great day with Andie and we can't wait to see her again.