Two days after Christmas we flew to Colorado for a family wedding/reunion. Andy and Cora flew free using our United flier miles and Jack and I bought a cheaper ticket on Sountwest. Apparently, I ended up with the better end of that deal. Jack was able to sleep cozily in his car seat as there was an extra seat both flights. He slept most of the flights and when he was awake he was pretty content looking around at all of the faces. Cora on the other had didn’t sleep, but was full questions and chatter on each flight. She also had an incident during their layover that resulted in Andy having to wash and dry her underwear in the airport bathroom.
Once we arrived in Denver we headed to Parker where Andy has family. We stayed with his Uncle’s family along with about 15 other people from Pennsylvania. Andy’s Aunt also has a home in Parker that was full of family. The first full day there a group of people headed to downtown Denver to sight see. The pictures below show Cora enjoying some time with the family and walking around Denver.
One of our favorite days was a day filled with bing outside in the crisp air enjoying the snow and ice. We walked down to a small hill and went sledding. We had a blast! I forgot how what a simple thrill it can be. Cora also loved sleding and of course our brave little girl insisted on going alone. Even when she found herself going one direction and the sled going another she was still laughing. We also went with a group later that night to an outdoor iceskating rink. The small rink was full of people and lined with christmas lights, it was really cute! Once again Cora showed no fear, laced up the smallest skates I’ve ever seen and stepped onto the ice. She skated in between us for a while and then with different cousins, Aunts, and Uncles. Her little legs kept spilling out from under her as if they weren’t even attached. Jack had to watch from the side, but was entertained by the passing smiles. Another highlight of the trip was Aunt Laurie and Uncle Tom’s generous offer to babysit our kids along with their grandson, 6 mo old Caleb. (THANK YOU!) This allowed us the opportunity to go skiing for the day. We made the best of the bad weather conditions, gusty 85 mph winds and a wind chill of 4. We got a lot of laughs out of the fact that Andy and I stopped the chair lift on our first attempt to try out the bunny hills. We also managed to all fall when getting off a four person lift with our cousins. Our cousin in-law Jason got hit on the back of the head by the chair when he fell (I’m laughing as I type this.) We took about 4x longer than the average person to make it down a green 2 mile run and had to stop frequently to either regroup with each other or stop because Jason was falling so often. (This is cracking me up all over again!)
After a few days in Parker we all packed up our bags and made our way to the Lodge where Andy’s cousin, Jessica, was getting married. It was extremely cold on this particular day and I felt a bit silly getting dressed up for a wedding when a snow suit seemed more appropriate. The wedding was at a lodge where there was a really cute chapel and a large building for the reception. It was the perfect setting for a winter wedding. Everything and everyone was beautiful. I especially liked the floor to ceiling stone mantel that surrounded the large fire place at the reception. I think Cora may argue that the most note worthy thing was the hot chocolate bar and the wedding cake. After the wedding the whole family, about 28 people, went back to the Lodge where we sat around the TV watching the Time Square New Years Eve celebration, and finally watching the ball drop at 10pm mountain time. After a night at the lodge we packed up and headed deeper into the mountains to visit some hot springs. The drive was one of the longest rides we’ve taken with our two little kids, but the view made up for the wrestles babes. All we could see was mountain peeks, streams, and pure white snow. The family split into 3 cabins and then headed right to the hot springs. I wasn’t sure if Cora should swim or not so we only went in for about 10 minutes and we went in one of the cooler spring pools. Cora really liked it until we had to get out into the 15 degree weather. The next morning Andy and I took the kids outside to play in the snow and enjoy the view of the mountains. They really were breath taking, I kept finding myself singing, “Our God is an awesome God…” We also enjoyed a horse drawn trailer ride, we even joined in song singing Jingle Bells. Unfortantly, one of the large horse slipped on the ice while trying to clear a small hill. After the horse recovered the guys of the family had to push the trailer up the hill. It made for some good laughs once we knew the horse was O.K.
Thanks again to everyone’s planning, cooking, driving and hosting to make it a great family vacation!!
Scroll all the way down for a video of Cora in the snow.
On Christmas morning we finished the last day of our advent calendar, which Cora was excited to do. We read the final part of the advent from Cora’s Children’s Bible and took time to pray and thank God for the greatest gift! We also had some cupcakes for Jesus’ birthday a few nights before. The kids were excited to open gifts from out-of-town family as well as from us. Cora and Jack loved their new play area on the porch complete with a new cardboard play house. They have spent hours playing with all of their new toys on the porch since.
After our family Christmas morning we got dressed and went to Church. It was a short and sweet service and we kept the kids with us on our laps. It was the perfect way to celebrate as a family. Then the fun continued as we packed up and headed down to Port Charlotte for the Botts family Christmas at my Aunts house. We spoiled the kids with presents, ate way too much as usual, and watched the guys get a little competitive playing tennis Xbox Connect. I just love seeing my family on the floor playing and laughing with ours kids, it is encouraging to know that our kids are loved by so many people.
We continued our Christmas by hosting the Wells family Christmas Eve celebration. We enjoyed some fun appetizers and a night filled with toys and gifts for everyone.
We kicked Christmas off with my family’s Christmas gathering here at our house. I successfully made my first turkey, a little intimidating, complete with all the traditional sides. We enjoyed tackling the mountain of presents and watching the kids play with there toys.
Our Christmas season was full of activity. I got a little more crafty this year and made Jack’s first year ornament as wells as photo coasters for family. I’ve been getting inspired by pintrest. We also had cupcakes for Jesus’ birthday again this year and made way too many cookies! Among the Christmas parties, boat parades, and sights to see, we especially enjoyed taking the kids to the living nativity play at a local church. Cora and I had been discussed the events that surrounded Jesus’ birth and she was in awe getting to see the events played out in front of her.
Yup, that’s right, I’m 30. And I have no idea how it happen.
Instead of blogging about how fast times goes and how I feel like Andy and I just got married, I’ll just focus on the good stuff. Like my birthday getaway to the Ritz. Get this, Andy was asking his boss if he could use the corporate account to look into getting a room for my 30th at the beautiful Ritz, after a short conversation and a couple strokes on the keyboard his boss announced, “It’s done, have fun.” How cool is that!!!
My main goal for the weekend was to relax, enjoy some quiet, and get lost in a good book. After using a gift certificate for a pedicure Andy escorted me to our room where I got busy doing nothing. I slept, read, ate, and slept some more. While we were there Andy gave me a few homemade gifts he found that I “liked” on Pintrest and explained to me that he is giving me a year of prayer. He told me that he will have one person assigned to praying for me each week over the next year. How stink’n sweet is that! I absolutely love this gift. The first person assigned was my dear friend Tawnya, who got in touch with me each day and asked what she could be praying about as well as encouraging me. She is one of my dearest friends and I was blessed knowing that she was committed to praying for me all week. What a great way to start a new chapter.
This is my “rock star” picture. I’m wearing a plush white robe in the middle of the day and sporting sunglasses.
Our sweet boy is Nine months this week. The past month Jack has been perfecting his scream. Yes, scream. It is a piercing shriek that he releases not only when he’s mad, but also when he’s excited. After my mom babysat for the weekend she said, “Wow, I didn’t really believe how loud it was until it was in my ears.” Yeah, its loud. We are hoping that it’s just a phase!! Other than that he is still the bubbly little cuddly guy as before. He lovers to play with Cora, but doesn’t love her bear hugs that usually knock him over. He is sleeping through the night much better now that he has his front 4 teeth. And I should say that after only a few reminders, he has left the Christmas tree and all of the shiny decorations alone. He is waving “bye-bye” and can clap, bounce and dance when we ask him to.
We are busy busy busy getting things in place to celebrate Jesus’ Birthday. Our tree is shinning bright, our decorations are out, we have a pile of Christmas books from the library, and I’m just about finished with my Jesse Tree advent project. The Jesse Tree advent story includes a symbol for each day and short correlating scripture that starts at creation and unfolds God’s master plan of redemption. We are keeping it pretty simple as we know Cora is only 2, but you’d be surprised how much she understands already. We also stained a small shoe box size wooden crate to act as a manger under our tree. Each day we are adding a little “hay” to the box in anticipation of the baby’s birth. Cora’s excited to make the bed extra soft for the big day.
Here is a video of Cora and Jack “kissing.” It’s a little choppy, but I was holding Jack on my lap and trying to video.
