Family Time in Colorado

You don't need need to me very well to know that I love everything about Colorado and would do just about anything to move back! We've had two opportunities, grad school and fellowship interviews, where we could have moved to Colorado, but decided to pursue other opportunities. I'll get back someday and in the meantime, I'll just have to visit a lot!

This past visit, we got to stay for two whole weeks and I was in heaven! Unfortunately both Theo and I arrived with pretty bad colds that are still holding on, so we had a lot of down time watching movies, napping, and going to bed early. We still managed to have some fun and do some of the fun things on our list. Todd and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary with dinner at Flemings and Beauty and the Beast at the Buell Theater downtown. We also snuck in some pool days, trips to the movies, and s'mores in the backyard, hiking, and we celebrated my mom's birthday.

Summertime in Colorado is truly the best. I get to go back for a couple of days before flying down to Houston, so I get to enjoy a few more cool summer nights before heading to the extreme humidity!

-Makenzie

Spring Break in Colorado

Birthday lunch and shopping.

Strawberry birthday cake, recipe here.

Lucky charms and left over birthday cake to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

Hot Chocolate at Hotel Hunter

Chocolate exhibit at the museum, very interesting and educational, we especially loved loading up on chocolate sweets at the end.

Papa time.

I got this pic from my mom while we were out on a movie date, so cute!

Last week we spent spring break in Colorado with our family and we had so much fun! The first part of the week was full of outings and celebrating my birthday. Unfortunately, my dad came down with a cold the day we arrived and Theo picked it up by Friday... major bummer. Despite being sick, Theo was super sweet and took great naps, so we got to spend the second half of the break resting, which we really needed.

We spent the week at one of the rec center pools in Castle Rock and we went to the Life and Science Museum in Denver (one of my favorites!). For my birthday, we went out to lunch at one of my new favorite restaurants, Life Kitchen, and we did some birthday shopping at Park Meadows. My mom made a delicious strawberry naked cake, and after cake and presents, Todd and I got to go out on our first date since we had Theo! We went to Southlands and saw Zootopia. We also got to see Allegiant over the weekend (seriously, our first trip to the movies since Star Wars came out. I love going to the movies!)

It was a fun week and it was sad to leave, but we are happy to be back in North Carolina in our shorts and flip flops.

-Makenzie

Memorial Day Weekend in Colorado

For Memorial Day Weekend, I went to Colorado for a "Girls Weekend" with my mom and sisters. Every year we run the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day, but the last two we have missed out due to our wedding two years ago and conflicting schedules last year. It's one of my favorite races and I am so glad I got to go home for it! (Todd wasn't too sad, he got to golf with his dad and brothers for two days.)

My mom is awesome because she got us all matching running outfits for the race! Such a fun weekend with my family, Colorado is my favorite place to visit!

I love my siblings and my cute niece. It's always fun to be home.

Colorado sunrises and sunsets are the best. You have to find the beauty when you are waking up at 5 a.m. to run!

All of the girls in our matching outfits, thanks mom!

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day Weekend!

-Makenzie

Christmas in Colorado

We LOVE going home to Colorado for the holidays! Unfortunately, I came home super sick and spent the first half of the vacation in bed. Then my mom caught it twice as bad. But lucky for us we were both semi healthy on Christmas Eve and Christmas. One of our favorite traditions is our gingerbread house contest! We are all SUPER competitive and my mom gives out awesome prizes so we all spend hours working on our houses.

My house, recognize it? It's my attempt at building the Baggins residence, I called it Christmas in the Shire.

Taylor built this house and it won first place! 

This is Todd's lighthouse. He started out trying to make a windmill but he couldn't get it to work so it changed to a lighthouse.

Dani's train coming through the mountain was amazing, especially with Spider Man riding on top of the train.

Cam's underwater house was different... But it turned out cooler than expected. 

Every year we open pjs on Christmas Eve. This year we had a Star Wars theme, so everyone had a Star Wars t-shirt and a Star Wars thermos. We also cram into one car and drive around to look at Christmas lights and pretend we are on the Polar Express. We even get tickets that have to be presented and stamped to get on. Even though we are all adults with only one grand child so far, we love being kids on Christmas Eve.

The best part of Christmas was being able to Skype with my sister Sheridan who is in Italy on a church mission. We haven't seen her since May, so it was fun to see her face and hear her voice. She also sent a package of delicious Italian goodies!

We also ate amazing sushi at my favorite place, Junz, went to the movies to see Frozen and Saving Mr. Banks, and stayed up super late getting through season four of our favorite show, 24.  It was an awesome week, we love life in the 303!

One of my favorite gifts- Hunter boots! I have been wanting a pair forever, all of the Hunter girls got a pair, including my baby niece! 

-Makenzie

From Colorado to North Carolina

September was a a blur for us, we had so much going on and had an amazing month. We went on our first camping trip as a family. It was a spur of the moment after we found out that Todd didn't have to work. Our neighbors invited us to go so we brought the dogs and despite a deflating mattress, had a great time!

Next trip, we headed to Colorado for Ragnar number two! Despite the altitude change, a little rain and another night of getting sick, we loved this race! Less teams meant more space at exchange points, more places to rest and shower and more flushing toilets instead of porta potties. Plus, the views were amazing! I ran 10 miles down Vail Pass for one of my legs and the view was amazing! I could barely walk after the race, but it was so fun!

Finally, at the end of the month we headed to North Carolina for Todd's best friend's wedding. We were able to visit family and attend the wedding. I am now OBSESSED with the east coast even more so than before. We toured UNC and Duke's campuses. All of the trees and lakes are breath taking, and I didn't want to leave! We even tried some delicious southern food (sweet potato tater totes are amazing!).

It was a fun month, but we are ready to settle back into our routine and I am sure our pets are ready for us to be home for a while. Here are some of my favorite pictures from September: