And might I add that I was traveling alone, for the first time in 4 years. I dove into what has quickly become one of my favorite books ("Out of the Spin Cycle" by Jen Hatmaker--Devotions to lighten your mother load) and spent time thanking God for the past three weeks. When I wrote a recent post on how I survive the Florida heat, I had no idea that a 3-week hiatus from life should have been a bullet point on my top ten list. In a matter of weeks, I had really meaningful time with my two dearest friends, both of my siblings & both sets of my children's grandparents. Not to mention my Grandma had visited just 2 weeks prior to that. Although sometimes hosting & traveling can be exhausting, my heart was left filled rather than drained upon the conclusion of a "life-break". And...for the first time....ever...I actually felt rejuvenated and ready to step back into real life, rather than mourning what was over.
I'm in a really good place after a fairly ugly year; and it feels undoubtedly refreshing.
I met Carley the first weekend of my freshman year of college and we hit it off right away. She hasn't been to Florida for a couple of years so took the initiative to plan a trip; childless, I might add. In the few days she was here, we spent time with my kiddos, had dinner out (alone), a beach trip & got in some shopping. We spent a lot of time chatting about our kiddos & our hubbies. Good conversation might be my favorite thing.
Brian's folks were here for 5 days in between Carley visiting and us leaving for Colorado. I had a lot to do between work, packing & designing a 30th anniversary book for my parents, so I pretty much stayed out of their way...which essentially means I didn't take a whole lot of photos. My kiddos sure love spending time with them!
Off to Denver we went! The flight went well (PTL!) and when we landed we were greeted by this beautiful face.
Anna escorted us to a local park where my family was eagerly waiting for us! We spent a few hours letting the kids burn off the energy stored up from 4 hours of sitting on a plane!
Getting to see Trey teach his middle-schoolers at Cherry Hill (the mega-church he is currently doing an assistant-ship for seminary at) was a highlight of the weekend! Who knew my little brother could so boldly proclaim the gospel in such a polished way!
One beautiful car ride later, we were welcomed by a little cabin in the mountains of Keystone. From there we enjoyed a lot of hiking...
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| She loved hiking in her boots! |
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| Half-way up Quandary Peak! |
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| Our first 14-er!! Is the air a bit thin up here? ;) |
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| This totally counted as a date! |
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| We found it ironic to be in tank tops next to snow & not shivering |
...a fun gallivant of white water rafting...
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| Thee most attractive picture ever. |
...home cooked dinner every night (this was an added blessing for me because really nobody wants us to take my two littles out to eat)...
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| Can't beat that view! |
...thee hot tub (which is extra fun in the cool, crisp mountains)...
...lounging, playing & fellowship.
We all deemed our mountain vacation the best one my family has taken to date. I never knew vacation with a 1 & 3-year-old could be so relaxing (Thanks, M&D)!
Brian so graciously allowed me to stay an extra day to spend time with Anna...which meant he was flying solo on the plane parenting gig. I felt quite guilty about the whole ordeal but we both agreed it was absolutely necessary to have some meaningful time with someone who has been my best friend since I was...nine. Of course I communicated with him every step of the way & could relax once I knew he had turned the key to our house. He says I carried the stress for him as he really wasn't worried. ;)
Anyhow, Anna and I put every second of our 24 hours to good use! We hiked Horsetooth, ate a Mad Greens (um...can someone please build one of these next to my house?!), spent the afternoon talking about marriage (SINCE SHE IS NOW ENGAGED!), and headed out to dinner with her then-boyfriend, Nate. Upon meeting this man I had an inkling was going to be her future husband, I jumped out of the car to give him a hug! Nothing like being awkward!! ;) It took me 2.3 seconds to see that they were madly in love and perfect for one another. Nate was easy to get to know & fun to spend time with. I think he & Brian will get along quite nicely. :)
So there you have it. Can you see how a 3-week hiatus from anything remotely close to "normal life" breathed so much joy into my heart? If I was a guessing woman...I'd say next August will look fairly different than this one, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
