A trip to Colorado

A couple of weeks ago my mom and I flew down to Colorado with the kids. We primarily wanted to visit my grandparents. I'm so glad we did, as Pops passed away the Sunday after we left. We are incredibly blessed to have made it down when we did, and that he was his happy, funny, grateful self while we were there. He gave us an amazing gift in passing how he did - apparently he had no pain, and could recognize and communicate with everyone up until the very end. He even had many loved ones in the room with him, including GG. How wonderful. I miss him already.

And onto some lighter stuff....

We stayed at my grandparent's house. Ruby got to sleep on the couch in the radio room. I was in the same room with her on the roll-away bed. Here she is saying "I love my bed!" And she did. She slept like a ROCK while we were there.

Here is GG reading some books to the kids before bed:

We were also able to get together with the Wynja's while we were there. That was very fun, of course, especially since they have kids the same age as us. Even cousin Beau drove all the way up from Denver to visit too (Thanks!!). Here are the kids being goofy. Notice that Reder is missing - he was being a stinker.

One night we had a taco party. This is a traditional thing we always do. Doesn't this look delicious??

Enjoying tacos with Gramma Janet:

This is a special picture for me - my grandparent's friend Vivian, GG, and Pops. I might have to frame this one.

One day we went to the Denver Zoo. I will admit that Reder was not as excited about it as I was hoping he would be. I'm starting to learn that it's hard to impress this kid. Reminds me of his Dad....anyway....glad we brought the double stroller!

Ruby enjoyed watching the elephants:

Reder is standing in awe of the train. I take back what I just said - the train DID impress him. Good thing we rode it!

And the carousel was a close second!

Our good friends Chris and Kelly, and their little girl Briar, plus additional family members to numerous to name (we had a huge group and it was GREAT!), joined us for the day. I always enjoy seeing them...too bad it's not as frequent as we would like. Chris, how do you do this with Briar??

Some sibling "cuggles":

Ruby and Briar were fascinated with each other. Briar just turned 3 so they are on the same page. Turns out Reder and Briar had a greater fascination with each other than the two girls, but more on that later:

On the same day we went to Casa Bonita for lunch. I was so excited for this - I think I wanted my kids to think it was as great as I always did as a kid. We most certainly did not go for the food, mind you. I will say that this DID impress Reder. Here is Ruby wondering why we are all so excited:

Gramma Janet yelling "More silverware please!" into the magical, mystical hole:

Reder is giddy with excitement:

Food coming out the magical, mystical food hole:

Here is half the group....anyone have indigestion yet??

The other half of the group at the other table (Aunt Sue's on the right without a head). I almost think Reder's burger was the most appetizing thing:

Reder just told me "I'm too excited to eat my lunch!!" He was fascinated by the cliff divers.

Kaitlynn, Sue, and Gramma Janet. They don't look too impressed. Hey, I thought it was fun!

Another fun activity was going to good ol' Lori's house ( a longtime friend) and seeing her horses. Here is Little Bit giving Ruby some loves:

And riding on Zipper was sure fun!

Briar LOVED Reder:

I made a comment to GG about my favorite pie and within 5 minutes she was in the kitchen whipping one up for me. I love my GG! My favorite is coconut cream, and while I didn't really dig in to the middle of the pie like it looks like here, I'm sure I ate more than half of it:

GG and the kids, and why must you make that face, Reder??

Sadly, I did not get a good one of the kids with Pops. This one will have to do. They thought it was pretty special to visit. I think GG and Pops thought it was pretty special too. We love you Pops!