Spruce Basin, My Art Workshop & one tooth!

Andy's Uncle Jim has a cabin in built himself south of Denver in an area called Spruce Basin. The men headed out one day to check it out & do man things (grunt, grunt). The pictures say it all!!

Jim's place:

Brother Frank & Jim at the point just above the cabin area:

Andy & his dad:

Meanwhile.....I loaded up the girls & headed to Uncle Ralph & Aunt Sherry's to see my side of the family in Elizabeth, CO (just south of Denver). The girls, a little shy at first, warmed up to all the new faces & fun cousins they were meeting for the first time. We had great time visiting & I just love that we all got to be together while we were in town. Aunt Sherry's house is just beautiful- thanks for the hospitality! Here are some shots from the afternoon:
Tanner & Audrey eating some pizza:

My soon-to-be Texas girls!! My cousin Shelly & her gorgeous daughter Ashley (my little flower girl all grown up!) Can't wait for to be back home in Texas!!

Jaedyn, Audrey, Hollyn & Meagan hanging out- so cute! These are Kyla & Shawn's little beauties!


Ashley & Gunner loving on each other- Shawn & Kyla's youngest boy!

Uncle Ralph snuggling with Audrey- she really warmed up to him quick! Love you Uncle Ralph!


Did I mention Meagan (4 1/2) lost her first tooth!!! We were completely thrown offguard to say the least. She hadn't complained of it being loose or hurting & it just came out when she bit into a hamburger of all things! She actually didn't realize what happened. We were driving back from Aunt Sherry's & I had gotten the girls a cheeseburger to eat. I was asking Meagan a question, but when she didn't answer I saw her picking at her teeth. She said she had something caught in her teeth. Well, when we got to Gram's William & James noticed the missing tooth! I said "HUH??!!" Andy & I headed to the van & found the tooth on the floor that she had "picked out"! I couldn't believe we had it! We did some quick tooth fairy education & made a call to her so she would "know" where Meagan was sleeping that night. The funny part was Meagan waking up to her gold dollar & crying because her cousins said she would get 5 dollars!! I don't know about you but that is some serious inflation from when I was a kid!! Anyway, enjoy the gory pic...

Susan, Andy & I took the girls & James to a great place called My Art Workshop in Littleton. The kids got to pick from a huge variety of art projects to make. You pay by the project- Meagan could have easily bankrupted us at this place!! She wanted to keep going after 2 beautiful designs. They each decorated a box (treasure chest for James & jewelry boxes for the girls). Then James did some frisbee spin art for himself & his brother- very cool. Our other cousins showed up & knew the place well! They all had a great time...

James painting his chest....

Meagan & Audrey working on their jewelry boxes...

Gunner painting a sword & Jaedyn painting a jewelry box...

Georgetown, Colorado

The Texans had to head into the mountains one more time before leaving Colorado. So we decided Beau-Jo's pizza needed another visit & then it was off to the quaint mountain spot known as Georgetown. The pizza was of course awesome!! We hit a few shops in Idaho Springs before heading up to Georgetown. The girls scored a couple of lollipops before heading out- it would eventually lead to Audrey's downfall as you will see below.

THe girls with their suckers & a frozen waterfall behind them...

Andy's eyes were shut but here we are in Georgetown- in the historical shopping district. It was such a neat place but very quickly got cold as the sun set- BURRRR!!!

THe girls....

Here is Audrey before we even hit the highway out of town- CRASH!! With lollipop in hand!!

She had a death grip on the darn thing!!

We stopped at this Antique store on the way "down" into Denver. Everyone thought it looked junky & touristy on the outside but I insisted on continuing our adventure. It was SO NEAT on the inside. Beautiful, old Colorado antiques, a huge burning fireplace, a ski museum, & room after room of gorgeous mountain furnishings! Needless to say, everyone made it inside to check it out- we were there for a while! There was nothing we were interested in buying or even able to really afford- pretty pricey!! But we did get some ideas. Meagan wanted to take a picture with the statues outside so we did- I-75 is in the background...

Mr Buffalo

A BIG carved Mr. Bear....

Mr. Elk ...

It was a fun day, but sad that our trip was coming to an end.....

Frazier, Colorado- Part two

Well, after playing in the beautiful, deep powder we headed up to the tubing hut. As our names rapidly approached the top of the list, the kiddos got a chance to watch what tubing was all about. They couldn't wait to get out there & try it! Unfortunately, they had to wait another 30 minutes- at least Grandad & Mimi brought a bag of burgers for us to munch on!! The official wait time at this point was up to 5 hours now- CRAZY!!! So here we are waiting......

Babs, Maddog, & Andy

William, Meagan, James & Audrey- all being sooooo patient!

When we finally got the tubes we had one hour- & we had a blast!!! The cousins loved every minute from tubing, to riding back up on the pulley, to waiting in line & giving noogies to each other! It went by fast but was perfect! Everyone had a fantastic time. The girls & James had to ride with adults- only William was old enough to ride by himself. That worked out very well. We all tied up together each time down the hill so we could laugh together & go much faster that way!! We always went so much further than the average tuber with all five tubes chained together. The weight of 3 adults & 4 kids can move VERY fast! Here we are:

Here is Meagan & I on the first run taking our own pic!

Here is a view from the top of the hill just before we take off:

Here is video I took of Andy & Meagan going down. I think I squealed everytime to get the girls to giggle. You can hear Auds at the end laughing once she catches her breath! As you can hear, my butt was sitting too low as we went over the "slow down" ridge at the bottom of the hill. I grabbed the camera so as not to drop it- my hand covers the lens for a few seconds. There is lots of wind noise as we raced down!

This one is Andy & Meagan holding the camera as Auds & I race down opposite of them. Audrey did not like the snow kicking up in her face so I had to pry her mittens away in order for the camera to capture her glee!

When our time was up we headed to Beau Jo's pizza for some mountain pies & cold beer- a great finish to an awesome time in the mountains!!

Frazier, Colorado- Part One

Our destination was Frazier, CO- icebox of the state! It couldn't have been a prettier day!! It even got warm enough to shed our jackets, hats & gloves while playing in the snow. It was a bit of a longer journey than expected with all the holiday traffic headed into the mountains. ONce we got to Frazier's Tubing Hill we immediately put our name on the waiting list for tubes. It was a TWO HOUR wait!!! Insane I know but we were surrounded by the most beautiful, glistening 3 feet of powder we had ever seen!! So we parked, bundled up & jumped in!! The time flew by as we played the afternoon away....

Meagan & Audrey trying to walk along the snow bank...

William staying warm while he "chills"

Looking cool Audrey!

We jumped the fence & headed into the deep snow. Audrey was hysterical trying to walk around in it- it was half as tall as her!
Hi mom!!
Since I had to go in for a rescue- we got a group shot! James, Audrey, me & Meagan.

The girls just rolling in it....

Meagan & Mommy

Snow angels- real ones this time!!

Resting...

Peeling off the layers:

Making snowballs!!

This is a great show of the view around us:

Stay tuned for actual tubing footage......