Denver fun

When we were in Denver, we had the chance to see several family members. It was really great to see some of the people we love and haven't seen in such a long, long time!

 My Grandma Janet and great-aunt Roberta (somehow I didn't get any pictures of Aunt Bertie) braved the big city and came up on Saturday. I am so glad they did--I dearly love my grandma Janet! She has taught me so much about love, service and hard work, and to stop and appreciate beauty in little things. When I was young, she would always ask me to go pick some lilacs for the table, and we would plant sweet peas together and watch them grow. Above, we are ready for church at our hotel, before going to SJ's blessing.

 My Papa also came to baby SJ's blessing. It has been about 3 years since I have seen him. I love my Papa--he has taught me about having fun, about being prepared, about working hard and enjoying it at the same time, and we have shared many, many good times in a boat, catching or not catching fish. Above, we are at Stephen's parents' house after the blessing.

 We wanted to get pictures of Papa with my boys and my cousin Meredith's boys as well. You can tell that Elyan (left) and Elyas (right) see Papa a lot more than Jed and Hank do--they have such a cute relationship with him. Papa has always been so good to tease and play with the grandkids. There are so many of us he is definitely out-numbered!

 All five of Papa's great-grandsons. The rest of the "greats," as my late Grandma Donna called them, weren't able to come to the blessing. We sorely missed those girls!

When we planned our visit, we had decided to stay in a hotel the whole time we were in Denver, to let my parents have more one on one time with Hanna, Stephen and SJ. However, when I made our hotel reservation, we discovered that one of the colleges was having graduation the Friday we would be in town, and rates were about $60 dollars higher that night. So, we decided we'd all crowd in at Hanna's. And then since we traveled faster than we were expecting, we were there Thursday night as well. It was definitely crowded but lots of fun. I asked the boys if they wanted to give up the hotel and just stay at Auntie Hanna's (I was mostly joking; I thought she'd probably appreciate a little break and some time to just be with Stephen, who travels every other week and had been gone for a week when we arrived) and they both told me we HAD to go to the hotel so we could swim. And my parents decided to stay at the hotel with us, and my grandma Janet and Aunt Roberta had booked a room there as well. It turned into a huge party, mostly poolside.

 The boys LOVE the pool and swam both Saturday and Sunday nights. I should have gotten in with them as well but vanity about my hair prevented me. Foolish, I know.

 Sunday night after we swam, we got together in our hotel room to eat popcorn and just hang out. It was just my little family, Hanna's little fam and my parents. While I really enjoyed seeing all the different family members, it was so nice to have a little time this way too. Hank finally got to have his Uncle Roro all to himself and they enjoyed their popcorn immensely.

 Jed finally screwed up his courage and asked to hold SJ. He had gotten more and more comfortable with him as the weekend progressed, and we were thrilled to see him want to be close to SJ. They both did pretty well for a few seconds, and then...

 ...SJ kinda slid out of Jed's hands and he squalled. Auntie Hanna managed to grab SJ as Jed practically threw him aside and bolted for the other room. He told me later "SJ doesn't like me!" I told him "SJ cries for everyone, even Auntie Hanna and Uncle Roro. It's okay." It took quite a bit of convincing for Jed to realize that babies just cry--we talked about it for days. He seemed happy to discover that SJ won't always be that little and will one day be fun to play with, just like Hank.

We decided that since we'd all be together, we'd better take some family pictures. Saturday afternoon we got all gussied up and managed to get a few nice shots. The real deals are still being processed by the photographer, but here are some behind-the-scenes pictures.

 Jed was "Sammy the turtle" the entire photo-taking time. I love this picture of my funny little turtle.

 I have a feeling that most of our pictures look like this.

 Hank and Papa checking something out.

 I love my dad!

 Dave and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on Mothers Day. 8 great years have flown by since I married this guy, and I want to spend the next 80 with him as well. He is so patient with me, serves me constantly, and treats me so well. I am so lucky to be married to this handsome man!

 Jed with Nana and Papa. I am not sure where Jed gets his funny poses, but they are winners every time!

The place where we went to take pictures was beautiful. Denver had recently gotten a bit of rain and there was lots of water EVERYWHERE. There was a little lake nearby and when we were done, we walked out to take a look. We saw a mama duck with her 14 ducklings, some cormorants, some coots, and some Western Grebes. It was a lovely day!

We had such a great time in Denver! It made me wish even more fervently that we live closer to our families.