The Revolving Door

One of the things I love most about our new home is that we've gotten to catch up with so many people in the past year. As I've said before, Denver just seems like the perfect crossroads for all sorts of reunions, with the mountains and the awesomeness of the city and such. I think our family/friends reunion count is up to like nine or ten now. Not bad for one year!

Anyway, our revolving door has been in constant motion, which is the main reason I've been out of the (blogging) loop this past month. But I absolutely love it! We most recently welcomed my brother, Matthew, two weekends ago, and my friend Elizabeth last week for lots of fun and laughter. So here's the roundup of their visits--mostly just an excuse to share the fun pictures!

UNCLE Q!

I told my brother last year that the best Christmas present he could give us was to not spend money on gifts and instead invest in a ski trip to Denver. He ignored the first part of the request but quickly booked a flight for the latter, so we got to spend five awesome days with Uncle "Q," as the kids call him.

We spent our first full day, Friday, at the "Dinosaur Museum" in Denver--more commonly known as the Museum of Nature and Science--and the kids loved every second. We spent quite awhile in the space exploration exhibit, which we hadn't seen before because the kids were too tired the last time we went. But this time as we entered the museum, we saw a full-sized replica of the Mars Rover and the kids got incredibly excited. A few months ago we showed them a YouTube video of the rover, and since then 'he's' become a virtual celebrity in our house. We now know him as the "Robot who Takes Pictures and Videos of Mars" and they actually pray for him during bedtime prayers. So we just had to take a picture together, and then run straight to the rest of the space exhibit. I've always had collections of space books and loved astronomy, and might have actually pursued my childhood dream of becoming an astronaut if it weren't for the little problem of mastering all that math and engineering junk. So I was just fascinated as them by the exhibit (if not moreso!) and I honestly could have stayed there for hours. But we had some big bad dinosaur bones to see before we hit the keep-kids-out-in-public limit, so we moved on.

Introducing Q to some Rocky Mountain skiing
and taking a little break!
Yes, those are the tops of his poles...

That night we had a nice dinner together with Peter's parents, then sent the kids off to stay with them so we could go have some grown-up fun on the slopes all day Saturday. It just happened the the forecast called for the most severe snow storm of the season, which in my mind did not jive well with braving a high-elevation two-lane highway squeezed between mountain passes. But Peter convinced me that it would be fine, so off to the mountains we went early Saturday morning while I cowered in the backseat and had about the closest thing to an anxiety attack I think I've ever had as we watched car after car spin out. Blessedly, with much invocation of our guardian angels on my part, we made it there safely and had a perfect day of skiing in fresh, if not a bit heavy, powder. It was the perfect temperature, not too warm, not too cold, with some snow that was blowing harder at the higher elevations but looked just beautiful and soft and serene coming down in some of the more sheltered areas. I've been skiing for awhile--I started at age three when we lived near the Alps--so I can definitely hold my own, but I'm pretty conservative these days...especially with my aging mommy limbs. Both Peter and Matthew are more experienced than me and I didn't want to hold them back too much. So I told them to [attempt to] challenge me. We spent a lot of time on gladed runs or cutting between trees, which gave my knees a run for their money but made for some gorgeous views! The heavy powder took a little getting used to--on one of the most difficult runs I spent quite awhile digging for my ski in about six feet of powder (the ski stopped short while the rest of me kept going). But it was a blast overall and worth the trip. Especially after talking to a dad who was there with his five-year-old daughter on some fairly challenging terrain. After he said it was her third season, it made us want to bring the kids back right away for some spring slush!

We somehow made it back down from the mountains alive, picked up the kids, and spent a nice Sunday at church and lazing around. It was then that I realized it was March 10th, the year anniversary of our moving to Colorado! I can't believe we've already been here that long. Or that I've been out of a 'real' job for that long and have been busier and more crazed and happier than I ever thought possible in my new full-time job as an at-home mom. But I'll save all that emotional sorting out for another post, and just say now that we are so lucky to be embracing the life we waited for so long to live! In the meantime, here are some pictures of our family a year later, courtesy of Q...

2012

2013

Enjoying a fun concert...

Attempting to get everyone + Samson to the couch for the picture...

Never mind, we'll just go to them. At least they're all looking!

We finished out Monday with some fun at the library for story time, and the kids enjoyed just being silly with their Monkeys' Uncle, as he calls himself. He showered them with some pretty cool gifts which they've been loving, and since he is such an awesome brother who also reads my blogs (specifically this post), he gave Peter and I one of the most entertaining gifts we've gotten in a long time. Thanks, again, mon frère, it's been Clapperrific thus far! Can't wait to see you again...until then, à bientôt, et merci pour tout le poisson!

Like Monkey, Like Uncle

It's #20 -Just what we've always wanted!

ELIZABETH!

We hardly had the chance to shed an "I miss Uncle Q!" tear before Elizabeth stopped by for two days--she just finished up her time in Afghanistan and had embarked on a VERY well-deserved ski vacation with friends, but for some reason wanted to take two days of precious leave on the way down from the mountain to hang out with us before jet-setting off to the West Coast and Hawaii. I think it had something to do with a few kids she loves to spoil!

We've talked plenty in the last few years but haven't seen each other since our crazy days on the swim team at West Point, so it was great to spend time together in a much more laid-back way! Funny story: since my mommy brain has pretty much lost all use for dates (and my life now just runs on days, i.e. school Monday/ Wednesday/Friday, grocery shopping Tuesday, etc.) I for some reason thought Elizabeth was coming a day later than she actually was, poor thing. So when she texted me and said "see you in a few hours" I had to call and say "so that's totally fine..but do you really mean today, not tomorrow?" Hand to forehead.

Anyway, we were so excited to have an 'extra' day with her. The kids loved getting spoiled yet again with some great new toys, and we enjoyed the gorgeous weather with a trip to the park for some beautiful views. We also made these puppies from Pinterest with the kids (YUM!). And Elizabeth spoiled me by watching the kids so I could go for a run all by myself! Just glorious. Especially since I think the last run I went on was like three months ago. It was so nice to enjoy hanging out together and really catch up for the first time in forever! Happy vacation, Elizabeth, we can't wait to see you again!

She makes it look so easy!!!

[...AND PETER]

I should also mention that it was especially nice to have company since Peter has helped keep the revolving door moving the most over the past two weeks. He left just a few hours after my brother to fly to Ft. Lewis, WA for some Army Reserve training. He was there for four days, then arrived home shortly after Elizabeth left. We got to spend one lovely day together on Saturday...before he left us for another week--this time heading to Rio de Janeiro. Something about a mandatory Grad School international trip packed with lying on the beach, eating and drinking delicious food, and visiting tourist traps educational business ventures, important meetings, and networking opportunities. (I may be a little jealous). But it was also a well-deserved break for Peter--he's been insanely busy this past month between his regular job, Army requirements, MBA coursework, and visiting with guests. He even had to take one of his grad school finals on the road. I'm not sure how much he slept in the past two weeks but I know it had to be very little! It was past time for him to take a load off. At any rate, I've missed my best friend, and the kids especially have missed their daddy, so we are thrilled to finally have him back today! And we are more than ready to all breathe a sigh of relief as things get back to normal(ish)!

We love our Daddy!

We hope you have a happy Holy Week and Easter, and remember that Hotel Hjelmstad is always open for business if you're ever in town!