Garden of the Gods and Pretty Views

On Saturday everyone got up to go to Pike's Peak. Well everyone except some of us. Terry, Bella and I stayed behind to watch a big game on t.v. You know that little tournament that was going on. The World Cup! Our Nacogdoches boy, Clint Dempsey, and our USA Men's National team had a big game. Unfortunately that was the day and game we lost to get kicked out of the tournament. It was a sad day and I think I would have had a much better time on Pike's Peak. On a good note everytime Bella sees soccer she says "GOOOOOO SA!" She leaves out the "U" but we know what she means.

When everyone gathered back at the house we decided to go to Garden of the Gods. Bella was very impressed with the "biggo rocks". I was impressed as well. I had been there when I was in middle school but that was a LONG time ago.

Bella was sportin' her red, white, and blue in support of our boys in South Africa. She was also carrying her princess.

Apparently when you go to Garden of the Gods you have to take a picture holding up the rock. I thought Bella did an excellent job of playing the part! Obviously someone in the picture was not playing along. I wonder who that was.....

Mom and Dad. They look really excited. I promise they really were!

Sittin' on a biggo rock!

Back at the house my Aunt and Uncle had these wooden ducks sitting on the fireplace. Bella thought these were the BEST! She carried them around and played with them. Lined them up. Put the baby duck on the big ducks back. And gave out lots of kisses to the ducks. She really liked the ducks!

Beautiful view from the back door at sunset.

When we saw how beautiful the sun looked we decided to venture out to the "rocks" on the property. Mind you it was 9:00 p.m. and the sun was just setting and it was about 50 degrees. Did I mention the weather was glorious on this trip!

I love that we are wearing jackets in late June!

Tiffany and I out on the "rocks" with Pike's Peak right over my head.

Terry and I again.

Dad and I.

We got back to a fire in the fireplace.......in JUNE!

The wildlife out there is awesome. This little fox came right up on the porch and watched us. I'm pretty sure it felt like the paparazzi was after it because we all ran to the windows with our cameras and starting taking pictures. It just stood there and stared at us. Probably thinking food would be nice since he is standing there so nicely for us to take his picture.

The next morning I woke up and look who was sitting outside the back door. Cute little Mr. Fox.

Again he just sat there and let me take his picture. Oh and don't be fooled. I was not out there with him. I was standing on the inside of the glass door to get these shots.

One thing is for sure this is a beautiful place!

A Colorado Wedding

On Friday of our Colorado trip we all got up and decided to go up Pike's Peak. I mean we had all been staring at it so we decided to take a trip up. Mema and Papa left to go to Red River and we sat around and talked for a minute then I decided I needed to get ready to go. I was minding my own business trying to get ready and was blow drying my hair when there was a knock on the door. It was my mom. Our conversation went a little something like this:

Mom: We've had a change of plans for today.
Me: What?
Mom: Tim and Alyssa are getting married.
Me: Huh?
Mom: Tim and Alyssa are getting married.
Me: What?
Mom: Tim and Alyssa are getting married.
Me: (Trying to put my mouth back in the closed position)
Me: Really? (I was VERY confused!)

Alyssa comes in the room:

Me: Are ya'll really getting married? (Still trying to put my mouth back in the closed position and still VERY confused, I mean what about Pike's Peak?!)
Alyssa: (Grinning bigger than I've ever seen her grin) YES!!
Me: How did this happen? When is this happening? Where is this happening? What are you going to wear? What about your family? Does Tim know?
Alyssa: (I'm sure she answered all of these questions but the only answer I heard was that she was going to wear JEANS------ NO WAY!)
Me: We have to go get a new dress! We need flowers and a cake! What is your favorite color? I have got to finish getting ready. We have lots to do!

Enter Tim:

Tim: Now we are not going to be making a big deal out of this.
Me: (Doing what I do best and totally ignoring THAT statement!)

So Tim and Alyssa went to get their marriage license. There is no waiting period in Colorado and you just have to have your driver's license and tell the lady that you aren't related. After they got all licensed up we met them and went to get rings and then we dropped off Tim because he didn't want to go shopping for a dress. We dropped him off and went to order Alyssa and Courtney bouquets. I had to make a conscious effort to not make all the decisions. I'm not sure I did a very good job especially when the florist suggested carnations for the bouquet. That was a big fat NO! Gerber daisies in assorted colors it was! I love Gerber daisies (I hope Alyssa does too!). So then we trekked into Colorado Springs and found a cute sundress and were headed back to the house to get ready.

Funny side story: Alyssa picked out a chocolate cake at Wal-Mart and we asked them to put a few pink flowers but no writing and we would be back later to pick it up. We asked my dad and Uncle Jerry to go by and pick it up. When they got there they had not decorated it yet so they decided to make the decorating decisions. Apparently they asked for more flowers and thought that Alyssa and Tim's names should be on the cake. I don't know why but I thought it was hilarious that they made the cake decorating decisions.

And now onto pictures!

Uncle Jerry married them on the deck!

Dad read scripture. It's a good thing they have an app for the Bible on his phone!

You may kiss your bride!

This picture cracks me up! She was VERY excited to be signing that marriage certificate!

Cutting the beautiful cake!

It was a very sweet wedding and we were honored to be a part of it. They were both so very happy and smiley! Welcome to the family Alyssa. I hope we don't drive you too crazy!!

Colorado Day 1

Last week we, as in me, Terry, Bella, my brother Tim, Alyssa, Ryan, Courtney, Mom and Dad, all hopped on an "airpwane" and flew to Colorado. The kids did great on the flight. Ryan's face was hilarious during takeoff. Bella just wanted to "go fast!".

Bella didn't love the seatbelt and kept wanting to see Papa and Nana so she would have an excuse to get out of it. She wiggled herself out at one point. She is such a silly goose! We kept her busy with movies, coloring books, sickers, and her baby.

We had the pleasure of visiting my aunt and uncle's vacation home in Colorado. The views are nothing less than stunning and we sure did soak it up, along with the wonderful weather.

Mema and Papa were there for the first full day.

I'm pretty sure Papa stayed right here the majority of the time they were there. If he is not outside he is sitting on the couch in the living room that will give him the same view.

Tiffany and Bella sporting their matching hats!

Terry took the opportunity to read a little. I actually did too!!

Like I said the views are stunning. The flat peak on the far left of the picture is Pikes peak. There is a view of Pikes Peak from every room in the house! Beautiful!

Looks that the kiddos got ahold of the matching hats :)!

This was right outside our bedroom. We stayed in the basement. Don't be fooled by the word "basement". It was great! We had our own living room and bathroom! AND THE VIEW! These little chipmunks were everywhere. Bella got a huge kick out of them. Her whole body would tense up and she would squeal and laugh at them. My brother chased them around the entire time trying to get a close up shot. It never happened.

Outside the basement.

We walked a little ways around the property and discovered these rocks. We climbed out on them. OH DEAR!! It was gorgeous out there!!

We had some exciting things happen on this trip but that gets a blog post all to itself!