Colorado Rocky Mountain High

Over Columbus weekend, Solon, Quincy, Baby Bell & I hopped a jet plane and made our way to Estes Park, Colorado via Denver to celebrate Mimi's 70th Birthday with Solon's mom's side of the family. We shared a rental house on the mountainside with 9 of Solon's family members for a truly unforgettable weekend.

(Because I am a dork, and believe that you can't drive through Colorado without listening to some John Denver's Greatest Hits, feel free to turn your sound on, and click play on this video, to experience the song that was in my head all weekend while were in Colorado. You don't have to actually watch the video - it's so old!!- but just listen to the song while you look through this blog post. Enjoy!)


Here are the pictures!

The view from our living room (every room had a similar view)


The view from our room


First thing in the morning

You can see my bracelet tracks on my forehead - I must have slept hard!


Mimi, Aunt Shelley, and Alaina


Quincy's new hat!


Alynsia in the middle of Bear Lake


We weren't really prepared for how cold it was going to be at the top of Bear Lake @ Rocky Mountain National Park - it was snowing on us!


Alex's giant snowball


Me, baby girl & a 400+ year-old tree


Solon jumping over a post

And then showing Quincy how to do it


What a beautiful view





I just thought this was so pretty


All the trees that are brown are dead trees - infested by bark beetles - there are so many of them throughout the park. It's terrible. It's not getting cold enough to freeze the beetles anymore, so thousands of trees are dying.


In front of rock that Grandpa Meredith had posed in front of when we was just a boy - now he's here with his whole family!


Layers upon layers of beauty



Alex's rock


Rob introduced Quincy to the ice-cold water, and he loved it! Totally cried when I said it was time to go

And then he passed out in the car


Solon took Quincy horseback riding! Their horse was Bam-Bam & Quincy had a blast!



Family picture time!










Did we get enough? Okay, here's one more


A very special treat for us was when Patrick "P-Diddy" and his family drove from Colorado Springs to see us. Patrick is pretty much responsible for Solon and I even knowing eachother, so he is very special to us. If he wasn't so darn tall (& handsome), my friends would have never spotted him at that concert in September 2001, and I would have never seen Solon standing right next to him. We love Patrick!


It was wonderful to spend some time with him and his wife Stephanie, and to finally meet their sweet daughter Caroline!!!


We were so happy for Caroline and Quincy to meet & play together!

I love this picture


Here I am about to get some sweet Caroline kisses


Sunday night ended our trip with the celebration of Mimi's 70th Birthday. Alynsia picked out these adorable cupcake-cakes, and they were so delicious!!

I hope I look this great at 70 Mimi!!


One last look at the view before we left Monday


One last family pic (we were a little out of it)


Alynsia & I just realized we never got a pic together when we were dressed up, so this early morning shot was going to have to do =)


Goodbye Estes Park - you were such a beautiful place to visit!

Big Projects & a 1/2 Marathon!

It's funny to think that at the beginning of the summer, or calendar was pretty empty. We sure filled that up as the days went by! It seems like we didn't have a whole lot going on, but my opinion of that changed as I looked through all these pictures from the last month!

The last week of August, my friend Liz came to visit and was finally able to meet and spend some time with Quincy! They hit it off right away - he loved her!

Liz helped me prep for an upcoming baby shower I was hosting that weekend.

Becky's Baby Shower was a success! Holly came in town to co-host it with me, and she made all the fabulous (& insanely delicious) food. I was in charge of decorations and my project - the dessert table!

(Most of these pictures were taken by Becky's Aunt Chris who is an awesome photographer)


Sweet Makena!

Three Generations

My mom finally got to meet her!

Quincy found the cutest girls to sit with (of course)

The Three Musketeers

Becky with her mom

Becky and Scott comparing baby bumps


We celebrated my 31st birthday with family


We took advantage of a really cool Sunday morning to visit the McCormick Railroad Park in Scottsdale. After about 40 minutes of fun, it started to get hot! We can't wait until mid-October!




Labor Day was spent with friends

Charissa, Christina and I are all pregnant with our 2nd child at the same time, so we thought this was a great photo op.

Quincy & Garrett love hugs!

And I love Sydney!!


Denise came in town from Cali, so we spent some time with her and her mom at Scottsdale Fashion Square. I love these women!!



Ryan, one of Solon's best friends, came in from Chicago to attend the Iowa Vs. UA game down in Tucson. It had been a long time since Uncle Ryan saw Quincy, so they spent some time getting reacquainted.

So, even though Iowa lost, the silver lining was that Solon, Marsielle, Ryan and his dad Mike were on ESPN!!! I can't believe I missed it - but check out this screen grab! So cool.


The reason why I wasn't at the game with the boys, was because I had my first "official" event with Undeniably Sweet Events, a company that my friend Christy has started and has asked me to join along for the ride! Here are a few sneak peeks of what we did, and you will be able to see more as soon as we launch our website (Coming Soon!).



I took these pictures with my camera; I can't wait to see how the professional pics turned out!

Bath time!


Quincy loves wearing Daddy's ties


Quincy rockin' his Daddy's sweatband


Look at those curls


Finally, Solon had set out this year to compete in his first 1/2 marathon. He set the goal, trained consistently, and this past Saturday we were up in Flagstaff for the main event!


The weather was perfect for the Flagstaff Marathon - but this wasn't just any marathon. The runners had to run through the forest, on all types of terrain, through small paths, and up and down steep hills, at an elevation of 7000 feet higher than Phoenix. Solon was only used to running on pavement or a treadmill, so this was quite a challenge. He set his goal to complete 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes, and he beat his goal by 18 minutes! Actual time he crossed the finish line was 2:12:24 - HE DID IT!!! I was so proud of him!! Here's a picture of Solon with our friend Darrell, and their Finisher's Medals - great job guys!


So, as you can see, the last 5 weeks or so ended up being really full of wonderful things! And with the weather cooling off, there will be many more memories to be made before the end of the year. More pics to come soon!