Cousin Christmas

We spent a wonderful week in Mississippi with the Hightower family!
Despite flash floods and a broken collarbone (poor Uncle Taylor!) we managed to soak up every moment of good family time - whether over delicious meals or board games or at the movies or in the back yard! Christmas was sweet and easy and full of smiles and unexpected treasures. The best part was watching the cousins all together - the 5 big cousins have always been great playmates, but their love and care for baby Charlotte is the sweetest.

Thank you Yaya & Papa for a wonderful week!

in between moments

The main goal was simple: get to Denver, fly direct into New Orleans, and meet up with family.

But I didn't want to get so focused on our destination that we missed an opportunity to enjoy the trip.

So we made the most of our 2 day journey to Mississippi....

First, we got to Denver a day early to meet up with one of my dearest friends and her family from ATL who were coming to Colorado for a family ski vacation (so cool!). While I was sad I didn't get to play in the snow with them, we did all get to experience our first professional hockey game together! In one evening we became devoted CO Avalanche fans for certain! The stadium was full and despite the 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, we were totally impressed with the spectacle and the sport.



... and how did we not know before now that the mascot for our very own Colorado Avalanche is Bernie, the St. Bernard?!!!
We were so excited to meet him - and he confirmed our status as new Avs fans!


The next morning we saw our friends off to their epic Colorado ski vacation and had lots of time to kill... so we decided to wander downtown Denver. We were pleasantly surprised by several little highlights, including not one but two awesome candy stores, a traditional outdoor German Christmas Market, a sports store (with lots of tempting Avs paraphernalia!) and a quick stop for a chilly game of chess! We took the train from Union Station and with still more extra time before our flight, we made sure to stop by the free ice skating rink at the Denver airport!



The next morning, we had a few hours to walk around the French Quarter in New Orleans before meeting up with family! From Canal Street to Jackson Square and down Bourbon Street - the boys got just a glimpse of the amazing culture - sights, sounds, tastes and people - that makes this city so exciting and special!


There were so many moments in a 48-hour span of fortunate sweet reunions and city tours and planes, trains and automobiles that I just had to acknowledge how much I enjoy traveling with Hamp & Sam - they are always so open to new things and exploring new places (although not so much new foods!) and I appreciate how well they are able to live in the moment.

Here's to many more journeys in 2019!

O Christmas Tree

Once again, we found ourselves wandering up Miller Creek in the National Forest in search of this year's honored Christmas Tree!!!
Every year is an adventure of some kind... to the point that the tree hunt is one of my most anticipated traditions. This year did not disappoint - I convinced Mojo & Dado to bundle up and accompany us into the newly fallen snow and the boys convinced Dado to pull them on sleds behind the truck. It was honestly the most fun they've had in a long time - they laughed and played and rode for miles until their faces were red and their hands were frozen!

This year's tree is particularly special to me because it was truly a labor of love for Hamp & Sam:

Sam spotted it way up the side of a mountain and proceeded to scamper up to check it out.

Then Hamp took charge and followed up with the saw.

They cut it down together... then Hamp drug it carefully down the mountain and to the road where he loaded it in the truck all by himself.

I simply sat back and enjoyed watching them manage the whole event! It was awesome.

We'll wrap up this last week of school and head to Mississippi for a Hightower Christmas!
Happy Holidays to all...

Thankful for something different

This Thanksgiving Mojo & Dado rented a house just outside of Zion National Park in Southern Utah - the boys & I drove down as soon as school got out and Alec & his family drove up and met us there.
It was 4 days of fun family time either hiking in the park or playing at the house. The park was absolutely beautiful - shocking canyon walls and beautiful colors and views as we strolled along the Virgin River. The kids loved being outside, and hiking through the park made us all feel a little less guilty about indulging in all the traditional holiday fare!

The very best part of the trip was watching the cousins spend time together...






Well.... maybe the other very best part of the trip was ALL of us spending time together!


While there are more trails and sights in the park than 3-4 days could cover, I do have to point out one particular trail that some of us managed to take!
Angel's Landing is a heck of a hike - 5.4 miles round trip and severely vertical.
And though the first 2 miles up the trail were rigorous to say the least - it was the last little bit that shocked me to the core!

So here is the trailhead: (note extraordinary sunrise views!)


Dado & Alec & I were so excited about working our way up the side of the cliff:


We even made it to the top of "Walter's Wiggles" - the infamous switchbacks up the canyon cliff...


... only to be met with this view - of the rest of the trail:

I mean, the trail literally went up the very narrow, steep edge of this cliff face.
As thrilling as the whole hike was - I must admit the narrowness finally got to me.... as you can see from this picture, I tried to make it a little ways but my expression says 'I don't think so!'


The boys, on the other hand were totally unfazed!



So Alec proudly escorted the boys to the peak of Angel's Landing, rewarded with views all up and down the canyon! They were quite thrilled with the experience and proud that they made the whole climb....


... I was, alternately just thankful that they didn't fall off the edge of a cliff while taking a selfie!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Sam just wrapped an incredible 3-show run of Mary Poppins Jr. where he played the role of Roberson, the Banks' goofy house servant. While he was delightful to watch with his antics and and fun character, the whole show was simply fantastic! The kids (3rd - 8th grade) were amazing - from great singing and dancing to just fun characters on stage! I am always so impressed with how these productions come together with such creativity and talent.

As much as I love Mary Poppins and her story, perhaps my favorite part of the show is the Chimney Sweeps and their Step In Time number! Sam was also part of this group of boys who tap danced and jumped (and flipped!) their way into one of the best numbers of the show!

Halloween

What a fun holiday we had!
Sam dressed as a zookeeper so he could trail all his stuffed animals along in a wagon!
Hamp finished football practice just in time to help hand out candy to all the fun trick-or-treaters. (and even took the opportunity to dress up a little himself, just for fun!)