Can't believe it's been since February since I last posted something!

Hello everyone!  Yes, I know..I have been really bad about blogging!  Since it's been since February that I posted something, there is a LOT to talk about!

Going back all the way, I think the last post I talked about my knee and how that all happened.  Well, its pretty much healed, but we will find out how good when we start skiing here in a few months.  Of course knowing me, it's going to all be in my head and so therefore I'm going to be pretty scared that I'm going to blow it out again.  But anyway...:)

In April, Mason and I went back to Memphis for Easter and had a great time with family and friends.  Here are some pics from that trip:

Mason and Uncle Chris



Shelly and Lucas

May came around and we had snow all the way up until my birthday!  Actually it was just a lot of dustings, but when we get a dusting, it is all gone by noon (if not earlier) and kids go to school...lol.  May 19th, it was snowing and a week later we were wearing shorts.  I've been told a lot that if you don't like the weather in Colorado, then wait 30 mins because it will change...well they are right!

Snow that we had on May 12th



Yes..it was May 12th when we had this snow...crazy!

For my birthday, Paul surprised me with U2 concert tickets and it was definitely the best concert I have ever been to.  I haven't ever been to a concert that took place in a NFL stadium, but the place was packed! 

U2 stage at Invesco Field in Denver

Also in May, Mason received his green belt in Taekwondo!  He is moving up pretty fast and really enjoys it.

 In June, my friend Jennifer and I went on a girl trip to Grand Junction, CO and Pallisade, CO (which is wine country in CO!)!  It was definitely fun, and I highly recommend that everyone go there.  Pallisade is where most of the wineries are in CO, and there are a ton of them.  We just hopped from one winery to the next tasting a whole bunch of different wines..lol!  Here is a link to the wineries that are located in Pallisade: http://www.palisadetourism.com/colorado-wineries-spirits.php
Because of the low humidity (which is the best thing I like about CO), warm days, cool nights, and high elevation, Colorado has the perfect climate for producing wines.  There are about 90 wineries in CO and yes that makes me a very happy girl :)

One of the wineries in CO....love the mountains!



Jennifer and I at the Hot Springs Pool in Glenwood Springs, CO (definitely recommend)

In July, we went to Paris, TN to celebrate the 4th of July and my parents met us there.  We had a good time visiting with the in-laws, and after the weekend, Mason got to stay in TN and Paul and I went back home.  Mason was gone for a whole month!  With Mason being gone, the house was pretty quiet and a month is a loooonnngg time!  But, Paul and I took advantage of him not being here and we went to Boulder, CO and Fort Collins, CO to spend some time as "grown ups".  Boulder is definitely one of the neatest little towns here in CO.  It is the home of University of Colorado, and the main street (Pearl St.) has restaurants, bars, shops, etc.  You can spend hours walking up and down checking out all the street vendors and shopping.  Also, here in CO you can run across many water falls up in the mountains and here is picture of Boulder Falls:

We went camping in Fort Collins also and Fort Collins is only 45 mins from Cheyenne, Wyoming.  We decided to go to Fort Collins, mainly because the rodeo was taking place in Cheyenne that weekend.  The Cheyenne Rodeo is "the daddy of'em all" and it was a blast.  Jason Aldean was in concert there that weekend, so of course we went to that (I couldn't resist seeing me some Jason Aldean :)). 

My awesome cousins came in town at the end of July to see some family and that was the same time that we got Mason back from my parents/in-laws.  We rented a cabin in Leadville, CO and took a ride aboard the Leadville Train that took us up the mountains and we were able to see some gorgeous views of the valleys and mountains.  If your kids love trains, I would make note if you ever come to CO! 

Kelsey, Mason, and Parker aboard the Leadville Train

View from train ride

Mason and Parker



Paul and Mason

Then August came, and Mason turned 7!  

Not sure why it looks like Mason's cake is going to explode :)

And Paul turned the big 4-0!  I wish everyone could have been here for Paul's birthday party.  I did my best to surprise him and he claims he didn't know anything about it, but for some reason I don't believe him.  His parents came in town along with his cousins Ann and Terrry.  He knew his parents were coming, but had no idea that Ann and Terry were coming.  When they got to Colorado Springs, it was around 10:30PM and we were just sitting in the living room watching tv.  Ann and Terry walk in and it took Terry to slam the front door in order for Paul to realize someone was in our house (good to know in case someone really is in our house).  So, that was the first surprise that I was able to pull off.  The next night was the big party and thankfully everyone was able to help me pull off the surprise party!


Pauls' parents with Ann and Terry




Family portrait..lol..




Paul with his pill box




Everyone partying for Paul's bday!

Whew...this is a lot of stuff!  I will make sure I keep up with the bloggin after this.  Hopefully I'm not boring everyone :)..On to September....

Labor Day weekend we decided to stay around  Colorado Springs and go see some of the things we haven't been able to since we moved.  One being driving to the top of Pikes Peak.  If you don't know what Pikes Peak is, here is a link to the info.
http://www.cograilway.com/AboutPikesPeak.htm

Pikes Peak is one of the 14ers in Colorado and it take a little over an hour to get to the top (driving by car).  There are stops along the way with gift shops, picnic areas, and lakes.  Mason wanted to go to the top because they have donuts up there...so away we went.

From the top of Pikes Peak

At the summit (it was about 43 degrees up there that day and 75 at the house)

Last but not least...Mason has his testing for his Purple belt for Taekwondo this past Saturday night and he did great!  Here is a video of him doing some of his taekwondo...yes, you will have to turn your head to see it.  I keep forgetting to video the right way :).   We miss everyone very  much and can't wait to be home (Memphis and Paris) for Thanksgiving! 

Just an Update

Well, I know it's been a long time since I have updated the blog, but it has been a crazy 3 weeks.  I'm sure you have all heard that I hurt my knee, and I wish I had a better story as to how I did it, but I don't.  I wasn't doing anything cool like skiing, I was exercising!  I guess I won't do that anymore..LOL!  Anyway, I was downstairs doing a work out video (Paul and I were doing P90X), and I went to do back lunges (which is where you step back and lunge at the same time).  I had done quite a few of them, but I went to step back and I guess I went back wrong and then twisted to look at the tv, and my left knee POPPED all the way around!  Needless to say, I went into screaming mode and went to the ground.  This all happened at like 6am in the morning before work.  Paul came downstairs and helped me up the stairs. 

Went to orthopedic and he said that I dislocated my knee cap!  Had an MRI and I actually tore a ligament (thank goodness it wasn't one of the major ones).  So now I am doing physical therapy and hoping it heals correctly.  I can walk a lot better and the swelling has gone down tremendously, but I still can't straighten my leg out all the way, and I definitely can't pivot.  Hopefully it heals correctly so I can ski!  (Of course not this season..:(((!

At the beginning of Feb, we had our biggest snow so far, and the kids were actually out of school for 2 days!  Paul was shoveling the snow and I thought it would be a good way to show you how much snow we actually got:

In this pic, you can definitely tell how much snow we got!

We haven't had any snow since then, but I have heard that March and April are the biggest snow months...can't wait! (That was sarcastic ;)). 

Mason and I went to the Ice Festival that they have in Cripple Creek, so a couple of weekends ago, Mason and I took an adventure up there to see what it was all about.  Cripple Creek is a small western town that has a bunch of casinos and neat little shops and soda fountain (unfortunately it was closed).  The Ice Festival wasn't what I expected, but it was neat to see some of the ice sculptures and of course Mason got a funnel cake!

Grinch in the sleigh

Polar Bears

One of the streets in Cripple Creek

My parents have been gone from TN since January 16th on a very long camping trip.  They have been to Casa Grande, AZ...Yuma, AZ...and San Diego, CA.  I had Mason keep asking them if they were going to stop through on their way back home, and at first they weren't sure because of the weather or whatever, but they came!  They got here on Friday and are going to be staying the whole week!  Mom and I went shopping to some antique stores to find me something to go in my entry way.  Finally found something, but will post pictures later!  They got to see Mason receive his orange belt in Taekwondo on Saturday night and Mason was so excited that they were able to go!  Here are some videos of him doing his orange belt testing:

The quality isn't all that great once I uploaded them to the blog, but hopefully you can still see them!

Man in the gray robe is Grand Master Lee - Mason was nervous

Hope everyone is doing great!  Mason and I will be coming in for Easter weekend to Memphis, so we hope to see everyone!  Have a great week!

Monarch, CO Weekend Getaway

Hello all!  I hope everything is having a great Monday!  It's supposed to get really really cold here today through part of this week.  I couldn't see the mountains this morning, so the low clouds definitely mean some snow!  They said our high tomorrow is below zero and it was 70 degrees this past Saturday.  Gotta love the constant changing weather (at least there aren't tornado warnings here..ha!).

We went to Monarch, CO this weekend and we had a great time!  It's a smaller ski resort, but the ski runs aren't as long, and it was perfect for Mason.  The weather was great...not too cold at all which makes it even more fun.  We went up on Saturday afternoon and stayed in one of the lodges down there, and they had an indoor pool and some hot tubs outside, and Mason enjoyed the game room!  We got up and went skiing yesterday, and we were there right at 9am and skied until almost 3pm, so we got a good day of skiing in!  We had a buy 1 get 1 lift ticket coupon and Mason get to ski for free, so it was a inexpensive trip! 

On the way down there (Monarch is south of Colorado Springs), we got to go to the Royal Gorge and see the rapids on the Arkansas River.  Hard to believe that the Arkansas River is over here...lol!  Anyway, we wil definitely be going white water rafting this summer on the Arkansas River!

Royal Gorge Bridge

Can you see the Arkansas River way down there?

Here are some pics of Monarch and I also posted a video of Mason while he was skiing!  He is getting really good at skiing, but he still keeps asking about snow boarding lessons....I keep telling him next year!

Paul and Mason on the ski lift...(who knows what they are talking about :))

Monarch sits pretty much on the Continental Divide....isn't this an awesome view??!!

After one of his falls (that he didnt' count for the day :))

Hope you all enjoy the pics and have a good week!  I'll keep you posted on the lovely weather that is coming our way!

Love yall!

Busy Busy Busy!

Hey everyone!  I hope everyone is doing well!  I think since we have moved, now you all are getting all the snow!  ha ha!  We haven't gotten much lately, and it's supposed to be up in the high 40's this weekend..which is nice!  It's so funny looking at everyone's posts on Facebook talking about how they don't know how to get out of their neighborhood with the hills..only advice I have is to get an AWD or 4X4 car!  Ha ha!

Anyway, we had some visitors last week and part of this week.  Chris and Lindsay, and our friend Jake came in last Wednesday and stayed until this past Tuesday!  We had a great time!  Just ask them...the weather out here isn't bad at all ;)!  We took them to see the normal Colorado Springs stuff, like the Air Force Academy, Garden of the Gods, breweries (there are plenty of them around here), and also just hung out at the house playing some air hockey and darts.  We also drove up to Winter Park and went tubing!  If you haven't ever been..you have to go!  It's a blast!  When we were leaving the AFA, we saw around 8 deer in the parking lot..it was really cool!

Definitely one of the sights to see around here is the Garden of the Gods.  It is absolutely amazing and just crazy how the rock formations are just right smack in the middle of town.  Here is a pic of Chris and Lindsay there:


You can see the rock formations in the background.

One of the other places to go is the Broadmoor Hotel, which has a bar called The Golden Bee.  At this bar, they can serve you a "yard" of beer.  Yes folks..you saw that right...a yard of beer.  It has it's own holder and it sits on the floor.  

I think he's ready to drink it ;)

Like I said, we had a really good time and we hated to see them go.  I'm sure it will be a while before someone else comes out!! 

Mason was inducted into the Black Belt Club at Taekwondo the other night and I have pictures of him receiving his new uniform from Master J Lee and also his bag full of all the neat things he will use when learning the next part of Taekwondo.  He was so excited!

Not everyone gets invited into the Black Belt Club, so we were really proud of him!  I think that's about it around here.  We have just been staying busy with all our company!  Wish more of yall would come out here...and you can't use snow as the excuse because you all are getting more than we are!!  AND..things don't close around here because of it...ha!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  Love and miss everyone!



Our Taekwondo Yellow Belt!

Wow!  Mason had his testing for his yellow belt tonight at Taekwondo, and he did awesome!!  He hates to show us stuff (not sure where he gets that from ;)), so we were completely impressed when we saw him tonight! The Master would call out kicks or blocks and they all had to do them, along with breaking a board.  He also received a medal for receiving a lot of blue stripes AND he got asked to join the Black Belt Club!!

Here is a video of him doing some of his kicks and block!

Mason receiving his yellow belt from Master J Lee

Mason with his yellow belt on and his rose he got for being invited into the Black Belt Club!