Mom & Dad arrived on Wednesday, September 23rd, and oh, what a wonderful week we had!! I was so happy to have them come stay with us - and it was Dad's first time up here, which made it even more special. Here are a few photos of our week together...
Grammy brought new homemade hats for the big boys, but Maddox couldn't help having his turn with one!
On Thursday, while the big boys were at their enrichment classes, the rest of us drove up to Boulder to meet up with some of Mom's good friends - Bob & Erma Eldridge. We had a fantastic brunch at The Original Pancake House.
On Friday, I took them to see the famous Red Rocks Ampitheatre. It's such a spectacular display of natural beauty.
After that, we went on a tour of the Coor's Brewery! I must confess that since Mom & I aren't much for beer, Dad enjoyed his fair share! (I wonder what the school officials would think of taking the kids to a brewery for a school field trip?!)
Here's CooPop with his little buddy...
Friday afternoon, I showed Mom & Dad around our property on the 4-wheelers.
Then it was a tour of the tree house - and Dad even spent some time that weekend helping to make furniture for it!
Best way down from the treehouse is on the zipline!! Just look at my graceful momma! (that dog you see in the background is not ours, by the way... it's Lucy - a neighbor's dog who seems to like hanging out with us.)
...and Dad gave it a whirl, too!!
Although Mom did great on the zip line, THIS was more her speed! She told Dad that he must make one of these for her when they get home. :)
A cold beer is never too far from hand...
Enjoying the peace of our front yard...
...until we were interrupted by the bugling of some elk!! A big herd came right through the backyard - and to hear Dad tell it, there were a HUNDRED of 'em! (he started out saying there were 10, but last I heard, his count was over 40). It was quite impressive, as there truly were at least 25 or so... including a nursing baby. Dad wanted to see elk while he was here, and elk he did see!
Friday evening, Morgan gave us a doozy of a magic show! He was a new person while he was performing, and it was a joy to watch!
On Saturday, Mom and I enjoyed a GLORIOUS day of shopping in Idaho Springs. We thoroughly enjoyed making purchases of "selfish necessities"... :) It included lots of fun material from the quilt shops, and some delectable homemade soap from "The Soap Shop" - one of my favorite stores. Before going home, we picked up a friend of mine from Allen, Holly Bellomy, who was going to spend the evening with us before returning home to Texas on Sunday. Holly is a professional home stager, so she and I spent several hours finding the perfect spots for all of my home decor... and it looks terrific!! If you're ever in need of some professional home decorating, check out her
website!!
On Sunday evening, I took Mom & Dad and the big boys to a live show at the local Stagedoor Theatre. We saw
Nunsense, and it was fantastic!! Dad really enjoyed it - a theatre buff he has surely become.
On Monday, I took them on a short hike at one of my favorite open space parks - 3 Sisters. The weather was delightful, and we got some good photos along the way...
Colorado is a beautiful place... but it's even more beautiful when you share it with the ones you love the most.
Tuesday was Dad's birthday, so we went out for an evening meal before going home to see pictures from Mason's recent trip to San Francisco. Then it was straight to bed, as we rose at 4:30am in order to get Mom & Dad back to the airport for their journey home.
It was a wonderful week... I can't wait for them to come again!
Love you, Mom & Dad!
Miki
And because they were here over Dianne's birthday, I made her some yummy pumpkin bread!
One evening, I caught Maddox with my iPhone. He's become quite the little iPhone pro...
...hmmmm, well, it looks like they ALL caught the bug...
We went on my favorite short hike on 3 Sisters.
If you look closely, you'll see Mason & Morgan up there at the peak. They love to climb the rocks...
As usual, Maddox pooped out, but Papaw Larry was happy to lend a "comfty" (as Maddox puts it) shoulder the rest of the way.
One of the highlights of their visit was our drive up Mount Evans... it's not far from our house and it's absolutely BREATHTAKING! This first shot is of the beautiful Echo Lake, which is at the base of Mt. Evans - the elevation here is around 10,000 feet.
After a long and treacherous drive... and I DO mean treacherous!! That road winds all over the place withOUT any railings... anyway, after our treacherous drive, we finally made it to the peak - 14,130 feet! 
It was C-O-L-D and W-I-N-D-Y up there too!! We probably would've stayed and looked around longer, but we were all freezing!
The mountain goats were plentiful up there...
Look at this one below... he's saying, "gee, it sure is a long way down!"
And just to prove how high we were, here is the local warning sign:
On the way down, we stopped at Mount Goliath National Park, where you can see beautiful bristlecone pine trees - one of which is over 1500 years old! 
This is the place where I took that gorgeous photo that I turned into a postcard:
It was a wonderful visit! I'm sorry I didn't share it with you sooner!! ...Dad & Dianne, y'all come back any time!
