Elle Marie Durham: August 2008

It was so nice to be back in Colorado! We have not been back as a family since Elle was born. We took her to our old stomping ground, Fort Collins and she met all of our dear friends. I was busy with wedding activities all weekend so Miles played "super daddy" (as all of my friends called him!) Thank you honey for being such a good daddy! I know Elle loved the one on one time with you! After the wedding weekend we hung around Fort Collins two more days and saw more friends. We realized how much we missed Colorado and how lucky we were to live there! The weather started out cool and rainy but by the last couple of days in Fort Collins, it was warm with blue, sunny skies!

On Tuesday we drove to Denver and met Mom and Rich. We were so excited to see them and felt so lucky to have a "bonus" couple of days with them. We were not supposed to see them until Christmas so we were so glad we could stay a couple of extra days in Colorado to hang out. We drove up to Estes Park and checked in to the Stanley Hotel. It is a beautiful historic hotel that sits a top the town. It is where Steven King got his inspiration for "The Shining" so it was a little spooky! If one was not familiar with the movie, it played continuously on channel 42!! So funny! We were constantly cracking jokes about it.....REDRUM, "All work, no play makes Jack a dull boy" hehe!

We had a wonderful time in Estes. We celebrated Miles' 30th birthday at a local restaurant. The food was yummy and we got to embarrass Miles by serenading him with the "Happy Birthday" song. The next day we took a fun ride up into Rocky Mountain National Park. Rich did such a great job driving us up a one way, winding road to the top of the mountain. It was a little scary at times but we all felt safe with our driver :) The temp dropped from a pleasant 7o degrees to a frigid 40 degrees. Rain started to poor and we all made a run for the visitors center at the top of the mountain. We took in the gorgeous views and browsed the shop. We ended up purchasing a black bear hand puppet for Elle. It was her entertainment for the ride down the mountain :) Gigi and I just laughed and laughed in the back seat at her funny faces! Gigi also taught her how to do "raspberries" with her mouth. She would do it and then tell Elle to do it. It was hilarious to watch her try to mock Gigi!

Once back in Estes, we took the gondola up the mountain in town and took in the beautiful views from the top. We took it easy that night and went to dinner at the Stanley. It was a fabulous meal!! We all had really good food and enjoyed each-others company.

The next morning Rich and Miles went downstairs for coffee and Gigi, Elle and I played in bed. We all got showered and packed up to hit the road for the airport in Denver. We ate breakfast in town where Elle was a hit. All of the waitresses kept coming by and talking to her. They all thought she was a cutie and loved her socks (they look like she is wearing mary-jane's) I had just purchased them in Boulder a couple days before so I was happy to hear they were so liked by all :)

Elle was very fussy on the way to the airport....I think she knew she had to say goodbye to Gigi and Grandpa Rich. We said our goodbyes and made it into the airport with ALL of our bags! We miss Gigi and Grandpa Rich so much and can't wait until we see them in Sedona for Christmas!

We are happy to be home but realized how much we miss Colorado. We definitely took it for granted when we lived there! Who knows, we may end up there again some day!