Colorado Winter Trip!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my family? It goes far beyond the I-guess-we’re-blood-related-and-we-have-to-love-each-other type of love. Almost all my cousins and I went to the same high school growing up, which means there was no way out of seeing each other. But more than that, since we were younger, my brothers and I somehow were raised with the notion that our cousins can be more than JUST family. They can (and turned out to) be FRIENDS.

But on a smaller scale, even my brothers and I have a great relationship. Yeah, we still get annoyed with one another (as siblings do), but we actually like hanging out with each other. Maybe it was growing up in a small town with a limited amount of neighbors, maybe it was my mom being home all the time and encouraging us to play outside, maybe it was the family vacations and road trips out West – all I can say is how happy I am that we were raised and turned out to be so close. Siblings, cousins, second cousins, and all.

My brother, who I tell people I look most like if I only had short blonde hair, now lives in Colorado with his new fiancé – a place that my entire immediate family has always dreamt of moving to. While Brent isn’t that great at planning things, he actually planned a really great trip for a group of us to come and visit Colorado.

He booked a house to rent on Grand Lake up in the mountains, scheduled a sleigh ride, made sure everyone got in around the same time, and planned all the events. To start our adventure, we visited the Coors Brewery (which is completely free WITH 3 free beers at the end), drove up through the mountains, stopped for some Beau Jo’s pizza, and officially arrived in a tucked away little town sitting right on the lake.

Once we unpacked into our temporary home for the next few days, we ventured onto the lake that was frozen solid. This would be the setting for exploring together: my two brothers, their amazing significant others, my cousin and his girlfriend, and myself. Our days were filled with adventures – sleigh rides, tubing, walking around town – and our evenings were spent drinking and playing games. This was one of the best trips I have been on with some great people!

My brother even made a fun video from his Go Pro shots of the weekend (find it at the bottom)

Our Fox Friend!

On our drive back to the cabin after our day, we spotted this fox run across the road. A few hours later, as Brent and Carissa were laying on the couch, a fox (we believe it's the same one) peeked his head around the corner looking through the glass door. Creepy - but so cool!