Family and Friends

Yeah, it's been a while. And it's YOUR fault. Since early May up until last week, we've had about half of our family and friends come and visit us. It's been so fun, but we are ready to get back to our schedule. I'm too tired to get really creative, so I'm just going to post a bunch of photos of people who've come to see us:

First, we had the Boulder Bolder. That brought out the crazies, including some of my own family. That's Little Red Running Hood (Kendall), the Big Bad Wolf (Dad/Grandpa), Grandma (Mom/Grandma), and Some Random Guy (Kenta).

We had a great time with them. It was a fantastic opportunity for Mom to shop for her grandkids (mostly the granddaughters), Dad to play on his laptop and invite anyone who would listen to come visit them in Missouri, and Kendall and Kenta to veg. Abe and Hank really loved having them all here.

Then, Ben abandoned his family and went to Amsterdam for a conference, and Kendall abandoned her husband to stay behind in Boulder and help me out with the kids. She and Abe did things like taking turns drawing each others' likenesses on the sidewalk. I don't think Kendall's arms are really THAT club-like, but who am I to question the artist's interpretation? It was so great to have Kendall here to help out, and she really loved being able to walk over to the Sunflower Farmer's Market every day and buy all kinds of things they laugh at in Oklahoma ("That's EDIBLE??").

We also had a great time with Bryan, Katrina, Macky, and those sweet twins, Sophie and Lily, visiting. Okay, so it took Abe and Mac a while to remember that they used to inseparable, and Abe was pretty reluctant to share ANYTHING, but in the end, they said goodbye with a hug and all was forgotten (I hope).

Next, Ben's family (Grandma, Pappy, Sarah, Ollie, and Birdie) came to visit to meet Hank for the first time. As you can see, Hank took to them very well.










We had a great day building catamarans at Home Depot, playing the park, and hanging out downtown on Pearl Street. Abe was quickly learning that having guests visit means lots of junk food and staying up late. Oh, and it wasn't over yet...



Lastly, we had the Utschs from Oklahoma come through on their way to a week-long vacation in Estes Park. As we would do with you if you came to visit, we went to Pearl Street where Abe and Luke enjoyed the balloon creations and we watched magic shows. And, of course, stayed up too late and ate more junk food.


Since Ben is working hard trying to get more papers submitted, we (Abe, Hank, and Stephanie) then abandoned him to go up to the incredible vacation home Shelly and her family rented up in Estes. Abe had a great time hot tubbing with (clockwise) Lorin, Kayla, Kristin, Willy, and Luke. It was so beautiful there; we haven't been in a couple years and I'd forgotten.


We went on a beautiful hike up to Alberta Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park. I carried Hank and pulled Abe up the trail - he started complaining about being "too tired" after the first 200 yards. It was a hike Ben and I had done when I was eight months pregnant with Abe, and sadly, I fared better then than I did this time. I'll definitely be getting back to the gym now that life is no longer crazy. Riiiiight...