Christmas Vacation + Exciting News

To say I had a great Christmas Vacation is a understatement.

I had a fantastic one! I got to show my husband Colorado and all its goodness as well as spend much needed time with my immediate family and my Colorado family!

My husband, Jacob(my brother), and I flew in Friday the 18th. My parents and two other brothers flew in the next day. We split into weird groups due to working schedules and price differences. But we all made it and who knows when the next time all 7 of us can vacation together again. Pretty special and rare!

We got up super early to fly for cheap. I'm talking 1AM, drive 2 hours to be at the airport 2 hours early to catch a 6AM flight early. So excuse the bags and tired eyes. It was a rough trip just because of the lost sleep but it's a million times better than driving 22 hours in a car....a trip my parents, brothers and I have done our whole lives. Jaime got lucky this time. Next time, tickets may not be so cheap. ha! We flew Frontier, nothing bad to say about them. You get what you pay for.

My traveling outfit of the day. I wore my bulky items so I could shove more into my suitcase.

Jaime's outfit of the day. He was working that scarf he got in Afghan. What a stud.

We raced the sunrise as we landed into Denver. It was beautiful and all the snow made me super excited. I already miss it!

Our uncle picked us up at the airport and let us chose where to eat. Not knowing where to go,  I googled: "best breakfast places in Denver". Snooze AM Eatery was the highest rated place and it was so good! A must if you are ever in Denver!

Jaime had never been to Colorado so we had to swing by the Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs. Thankful that I dressed in layers. It was freezing in Denver but the further south we went, the warmer it got!

The next day, my brother and I went exploring my Pa Pa's church next door. They still have this old wallpaper in the kitchen. It's a fun background!

  

Playing around with Jacob's nice camera.

Sunday, I had the privilege to listen to my Pa Pa preach in his church. 

After Sunday dinner, we played 13 rounds of Dominos. And I can't even count how many times we played it after that. It's one of our favorites to play as a family!

A beautiful double rainbow draped over the field behind my grandparents home. I love that rainbows are a sign from God that He will never flood the Earth again. What a beautiful reminder that He's there during a lazy Sunday afternoon.

We made a lot of Christmas candy before our trip to the cabin. There's no telling how much I gained from this trip but who cares.

Jaime interrupted added himself to my outfit of the day photo shoot I was having. 

But I don't mind, look how handsome he is.

My hair holds curl SOOO much better out in this dry state. It's amazing!

Monday afternoon we set off to the mountains to our cute cabin in the woods. The higher up we went, the more snow there was. The little girl in me LOVED every second of it.

What do you know?! We played Dominos while we waited for everyone else to arrive. 

It's hard to capture just how beautiful and big this cabin was for all 15 of us. My uncle picked it out and he did a awesome job! It was literally perfect.

This was Jaime and I's room. My Nanny insisted that we have one of the King beds.

There was a wood stove burner and it did it's job! We almost heated us out of the house! We also think it sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the house since most of us had trouble breathing that night while we slept. 

The elevation was at 11,000 ft above sea level. It takes a long time to get used to it for us Kentucky folks. Every single time we came up the steps, we had to stop and get our breath back. I'm not even exaggerating. It was tough to get used to. Not to mention the super dry air. I, along with my brothers had some pretty bad nose bleeds. But these two things were the only negatives to this trip.

Soaking in the hot tub in 15 degree weather while it snowed!

Our view the next morning while we sipped coffee and watched it snow.

We went to Breckenridge to ski for the day. I had a great time! My husband said he'll never snowboard again. Poor guy. The snow and elevation is so different from the little hills we ski down at Perfect North.

The gang: my cousin: Jonathan, brothers: Alex & Jacob, my dad, and husband.

Using my new duck boots for their intended purpose! Feet stayed dry!

Snowing pretty hard and it only snowed harder as the day went on.

I had to stop and warm up that afternoon. Plus I was starved and had a little snack.

My skiing buddy that day.

There's just something about a fire that makes a room instantly cozier.

Sipping coffee with my mom and grandparents one morning.

The views out the window didn't even look real.

The boys had to dig the vehicles out of the snow a couple of times during those 3 days.

Representing my ole Kentucky home while I was in the mountains.

The snow was so deep, it was a workout just trying to trudge through.

Trying to find a place to sled was a challenge because there was too much snow. We've never had that problem living in KY. ha!

The view out our bedroom window was beautiful. It was liking waking up in a winter wonderland every morning.

My brother and cousin enjoying the hot tub after sledding.

We played the White Elephant game with everyone, which was fun!

We did a little sight seeing as we made our way back down and home from the mountain.

Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge

We passed through South Park and of course my husband loved that.

We started a fun tradition 5 years ago to see a movie on Christmas Eve as a family.

(This was taken before the previews started.)

Christmas morning picture.

Christmas Day picture with my hubby.

Color changing gel nail polish, black when cold, purple when hot. So fun!

We comfortably waited in the USO in Denver airport on our way home. Apparently Veterans aren't supposed to use it but since it was Christmas, they let us in. 

Late night airplane pictures.

Some of us weren't as happy about the pictures as the others. He loves me, I promise.

We could hardly wait to pick up our girls from Jaime's dads when we got in. We kinda missed them.

We did a little farming when we got back...in t-shirts! We went from 16 degrees and snow to 72 degrees and rain overnight for us! But believe or not, I miss the snow.

I've been helping my brother paint his new-to-him house everyday this week. We are wore out from painting and then 4 hours of driving everyday. But the before and afters will be insane! Can't wait to see it all come together.

Coffee Cozy: shop-catherine-mason.com

So I have some exciting news...

We are moving to Michigan this weekend! 

We found out Sunday that Wednesday will be Jaime's last day on the job in Bowling Green and his first day in Coldwater is next Tuesday. So much for planning. haha! It's so neat to see how God has prepared me for this kind of lifestyle. I'm pretty calm and collected. Monday, on our way to and from my brothers place, I was searching Zillow for house rentals or apartments like a mad person. I found one last night that we both liked and will allow two dogs. We meet with them Monday morning so say a prayer for us. If that falls through then we're back to square one. In the meantime, we've got to unpack the camper, winterize it, and get it ready to sell this spring. We're also trying to help my brother get as much stuff done to his house as possible before we leave since classes start the second week of January for him. Then we have to pack up what we think we'll need in a trailer and get it ready to drive up there. All while we all have jet lag from our trip to Colorado. Those midnight flights will wear you out. ( But they were cheap, so its worth it, right? ha!)

I'm already tired thinking about it but it'll all work out. It always does. So there's our exciting, short notice news!

2016 is already turning out to be crazier than 2015. Bring it on!

Happy New Year Friends!