tubing, tumbling & a terrific treat

While we were in Colorado we knew we had to find time to do something fun with the kids. (Especially since our time was limited!) Friday morning after exploring our resort a little and grabbing some breakfast, we checked in with Uncle Wess, McKay and Owen. Uncle Wess had been given the job of occupying himself and his boys so that they were out of every one's way as the other family members scrambled to finish last minute wedding details! We knew Wess would be up for an adventure of any kind and would probably even have some ideas for us all. After talking with him, we decided on participating in some good old-fashioned tubing. Berkley and Beckham were so excited just to get to do something in the snow, they were ready for anything!

We met Wess and the boys at the tubing hill, and the kids wanted to get started right away. Wess had already gotten tubes for his boys, so while Matt went to get tubes for Berkley and Beckham they hopped in with McKay and Owen. They were ready for immediate action.

Matt returned very soon with two more tubes, so everyone now had their own. Berkley, McKay, Owen and Beckham all lined up and ready to go... with the help of Matt and Wess.
The kids quickly learned that once they made it down the hill, they also had to make it back up... with their tube! Berkley was a trooper at first and carried her tube up the hill along with Beckham riding in his tube!
However, this didn't last long. Daddy was soon recruited to help them back up the hill. (This really is much harder than it looks!) The kids would make their way back up the hill each time growing a little more tired and moving just a little bit slower.

But their spirits were lifted once they made it back to the top!

Beckham hung in there too, despite not feeling his best! And of course, once they made it to the top they knew it was downhill once again!
And that alone made it worth all of the work to climb back up!!!
The old-fashioned tubing turned out to be great. Berkley and Beckham had so much fun, which in turn made the adventure worth while for Matt and I as well.

Even though our time with the tubes was up, the kids weren't finished! They really wanted to have some time to just play in the snow. It was really fun to watch them, realizing how magical the snow was to them. I think they could have played in the snow for hours.

The snow was pretty deep too. Berkley kept getting stuck and losing her boots in the snow. (Probably since she was wearing rain boots instead of snow boots... we had to make due with what we had!) Owen came to her rescue!
Although Matt and I probably used poor parental judgement allowing Beckham to play in the snow while he was fighting off a pretty nasty cold, we decided it was worth it. Beckham had a blast in the snow.

He would march around in the snow and then just fall down, rolling around and laughing the whole time.

And naturally, no one can play in the snow without making snow angels.

After a lot of fun tumbling in the snow, we convinced the kids it was time to go. It was lunchtime, and luckily the kids were hungry enough to decide that eating was a pretty good idea! We found a pizza place at our resort and knew this would be a big hit for everyone... And it was except for Beckham. By this time Beckham was really worn out. His fever was slowly coming back too. (Thanks to the wise decision his parents made to let him be out in the cold and snow for several hours!!!) He actually passed out in my arms before our pizza ever arrived. But he did a great job of hanging in there and not complaining a bit, which shows how much fun he must have had despite feeling so lousy.
After lunch, we all headed back to our rooms for a nap. That night we would all be going to the rehearsal dinner, and we knew we needed to be rested for a night full of fun!

winter wedding

The main reason, of course, that we were in Colorado was for Kimmie's wedding. Kimberly is Matt's cousin, but is more like a sister to him. Matt and Berkley were both invited to be in the wedding, and Berkley could not have been more excited. She absolutely loved being the flower girl in my sister's wedding, and she was looking forward to having that chance again. She is not stupid. She realized that she was going to have the opportunity to be pampered a little. Kimmie has always told Berkley that she is her "little twin" since they both have blond hair and blue eyes. She told Berkley that she wanted her to look just like she did for her wedding. Therefore, Berkley had her hair fixed just like Kimberly. She also got to have her "make-up" done, which she really enjoyed! (She also got to get a manicure and pedicure in Abilene before we left for Colorado thanks to Marmie! She treated Berkley and I to an afternoon at the nail salon, while she stayed at home with the boys. We had so much fun!) Needless to say, Berkley was on cloud nine and was feeling like a princess. I think she looked like one too. Her daddy looked pretty nice himself! Here is my darling duo: Kimberly decided that she was going to wear her cowboy boots with her wedding dress, and she wanted her bridesmaids to do the same. So, since Berkley was Kimmie's "little twin" she got to wear her boots too. However, Berkley had recently outgrown her cowboy boots that JT had given her. Not to worry though... JT came to the rescue and took Berkley to the boot store to pick out some new ones. She took her decision very seriously, and she simply wasn't satisfied with the selection at the first store. JT took her to another store, and Berkley found the perfect pair of boots. (They did look really cute on her! Thanks JT!)All smiles and ready to go...Of course, we must not forget a last minute touch-up! Berkley paid very close attention to the other girls, and she listened intently to each instruction.

The wedding was beautiful. It was held at the Keystone Ranch. The room Kimberly and Matt (yes, her husband's name is Matt too) got married in had a huge window overlooking the mountains blanketed with snow. It was gorgeous. The room was somewhat small, however, so it was standing room only. Thankfully the ceremony was short and sweet. Once the wedding was over, we were directed to another room where our tables were set up for dinner. Beckham and I found our table and waited patiently for Matt and Berkley. Beckham had not been feeling well on part of our trip and had even been running a high fever, but not tonight... he was full of energy and ready to celebrate!Luckily he found the place cards to be very entertaining!

He inspected them for quite a while, which kept him busy.

Matt showed up before too long and told me I had to go check on Berkley. The wedding party had been instructed to wait in the bar area while some last minute pictures were being taken. I walked in to find this...

How old is she again?!? She was having the time of her life with her cousin, McKay! (McKay's mother, Corri, is Kimberly's sister... Matt's cousin. He and his brother, Owen, were the ring bearers. Berkley and McKay have known each other since they were born and were really close when they were little, because Corri and her husband lived in Abilene for a short time.) Every time they see each other, they seem to begin right were they left off. They are great friends and love each other so much! It is pretty evident!

They really cracked me up. They both looked and acted like little adults... scary! They were almost a mini version of the bride and groom. Actually, by the end of the night Berkley and McKay were joking that they were going to marry each other!!! Uh no... you guys are cousins. (But I do have to admit, they are pretty cute together. Ha!)

Since we have been speaking of family... here is the other sister from the bride's family, Kelsey. She is the baby girl of the family and very special to Matt. She is so beautiful inside and out. Our kids adore her!

And of course we have to have a picture with the bride, Kimberly. Unfortunately I only got one, but it turned out pretty good. Kimberly looked absolutely beautiful, and her "twin" was right beside her looking pretty cute herself!

While I was on a roll taking family photos, I decided to get a few of my little Bs.
After several shots, Beckham let me know that our photo session was finished! What is that face?
I quickly realized that they were both ready to get on the dance floor and bust some moves!!! Berkley danced a short time with McKay, but his little brother Owen cut in quick.

Berkley didn't seem to mind though. She had a lot of fun "teaching" Owen how to dance.

By the end of the night they actually looked pretty good dancing together!Beckham hit the dance floor with enthusiasm and had no plans of dancing with anyone else. He even said no to an offer from the beautiful bride! He wanted to dance solo.

He got warmed up quickly, and soon he was all over the floor. He flashed his smile everywhere he went.

He moved and moved fast! He was seriously all over the place, and nothing was slowing him down. In fact, after falling down a few times, he simply incorporated the "falls" into his dancing. I have actually never seen "floor dancing" at a wedding before, but Beckham seemed to pull it off.
The wedding was absolutely perfect. Matt and I had a wonderful time celebrating with family. Berkley and Beckham had the time of their life. We had to drag them away from the dance floor at the end of the night. We are really glad we made the road trip to Colorado and were able to celebrate with Kimberly and Matt.

"are we there yet?"... the long road home

After driving ALL day on Thursday, participating in some snow adventures and a rehearsal on Friday, and throwing in a little shopping and a lot of wedding festivities on Saturday... Sunday had arrived and it was already time to make the long journey home. It is funny how much more excited you usually are about packing up and loading into a car for twelve hours when the adventure is upon you and somewhat unknown. However, when the adventure is over and you have already experienced the twelve hour drive once and have come to realize how long that actually is to be stuck in the car... the excitement just seems to fade and dread sets in strong.


Sunday morning we woke up, got packed, ate breakfast in our room with Mimi and Aunt Darlene (affectionately know by her grandchildren as "Mo") and loaded the car. The kids were not ready to be leaving Colorado so soon, and they definitely were not excited to be leaving behind the snow or McKay and Owen. (Who were getting to stay a few extra days!) However, there was a blessing in the midst of everything... Beckham was feeling much better! It is always so nice to see your child smile again, and Beckham woke up bright and early Sunday morning back to his happy little self!


As we began our long journey, we were surrounded with such magnificent beauty. A beauty that you cannot look at without realizing how amazing and miraculous our God truly is. It was so peaceful to just sit back and relish in His awesome creation. I began to understand what it is about the mountains that Matt loves so much. Unfortunately, the supernatural peace I felt didn't last me the whole trip. The trip back home just seemed SO MUCH LONGER. To my surprise, the kids did remarkably well. And when they began to struggle a little, we made a pit stop. We threw in a couple more on the way home simply because they were needed to lift out spirits. (Especially our pit stop at DQ Country for our blizzards! Ice cream tends to make everything better!) I think I truly was the one with the worst attitude, but I tried to keep it to myself.


For whatever reason, I have very few pictures of our trip home. (Maybe because I didn't want to document how painful I thought it was.) We did witness a few things along the way that caught my attention for one reason or another. Not long after we had begun our journey home, I spotted cars out in the middle of a small lake. Seriously...cars parked on the water? What? Okay, so the water was frozen... but how frozen was it? Was this really safe? Matt pointed out to me that they were all ice fishing. Wow! That is something you don't see everyday living in Texas!!! Needless to say, Beckham was as amazed as me!Later in the trip, Matt spotted several clouds of smoke. They grew larger and larger the closer we got to them. We were convinced that we were going to come upon a huge fire. We watched intently and with much anticipation. We were severely wrong. We soon spotted a plant of some kind with all kinds of smokestacks letting off these huge clouds of smoke. It did keep us entertained for quite some time though, which was a bonus indeed!

With only a few hours left in our journey home, we made one final pit stop. As we were filling up with gas, I spotted something that completely intrigued me. It was an eighteen wheeler with quite a message.
"Jesus Christ is Lord... not a swear word!" Wow! You don't see that everyday either. What a way to spread such a powerful message. Amen! That seemed to energize me a little, and helped me gear up for the last few hours of our journey.

Overall our trip to Colorado was awesome. However, we quickly realized that twenty-four hours in a car is a long way to drive for only forty-eight hours to spend somewhere! We might rethink that next time!!!

winter swimming

This past Saturday we decided we needed a little family fun! The kids really look forward to the weekends right now, because they get to spend some quality time with daddy. (He has been working really hard during the week and usually doesn't make it home until the kids are in bed.) Berkley has been wanting to go swimming pretty much every minute since we have been back from our vacation to San Diego. (We went with all of my family in October and had a blast!) Berkley finally swam on her own with complete confidence while we were there, so she has been wanting to practice more. However, the water is usually pretty chilly in January!!!

Good thing we heard about the indoor pool that has reopened at Fairway. What a perfect way for the kids to get a chance to work on some of their swimming skills before the Summer season arrives. When I asked the kids what they might want to do on Saturday, Berkley immediately suggested swimming and Beckham agreed with excitement. Although Matt and I honestly shared very little of their enthusiasm, we decided we would be good sports. We headed to the pool late that afternoon after everyone's naps. When we got there we were pleasantly surprised. We had the pool all to ourselves... along with our personal lifeguard, who looked super excited to be there!!! (And probably even more excited when she saw our family of five arrive!)

The minute we were inside, the kids were ready to jump in. Even Brenner was excited to see the water. Matt and I sucked it up and jumped in. It actually felt pretty good. The water wasn't super warm, but definitely warm enough. The kids thought it was absolutely perfect.
I truly think that Berkley had the most fun. She was all smiles while we were there.She jumped off the side over and over again swimming all the way across the pool to Matt. She did a great job, and it was fun to see how proud she was of her accomplishment. It actually brought back a lot of memories to me. I had one of my birthday parties at this exact indoor pool. I think it might have been my 7th birthday party. It is crazy to now be in the same pool watching my five year old jump into the water with the same excitement I had when I was little.
Beckham had a great time too. He also jumped off the side over and over again. He does an impressive belly flop, but I didn't get a picture!Brenner was even happy in the water. He jumped off the side a few times too. Well...maybe more like leaned into the water from a sitting position, but still pretty impressive for such a little guy.

We had a great time together. Getting out wasn't very fun, however. As warm as the water had been, once we hit the dressing rooms it was like an arctic blast. I've never dressed my kids so fast. We were all happy to get back in our warm car and head home. I'm sure that will be an adventure that we get to explore more and more as we wait for Summer to arrive.