Go Rockies!

A few weeks ago, Gwen asked us if we wanted free tickets to the Rockies game.  Baseball isn't really our thing, but it was a Saturday evening game, one day after the season opener, so we said yes and decided to go downtown a few hours early for a fun family evening!

Here's how our "fun" family evening started :)  I guess our kids were tired...

We parked a few blocks from the stadium (can you see it in the background?) and rode the free bus down the 16th Street Mall to check out the sights.

Payton took this one...she did a pretty good job don't you think?

We did some exploring around the Pavillions.  Wes told the kids that he installed the elevators in this mall a long time ago.  They're still there in working order, nice work Wesley!

After a bit more walking around (we ran into our neighbor Eddie at the sports store he works at!), we decided on the Paramount Cafe for dinner.  We sat outside and enjoyed all of the sights.

Oh, so cute.  They get along perfectly like this all the time :)

Dinner!  

It is at this time that I will mention that Payton began to tell us her stomach hurt.  Given her flare for the dramatic, we told her to suck it up and not ruin our fun family evening.  Oops.

After dinner, we headed back towards the game.  The buses were all full, so we had to walk quite a ways.  This was Payton's last smile before her long, tortuous walk.  At every red light, Payton would sit down right on the concrete and rest while we waited to cross the street.

Brady

And Landon thought he was SO COOL with his Rockies hat!

We finally made it to the field and up into our seats.  It was a beautiful spring evening.

Gwen had gotten quite a few tickets from work, so there a bunch of people there that we knew, including these two...

Landon LOVED his first baseball game.  He had a blast cheering, dancing, eating snacks, drinking Gatorade, and hanging with Oma and Opa.

Gwen, Kelly, and Maria.

Brady and Rylan.

During the 2nd inning or so, I stopped taking pictures.  Payton--you know, the one who's stomach hurt and who we told to suck it up--announced that she needed to throw up.  Wes and Payton rushed down the bleachers, but Payton only made it to the bottom of the steps where she unleashed her dinner and whatever else was upsetting her stomach.  Gross.  Those poor people sitting in the front row, and the poor custodian assigned to clean it up.  Payton said she felt better for another inning or two, then the pukes struck again.  At that point, we decided to head home :)  In our 30 minute trek home, poor PR threw up at least five more times.  In the parking lot, out the window of our car, you name it.  The girl wasn't kidding about her stomach hurting.  But, she handled it like a champ.  Wes hosed off the car when we got home, Payton went right to bed, thus ending our fun family evening.  Ahh, memories :)

Thanks Gwen, for the tickets.  We'll have to try it again another time! :)

Hallelujah, Christ Arose...So Let's Set the World On Fire!

This is my 2013 Easter post.  The title is a combination of both Rylan and Payton's pre-meal performances.  If you were there, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.

We woke up to an amazingly warm and beautiful Easter morning.  After early church with the family and Grandma Inge, we came home, changed clothes, and headed over to Oma and Opa's for some of my favorite family traditions.

No family gathering is complete without a wonderful meal, so of course, that's what we did first!

The ladies...Grandma Inge, Sue, Grandma Tammy, and Abby's mom Pam.

Opa, Abby, Mark, and Oma.

Nolan, Cohen, and Brady-Boy.  Wes has been teaching him how to play Stratego, so he ate and played a game against Payton at the same time.

Lando-Bando.

Rylan.

And Reagan.  And I seriously don't think she could be any cuter.  Whenever she sees me, this is the face she makes.  It's our special little greeting. :)

Jayne and Arie.

After brunch it was time for some egg hunting!  Oma served as the head of ceremonies.  She announced each colored round (and soaked up some rays).

On your marks, get set, go!  Female rounds, male rounds, kid rounds, every color of the rainbow...you name it, we found it!

Landon really didn't care about the candy inside the egg, he just love finding "more eggs, more eggs"!

Handsome Boys.

After about 12 rounds, we were only two green eggs short.  Payton dilligently looked for the missing eggs, but Uncle Mark ended up finding them both.  I think this is the first year we have ever found every single egg!

The ladies behind the lenses.  We are the ones usually taking all the pictures, so we always like to document that we were actually there :)

Pam and my mom.

Sue, Pam, Mom & Dad.

What a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Ladies' Night: Our "Fancy" Dinner Party

Ever since all of our men started playing softball together, a group of us ladies have tried to get together once a month for some kind of ladies night...Fantasy Football, watching movies, eating dinner, pedicures, favorites parties, you name it.  We originally planned a "Fancy" Dinner Party for February, but due to family trips and snow, we didn't get around to having our party until the middle of March.  So, FINALLY, on March 16th, I got to host our fun event.  I stole Abby's idea of having everyone wear "country club attire", and we all signed up to bring a course for the meal.

Lindsay, Jayne, and Abby.

Trish, Dana, and Julie

Wintre, Me, and Jenn.

Abby and Gwen.

First Course: Appetizers!  Julie made some awesome cheese fondue, and Jenn brought some wonderful coconut shrimp, yum!

Then is was time for the main course.  With the men gone, I was responsible for grilling the flank steak.  I was a little nervous, but with tips from Wes and my dad, it turned out fine. :)

The "fancy" table.

Sitting down to eat...flank steak with chimmichurri sauce, amazing asparagus, cheesy potatoes, garlic and cheese monkey bread, salad, all of it was SO good!  We had such a fun time eating, drinking, relaxing, and laughing.  We need to do that more often :)

Oh, and let's not forget dessert...pasquini's specials, cupcakes with boozy frosting, and nothing bundt cake...enough said.

The party continued long enough to do all of the dishes, which was still pretty fun because we were drinking, talking and laughing.  We had originally planned to get comfy and watch Magic Mike, but dinner took so long and was so much fun that we just called it a night.

Next up?  Movie Night at Gwen's, can't wait!