Thanksgiving in Denver

We had a wonderful time over Thanksgiving visiting friends and old co-workers in Denver! We had contacted them early to make sure they were available to get together before we bought tickets.  It was exciting to meet some of their kids for the first time and introduce them to Emma.  The weather was gorgeous while we were there, but it snowed and dropped to single digit temperatures two days after we left.  That's Denver for you! :) We were thankful for the great weather since we travelled non-stop all weekend to see our friends.  

Here are some pictures from our trip.

We flew into Denver on Thanksgiving night, and our first stop the next morning was at John and Norma's house. Norma was my mentor at church for about a year, and we became very close. We got to visit with their kids and grandkids who were with them for Thanksgiving, too, which was nice.

After leaving their house, we drove straight to a Mexican restaurant for a lunch reunion with my old coworkers from The College for Financial Planning. It's been almost 9 years since I've seen some of them, so it was fun to catch up!

From left to right in the back: Brett, Bob, and Dan

Left to right in the front, Kristen, Jodi, and me

We were missing one of our coworkers, Rebecca, since she had a baby girl a few days prior (6 weeks earlier than her due date!) She and her baby are doing fine, but obviously weren't able to make it to lunch.

That night, we spent the evening with our friends, Kate and Mike and their kids Charlotte and Cameron.  Kate made a Thanksgiving feast for us since we had missed turkey and dressing on Thanksgiving day.

Charlotte and Cameron loved to entertain Emma! Cameron is dancing for her in this picture, and Charlotte is telling him to "be careful around the baby!" :)  Emma ate up all the attention, of course. 

 Our good friend, Jill, and her two daughters came over to Kate and Mike's house for Thanksgiving dinner, too.  It was great to see my girlfriends again!

A picture of the "boys"

Jill's daughters, Natalie and Allison (on the left), joined Charlotte and Cameron in providing Emma with full-time entertainment!

On Saturday morning, we hit the road and headed to the mountains!

Just one of the scenic views on our drive. I miss Colorado and its beautiful scenery.

Our good friend Molly and her family have been living and working at Lost Valley Ranch in Sedalia, Colorado for the past five years.  It felt so good to hug her and catch up in person!

Molly's beautiful family. Her brand-new son, Luke, was 4 weeks old, son Hayes, daughter Mary, and husband Jeremy. This was the first time we had met any of their kids, since we haven't seen them for five years!

Emma got to hang out with Baby Luke in the car while Molly took us on a tour of the ranch.

Lost Valley Ranch is absolutely gorgeous, and provides a resort-like experience for visitors. 

A family picture before we headed back to Denver

That night, we went back to Mike and Kate's house for dinner and were joined by our friends Michael and Jennifer and their kids, Audrey and Austin. Pre-marriage and kids, we had all attended a 20-Something group at Mission Hills Church. We had paired off with our significant others at around the same time, so we had many fun double and triple dates with these couples.  

The cute kiddos (minus Austin). 

Since Dan's birthday was the following day, we celebrated with cupcakes and singing!

On Sunday morning, Emma woke Dan up to wish him a happy birthday. And give him bunny ears. :)

We spent a few final hours with Mike and Kate and played at their neighborhood park.

Our friend Garlyn surprised us by stopping at the park for a quick hello before we had to head to the airport! It was a packed weekend and we loved reuniting with so many friends!