Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Our trip to Texas

Throughout September my Grandfather was in the hospital in Texas and on the 20th he passed away with family at his side. We found out on Thursday that things were not looking too good and they were wanting to move my Grandpa to hospice.  They moved him on Friday.  My parents had just gotten back from being in Texas the weekend before, but they packed up their stuff and headed right back down there.  On Friday I spent some time changing our travel plans and we headed down on Saturday morning.  We were already planning on going in mid-October to celebrate his and my other Grandmas 90th birthdays, so we just changed our flights.

We got in Saturday afternoon and he passed away that night.  We spent that night saying our goodbyes with the immediate family.  It was a very sad time, but I think we were all really glad to be there for each other and my Grandma.  Although I know Noah won't remember it, I am really glad that Noah got to meet him last Thanksgiving.

From last Thanksgiving, Noah really enjoyed his Great-Grandpa
Reading with his Grandpa's
Over the week, we saw family and met more family!   We got to celebrate my Grandpa's life and say a final farewell.   He was almost 90 and had been married for 64 years.  He was a great loving Grandpa and I am so thankful for all the memories and time I got to spend with him!  He is dearly missed.


While we were there we did celebrate my other Grandma's 90th birthday, it was a little early, but we still had a great time celebrating her!  Noah also got to spend a lot of time playing with her and we hope he didn't wear her out too much!  Noah loved playing with her and even asked to sit with her in her chair several times.  We did have some down time to enjoy the warm weather and spend some time with both sides of my family.

Noah with his Great-Grandma a few weeks before she turned 90!
Enjoying a nice day in East Texas
Noah on Great-Grandpa's tractor
I don't think Mikey got the memo...
Spending time with the cousins

When did it become October???

Man, September really got away from us and now it's already past the middle of October.   We had few excuses as to why we went MIA, but hopefully now we are back for frequent updates! So, here is a kind of long update.  We started off  September with a trip to see the hot air balloons during Labor Day weekend.  This is something both Mikey and I did when we were kids, and this was the last year the city is going to host the balloons, so I made Mikey get up early and take me and Noah downtown.  We also decided to take a hike to Raspberry Mountain that day.  We were a bit skeptical how well Noah was going to hold up, he got a little fussy towards mile three, but had some snacks and fell asleep.  He woke up at the top, probably wondering why his ride stopped, and then did great all the way back to the car.


Mikey and Noah in front of the elephant balloon


The view from the top!
Mikey's step brother, Zak and his now wife Erin, got married in the beginning of the month.  They had a beautiful ceremony at the Shove Chapel downtown.  They also asked Noah to be the ring bearer!  He was very cute.  He didn't make it all the way down the aisle, but he started to go.  After the ceremony we went to a very fun reception where Noah wandered all over the hotel!

The ring bearer and flower girls
One flower girl was trying to help him going down the aisle
Mr. and Mrs. Klecker!
Noah the ring bearer
The handsomest men in my life!
We also had a lovely visit with Aunt Jacquie and Noah even got to spend a whole day with her and Nana!  Mikey, I, and Grandpa didn't have too much trouble leaving them to play, because we made our way to Breckenridge for the day to have some fun at Oktoberfest!  We drank delicious beer, ate brats, kielbasa, and pretzels, and we each had our own delicious apple strudel!

Mikey and David at Oktoberfest
Apple Strudel and Beer!
We had no problem finishing our own apple strudels!

US Pro Challenge

It seems to have become a tradition for us to get out to cheer on the professional bikers when they ride through town every year.  This year was no different.  I did actually volunteer during the race in Colorado Springs so I was not just spectating the whole time, but I did get to see and cheer the riders on every lap they made through downtown Colorado Springs.

On Sunday, we headed to Denver to catch the end of the race.  We got to see the riders four times as they rode a circuit around downtown.  It was a pretty fun day of cheering and we even got to stalk two of the riders.  It was Jens Voigt's last professional race, you may know the saying Shut Up Legs...   I snagged a selfie with him!  And while waiting for Jensie, we got to see Frank Shelck, I know, you're jealous. We even got to get in a group fan picture with the whole team.   And then we found the winner of the race Tejay Vangarderen.  Mikey got his autograph after waiting a long time to see him.  They were both very nice to their fans.

The race
Frank making the rounds
Jensie's group photo from the back
Me and Jensie, I was a little excited
Tejay signing Mikey's shirt