visitors!

We had our first visitors, which after saying that I realize includes both to our new place and of the entire year! People, you have to come out to Colorado! The pictures in this post just might convince you if you were wavering at all. Our recent guests were so much fun to have and they were here for over a week so we were spoiled with homemade meals ready when we were done with work and school, dinners at our favorite restaurants, perusing the local thrift stores, grilling in the backyard, playing with the dogs and taking in the mountains. It was a busy time! JP's mom, Judy, and stepdad, Jim, drove up from Alabama to try their hand at road tripping and to help us settle in to our home. You might remember that for a while we had maybe one chair and a coffee table as our furniture, but that has all changed thanks to Judy and Jim, and we are fully furnished and ready for our next guests. So, on to some pictures of the week:


The first weekend they were here we did a trip to Estes Park as Jim had never been there. It's a great short drive from Denver and it really gets you into the mountains. From Estes, we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park and attempted to drive up Trail Ridge Road (which you might remember from such things as me biking it this summer). Unfortunately, just seven or eight miles up we were turned around because of supposed four feet drifts of snow across the road. It's too bad we couldn't take them to the top because the views there are absolutely breathtaking, but as a consolation it did snow on us just as we were getting out of the car to take some pictures. Jim and Judy were pretty much delighted to get the real Colorado mountain experience!

We also got to see some wildlife to add to the experience! Credit goes to Judy for snapping this photo even though she was freezing in the wind!

The following weekend we drove to Pike's Peak, which Jim and I had never been too, and it was quite a sight to see. At just over 14,000 feet it was pretty incredible and there was snow all around. I think the temperature dropped about 25 degrees from the bottom of the mountain to the top of it. We took lots of pictures:

JP and I of course had to have a little snowball fight, but it was short lived because it was so cold!

Yin even had some guests of her own, and they got along really well! With a big yard for them to play around in, and a neighbor dog to bark at, all three of them were pretty content. Of course the trip couldn't have been complete without a scooter ride:

I think they are hooked now!