First Fourteener

Last weekend Brian and I camped out and hiked Mt Bierstadt- one of Colorado's fourteeners.  It was my first fourteener... Brian's twelfth or thirteenth.  We found a cool little campsite along Guanella Pass on Friday night and then hiked all day Saturday.  Round trip it was 7 miles with 2850 ft of elevation gain, and it took us about 4.5 hrs total.  Not gonna lie- I thought it was pretty hard (even though it's considered one of the "easiest" fourteeners to climb).  There was one point about 3/4 of the way up where I was pretty done with it- and could have cared less about summiting... but we finished and it was pretty cool! 

{Don't be jealous of our cool head lamps!}

At the car before we started... we hiked the tallest peak you see here.

our view from the trail

halfway up....

At the summit!

I look like a total retard but hey, it's my first one!

Ever heard of the sandwhich place "Which Wich?"?  Well, if you take a picture at the summit of a fourteener with their sandwhich bag you get a free sandwhich!  Brian just happened to "summit" 3 mountains that day.
  {Hey, who are we to turn down free food?!}

One Year

It's been one year that we've been married.  Our wedding was so perfect and better than I could have ever imagined.  So far- our marriage has been the same (*maybe not perfect, but better than I could have imagined).  Time sure flies when you're having fun! 

Happy Anniversary, baby!  One down.... many many many more to go!!

Beam Family Visit

All of Brian's family came to visit over 4th of July weekend.... yup, all 7 of them! (and we were even missing his Brother, Matt)  The agenda was jam packed with stuff.  It was fun to show his family cool parts of Colorado but I wish we would have had more time to just hang out. 

(Warning:  Long post... Lots of pictures)

Day 1: Drove up to the peak of Mt. Evans

Saw 2 sheep (or goats?) get in a fight

Day 2: Went swimming, grilled out at home

Cathey and I have amazing shape-making abilities

I am in LOVE with these cheeks!!

Day 3: Rode Brian's dirt bike, Garden of the Gods (in CO Springs), Played at the park, Bath time

(BUSY DAY)

The Shawnee Family

(Brian's sister Jackie, husband Mark, and baby Ethan)

My favorite!

Day 4: Rocky Mountain National Park

We had such a great time with everyone visiting but we are exhausted!!  Thanks for coming out to see  us!

Can They Be Any Cuter?!....

I don't think so!

I am loving how stink'n cute our niece and nephew are right now!! 

Here's a sample of the cell phone pics we've been getting...

Lorraine, 14 months

Ethan, 9 months

More Visitors

We had more visitors this weekend!  Actually- we'll have visitors every other weekend for the next month or so.  I'm certainly not complaining, though.... I really like being able to stay put for awhile and still get to see friends and family this summer!

Sarah and I interned together 5 years ago and shared an office.  At first I didn't think I'd like her... she was really cute and smart and I was sure she would be snotty too.  Definitely wrong.  We hit it off right away and I had such a fun summer emailing all day (even though we were in the same office), lunch dates every day, and totally getting to know each other.  We've ended up staying in touch and I usually see every 1- years.  She came up for a weekend away and I had so much fun with her!

We spent the weekend laying out, eating out, doing a little shopping.... hiking, vegging, and grilling out... brewery tour and a little more window shopping.

Dinner at Cherry Creek Grill...so good!

Hiking up to Devil's Head tower... the last manned fire lookout.

Pike's Peak... you can see over 100 miles in every direction from the tower

What a hottie.  He's tired of pictures.

Our free samples at Coors Brewery. 

 In case you were wondering... orange slices are ONLY allowed for Blue Moon samples.  Thanks.  Got it.