twotimesfive

Travis decided it was time to see the trees change, so we invited Eric and Laura to join us. We headed to Evergreen for a hike and Beau Jo’s Pizza. It was absolutely gorgeous and a ton of fun. Enjoy the pictures.

We had the awesome opportunity to go on a missions trip with our youth group. We drove about five hours to Grand Junction, Colorado. Todd, our youth pastor, and his wife just had a baby so we stayed close to home. Throughout the week we were split into three groups and we all experienced different service projects. The four days we served, my group had the opportunity to clean a homeless shelter, minister to a daycare facility for adults with disabilities, clean Marie’s house (an elderly woman who became blind six years ago) and organize Second Chance Thrift store (which benefits the homeless shelter we worked at.) Travis’ group worked at the Salvation Army in town and sorted through a HUGE , never ending, always growing pile of clothes. They sent some of the totally gross clothes to different countries that needed the clothes too. Todd’s group served lunch to the homeless at the Catholic Outreach and they passed out bagged lunches to some homeless in the nearby park. The week was exhausting yet completely fulfilling. On Friday we drove another hour and half to Moab, Utah. There we went rafting in the Colorado River and experienced the dessert on a Hummer Tour. We had a blast with the kids and have decided we have some of the best youth group kids EVER. The pictures are awesome.

The Denver Zoo during the month of December (when most of the animals are being housed inside) takes a bunch of Christmas lights and shapes them into animals all around the zoo. So the Bockhackers, Johnsons, Nina, myself and my mom visiting from California headed into Denver for New Year’s Eve. As you can imagine seeing lights shaped as animals isn’t as exciting as the actual animals so Nina decided that we needed to strike as many funny poses as we could before the night was over. Afterwards, everyone came back to our house to play some games.

I think everyone is aware that I am a huge Christmas fan. Each December I try and pack as many Christmas events as I can from December 1st through the 25th.

The kickoff this year was the Parade of Lights. Jason and Ally called and informed us that each year Denver puts on a Christmas Parade. So we took the lightrail downtown had dinner at Rialto Cafe and found a corner to watch the festivities. After the parade we walked over to the Justice Center to see it all lit up. We had a great time even though it was crazy cold.

24 days to Christmas. That leaves plenty of time for more activities.

Jason, Allie, Travis, and I, met up with the Lochners and their friends to dominate the Corn Maze at Anderson’s Farm out in Erie. Don and his friend showed us the ropes of mastering the corn maze. Basically we just followed them to the punch holes! We went at night which made the whole thing so much more fun!

We enjoyed a trip up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park with the Bockhackers and “Lil Kim.” Eric took us on a 6 mile hike! There are pictures of a crazy duck that ate right out of our hands, he actually bit Nina! Though we saw a beautiful waterfall, leaves changing color, and a lovely lake, we were ready for flat grounds and a BIG dinner down in Estes. The pictures of the Elk we saw aren’t the best, but enjoy.

We had so much fun camping at Crags with the Johnson’s and Bockhacker’s “small group.” Though the Johnson’s couldn’t make it, they shared their friends with us. It was an absolute blast; however, I’m not sure why people put all that effort into an activity in which you end up sleeping on the dirt ground. As you can see we shared a tent with the Bockhacker’s and Denali (our Goddog!) We went for a hike on Saturday and drove home Sunday to rest up for another work week. The scenery was worth the work and definitely something we hope to do again soon.

We headed down Saturday morning to Colorado Springs to hike Seven Falls with the Bockhackers. You first have to climb these 2 staircases to get to the top of Seven Falls and then hike farther back to see more of the valley. Check out the first photo, you can hardly see the staircase that turns to the left!