Christmas Time

Christmas in Manitou is Magical.

(Christmas last year)

If you have never been to Manitou around Christmas time, come visit because it is beautiful! The trees and street lights of Manitou Ave are covered with lights and the stores are decorated with garland and all things Christmas. So, naturally we went to get our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. To add to it, Becka was visiting and came along for the excursion! Jesse and I had never cut down our own Christmas tree, so ......we donned our plaid/flanel and chopped.

And The Finished product.....

Just a few more weeks until we celebrate Christmas Florida style....

Boston in the Fall

Jesse and I finally were able to visit Tim and Abby in Boston!! I've always wanted to visit Boston in the fall, ever since I heard that veggie tales song :) It really was beautiful, but the best part was spending time with our most distant siblings.

Enjoying the lights of downtown Boston from a friends rooftop

Tim and Abby's street, the brownstone homes were beautiful!

One of the beautiful public health buildings on Abby's campus

(Boston University Medical Campus)

The first day we were there, Abby took us to Applecrest farms in New Hampshire. We were able to enjoy the leaves changing as we drove up.

The best part of the whole trip would definitely be the apple cider doughnuts.

Oooh my, they were good.

After our apple pickin' adventure we decided to drive up to Kittery, Maine because, well why not?!? Jesse and I had never been and it was close, so Abby happily obliged :) Just the start of our driving adventure...

When I say it was just the start of our driving adventure, I only say that because Abby was so kind to drive us to Marblehead, MA after our already long day of driving. Lets just say that our new iphones aren't as great at giving turn by turn directions as we thought.

After our amazing trip, my amazing husband was more than happy to

to carry around our apple cider throughout downtown, he's so cute!

We also enjoyed going along the Freedom Trail to visit many of the

historical sites of Boston

The balcony where the Declaration of Independence was read

after it had been signed days prior

Lastly the holocaust memorial located in the North End of Boston, the glass was etched with the number of each holocaust victim

Pikes Peak

We Hiked Pikes Peak!!! It was the first 14er I've ever hiked and Jesse's second. 13 miles, 6 hours and 40 minutes. Thank goodness for our ride back down the mountain by Jesse's parents. Enjoy the pics!

B-day Trip

Long overdo, but here we go! Jesse's 24th birthday was August 1st and to celebrate, we went to Kelowna, British Columbia to visit Jesse's great uncle who shares a birthday with Jesse. The last time their birthday's were celebrated together, Jesse was 2 and Maurie was 43. Here are a few pics from our long weekend trip.

Maurie and Jesse taking a birthday pic in the same spot as 22 yrs ago

(sorry I don't have a copy of the old pic)

Braden and Logan (Maurie and his wife Linda's grandchildren) playing out in the backyard. The kids loved playing freeze tag in the back yard with Jesse and I

Maurie, a history professor and the University of British Columbia in Kelowna, recently wrote a book called "Myra's Men: Building the Kettle Valley Railway". While we were visiting, Maurie led a tour through one of the camps of the men who built the railway. We were also able to bike along the old rail bed of the railway which contained many trestles.

Maurie and Linda, showing us where we were on the map on Maurie's shirt

Here's a pic of smoke approaching Maurie and Linda's house from one of the many

forest fires burning in the area.

Lastly, a pic of Jesse and I with Ogopogo, the sea monster in the Okanagan lake.

We had a lot of fun walking around downtown Kelowna with Jesse's relatives!

We Heart Hiking

Jesse and I have made it our goal to make the most of Summer 2009. Although I am still working every other weekend, we are making sure to get out of the house and enjoy our community and the mountains around us when we have free time. So...here are a few pictures of our 2 hikes last weekend.

The first hike was more of a walk, but one we've heard pleanty about from our neighbor. It's called Rainbow falls, or graffiti falls according to our neighbor.

this was the first waterfall of the hike before we came larger waterfall


Then came the graffiti...



We loved seeing nature and urban art come together. It was beautiful :)

Next was our hike to Catamount falls. We attempted the same hike last summer but didn't get beyond the waterfall. It's only about a 10 minute drive west from our house and was a great morning hike.

Our guide....

One Amazing Year!

Tomorrow marks our One Year Anniversary. Yeah for us!! It's been the easiest, funnest (I know it's not a word), most amazing year we could have hoped for. Yes, we may have dove into real life a bit fast... graduating college, getting married and starting our careers in the same month, but we wouldn't have done it any other way. To celebrate, Jesse and I decided to enjoy a weekend in Estes Park. It was absolutely beautiful and we packed it full of some of our favorite activities.

Once Jesse got off work on Friday, we packed our car with our bikes and headed up to the mountains. We started the day off right by biking around Estes Park Lake.

After our bike ride we decided to be kids again and rode some go-karts follow by some mini-golf.

I don't know why I look like a pirate...

(No individuals were harmed during this stroke)


We ended our time in Estes Park with a great hike up to Gem Lake. It was short, but somewhat difficult at time with a beautiful lake (more of a pond) at the end.

Showing off my new Camelback....So cool!


We're home now and the work week starts tomorrow, but I can't stop thinking about the amazing year we've spent together as "newlyweds" and how blessed we are to have each other. Tomorrow starts a new year as an old married couple and we can't wait!