We'll call this.... Road trip to Vegas and Nelly (not the rapper)

Yes it has been too long. I apologize for the gap between posts, but here's a 2 for 1.

First update: we took a road trip to Las Vegas!  Why you may ask would the Marbles go to Vegas? For random fun of course! Also to visit a good friend of ours, Caleb Smith.  Jesse met Caleb in London while attending the London School of Economic in the summer of 2007. Caleb is from Kentucky and recently took a position working on the campaign for Sue Lowden who is running for US Senate in Nevada (against Harry Reid). Caleb has come to Manitou twice since we've been married and we felt it our turn to visit him. Of course as Marble tradition, we took the advantage to make this a road trip kind of vacation.

Excited for another road trip! (Good job Jesse for keeping your eyes on the road)

First stop as we entered Las Vegas was In-N-Out of course! 3 day trip, 3 meals at In-N-Out. We'll aim for a higher ratio next trip.

Visiting a few of the casinos, this was The Venetian. 

It really felt like walking the canals of Venice, gelato included.

 

The Paris Casino was beautiful as well, we were even able to ride an elevator and view all of the strip. Looks a lot like the real Eiffel tower huh?

Here's a view from the top of the fake Eiffel tower viewing the Bellagio water show.

Our friend Caleb and his roommate Alli Jay

One of Jesse's favorite looking casinos, the Excalibur.

Our second night we went to see the Blue Man Group! It was amazing, poncho's were included for all those in the first row. Jesse managed to be included in the show for a 2nd time in his life! What a record.

Our last night we were able to see a second show, Cirque du Soleil Mystere at the Treasure Island Casino. It was absolutely worth not gambling so we could afford seeing shows!

One of our favorite activities of the weekend was riding the roller coaster at New York New York. What a beautiful New York skyline.

Alright, on the to the second (and much cuter) update. NELLY!!

Just look at that face! Breaks my heart every time. Yes, we've become that couple: obsessed with our dogs. We can't help it, someday it will lessen, but we're enjoying it for now.

Right after we picked her up

Yes, we let her sleep on whatever she wants, including white pillows...

Rosy and her new best friend, Nelly. Still learning unconditional love.

Our sweet Etsy dog tag.

Awww.....

So after having her for 2 weeks, she is now 10 1/2 weeks old, almost 100% potty trained, can sit, shake, lay down and come. Yes, our puppy is way cooler than your puppy. Just a little friendly competition :)

Kate's 24 Birthday: Colorado Roadtrip

Two well-know secrets of us Marbles:

1) We love to travel. Cool places, preferably.

2) We love Birthdays. We're thankful for life!

So, we started a little tradition to combine the aforementioned elements: Birthday trips! It only makes sense, really. We started this tradition in 2009 with a trip to San Fran for Kate's 23rd Bday and then we headed up to visit Uncle Maury and Aunt Linda in Kelowna, BC for my birthday in August.

This year for Kate's two dozenth birthday, we did a road trip around Colorado. There are lots of places in this awesome state that neither of us has been.

So after a long work week for Kate, we headed out. Here was our route: http://bit.ly/8KcvNQ

Friday January 15th: Bright and early departure from Manitou Springs, CO, headed west. We were able to book dog-friendly hotels throughout, so Rosy joined. She started out in the back, but we were suckers for her cuteness. She looked down-right distraught!

Her new post:

A few other pics of the first day: on our way to Salida, CO here's Kate in front of Mt. Princeton.

We had lunch in Buena Vista on the first day, went for a nice hike just north of Nathrop, CO towards Agnes Vaile Falls.

Our trusty sidekick, Rosy, enjoying the roadtrip.

We stayed the first night in Salida, then headed west on Highway 50 past Gunnison, then south out of Montrose towards Ouray. This little town, was our most favorite on the whole trip. Several signs said, "Welcome to the Switzerland of America" and it definitely deserved such a title.

We took a quick little trip over to Telluride for the afternoon. The mountains there are absolutely stunning. Pictures don't do justice here either. Great little town too. Our 2nd favorite of the trip behind Ouray.

Telluride has a free gondola that you can take up the mountain and over to "Mountain Village" which has shops and other activities like ice skating. On our way up that gondola:

So our second night we spent in Ouray, then day three we headed up Highway 550, past Montrose again, then headed Northeast up towards Glenwood Springs. We stopped on the way in our namesake town. Good ol' Marble, CO! Not much a town (no offense, Marble) but we took a couple goofy pictures to commemorate.

(The newest proud member of the Marble clan)

We also stopped in Aspen, since Kate had never been. Here's a cool little shot of downtown Aspen, looking towards the ski hill.

We stayed our third night in Glenwood Springs. Our final day, Monday (Kate's 24th Bday!! Happy bday, my love!!) we had a great breakfast at "Rosi's Bavarian Restaurant" in Glenwood then made the trek back to Manitou Springs.

Overall, it was a great road trip for the three of us. Enjoyed our amazing state and saw several new towns we'd never visited. Kate really enjoyed herself, so: mission accomplished! Happy birthday, Kate Marblehead!

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