Colorado

Last week we were all 3 able to enjoy a trip to Colorado Springs for NCYM (the national conference of youth ministers). I feel so blessed that our church here feels compelled to send me to the conference with Chris as I get so much out of the time with other youth ministers and their wives and out of the conference speakers. I am coming home feeling refreshed in my marriage and our ministry! I took so many pictures on this trip and have had a hard time picking out ones to share! I'm only sharing the highlights! If you're on facebook, you can check out the rest of my pictures there!

The plane ride - we were so nervous about flying with Jack's ear problems. But, he did great! The anticipation of getting on a plane that is seen in this picture is a good idea of how much he loved flying! When we landed for good back in Indianapolis, Jack said, "ride again, please."
A few of the mornings during the conference I skipped out on some sessions to go with my friend, Stacy and her girls Katie Mei and Avery to do some fun things around Colorado Springs. The girls' grandma was also along which made for some very fun mornings. One morning we went to the Focus on the Family headquarters because they have this great indoor playground for kids with a huge slide. When we got there, we found out the kids were too small for the slide but they still had fun. We could not get Avery to look at the camera in this picture so I've included a picture of her too so you can see her cute little face.Another morning, we went to Garden of the Gods. This day it was almost 60 degrees in CO which was incredible, especially considering that it's going to be 1 degree here tomorrow! I took a ton of pictures here, but this is one of my favorites!Also, I had to include this one. Just in case Jack marries Katie Mei.........we'll need this one for their wedding! Ha!The conference ended Thursday but we did not fly home until Saturday. So, Friday Chris and I took Jack to Royal Gorge. This is the world's tallest suspension bridge and yes, it is very tall! This was a great place to visit because seriously, we were the only people there! Well, except for one other couple who was from the south. We had fun with them swapping photo opportunities and getting to know them. Fun! When we arrived at the gorge it wasn't really snowing hard. We rode the incline to the bottom of the gorge where this picture was taken.
Then, we rode this aerial tramway across the gorge (a little bit scary).We decided we would walk across the bridge back to the other side. However, while we were on the other side looking at their animals (elk, bison, etc...) it started to snow and I'm not just talking about snow.........I mean SNOW!!!! We walked across this long bridge in a blizzard! Not so much fun with a heavy toddler who wanted his MOMMY to carry him the WHOLE way! Agh! But, it makes for some good memories and we were able to thaw out in the gorge restaurant before making our way to Denver! In Denver, we had a special treat! We got to see my friend Tracy and her brother and dad. We met them at Casa Bonita. If you're not familiar with it, it's an overpriced restaurant with very average "mexican" food with cliff divers in the restaurant. Chris went there a lot as a kid and really wanted to take Jack! Jack did have a good time but the company was great! Tracy and I met a long time ago in high school working at a camp for kids with disabilities. I love that we are still in touch! Amy, we missed you!!!Jack was exhausted after this very long day. We spent the night in Denver and flew home the next day!