A fun-filled family weekend!

Abby's parents came to visit over Labor Day weekend. We had a fun low key weekend with them enjoying being outside in the beautiful Colorado weather! Most mornings began with some time on the trails behind campus walking and biking. Saturday morning we walked over to Hudson Gardens next to the seminary to enjoy the beautiful array of colorful plants and flowers. Paul had to work on Saturday so Abby and her parents did some shopping, an activity that Paul wouldn't feel like he was missing out on! On Sunday we went to church here on campus and then out to eat for Mom's birthday. We took the light rail downtown Denver for the day and checked out Union Station and some other shops downtown. On Monday we ended up spending most of the day at Washington Park. Mom and Dad left late Monday night. We had a great time with them and hope they come back and visit again soon!

A nice family pic outside our apartment on campus

Dad's new exciting buy and evolving hobby! If anyone is looking for harmonica lessons, this pro should be ready to give them soon! Be ready to dance around and play at the same time!


We took Mom out to eat for lunch to celebrate her birthday on Sunday. This was a quaint little place we discovered in historical downtown Littleton.

We rented a bicycle for four at Washington Park before Mom and Dad took off on Monday. A step up from the tandem! The only downfall was that it only had one gear! We all got a chance to sit in the drivers seat and do the stearing!

We stuck around Washington Park for the afernoon enjoying the Colorado weather. We enjoyed a game of Five Crowns before having to take Mom and Dad back to the airport to head home.

A day at the zoo

A couple weeks ago, Paul and I decided we were going to enjoy a late anniversary celebration by going to Elitch Gardens (aka Six Flags) in downtown Denver. It was on a Monday so we were looking forward to shorter lines since the kids would be in school. Needless to say, we got all the way downtown and saw a sign saying that the park was only open on the weekends until they close in late October. We tried to make the best of the bad news and decided to check out the Denver Zoo nearby. We enjoyed making friends with some of God's colorful and quite unique creatures!

Celebrating a Year of Wedded Bliss

This past Saturday was our first wedding anniversary. We had a splendid day together, celebrating God's gift of a happy first year of marriage. It started off with Paul surprising Abby with breakfast in bed. The menu was omelets with ham steak, bacon, toast, coffee and milk. Then we went on a walk in the nearby botanical gardens and enjoyed eachother's company. After lunch we went down to Colorado Springs for a few hours to meet up with Abby's friends Joe and Jenny and Jenny's sister Karin. They took us to 7 Falls Park which has a beautiful waterfall and scenic overlook down into Colorado Springs. After this we went home, got some Papa Murphy's take & bake and watched our wedding video. The day fully concluded after some ice cream from Coldstone's. It was a wonderful day. We were sad to see it end, but we praise God for our marriage and hope to continue on in His grace together for many years to come.

At 7 Falls
Joe, Jenny, Karin, Abby & Paul

Beautiful Colorado, Incredible Creator

Look at this beauty and tell me there's no God. For a reference, read Psalm 19.

Rainbow over the chapel
This is the other end of the rainbow overlooking one of the apartment buildings. We never did find the pot of gold.
Sunset from the trail behind the school.
That's just gorgeous.

We had some visitors this past weekend! Iowa visitors! Abby's brother Nick and his wife, Erica, came out to visit us. Though it was a short trip we made the most of it. We went to Red Rocks. We took in a fine Colorado sunset at Clement Park. We also visited Washington Park in Englewood (or as I now pronounce it, En-GLEW-wood), where we had an in-vehicle picnic due to rain. We took the light rail to downtown Denver and walked the 16th Street Mall. We also found a new Mexican restaurant called the Lime. It was quite tasty! We also spent some time exploring Aspen Grove Shopping Center, which included some fine back massages from the chairs at the Sharper Image store. We were very blessed by their visit and were sad to see them leave. But one thing we don't miss is the Iowa humidity they went back to!

Two incredibly cool guys enjoying the sunset over the lake at Clement Park

Photo Op on the lake

The in-car picnic at Washington Park

Waiting for the light rail to come pick us up at the EnGlewood Station

The girls, wishing they were tight with Thomas the Train (they'd be on the OTHER side of the fence if they were that cool!)

A Few More Pics

Here are a few more pics of our sight seeing:

At the Royal Gorge

View of the Royal Gorge Bridge from the gorge's bottom

A sweet shot of the moon in broad daylight from the top of Pike's Peak

Looking down from Pike's Peak

Us at at the summit of Pike's Peak: 14, 110ft above sea level! It was probably about 40 degrees out. Brrrr!!

We've made it!!

We arrived in Littleton, CO, last Monday night around 5PM. Though its been a crazy week the apartment finally looks like home instead of box city. Paul's parents spent the week helping unpack and sight seeing with us. We spent Monday night and all day Tuesday getting furniture moved into place and unpacking all our belongings. Wednesday and Thursday the four of us went to see the following sights: Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater, downtown Littleton, the Royal Gorge, Garden of the Gods and Pike's Peak.

We have been blessed to meet many people who are also living on campus. We've been out walking and bike riding on the rec trails behind campus, and are getting slowly but surely acclimated to our new home and altitude. Paul starts back to work at Lowe's Monday and Abby starts her next clinical Tuesday. Paul will start class on August 27th. We've said it before and we'll say it again: visitors are always welcome! Here are some pictures from our time so far. Enjoy!

Nick and Erica helped us move out of our old apartment, as did Paul's parents, oldest brother Matt and friend Chris

The mighty moving van, parked in front of Paul's sister's home on the west side of Omaha

Paul and his parents (much happier since the truck is now empty)

Red Rocks Amphitheater

The four of us at the Royal Gorge