Denver

So, I know this sounds crazy, but immediately from Chicago we flew to Denver for my brother in law's wedding. Brad flew out early in the day, but I met him there later that night after work. It was a long day but we had a couple of fun things planned so we were ready to get the trip started.

When we woke up the next day it was a little crazy because our niece had gone to the hospital during the night and no one really knew what was going on. They really didn't want a lot of people at the hospital and Brad and I were sort of sitting around so we decided to go on with our plans and thankfully we got word an hour or so later that everything was fine and it was just a little bug that had caught up with her. We were relieved and it made the whole trip better because we knew she would be okay.

I was SO excited that we got to keep our plans because they were AWESOME!! We had been planning for months (ever since we found out about the wedding) to go to this huge festival in Cheyenne, Wyomming called Frontier Days!!! Cheyenne isn't that far of a drive from Denver and the drive is actually pretty cool because it's fun to see the mountains of CO in the distance and drive through the plains of Wyomming and all the buffalo farms. I had seriously been sweating this festival for months because both of us are in love with going to festivals and fairs. We can't get enough! Plus, ever since my obsession with "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" and "Little House" I've pretty much wanted to be a cowgirl.

We started off at a PBR event and this is what I was most excited about because, uh PBR is amazing that's why! I got caught up in the PBR Championships on ESPN late one night and decided that I just had to go to a live bull riding event. Well this is the biggest outdoor PBR event in the US so it was the "Daddy of 'em All". There were several roping and riding events and they were all so much fun. The people sitting in front of us were so nice and told us all about each event and what to watch for and that made it even better. They could not believe it when we told them it was our first rodeo - ha! Although I'm not sure how they didn't pick that up since we weren't both wearing cowboy hats, boots and collared shirts tucked into Wranglers like everyone else - no joke. I pretty much sang the Garth Brooks song "Rodeo" the entire time we were there.

It's the gold in his buckle, the white in his knuckles...

It's boots and chaps it's cowboy hats...

The above pic was one of the clowns who actually worked very hard and the below pic are the wrangler type dudes who would chase down the bucking bronco after he threw the guy off. They were very serious-looking.

I don't know how the UCLA t-shirt didn't tip them off. Go figure.

At the end of the rodeo there was an event where a team of cowboys tried to saddle a wild horse and then one of the team members had to ride it around the arena. That was probably the most entertaining thing to watch. It was so crazy the paramedics even came out for one man.

We walked around the festival the rest of the day. It was pretty much like a state fair with carnival rides and lots of booths. There was some Native American dancing and an old timey village you could walk through. We ate some junk food and then went to the Darius Rucker concert that night. It was sooooo great! I know I keep saying that but it was such a fun day. The concert was at the rodeo arena and we had pretty good seats. He sang all my favorite songs and it was just a super nice night.

Kevin Costner was the opening act and that was sort of weird, but definitely interesting. He sang some sort of country-rock style music.

The next day we took a rode trip with some of our family and went to Estes Park in CO and saw some snow. It was definitely crazy to see snow in July and there was tons of wildlife just right on the side of the road.

The wedding was on Sat and of course that was the main event. It was a small wedding but beautiful and of course nice to be with family all together since we so rarely are. I was in lurve with the dress I wore. I also plan on wearing it again to another wedding next weekend and too bad for some of the people who will be there because it will be their second wedding seeing me in it. That's how much I love it.

The bride looked so pretty and her dress was just gorgeous. I really loved it and especially the back of it, but I don't have a pic of that. The one shoulder strap sort of swooped back under the same arm and there was just one other strap that went across so almost her whole back was out. It was very unique!

After the wedding and reception everyone met up in downtown Denver for some food - even the bride and groom! I thought that was so nice of them to spend extra time with the people that had come from all over the country to be with them on their special day. The below pic was another "man" picture I got out of this vacation. Brad and I wanted a pic in front of Coors Field and this is what we got. Geez. I can't remember which brother took it, but it was definitely a man.

We came home right after the wedding and of course I was stoked to see this face when I got home! I counted down the hours until I walked through my doors and saw this baby waiting on me. I missed him so much and in total I think we were gone for 24 days so it was a looooong time to be without my cuddle baby.

For kicks I'll show you what my mailbox looked like when I returned. I had forgotten about this picture but I just found it in my phone. I don't know about you but H-A-T-E going to the post office so I sure enough did make them deliver my mail to me. I'm pretty sure whoever had to stuff all that in was none too pleased because every magazine in there was folded about eight different ways.  Oh well. It was worth it! :)