I'm catching up a bit here but wanted to celebrate D's Uncle and his cousin's visit right after Christmas. It was so great to have them here and to be able to show them our town and our life. They were excited to soak in the Colorado-feel and went full force into some activities that they might have otherwise passed on. They also shined right up on the ski slope and took Mr. Maillet's wild ride quite nicely as he turned a three-hour tour into 3 days in the mountains - complete with skiing, breweries, and hot springs.We took them over to see the lights the Denver Botanic Gardens displays every holiday season. It's really amazing what they do and so pretty to walk through. They sell 3-d glasses so you can see snowflakes or bells on top of all the lights.
On New Year's Day, we made our way over to the Denver Cathedral for mass. It turned out to be quite nice, the church is really gorgeous and huge. My mom joined us and was in her zone waving at people she knew. She actually was glowing all day - it was fun to see. I was taken back by the ceremony itself and the symbology of the church. D and I took in the whole experience from a visitor's perspective and found it quite interesting - though I would put my catechism up against anyone in a match if Bible Trivia if need be. It's amazing how second nature all of the prayers and hymns are in my head, even though I haven't thought about them in years. I did light some candles for those lost last year and my grandma, always... That is my favorite part of going in to any church; I always light candles. My mom whispered to me that it's an old Irish tradition to make three wishes in a church you've never been too before, who knows if she was making it up but she sees something so magical in her religion and I let that energy flow into what I was making of the whole experience - it felt good.Afterwards we stopped at the Brown Palace for lunch and dined on some really good fare in the Ship's Tavern (ironic to take people from Boston to a ship tavern in land-locked Denver).
P.S. If you're a French Onion soup fan, go. GO RIGHT NOW!
The last day of their vacation, we took them up outside Nederland to cross-country ski. Admittedly, I should have done better research on a place to go but I think we ended the experience much stronger than it started. A mountain lion with bad knees was tied to a tree and watched as we shifted through the snow.
We can't wait to have them back. (That is if we don't adopt the Stoughton girl Gingy is gunning for now that she didn't get a cat for Christmas).