Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Parent's Weekend at USAFA, 2016...

Chris and I flew to Colorado Sept. 1 to be with Brandon for his very last Parent's Weekend at the USAF Academy.  We spent 7 days galavanting around Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Denver, and few other cities in Brandon's dirty, but cute, jeep…
We saw some beautiful sights just walking around…Colorado is a beautiful state..
Brandon took us to some of his favorite places to eat…if you are ever in Colorado Springs, the Skirted Heifer is a must visit...BEST BURGERS EVER!! ( and the local root beer and was amazing too!) 
Brandon and I enjoyed syrup shots at Cracker Barrel…the lady at the table next to us wanted to know what we were drinking…she wasn't happy when she was told syrup…I think she wanted something with a bit more punch :)
 We found a new favorite place to visit…the cupcakery :)…mmmmmm!
 On Friday, we attended the Parent's weekend Parade…the campus has such a beautiful setting...
 …this is a favorite event of mine…I love watching all the parents find their cadets and reunite with them after months of not seeing them…I also love finding my cadet :)
For the rest of that day, we toured the campus…had lunch with Brandon's squad at a BBQ…went to an informational gathering in the math dept. (Brandon is an applied Mathematics Major)…and toured Brandon's dormitory….
 On Brandon's floor of the dorm there is a "Guess which baby is which cadet" bulletin board…can you find my Brando?
On Saturday, we attended a tailgate BBQ, and the USAFA football game… 
This is one of Brandon's best friends, Brett…he and Brandon are waiting to hear if they will be given a pilot slot from the Academy…they are supposed to find out Sept. 15...
Brandon got this email shortly before our visit…
I will keep you all posted...
I love going to the USAFA football games…they are so much fun!!
And…USAFA kicked some booty!!
On Saturday, we headed to Denver to go to a Rockies vs Diamondbacks baseball game…
but stopped at Glazed and Confused first, for some amazing donuts...
 Chris bought tickets for the perfect seats...we relaxed in the shade for the entire game...
 On Monday, we visited a friend of mine that is now living in Denver.  Brianne's sister Shannon is one of my best friends…and her brother Clinton is an FBI agent...when Joshua was a baby he named Brianne "Bibio"…even though she is now married with a beautiful baby girl, and another on the way, she will always be Bibio to me :)  It was so good to see her!!
 After our visit, we headed to the Denver Museum of Science and Natural History...
Chris had us climbing and posing everywhere so that he could get the perfect picture...
 We were amazed to learn that there is a dinosaur named "Oreodonuts"…or at least that's how we pronounced it :)...
After Brandon headed back to the Academy, Chris and I had some time to waste before our flight…so we went and saw some sights.
We went to the Buffalo Bill Museum...This is Buffalo Bill's grave sight…
 Chris had fun in the shop...
 We headed to Dinosaur Ridge…a hiking area where dinosaur bones and footprints have been preserved where they were found so that visitors can hike among them..we actually didn't hike the area…we only went to the museum…we will hike it with the kids in the future :)
We did see the fossilized dinosaur eggs though…truly amazing!!

 My hubba and I had a great vacation…it was so good to spend time with Brandon…he is an amazing young man…we are so incredibly proud of him.  

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Brandon...

What's Brandon doing this summer?  I have been asked that a lot this summer.  Brandon will not come home this summer…he is working all summer…well mostly all summer.  He began the summer by climbing Devil's tower in Wyoming with a friend of his…yep…all the way to the top...
ugg…right?
 He said he didn't take many pics at the top due to how windy it was…and how scary it was :)
Then Brandon moved on to his next adventure...working at Philmont, a Boy Scout training camp in Cimarron, New Mexico.  The map below shows the 70 miles of trails that he hiked during a 3 week period…
He is currently back at the USAFA working with the brand new cadets.  We always scan the photos on the USAFA websites to see if we can get a glimpse of our Brando…sort of a "Where's Brandon?" game…Chris found some good ones recently...Some of these pics crack me up… 
 Brandon is just off center to the right in the pic below...
…the back side of Brandon...
…and the front…"TUCK IN YOUR SHIRT CADET!!"
…Brandon is the fifth cadet in line…the first short one :)...
 …can you find Brandon in this one?
 I miss my baby!
He has assured me that he is speaking encouragingly to the new cadets :)
 This pic is by FAR my favorite one...
…look at the smirks on those faces…hahaha…
I am glad you are enjoying yourself Brandon…I miss you terribly…see you in 7 weeks!!!

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Happy 16th Birthday Joshua...

Weston was very excited for Joshua's birthday...
 He had a blast helping me lick the batter…I mean make the cake.
We were aiming for this...
 …but I don't own a 6" baking pan, so my cake ended up looking more like a round coconut...
 We went a little crazy with the umbrellas...
 …and the wild colors...
 …but it was A LOT of fun!!!  Happy Birthday Joshua!!!