Alright folks. I went to Colorado this last weekend with Kj. It was a fantastic trip. I got to go to where I was born and spent the first 5 years of my life. And I'm not gonna lie, I got into the first hour or so into the state... wondering WHY we had loved it there so much. Where was the "colorful colorado" they were promising me. It was once we hit Montrose that I really saw why. Kj and I went first to Kays but got booted cause we were too early. So instead we went to find my old house that I grew up in. Please mind that I stole these pictures from my sisters facebook page because I used Kj's camera and I haven't retrieved them from her. 
This was the house I was in till I was 5, although when I was there it was red and didn't have the crosses. It has gone through several owners and different colors, but according to Kay the house looks amazing on the inside. They are also the ones that tore down a wall in the house to find a machete hidden in the wall.. Thank you Dad. While we stood outside, the neighbor came to ask if we needed any assistance, mainly to see what we were up to. It took her about 5 seconds to realize who I was. I havent seen her in at least 10 years. It was a magical moment. 
We're back at Colorful Colorado. THIS is why we loved it here... This is why we would come back on family vacations. This is why as soon as we would cross over the Colorado border, he would roll down the window of his '65 Chevy Impala just to feel the Colorado air. 
Logan and Derek... Logan can be such a sweetie at times, and really, Derek is a sap for that boy. 
I really liked this picture of Cassidy going down the slide. She's a cutie patootie. 
My siblings are hilarious and I am pretty confident that they might pop me upside the head for posting the picture to my blog. OH WELL! 
And here is the reason for it all: 
My beautifully fantastic Grandma passed away in March. When she actually did pass away it honestly didn't have any affect on me. She was falling into altzeimers when I knew her. . and even then she was still my favorite. She is spunk. She was my real life Maureen O'Hara. Saturday was the memorial and we all (meaning us and aunt/uncle/cousins) talking memories about Grandma and I was reminded of how fantastic she was, and further mourned the loss of this great woman, who, if she hadn't had this disease, would still be driving around in her old Chevy Impala, dressed to the nines. So here's a couple of my favorite stories; minimal background first: Grandma was born and raised in Hawaii. She love love loved it there. She married my Grandpa "Tex" and moved to Texas and then they later moved to CA *She would take her car onto a deserted highway and go 100+ mph. When she was caught by a friend of her husband, she denied any of it. And when she came to Arizona and drove with Donny, he would have to remind her several times that she was pushing 100 and that she needed to slow down. Can you imagine? "Grandma... you're going too fast..." Her reasoning? It just ran so smooth she didn't notice... My dad definitely used that same reasoning. *When Dan (dad) and Aunt Patty were growing up, apparently there was a boy down the street that would come and just knock Patty over just for the thrill of doing it. When Dad found out, he went and beat the crap out of the guy. (which is honestly hilarious to think about). This guys mom came over and told Grandma that Dan was a delinquent. My Grandma basically walked this woman backwards down the driveway and back to her door, daring her to call her son that again. This really was Grandma in a nutshell. She was barely over 5 feet tall, but she is also not a woman to be messed with, and you definitely didnt want to be on her bad side. She would go to the ends of the earth to defend her children/grandchildren, and she did. I wish I had known her better. There were so many stories, thankfully Colleen had a nifty contraption that we used to record the entire storytelling shindig. It was a good family gathering... It would good to see my extended family, since it has at least been a decade since seeing them. And as anxious as I was about this gathering, it was definitely something we have been needing to do.
This was the house I was in till I was 5, although when I was there it was red and didn't have the crosses. It has gone through several owners and different colors, but according to Kay the house looks amazing on the inside. They are also the ones that tore down a wall in the house to find a machete hidden in the wall.. Thank you Dad. While we stood outside, the neighbor came to ask if we needed any assistance, mainly to see what we were up to. It took her about 5 seconds to realize who I was. I havent seen her in at least 10 years. It was a magical moment. 
We're back at Colorful Colorado. THIS is why we loved it here... This is why we would come back on family vacations. This is why as soon as we would cross over the Colorado border, he would roll down the window of his '65 Chevy Impala just to feel the Colorado air. 
Logan and Derek... Logan can be such a sweetie at times, and really, Derek is a sap for that boy. 
I really liked this picture of Cassidy going down the slide. She's a cutie patootie. 
My siblings are hilarious and I am pretty confident that they might pop me upside the head for posting the picture to my blog. OH WELL! 
And here is the reason for it all: 
My beautifully fantastic Grandma passed away in March. When she actually did pass away it honestly didn't have any affect on me. She was falling into altzeimers when I knew her. . and even then she was still my favorite. She is spunk. She was my real life Maureen O'Hara. Saturday was the memorial and we all (meaning us and aunt/uncle/cousins) talking memories about Grandma and I was reminded of how fantastic she was, and further mourned the loss of this great woman, who, if she hadn't had this disease, would still be driving around in her old Chevy Impala, dressed to the nines. So here's a couple of my favorite stories; minimal background first: Grandma was born and raised in Hawaii. She love love loved it there. She married my Grandpa "Tex" and moved to Texas and then they later moved to CA *She would take her car onto a deserted highway and go 100+ mph. When she was caught by a friend of her husband, she denied any of it. And when she came to Arizona and drove with Donny, he would have to remind her several times that she was pushing 100 and that she needed to slow down. Can you imagine? "Grandma... you're going too fast..." Her reasoning? It just ran so smooth she didn't notice... My dad definitely used that same reasoning. *When Dan (dad) and Aunt Patty were growing up, apparently there was a boy down the street that would come and just knock Patty over just for the thrill of doing it. When Dad found out, he went and beat the crap out of the guy. (which is honestly hilarious to think about). This guys mom came over and told Grandma that Dan was a delinquent. My Grandma basically walked this woman backwards down the driveway and back to her door, daring her to call her son that again. This really was Grandma in a nutshell. She was barely over 5 feet tall, but she is also not a woman to be messed with, and you definitely didnt want to be on her bad side. She would go to the ends of the earth to defend her children/grandchildren, and she did. I wish I had known her better. There were so many stories, thankfully Colleen had a nifty contraption that we used to record the entire storytelling shindig. It was a good family gathering... It would good to see my extended family, since it has at least been a decade since seeing them. And as anxious as I was about this gathering, it was definitely something we have been needing to do.
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