parents party!

last week, rebecca, claire and i gathered our families at the rio. good times ensued. 

 this is how cute our moms are.

this is how cute our dads are.

er... i mean how ruggedly handsome and manly they are.

happy thanksgiving!

for the big holiday, the fam and i road-tripped it to beautiful colorado. it was a fun-filled adventure complete with two trips to the rio, cutting rug with the elderly, and general tomfoolery galore.

car bubbles take 1.

car bubbles take 2.

good effort, cameron.

senior pictures!

and again.

a beautiful thanksgiving day in colorado springz!

getting serious about rummikub. 

oh hey, murphy.

three big turkeys: mike, scott, and dinner.

post-feast walk at the farm.

pike!

sing-a-long time.

with the melodica. 

how presh.

happy birthday, granna lou!

party time.

mom and gramps.

pike and gramps and me. 

at least two of us are paying attention.

cousins.

home, sweet home.

for the first part of fall break, i was fortunate enough to be able to travel back to the homeland. many times were had and much food was consumed (sum hing whaaat?).

 sandy did puzzles.

camball "played checkers." 

scott rocked out.

"who wants a christmas maaaarg?!"

things got a little inappropriate with this angel's skirt.
yikes!

camball got sassy.

this motley crew played us some tunes.

are you snoozing, sandy?

so excited for the potluck!

the spread.

the homestead.

fall in the backyard. 

marissa and i drank fancy coffee drinks at the perky parrot. 

and we explored downtown.

and the pet store.

fish friendz.

living windows with the sandster.

schmoozing with christie vilsack.
(please note the precious moment happening on the right.)

i was a big fan of these glitter-corn wearing pilgrims.

can't wait to see you again soon, iowa! and all of your fine people too. 

gettin' it.

exploring eldorado canyon.

last weekend, nathan and i checked out eldorado canyon where he has been working with the mile high youth corps. 

what remains of an old hotel.

jungle cat in denver.

my old friend kaitlyn aka jungle cat came all the way from chicago to come see me! we did many things, but only took photos of these two:

visiting buffalo bill's grave.

(yes, that is snow!)

modeling this very cute hat.