Happy 30th Birthday to Daddy!

James' 30th birthday was on August 5th. For a birthday celebration I surprised him with a Colorado wilderness weekend: a hike he always wanted to do called Conundrum Hot Springs. It was a 9 mile backpacking hike that lead you to the most gorgeous natural hot springs in the country.  Another surprise for James was that his brother and sister flew in to participate in the backpacking trip! He was very surprised and excited to share this experience with his siblings. The hike was much more strenuous then any one of us thought, but with lots of self motivation and determination we all made the 18 mile, two day hike (although our bodies felt it for a lot longer than two days!).

Even though I would have loved Annabelle to join us, of course this was not a baby friendly hike, so Grandmom and Pappy Wenck came to babysit while the parents had a weekend away. It was a lot harder to leave Annabelle then I thought, it took a lot of self control not to cry when I was saying goodbye to her. And throughout the hike James and I kept on guessing what Annabelle was doing at that moment, maybe playing on her mat, jumping in her Jumperoo, or even eating some sweet potatoes! Those thoughts made us smile.

Grandmom and Pappy had a great time with their Annabelle. They took walks in the park each day, went out to brunch a couple of times, enjoyed grilling out once little Annabelle was in bed, and overall soaked up every minute they could with their granddaughter. You can tell Annabelle knows Grandmom and Pappy are special people in her life because she lights up whenever Pappy smiles at her and loves to cuddle with Grandmom. It's a great feeling to watch your parents light up with happiness when watching them with your own daughter; Annabelle is one lucky girl!  Grandmom came a few days before Pappy and stayed several days after Pappy left, so she is definitely getting her Annabelle time! It has been a great couple of weeks with lots of adventure, family time, and many smiles and blessed feelings.