Iowa, Colorado and Boston

We were able to see some family and friends in Iowa, Colorado, and Massachusetts during our three week, stateside visit. In Iowa, outside the wedding, we spent time with Greg's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Tibboel, the Schulers, Aunt Donna, and Mr. D. We stayed with Tim and Jill in Denver, always a wonderful place to be. Friends we saw on the front range were Jenny, Ryan, and little Zoey, Juan, Ken, Dine and Nate (Iowa and Boulder, we were lucky), and Lizzy (thanks for coming down from Fort Fun). We were fortunate to have a chance to see Susan and Collin twice, once in Denver and once on the way to Marble. The stars were aligned and we were able to stay with Rory and her parents in Westcliff and get in a little hiking.

Our time in Marble was spectacular, as usual. I think this is our favorite place in Colorado. Beautiful scenery and great company! There was still quite a lot of snow, so our plans to hike up Treasure Mountain at just under 14,000 feet were not realized. We did get in a hike up to Avalanche Pass (12,000 ft) with Ann, Krissy, and Tikka. We saw a huge herd of Elk make its way up and over the mountains, plus saw the backside of Mt. Daly, which we skied two winters ago. We also hiked to an amazing waterfall and Mount Marble when Amy joined us. Amy was a trouper and had her first experience with glissading. A little bit of the Himalayas made it to Marble with vertical prayer flags that Ann, Mike and I put up. We even had true American culture with ATVs and playing around on Pete's dirt bike. (Krissy loved this soooo much she know has her own). It was wonderful. The two sad pieces to our trip were missing Beatle and Sweet Buns being sick (and being put down the day we left). Both are such big parts of our thoughts and memories and will be in our hearts.

Boston!! Jake!! Need I say more. We had a lot of fun with our nephew, Jake. He's growing so fast, learning new things all the time, and just so darn cute. He really got into growling while we were there, to which we laughed at to no end, all the more encouraging him. We extended our stay and went to Cape Cod to spend more time with Jake, Grady and Laurie, and met Laurie's family. Jake has three older female cousins, who we had lots of fun with. One of the highlights was getting to be with Jake in his first pond experience. He LOVED it. But who wouldn't love to be in their b-day suit, enjoying warm water and having everyone oogle over you? It was also wonderful to watch Grady and Laurie be mom and dad...whew! We left the Cape via ferry. It was the most choppy boat ride I've ever been on. Quite a few sick people.

Here are a few pictures: