Nothin' but Love on Valentines

February 14, 2015; Valentines Day.  It was a glorious day in Colorado with nothin' but love on the agenda.

It was such a glorious day that we headed up to Boulder to do some hiking and grab some lunch.

We even snatched up an extra participant in our Valentines Day extravaganza.

Owen!!!

Oliver, Owen and Kellan

These boys love each other like brothers, so it was a perfect fit for our day with nothin' but love.

Kellan loved hiking along while talking to his pocket sized dinosaurs and munching on a snack.

Oliver gave Kellan some brotherly support to keep-on-keepin'-on.

A highlight with any Ham Fam hike is to identify the scat.  There was a ton of coyote scat just lying around.

Nothing makes a snack break complete like stacking a pile of stones.

As an added bonus, Keith threw in a lesson on how to build a fence.  I guess his fence building days in Wyoming are coming in handy.

As we headed back toward the car, Mommy wanted a family photo.  Oliver was my model to determine if this was just the right spot.

The three boys were the first up to test our photo spot.

Owen, Kellan and Oliver

Owen was so kind and talented to take a Ham Fam photo for us.  Thanks Owen!!

Daddy, Kellan, Oliver and Mommy

After a couple of great hours hiking around south Boulder, we headed into Boulder to eat at one of Mommy's favorite treats; Pasta Jays.   Bring on the Pasta Pillows!  YUM!!!

It was a HUGE wait, but we lucked out and got this great spot at the corner of the bar.  It was perfect for our group of five.

Love Birds on Valentines Day and Every Day!

We loved the hike, we loved the lunch but a day in Boulder would not be complete without a stroll down Pearl Street to check out the entertainment.

We were in for a special treat as this street performer had it all; humor, acrobats, juggling, fire and a hairy body that we all could have lived without seeing.

Look to the performers left.  Do you see our three boys with Keith protectively standing over them?

Nothing tops off an afternoon on Pearl Street like Ice Cream!

I Scream,

You Scream, 

We all Scream

for ICE CREAM!!!

What a glorious and perfect Valentines Day.  I loved every single second of it and so did everyone else.  We each had our own favorite highlight, but the overall consensus was that it was an truly awesome day with nothin' but love.

The Last of Ski Lessons

On the fifth and final day of ski lessons, we finally got our blue bird day.

The snow was fair but the sunshine and blue skies were epic.

We made it to my favorite place in Winter Park, the top of Mary Jane.  It makes me feel alive and remember why I love to ski.

Shortly after this photo, they shut down the lift for high wind, but we got to drop in and ride one time.

As we went to find more good times, we tripped upon a few folding chairs with a cocktail waitress.  Really, our final day skiing kid-free was definitely hitting many of the fine points. 

Nothing like a cocktail garnished with a salad.

Our boys had a fantastic final day of lessons and passed with flying colors.   We took them all up for some final runs of the day.

The Martin family:

Patrick, Owen, Cole and Kristi

The Ham Fam:

Carrie, Kellan, Oliver and Keith

Taking off to hit the slopes.

Oliver encouraging his little brother.  

We also noted that Oliver has learned how to ski backwards.

Kellan and Oliver with the clouds moving in overhead.

If Oliver is going to go through the trees, so is Kellan.

The Mommy's and Daddy's had a fantastic final day of ski lessons and so did the ski lesson students.  It is so great to have both boys up on skis.  The mountain is our oyster!

Week 4 of Ski Lessons - Kellan Closes the Lifts

On the fourth week of ski lessons, I told the boys that we would take them up for a run after lessons.  They were super excited that morning but by afternoon, there is always a chance that they will be worn out.

When we walked up to get Kellan, he was sitting on the ground munching on snow.  When I asked him if he wanted to do a run he sprung up and was ready to roll.

This is the first time that I have skied with Kellan since the day we rescued him in lessons because he was terrified at the stop of the lift.  On this day, it was completely different.  He took on the hill like he owned it and I was blown away.  Of course, he talked the entire way down the mountain while he skied on.

After one run, Kellan wanted another run, so we jumped on the ski lift.

We took several more runs and closed down the lift.  It was awesome!

Kellan outlasted all of the other kids and adults.  When we got to the bottom of the last run he took his skis off, sat down and called it quits.  Luckily, Keith came to the rescue to get us all to our Apres Skiing location.  Kellan was amazing!!!

Oliver has a great last run in too but he went with Owen and his Daddy Patrick.  At the end of they day they got to hit the rails at the base.  They loved it!  

We've definitely got some skiers on our hands and we are SO fired up!

SO CLOSE for Dwight and Eric

Months ago, Kristi got tickets to see Eric Church.  

I was excited to go with her, but when I found out that Dwight Yoakam was opening, I was SUPER excited!!!

She had General Admission tickets, which was a tad stressful for this planner, but it's all part of the fun.  Since we were there for Dwight, we were earlier than much of the crowd.  So early that we were THIS close!

Dwight was fine, but not the fun performance that I saw 12 years ago when I met Keith.  That's right, Keith said "Hello" while Dwight Yoakam was on stage.   No wonder love was in the air.

As Dwight left the stage, Kristi and I moved toward the stage.

As Eric Church came out, we were THIS close!

We were so close that I could see that he signs with his eyes closed, under those aviators.

We were so close that we could see the dirt on his boots!

We were THIS close!!  There were only 3-5 people between us and the stage, depending on the exact moment of the show.

Boots!  There were Boots! Boots on feet and boots in the air!

Eric Church played for 3 hours and pulled off the longest set of his tour.  

It was A-MAZ-ING!!!!!

I've had the fortune to see a lot of great shows but this is one of the top!

Thanks to Kristi for including me in this amazing event!!  It will definitely be one that lasts a lifetime in my memory!