Weekend Get-away

Brad and I were able to take a short vacation this past weekend, just the two of us. It's been quite a while since we've been able to get away. I think the last time was two years ago, when we went to Denver for his grandma's 90th birthday and a cousin's wedding. This time it was to Denver again, for another cousin's wedding. He's running out of unmarried cousins, so we're going to have to find another excuse!

Brad and the bride, his cousin Sandra.

Brad and Grandma Van Aken, she's almost 92!

Grandma and her children: Dave, Morgan, Mary Lou, Kenny, Rex, and Mike.

Brad and I after the wedding ceremony. I love how the stained glass makes us look tan!

I really enjoyed visiting with Brad's aunts and uncles. All of his dad's siblings were there, and it was so fun to hear their stories of when Brad was a kid. He spent quite a bit of time as a kid with two sets of aunts and uncles in particular. We got to hear about how Brad won the Longford, Kansas county fair's frog jumping contest when he was about 11, because he somehow managed to catch and enter a grass frog into the contest when everyone else entered bull frogs. Apparently grass frogs are much better jumpers! And we heard the re-telling of the famous "pig massacre" when one of the uncles tried to shoot a pig to roast and didn't quite kill it on the first shot. Brad and all the cousins were sitting on the fence posts watching. Uncle Dave (or was it Kenny?) had to go into the pig pen with a chain and a metal bar to beat off the other pigs who were trying to defend their poor, helpless pen-mate, while he tried to finish off the pig. Not a pretty sight! But quite an entertaining story!

When we weren't visiting with family, we were able to enjoy some of the beauty of Colorado. We went up to Red Rocks Park and were amazed at the shapes and colors of the rocks. The amphitheater is awesome. I'd love to go to a concert there someday. They were setting up for a concert when we were there and we got to hear the sound tests. The acoustics are incredible, and so is the view!

We also went on a short, 1.5 mile hike around the park.

I know all these formations have names, but I'm not sure what they are. To me, this one looks like a crown:And these are cresting waves:

I love how they're all different!

It was wonderful to have a little bit of time for just the two of us. We'll have to make sure we get away more often; at least more often than every two years!