Grammy's Hospital

MacKenzie is very hard on all of her toys, but she is especially hard on her hippo, Harry, and her lion, Leon. They're both stuffed animals that I've had since I was younger and were given to me by my late Uncle Mike. I loved him and the animals being around the house remind me of him. Anyway, it is important that these animals stand the test of time so every so often MacKenzie's Grammy has to take Harry and Leon to her "hospital." She sews them all up and they look as good as new. Meanwhile, MacKenzie was a nervous wreck and would not leave her side. Those patients are very important to that little dog, after all!
"I'm not leaving your side without my toy, Grammy!"
Still patiently waiting for Leon to be out of "surgery."

I'm happy to report that both of Harry and Leon are back into the toy rotation and are expected to make complete recoveries. :)

Royal Gorge

Today we were at the Royal Gorge down in Canon City, Colorado. They turned the bridge into part of an amusement park so we did not each pay the $25 to get it- how annoying. Instead we hiked on a nearby train so we could get a nice view.
This was the view down from where we were standing. It scares me just looking at the photo.
The entire "Petefish" family at the Royal Gorge. (Isn't Grace's hair super cute?! Good work, Kathryn.)
The bridge over the gorge. I won't lie and say I wasn't pleased that it cost so much money to drive across so we skipped that part. AMEN!
The highest suspension bridge in the world!

We also did whitewater rafting today on the Arkansas River. It was awesome. We had a waterproof camera that took actual film so we'll get that developed ASAP as we have some really cool photos. No one fell out into the river. YAY! The warm temperatures have caused a lot of snow melt so the river was raging. We had a great time and are completely exhausted!

Mt. Evans

Yesterday we drove to the top of Mount Evans. The drive was a bit dicey at times, but we all made it safe and sound.

Kathy and Grace proving that we made it to the top.

Great views!
As you can see, the lakes were still frozen near the top of the mountain.
The view was breathtaking- both literally and figuratively as we were at 14,000+ feet above sea level!
Grace was too cold at the top so we did not finish the hike, but this is the absolute top of the mountain.

One cold kid.

Also a chilly kid, but sucking it up for the sake of a good photo. :)

Pike's Peak

Saturday morning I got up super early and got Grace and my Mom so we could go to Pike's Peak. My Mom was only in town for 2 days so we had to fit a lot into a short time. This is Grace and I on the train to the top of the mountain. It is a 3 hour round trip from bottom to top. Whew.

They still had snow on the top. It was obviously really dirty by the time June rolls around. Look how much they got- it is taller than Grace. Wild!

Grace and I smiling for the obligatory photo by the Pike's Peak sign. (Some of you may notice that the sign in new. I know. They had the old one for over 40 years. It is kind of odd not to see the green one.)

My Mom and Grace by the sign. They both felt sick at the top due to the altitude. It was only 39 degrees at the top (95 in Colorado Springs at the bottom) with a 33 degree windchill. Needless to say, we did not spend much time outside up there.

I also drove them through the Garden of the Gods before heading back to Denver. We had a great cook-out with everyone. This morning we got up and took Mom and Guy to the airport early then headed into the mountains. I'll post more photos once I have the proper equipment. Today was a drive to the top of Mount Evans. It was cold up there, too. We also did a lot of swimming with Grace. A 10 year old girl has a lot more energy than this 25 year old, let me tell you.

Tomorrow Grace, Kathi, Susie, Jackson and I are all going whitewater rafting at Big Horn Sheep Canyon by the Royal Gorge. The water is supposed to be raging so fingers crossed that we all make it out of the river injury free. These are the times that living in Colorado is not so bad!

Graduation

Friday afternoon was my graduate from graduate school- woo hoo. I had my fingers crossed that the guy calling out our name would pronounce mine correctly and he did. YAY! Look at all of the graduates in the background. It was such a long ceremony. Ugh.

Jackson and I before I headed to the gym.

Jackson surprised me and had my Mom and Guy come out for 2 days before we went into the mountains with his family. Thanks for coming out, Duckwalls.
This is the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law school building where I spent 22 months of my life toiling away.

Grace wanted to model my graduation shoes before we hit the road for dinner. It was a long ceremony, but I'm glad that I participated. Thanks to everyone who came out!

Thank you, Mr. President

I do not think that Jackson has ever been more proud of himself than when we found this graduation card for me. He laughed about it for days, he says. I opened the card from him in front of our family expecting it to be heartfelt and sweet. I could not figure out why he was laughing so hard when I was reading the front. As I first starting reading I thought it sounded fine and then as my eyes scrolled the page I saw Barack Obama's face. Classic. He was able to find me a Barack Obama graduation card from Hallmark's Mahogany line. I understood then why he was so proud of his find. We all just laughed and laughed because as I read the card out loud I added in parts about "ruining a fine country takes hard work" and so on. I laughed especially hard at Jackson's addition to the card, "Your President and I are both very proud of you." Seriously. Hilarious. It was absolutely better than any heartfelt card could ever have been. ;) Score one for Jackson. I love silly cards.

I'll post more about graduation soon. There will be a TON of photos to share.

Finished!!!

Tonight, I finished graduate school. WOO HOO! I came home and opened the door to new luggage (I really, really wanted new luggage!) with balloons tied to it. Yay! I love getting balloons. Then Jackson told me to open the luggage to "make sure I liked all of the pockets" and inside was a Coach box. I love seeing those. I got a new black leather portfolio for my (hopefully) upcoming interviews for jobs on the East Coast. What a sweet husband. I love you, Jackson!

In case you were wondering, my last final was no fun. The entire class was not pleased with it so here is hoping for a nice grading boost due to overall lack of performance. Anyway, God-willing, I am finished with school for now. Thanks to everyone for the happy wishes, cards, gifts and such. You've all been just wonderful to met during this exciting time and I appreciate it more than you'll ever know! :)