July

To say that this July has been a whirlwind of activity is an understatement to say the least.  It was so good in so many ways and so stressful in others.  Good in that we were able to spend time with each of the girls, I got to see some life-long friends and Mark and I took a much needed out-of-town trip but stressful in that the month included 2 moves and one small surgery. 

It started on July 1st when Mark and I flew to Austin to help Delaney move from her apartment in South Austin into a duplex about 3 miles south of downtown.  She had hoped that it would help with commute time, give her access to some of the local eateries and closer access to the "Austin Scene" than she was down south.  We spent the weekend getting her moved and settled before we had to leave on Sunday.  Henley (and Peanut of course!) was sweet to come and help so we were all able to be together for yet another weekend. (how precious they are too) Of course, we had Zach helping to provide some extra muscle to help get her moved in! We had a great 4th of July dinner with all the fixings and ended up going downtown to watch the fireworks over Town Lake.  It was a great weekend and we thoroughly enjoyed the long weekend with the girls and Zach.

Unfortunately, she has discovered that her next door neighbor is completely mentally unbalanced and Delaney and Sir have become her target. Delaney endured about 3 weeks of unadulterated hell from this woman and she has chosen to move out of the duplex (with her landlord's blessing) to stop the harassment and stalking that the neighbor has subjected Delaney to.  Mark and I are very happy that she is getting out of that situation but we are now on a frantic search for housing.  And that's not an easy task in Austin in August with all of the college students returning to campus and trying to find housing as well. 

Peanut and Sir worn out after a day of playing together

I flew to Dallas on the 11th and Henley, Katherine and Everett picked me up from the airport and we went by and picked up the bedroom furniture that Henley had chosen for her new house.  After driving to Stephenville, we set up her furniture in the new house and soon discovered that there were several things that the landlord still needed to complete before Henley and her housemates could move in.  That is a story in itself but the upshot of the story is that the landlord hired Blaine (Henley's boyfriend) to do the all of the necessary repairs to the house so that they could move in on July 15th.  We spent the entire day on Sunday getting her yard cleaned up.  The weather was relentless and it hovered at 105 degrees almost every day that I was there.  I hate to admit this but I have acclimated to the Denver summers quite well and the heat just about melted me!

Backyard before and after

Henley had been having some intestinal issues that were similar to the ones Mark's mom has (Crohn's disease and diverticulitis) so her doctor in Odessa had recommended that she have a colonoscopy to determine whether that was her problem.  Since I was already planning on helping Henley move we made arrangements to have her colonoscopy done while I was there.  Fortunately all of the tests came back negative. 

The night after her procedure Henley, Katherine and Ev went to eat at this awesome place in Bluff Dale called Wilfongs.  Man!  That was some awesome food to say the least.  If you are ever around that area on Friday, Saturday or Sunday night (the only nights they are open) get there early and enjoy some delicious Cajun food!!

Shrimp boil at Wilfong's

Henley, Me and Katherine

I had plans to fly back to Denver on that Saturday but our dear friends Paul and Joyce called on Friday the 17th to tell me that his mother had lost her battle with lung cancer and told me that she wished to be buried in Brownwood,TX.  As it turns out Brownwood is only 60 miles from where Henley lives so I made hasty arrangements to change my flight so that I could stay for a few more days in Texas and be there for the funeral.  I was very happy that I got to see Paul and Joyce and their girls even if it was under such unfortunate circumstances.  I returned to Denver on Wednesday and was home long enough to wash some clothes and pack for Mark and my trip to Breckenridge on Friday.  

Mark often gets emails from his company offering specials for weekend get-aways and we try to take advantage of them if our schedule allows it.  As it turned out, there was a great offer from Breckenridge that we decided to take. On Friday I picked Mark up from the train station after work and we headed straight up to the mountains.  Unfortunately, I believe that everyone else in Denver had the same plans because it took us about 3 hours to get up to Breckenridge when it normally takes us right at 2 hours. 

When we left Denver it was about 92 degrees which is pretty danged warm for around here.  By the time we got up to our resort (Beaver Run) we were staying at, it was 37 degrees and raining!  But when we got up the next morning we had gorgeous cornflower blue skies.  After getting coffee and breakfast we walked along the river that runs through town and then went up to the main ski area on the free gondola. From there we took a three hour 4x4 Jeep tour up on the mountain that took us almost to the top of the mountain. We then took a 2-ish mile hike up in the mountains where our guide talked about and showed us every plant and flower on the entire mountain haha!  

After we got off the mountain we stopped in at The Canteen and had lunch. There was an arts and crafts festival going on as well as the First Annual Breckenridge Wine Festival so of course we had to do both that afternoon.  Later that evening we had dinner at Jakes Dive Bar and had just a good old fashioned pizza. We had never been to Breckenridge in the summer before and we absolutely fell in love with this town.  We definitely will be back again!

Wine Festival

View from the top of the mountain