Colorado with the Penny family

This past weekend I was welcomed by the Penny family to join them in Colorado to relax and hang out with everyone. My plane left at 6am on Friday the 19th of July so I got to the Houston airport at 4:45am that morning and this is what I saw.

I was very surprised at how many people were at the airport so early. The security line was moving fairly fast, but when I got to the front of the line I heard "Flight 168 to Denver, final boarding call". THAT WAS ME! I got through security and ran to my gate (which of course had to be the furthest one down) and got on the plane! I wasn't even the last to get on, I was second to the last. :) That was the closest I have ever been to missing a flight. I guess my mom was right telling me I needed to get there earlier than I thought. We landed in beautiful Denver and I was going to head to Mike's gate to wait for him right outside. Well..... since I was one of the last ones on the plane they had no overhead room for my carry-on so they had to gate check it. I said that was fine since they give it back to you right when you get off the plane. I got off the plane after we landed and I stood in the walkway. A flight attendant asked me what I was waiting for and I told her that I gate checked my bag so I was waiting on it. She said that Frontier always takes all the gate checks to baggage claim. Uh! That means I have to go out of security to get the bag then I can't wait at Mike's gate! Uh. So I went towards baggage claim and asked the information desk if I could grab my bag and go back in. They said I would have to get another boarding pass or escort pass to get back in! So I asked what would happen if I just leaved my baggage there and came back for it in 4 hours. He said he would not advise to do that because they might lose track of it or it would take too long to find it. So I went and got my carry-on and went to talk to the Frontier people. They were not helpful at all. They said that I was out of luck because Mike wasn't flying Frontier, he was flying Southwest. I explained that I told Mike I would meet him at the gate, but she wasn't having it. She suggested that I talked to someone from Southwest. Well I was determined and frustrated by that point so I went all the way over to Southwest. The lady there was very helpful and asked if I was assisting a passenger. Well yes, I sure was. So she gave me this pass to get back to the gates. 

I like Southwest! Oh and Frontier does not give free drinks! Stupid. Fly Southwest. Anyways, I went back through security and sat at Mike's gate and waited not so patiently. His flight finally came in and I finally got to see him in real life. :) It was great. I didn't want to let go of him. After we talked for a bit we went over to Issac, Xianne and Everett's gate to wait for them. While we were sitting there Mike said he had something for me. I opened it and it was a beautiful blue necklace with matching earrings. I liked it so much, I put it straight on. Isaac and Xianne got off their plane and I finally got to meet them. They live in Singapore so they are the only ones of the Penny family I haven't met yet. We also got to meet their 3 month old addition, Everett. He is adorable. I was looking through my pictures and the majority of them are of him.... Hum.

We all walked to the baggage claim so we could meet up with Ruth and Mrs. Penny. They were SO excited to see everyone (mainly Evie). I got a sweet picture of the new grandparents meeting the little one.

Everyone was hungry for lunch so we all piled in and stopped at a Wendy's. Everyone forgot about their appetite and crowded around Everett and took turns holding him. 

Mike is a natural.... :) He was so good with Everett. I was very impressed. Anyways, after eating we split up so Everett could go meet his great grandma, Nonny. Mike, Juni, Elijah and I headed towards downtown Denver to tour the Coors Plant. We got there and the line was an hour long. We didn't have much else to do so we waited an hour for our 3 free beers (or in my and Elijah's case, unlimited Dr. Peppers). The tour was neat. It kinda smelled bad, but what do you expect when they are making that god awful stuff. It was cool to learn about how they make it and how they are making beer 24/7.

After the tour we went to the lounge area where they gave free drinks. Mike and Juni tried 2 different kinds and Elijah and I had some yummy Dr. Pepper! After the tour we went to eat in Idaho Springs at Beau Joe's Pizza. It was AMAZING! And I am a pizza connoisseur so you know it was good! We got two different kinds and we devoured both of them.

After a delicious dinner we headed to the cabin in Estes Park. The cabin was right on the Thompson River that feeds from the lake in Estes Park. It was beautiful. We tried to start a fire in the fire pit, but the wood was too wet (and later we realized that there weren't supposed to be any open fires). We headed to bed early and I slept SO well. The windows were open and the river was all you could hear. It lulled me to sleep. The next morning we got up and Elijah and Juni were kind enough to go get some breakfast stuff then we decided to drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park and see the sites. It was beautiful! I couldn't quit looking out the window. I was mainly looking for wildlife so I could point it out to the guys. We did see all different kinds of wildlife including these.

Our day involved a lot of driving, but we had the best chauffeur there is. A man that has driven probably 60 different cars, knows everything about cars, has driven on the autobahn, drove his new BMW from South Carolina to California, driven all around Germany and takes corners so that it scares you, but you never flip. :) We stopped at a couple of places in the National Park and took in the view.

We found a cool place to get out and eat lunch and hike. We ate our sandwiches and then the cool kids (me and Elijah) went to hike while the lazy ones (Mike and Juni) stayed in the car. I definitely forgot how hard it was to breathe up there in that altitude. We got pretty high and then decided to turn around and go back. I did get the scoop on Jess, the new girl in Elijah's life, though. :) She seems super cool. After driving around some more we headed back to the cabin in Estes Park to meet up with the rest of the family. Mike got to dress Evie after his daddy gave him a bath.(I helped)

By then Mike's uncle, aunt and cousin had arrived to Estes Park so we met up with them at their cabin and got to chat for a while. We called the rest of the family and all headed over to get some dinner at Smokin Daves. It was a BBQ place and it was delicious! We got to talk to everyone and catch up on what people were up to.

We headed back to the cabin and went to sleep. On Sunday morning we woke up and all of us except Mr. and Mrs. Penny and Everett went to eat breakfast at Mountain Home Cafe. It was so yummy, everyone was stuffed. We headed back to the cabin and decided to go hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park. It took a while for everyone to get ready and get all together so Mike and I only had a couple hours before we needed to be at the airport so we decided to stay back with Juni and just relax while the others went on and hiked around. This was the last picture we took with most everyone.

After everyone headed out Mike and I decided to go on a walk around the lake. It was a bit further than we thought but it was really good to spend some alone time with him. We met a couple that went to A&M (well the husband did since girls weren't allowed when he attended). We got to talk to them for a bit and they said they live in Austin right now. Small world. After the walk Juni took us to the airport and we walked to Mike's gate and I stayed until he got on the plane. My plane was a bit late in leaving but I got back to Houston and then College Station safe and sound. I wish so much that I could have stayed longer, but I guess that's what I get for being a grownup and having a real job. :/ Also, during the trip I gave Mike a hard time about some stuff, but I was completely kidding. I like to rag on him sometimes for laughs, but all joking aside he is one of the best, wise, talented, caring, gentle, encouraging, Godly men I have met. I am so thankful that he is in my life and that he has brought the Penny family into my life.