Madly

November 5-6th was one of the best weekends of my life!

Thanks to all of Andrew's dedication at work, he and a small handful of other Haselden employees were awarded a day off of work and a weekend getaway to any Colorado destination. Yeah! Two weeks beforehand, my hubby, who knows me so well, sent me a suprise email detailing a plan for a getaway that was sure to please...and spoil me big-time! It went something like this:

Your mom will be flying from Utah to watch our little guys for a few days.

By this time, her itinerary was already set!

We'll wake up early on Friday and eat breakfast in old downtown Littleton.

For those of you who don't know, I LOVE going out to breakfast! I think I like it more than eating out for dinner. I also love downtown Littleton; it's an older part of town that's so charming.

After breakfast, we'll head to Denver and shop the 16th street mall.

What girl doesn't love to shop? Especially in the city, and especially when it doesn't put any holes in my wallet!? :)

We'll eat lunch downtown, and then we're scheduled to have spa treatments at the Brown Palace Hotel in the afternoon...Couples pedicures and massage!

In the evening, we have reservations to eat dinner at the Palace Arms restaurant at the Brown Palace Hotel. This part of the email is about where my jaw dropped. It's such a treat to eat there!

We'll stay the night in one of the Top of the Brown rooms of the hotel for the night. This hotel is a treasured piece of Colorado history. I couldn't wait to experience staying there!

After breakfast, we'll drive back to Littleton and go to the Denver Temple together. What a perfect way to end a trip.

Well I'll tell you, the weekend went almost exactly as my sweetheart planned it. As promised, my amazing mother arrived on Thursday afternoon to watch our boys. Since I'm still nursing Russell, I was a little nervous to leave him at the time. Now looking back on the experience, I'm a little embarrassed that I was! I should've known--both he and Taylor were well cared-for and thoroughly spoiled by Nanny while we were away (Taylor was actually a little annoyed when Andrew and I came home on Saturday)!

Andrew and I discovered a fab restaurant in Littleton for our breakfast beginning--a new favorite, I must say--called "Cafe Terracotta" (can't wait to go again!). We had a blast poking around the cool R.E.I. downtown and shopping the 16th street mall for new clothes for Andrew and fun jewelry for me. It felt like we went to heaven and back while we were pampered at the Brown Palace spa and the Palace Arms restaurant. On-and-off through the weekend, I envisioned myself as Jane Seymour in the movie "Somewhere in Time..." I was at a gorgeous historic hotel spending a dream weekend with the perfect man--who I am madly in-love with! Going to the temple on Saturday morning was the perfect way to end it too; it brought all my good feelings and reflections from the day before into one perfect focus. I am so blessed.

I love you, Andrew!

Happy Halloween!

We had a blast celebrating Halloween this year throughout October! At the beginning of the month, I had fun taking fall pictures with my new SLR camera, as our good friends Eric and Alison Steadman invited us to join them at the Chatfield Botanical Gardens' pumpkin patch nearby our home. It was such a perfectly beautiful day!

My mom, (aka "Nanny") gave Taylor an adorable little horse costume this year. Living in Denver, the already super-cute Taylor/horse ensemble got even better when friends nicknamed him "Little Bronco" on the several occasions that he wore it: at a party with friends in Lakewood, at our our ward/Chatfield Ward/Ken Caryl Ward combined trunk-or-treating party, and for a little bit of trick-or-treating to some neighbors on Halloween night.

It didn't take long for my two year-old to figure out how easy and fun it was to load his green "monster bag" full of goodies. Every time Little Bronco went on him, phrases like "I get more canny!", "my mon-ser bag?", and "my turn!" came pouring out of his mouth. I found myself giggling tons during trick-or-treating as I watched him plaster his face in the doorjams of darkened houses calling out his version of "Trick-or-Treat," saying: "Halloween...HALLOWEE-EEEN!" only to learn the hard way that not ALL front doors are willing to open to trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. Ha ha...he was such a cutie!

My cousins Cade, Dillon, and Paige Mercer trick-or-treating with Taylor to homes in our grandparents' neighborhood

So happy that the house across Grandma's street was giving out HOT DOGS to trick-or-treaters! Taylor wasted no time devouring his.

Taylor trunk-or-treating with "Big Monster" and his brother, "Little Monster."

Coal Mine Ward missionaries getting in on the candy

Choosing an October pumpkin at the pumpkin patch with the Steadmans

My big boy exploring the corn stalks with his daddy

Eric pulling the boys, Ashton and Taylor, in their family's new Radio Flyer--purchased just for this occasion!

Trick-or-treating. There's no time for chit-chat with Mommy here...he's a little man on a mission!