Holidays 2013

2013 is practically gone and as I look forward to 2014, I think back on our year.

After 4 and 1/2 years, we still are calling Denver our home. I know many of you were expecting us back in Tampa by now but we just love it out here! The mountain views are really incredible and the weather is great, yes, even with the snow and cold.

We were fortunate to see all of our family this year, all of it. We started by traveling to Peru in March for a family reunion. It was great to see everyone there and spend some time with family and close friends we don't see often but this trip was even extra special because my uncle and cousin from Brazil made it and I hadn't seen them in 15 years! It was great to reconnect and see everyone together.
Later in the year we also celebrated Justin's 35th bday in MN and our 5 year anniversary in Tampa. And this year we were extra blessed and many of our family members came to visit us! Double visit, awesome!

Our traveling this year was mostly for visits with our loved ones but we were able to squeeze in some leisure travel with some road trips. We drove up to WY in May to explore Yellowstone. The weather was perfect and the park was wonderful. We saw geysers, sulphur hot springs, waterfalls, wildlife, and lots of other cool stuff. And a ton of Bison, like, tons of them. This was also our first Bed and Breakfast visit and now I am hooked! They are so cute, and our hosts have been awesome.


Our other road trip took us to SD in September to see Mount Rushmore and surrounding area. Mount Rushmore was cool, so was Crazy Horse, and some other exploring we did but one of our fave things was going into Jewel Cave through a lantern tour. I was a little on edge at first since we had a couple of bats flying above us but it was really amazing. At one point we were in a huge room and we turned off our lanterns and I couldn't tell if my eyes were open or closed, no change, no adjusting. Totally cool!

Since our last update, we did get a 4 wheel drive vehicle. I am happy to report Justin only drives me to work on a very rare occasion. Plus, the Jeep is just fun for the mountains and off-roading. I am managing the cold and snow much better than 4 years ago although the FL comes out of me every once in a while. Plus, the winter fashion is so fun.

That was our year and now we look forward to spending our first Christmas in Denver! We have a real tree (our first) and although we will miss our family, we are very excited to spend it in Denver this year. We are expecting a white Christmas!
2013 was a fabulous year but we are hoping 2014 can top it! Thank you all for being supportive and loving, we love all of you and wish 2014 will bring you love, peace, and happiness. Lots of love and happy holidays to all of you!

Lots of love,

Xoxo ~ The Wallens