Our Last Day in Colorado

I must say, Kristi and I planned the dates and times for this trip perfectly! We flew in on Wednesday at noon and flew out Sunday night at 9:10, so that gave us 5 full days to enjoy being with them. We never felt hurried or frantic the way trips can feel when I have an early flight or mid-day flight time hanging over me.


We joined the Cutlers for church on Sunday, which was a little bit painful because it was at 9:00am and we're used to 2:00 church. I wasn't keen on getting up early to get ready for it, and ended up waking up several times before my alarm went off because I feared missing it. Aargh.


I went to visit their primary and wrote down several of their ideas including this one. Apparently they have these cute cards color-coded for male and female volunteers, then they pass them around Sunday School so they don't have to interrupt the class to find someone to go sit in with a teacher.


I thought it was cute that Sally Jane came home wearing this "I believe in obeying the law" badge.


For lunch everyone gathered around for leftovers. There were hamburgers, pizza, peanut butter sandwiches, macaroni cheese, strawberries, bagel chips and watermelon.


The only redeeming factor (for me) of going to 9:00 church is the Sunday Nap of course. So while the kids watched a movie downstairs the adults dispersed for some quality napping. Upon waking from my nap I felt a little sad knowing that was my last time sleeping in the guest suite. Usually by the end of a trip I'm looking forward to returning home to my own bed, but not this time.


For Sunday dinner, we ate in the dining room and had pot roast, mashed potatoes, rolls, and carrot souffle (which was like a dessert). Kristi even had tiny gravy boats for the kids.


Later on we had lopsided chocolate cake which was delicious!


My one small gesture of repayment for such a generous trip was to take their family pictures. We just went in their backyard and took a bunch, so I'm hoping they like them well enough to feel like I gave them something rather than just doing all the taking.


As I was walking down the hall I found Annie Kate and Sally Jane in this sweet embrace. They held each other tightly then Sally Jane said, "I love you!" It was so cute.

Jeff cacked out for some Sunday reading.

Before we knew it it was time to go to the airport and time for one last self-portrait. I look like I went walking in the rain after removing my make-up, but I didn't do either of those things!


I'm sorry to disturb you with this beautiful image, but this is what we got to look at while standing in line at security.


Our seats on the plane weren't together again, but the girl who was supposed to sit next to Whitney kindly changed seats with me so that put us right behind Landon.

Whitney was VERY happy about this!

The cutest thing upon arriving at the airport was the kids' excitement to see Randy. They abandoned their suitcases and took off running as soon as they saw him waiting for us.

Oh so sweet.

Coming home wasn't the relief it usually is. Our house smelled so weird to me that I actually had a hard time sleeping that night! Of course, that may have been aggravated by the Sunday nap I took, but I couldn't sleep until around 3:00am.

**Do you like early church?
Do you have leftovers for lunch?
Do you have mini gravy boats?
Have you ever received such a welcome?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I made lasagna for dinner, tra la, tra la, tra la.