Our Colorado Thanksgiving

Dan and I spent Thanksgiving week out in Colorado Springs, CO with my sister and her family as well as my parents and brother. Lisa and Cody were in Salt Lake last weekend so Dan and I rode back with them to Colorado Springs on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

On Monday, Lisa and Aubrey took us up to the top of Pike's Peak, which is about 14,100 feet high. It was absolutely beautiful-- although freezing and windy. The drive up is a long on paved and dirt roads and the switchbacks were crazy. We were lucky to have a clear, sunny day when we went up because the view from the top is amazing! Dan and I weren't able to go to Pikes Peak last June when we came through Colorado Springs on our way back from Dan's family trip in Ohio. It was too cloudy to see much.


We took tons of pictures at the top but it was about 18 degrees at the top so we rested in the visitors center. Dan and my niece, Aubrey, each got special donuts that can only be made in the high altitude on the summit. Afterward, we went back out and took more pictures. I have about 5 layers of clothes and coats and I was still freezing!


On Tuesday, we went up to Helen Hunt Falls. The hike to the top of the falls was only about 20 ft away and you can see the little bridge we hiked to in the back of the pictures. We had tons of fun playing with Aubrey and when we took pictures in front of the icy and snow-covered falls, Dan promptly pretended to drop me into the freezing cold mountain run-off.


Aubrey and I had fun taking pictures on the bridge and on the rocks!


Uncle Dan carried Aubrey down the steps from the waterfall on his shoulder and she put her arm around his neck. It was so cute! What great buddies!

On Wednesdaythe rest of my family arrived and we drove up to Garden of the Gods. Dan and I have been there before but my Dad had never seen it before. It's crazy to see the red rock in the middle of the Rockies. We went to the Garden of the Gods Trading Post and found a cute Christmas ornament. Dan and I have started a new tradition--we buy Christmas ornaments from all the places that e visit.

Thanksgiving day turned out to be a little difficult for me. It's hard to make Gluten-free food during Thnksgiving when everyone else is cooking other foods. I had to be very careful with the cross-contamination between all the other foods. I had to make my own gravy, bread, rolls, and dessert. It wasn't too bad from my diet and I found a little gluten-free pumpkin pie at the local Whole Foods. Tucker helped me bake gluten-free blueberry muffins. He loved putting in the blueberries!

Overall, Thanksgiving dinner was excellent! It was great to be able to get together with my family for the holidays. After dinner, Dan and Cody watched football, everyone played board games together, we watched a movie as a family, and relaxed after eating ourselves silly!

Dan and I are very grateful that we've gotten to spend so much time with my side of the family during Thanksgiving since we are spending most of the Christmas holiday with his family in Texas.

Happy Thanksgiving!