the growing family

 last weekend my growing family was in town.  my future father in law Marty, future mother in law Mary, and future sister in law Alice.  this growing family is literally full of histarics (pretty sure i made that word up?), irony, and sarcasm, so in all seriously i'm so blessed to have my future in laws be ones with such a strong flare for personality!  i don't like to think of them as my new family but an addition. which is why i say "growing" family.  i'm so happy that chris has a sister as i've always wanted a sibling and his parents are truly so welcoming and funny.
they got into town thursday night when we had an easy dinner on the grill of hot dogs and hamburgers.  mary made home made potato salad and alice brought chocolate cake balls. 
friday chris and his dad hit the golf course while mary, alice, and i hit the spa. 
afterwards all of us met up for some shopping where i successfully helped out mary pick out a dress to wear for the wedding! 
that evening chris made and grilled some amazing ribs, i made a orzo pasta salad, and we had a fun dinner out on the patio, chatting and playing games!  it was such a fun night. 

 saturday alice and i went to canvas and cocktails.  i've always wanted to do this, and it's so much fun!  we painted a beach scene, and had a great time.

 saturday evening we took a family trip downtown, and stopped by the clock tower where chris and i got engaged and took some pictures at the actual spot where he proposed.

 on sunday we headed on a beautiful drive through the rocky mountain and rocky mountain national park.  we started off west on I-70, took a stop and tour of idaho falls, headed a little bit further west then north to winter park, and entered rocky mountain national park.

mary and marty swinging  

 mary, marty, alice, chris, and i

 we had packed up a nice picnic and hoped to enjoy lunch outside.  unfortunately at 13,000 feet the weather was too cold, so we had our picnic in the car!

 we saw some beautiful sites and even some wildlife along the way.

we exited the park on the northeastern side and drove down to estes park where we walked around and did some shopping.  we went into a cute little wedding shop where chris and i found our cake topper!  it's perfect and romantic.
monday everyone was up bright and early ...i was up to head to boulder for my second bolderboulder (more on that later) and our house guests were off to head back to kearney, ne. 
it's so interesting getting to know a new family dynamic.  i love my growing family and how they have such an ease for me to be able to show my personality.  it's non-stop giggles and fun times had!