Colorado Christmas

Matt and I stayed overnight in Denver on Christmas Eve! We got off of work early and headed north. When we got to the southside of Denver near our motel we decided to check out the Park Meadows Mall. It is a gorgeous mall with a beautiful fireplace in the food court. We figured it would be decked out for the holidays...and it was! Here is a picture of the outside entrance. It was still open until 6 so even though we weren't planning on doing Christmas gifts this year, we decided we would run in (15 minutes until close!) split and buy something for each other so we would have something to open at the hotel in the morning. It was really fun!

Here is the fireplace inside of the mall in the food court. My pictures just don't do it justice! Matt and I met each other back here. I come back feeling rushed after going to just ONE store...I find Matt sitting at a table, eating pizza and breadsticks (he got for 2 bucks from Sbarro because they were closing) with a cute, silky, red gift bag sitting next to him. Then he proceeds to tell me he went to 3 stores! Ha ha. He must be a better shopper than me :)




After we left the mall, Matt saw this skybridge that went over the innerstate that he wanted to check out. We found the entrance and took a stroll! I snapped this picture of Matt as we were going up the stairs and when we got up the stairs, there was this nice man waiting for us at the top! He saw the flash and asked if we wanted a picture of both of us. He was really sweet...and funny. He told us he was a professional photographer and was posing us and moving us to different spots. Because it was dark...the pictures didn't come out great...but it was nice of him to take the time! He was dressed very nice and he told us he worked for Nordstrom's. I asked for his card, but he didn't have one. So we are now unsure if he said that he was a professional photographer or if he was saying he was not. Either way, we appreciated it!









Here are a couple of the pictures he took for us!

On the bridge.

Showing the whole length of the bridge.

There wasn't a ton of traffic on Christmas Eve!

We arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn after our bridge adventure. We got the room on Priceline for $38! Some friends of ours had told us about the good deals they have gotten from Priceline in that area. It was a beautiful Hotel with great service. You could even get into the pool, hot tub and fitness center all night long. We took advantage of the hot tub access and should have probably done the same with the fitness center...but it was Christmas! We'll save that for a New Year's resolution. :) This is a picture of the mountains out our window.





And this...is one of my favorite cookies! Wal-mart has the most amazing sugar cookies with frosting on top. This is also a favorite of my mother 'n laws! I was thinking of you as I indulged myself, mom! I wish we could have enjoyed them together.







We forgot to bring the little tree from my office at work...but here are our gifts for Christmas morning. What do you think of my ingenuity with putting Matt's gift in the ice bucket!? Pretty slick, right? :)











You can see that the other gift I stuffed in my purse! Matt's wrapping job is much better than mine! The card is from Dad and Mom Wittleder. We waited until Christmas as requested. Thanks Dad & Mom!

Matt and I on Christmas morning!

Matt getting ready to read the Christmas story in Luke.



Matt got me perfume! My dad always bought me perfume for Christmas when I was at home and I was running out! Smells good! Guess you're off of the hook, Dad! :)

















Sorry about the close-up. You are supposed to be able to see my new lip gloss that came with my perfume in this picture!


Matt after he opened his new workout shirt (that was in the ice bucket!)




And a running fleece! No excuses to not workout now!


Here I am enjoying a delectable Christmas dinner...a beef and bean burrito, complete with Munchies and Sprite! We had a microwave and fridge in the motel so I was able to bring my slaved over Christmas meal to heat up :) I love not cooking and just relaxing! We watched a Christmas movie after the festivities, requested a 2:00 checkout and after driving around Denver for a while...headed home!






Matt and I decided to make pizza our Christmas tradition. So when we got back home, Matt made pepperoni pizza, and as a surprise for me...cheese bread! What a sweetheart.

We settled in our living room with our dinner and watched another Christmas movie that night! It was a very relaxing Christmas holiday. My first away from Pennsylvania. Luckily, it went great because I got to see my family and already have "Christmas" with them a week and a half ealier. We were well rested for work on Friday...and then enjoyed a weekend!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well! Love you!

Trip Home to Pennsylvania!

Matt and I just got back from a trip to Pennsylvania...my home state! It was a great trip and my only complaint is that it was too short.


Here we are in the Colorado Springs airport getting ready to head out. I was SO proud of myself (and Matt) for packing for a week long trip in just carry-ons! No checked baggage=No extra fees. Woo-hoo! Plus...I loved the simplicity.. This is an accomplishment for me because I like to be prepared for everything!




As you can tell...my beautiful golden retriever, Chance, is so happy to have me home. Look how well he is listening to me! I was trying to get him to sit here for a picture. Ha ha.




Matt found these great sunglasses in the mall. What do you think?










Matt and I went to my 3 year old nephew, Colin's, gymnastics class. He was SO cute. He kept looking over to make sure we were watching! He is getting limber early for his football career! Not really...he just loves to run around and it uses up about a tenth of his energy supply for the day.










After gymnastics, we went to my parent's for dinner and Matt & Colin decided to play in Colin's "fort" under the table.














A few shots with our adorable nephew who we love like crazy!

The Melhorn Family: My brother, David, sister 'n law, Adrienne, and Colin- Love them!
We went to their house on Friday night for our family Christmas since we won't be out there over Christmas day.

Matt throwing Colin around on the left.

And the 3 of us doing Colin's impression of "Pappy's Hair"! Ha ha. Pappy taught him this. We bought him the Eagles sweatshirt for Christmas. He LOVES it. He put it on immediately and marched back to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror! He approved!

Saturday night we visited my Grandpa and Grandma Melhorn's house. We pulled out the old photo albums and looked at pictures of my dad and my aunts and uncles when they were little tykes like Colin. My Grandma has an amazing memory and can recall so many stories and facts from the past!













Of course, Colin came with us! Here are some shots of Colin with his Pappy and Grandma. Isn't his face hilarious in this picture of him and my dad?

Family picture after church on Sunday.

We had our Berry's Family Christmas on Sunday afternoon. These are all of the great grandchildren: Colin, Daniel, Halie, Alexia & Khylee! They were adorable playing together...but difficult to get a picture of all at once!

Here they are hula hooping on the Wii Fit on the right. Check out this video of Colin's turn! It makes me laugh so hard! :)

They piled on me! There were three of them at once...Alexia must be on her way!

My beautiful cousin, Jessica, and me. If you look closely you can see a picture of my Pap and Grandma over my shoulder. Can you beleive I didn't get a picture of them together that day? There 5oth wedding anniversary is coming up in June! Isn't that awesome? They have poured so much love into all of their grandchildren through the years. We are all crazy about them...the great grandchildren are as well!

The girl cousins!
Minus Jessica and Jennifer.

Age and I on the right...I love this girl! She is awesome. Amazing wife, mom & sister 'n law.


I don't mind the guy on the left either. :)










Matt, Colin and I ready for the big Eagles game on Monday night!














But not before a little book reading from Uncle Matt and some Guitar Hero!












My brother, David and I after the Eagle's win!

Matt and David at the car wash on Tuesday just before we left to fly out. It was hard to leave! Thank you, Lord, for the blessings of family. You are all
dearly loved!!!

If you want to view all of my pictures from the week home (trust me there are A LOT more!) just let me know and I can invite you to view them on Snapfish!