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!