Surprise 14th Anniversary Trip

Sat, Feb 21st: In the evening, we packed to somewhere. Paxton had prepared a surprise for us for our 14th anniversary, and we were to drive somewhere. I was scared when he said prepare for sledding and outdoor activities, but he also told us to pack our swimsuits. In the end, poor Paxton forgot his own swimsuit and had to buy boxers to substitute for his swimwear....snicker.

Sunday, 22nd: We went to church, enjoyed wonderful worship and enjoyed the talk of raining of blessings on our house of worship. Then, into the car for a car trip up north. We first went to Yia-Yia's Sunday buffet. We gorged ourselves on shrimp, crab legs, mussels, blintzes, sausage, eggs benedict, sauteed veggies, roast beef, lemon tarts, chocolate cake, almond tarts, english pudding, shrimp pasta, lox on bagels, olives, watermelon, cantelope, honey dew. We rolled out of the restaurant, got back into the car and drove into the mountains.

At first, I thought Paxton was taking us to Vail or Winterpark, but I was leery as he didn't buy any groceries and didn't bring any kids stools/boosters/etc. I was afraid that he was having us stay at a too expensive hotel with us always having to go out. Scary...

But when we entered Estes Park, I was hoping we were staying here. We were listening to Focus on the Family's radio theatre of William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was just opening his eyes to the Lord's love when we entered into the Estes Park Valley. It was a breath-taking view. Josiah was just waking up as Hope was just falling asleep. We drove to the YMCA of Estes Park where Paxton registered us for our two nights lodging plus food. Four male Elk with 10 points were chewing on some grass outside our lodge. Hope told us she saw some "artichoke" statues. I saw them and told them they were NOT statues but real Elk. That scared her, but she was pretty excited to see them so close to us. We also had to teach her that those things were elk, not artichokes...

At Estes Park, preparing to unpack

Later that night, we decided to go roller skating at the Y. We had the entire rink almost to ourselves. Another man was in and out of the rink, but he didn't bother us. Josiah ran around the rink with just his socks. Hope tried to roller skate a bit, but it got a bit too hard for her, so she took her skates off and decided to run around like Josiah while Paxton and I skated around and around, holding hands, chasing each other, just acting like teenagers again. It was so wonderful as they played Beach Boys and 80's songs.

Hope singing and dancing away. Josiah trying to read in peace

Feb 23-24: We enjoyed two days in Estes Park, swimming, doing crafts, eating Ugandan food, reading fun books, finding beaver lodges, tracking more elk, and just letting loose. What a great time!

Our balcony from our hotel room. It was perfect weather for February in Estes Park. Normally, there would be a blizzard, but we enjoyed unusually warm weather

3 months as a Mellinger

Hope Funny

Mom and Dad: So, Hope, what if we leave you and Josiah at home, and mom and dad go to Hawaii?

Hope: NOOOOOOOOOOOO! You can't leave us behind. We all have to go together.

Mom and Dad: But we want some time along, just grown-ups. How about if mom and dad stay here, and you and Josiah go to Hawaii?

Hope: (thinking for a long time) It won't work because I can't drive yet.