March is upon us and signs of Spring are popping up everywhere. We certainly did not hunker down for the Winter, stock up on firewood and indulge in crock pot meals. I was looking back at the journeys since November and have no choice but to smile on the memories we have to move forward with.
We kicked off the holidays with a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Chris's 21st birthday and Thanksgiving, sprinkle in some at home fun and then headed to Colorado for a week for Christmas and the New Year. January kept us grounded with Karly's 30th birthday, Blackhawks and Bulls games, kart racing and dinners with friends and family. February started with the blizzard of the century mentioned in the previous post. On February 14th our good friends Michele and Ben welcomed a baby boy - Jacob Dane Helmers! I celebrated my annual work party - the Housties and capped off the month with the much anticipated trip to Florida for barefooting and sunshine with Dan and Cara! Returning on a Monday, booking a flight on Thursday and flying out on Friday sent me to Colorado again to see Erik propose to Lehala!! We have come full circle as I made a trip to Cincinnati last weekend to meet baby Jacob and Rick returns today from Vegas for Loren's Bachelor weekend! Below are some recaps and photos of all of the fun!
Vegas was a surprise trip for Chris's 21st birthday and a first for Rick and I both. There was just so much to do, eat, see, drink, share and explore in this large desert oasis. We did a good job at making the most of our time and had a blast roaming the city. Some of my favorite memories are: the man spilling red wine on me during the flight there and giving us $100 to bet on red; the fountain show at the Bellagio; traveling back in time to Old Las Vegas and getting a second wind that carried us to the wee hours; waking up fo breakfast at Paris and then back to take a nap; finding the boys at the same seats in the sports book as the girls left all afternoon; crammed into the suburban for Thanksgiving at the Aria; overall decor of the Aria; LOVE show; Phat Cats penny slots; learning (sorta) to play Craps; running around with the whole Tiltges clan! 
Christmas was certainly one to remember for us. We celebrated Christmas Eve at Dan and Candy's new house where we had dinner, exchanged gifts and laughs and enjoyed being together with that side of the family. Christmas day we hit the road about 4am and drove to Colorado to spend the week with my family! We made it just in time for a late Christmas dinner and boy were we all (including Stewie) happy to be out of the car. We actually did gifts with them the next day and enjoyed lots of maxin and relaxin. The weather was so pleasant so we spent the first part of the week taking bike rides and hikes with Stewie in the sun. We even got a game of badminton in on the volleyball court! My mom's Christmas gift was a girls day where I treated her to a day at the bead lounge where we made our own jewelry, lunch at the cutest little cafe and then a private mother/daughter yoga lesson! We had a blast together! We also got my parents a membership to the Denver Science Museum so we scoped out the first iMax on the Hubble Telescope. We then met Erik and Lehala for a yummy mexican dinner at Lime in Denver. Thursday we headed up to Breckenridge to get a day of skiing in and a relaxing night at the lodge. New Years eve was a quiet night in where we played Rock Band and actually did make it up until midnight! New Years day we headed back home after a great week in Colorado! 
Here is a shot from Karly's 30th birthday celebration at Medieval Times! It was fun to act like a kid again and cheer for our red knight!
The theme for Christmas gifts this year was the gift of experience. That theme continued when Cara and I presented Dan and Rick with their gift this year - a trip to Florida for barefoot lessons from a pro! Of course we got to go with but being on a lake barefooting for 2 straight days was the highlight for the boys. They absolutely made the most of the lessons and improved drastically from start to finish. They started with backwards barefooting and learned new tricks such as one-foot and backwards to forwards. It was so much fun to watch their faces and reactions as they would conquer new skills in this already difficult sport. The proof is in the hours of video footage we have which will provide as their references until it is time to get back on the lake. We headed from Winter Haven, FL to Clearwater for the second leg of the vacay. We spent lots of time enjoying the amazing 80 and sunny weather. We hit up the pool and the beach, ate lots of yummy food, went to the sunset festival on the pier, took a trolley tour up and down the sound, shopped and even caught a Tigers/Yankees spring training game. What a fun trip!!
