Here's to a Decade of Fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET LUCY!!! Can you believe this little baby has been around for 10 whole years??? Wow. It still feels not so long ago,  that I was not-so-patiently waiting in a hospital bed for the go-ahead from Dr. Meigs to induce me so I could meet our Philadelphia baby.

She came early on the morning of December 4th and my life has never been the same. She immediately brought so much JOY into our lives, and I never knew you could love such a tiny little person so much-- and be filled with so much worry and fear and hope every time you looked at that little face who was depending so wholly on you! Well, ten years have since flown by....

And here she is today! Lucy got to play hooky and skip school on Friday, so she could spend the day with Daddy hiking in the mountains. They decided to hike up around Nederland in the Rockies, and enjoy some Christmas snow!  

Jon had it all planned out, from the picnic lunch, to the trail they'd hike, to getting Panda Express (Lucy's favorite) for dinner on the way home. He's such a great dad!

The hike was about 3 miles in the snow, and very, very cold. Jon was able to make hot chocolate for Lucy when they got to the halfway point, which I'm sure hit the spot!

Gorgeous! A winter wonderland. I love that they took selfies.

Jon was elated that he got to use his truck for some off-roading in order to get to the trailhead. Lucy was totally freaked out of course when she saw these signs, but Jon said his truck performed admirably. They got home Friday evening just in time for Lucy to go to open gym that night with her friend Collette at the Rec center. She was one tired girl that night!

Grandma Joanie had flown in Thursday morning to spend the weekend with the birthday girl, so Saturday morning we took Lucy to "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." She's a Harry Potter fangirl as you know, so I don't think she minded seeing it twice in one week. That evening she picked the Cheesecake Factory for her birthday dinner, and she even got her very own slice of Oreo cheesecake. Lucky!

Right after dinner we headed into downtown, to the Denver Zoo to see the "Zoo Lights" which is a yearly tradition where they decorate the entire zoo with Christmas lights. Traffic was brutal along I-25 (of course) so we were rushing to get there, but finally made it and despite the bitter cold, we had a great time!

They had a LOT of lights! It was beautiful.

Despite cold, tired kids we were able to get at least one nice family picture....

Until you zoom in on Lizzie's face and see it up close. It totally cracks me up!! Ha ha ha!! That little face just says to me, "It's cold. I'm bored. Get me outta here." Poor baby!

We met the cousins there which made it all the more fun! They loved wandering through all these thousands of lights together. This was the "BYU cougar" we found.

And the hippo tunnel which was their favorite. Leah had fallen asleep in the car on the way there, and was just cranky as could be, so she rode in the stroller and then ended up falling back asleep somewhere along the way. 

Following in her mother's footsteps, Lucy's birthday WEEKEND finished on her actual birthday, December 4th, and commenced by opening presents early that morning. I even managed to snag some real butter beer at a specialty shop here in Parker. Yum!

She got lots of fun presents-- Roald Dahl books, two science kits, new clothes, an illustrated Harry Potter book, and a new bike which she'll get to pick out sometime this weekend. Spoiled rotten!

Here she is-- our resident fashionista in her new church clothes. I think TEN looks great on her!

That evening after church, she picked chicken pot pie for her special dinner, and this amazing chocolate Kit Kat cake for dessert. Get it, Luce!

The cousins came over to help us celebrate Lucy, and brought a fun birthday present. They also helped us eat all that yummy birthday cake and ice cream.

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles....

When I found out I was pregnant with Lucy, shortly after I went to the temple and while sitting there in the session I very, very clearly received the impression that this baby's name was to be Lucy. I had all kinds of other baby girl names picked out, but I knew it almost from day one that this was our Lucy.  The name Lucy actually  means "bringer of light"-- and that's just exactly what she does. She's brought so much light into our lives, and into a very dark, scary world.  She is wise and mature beyond her years, and so special to so many people. We LOVE you Lucy!

Take a Hike (and then eat Pizza)

We have been soooooo overdue a day trip (like the beach trips of olden days) with everything else we've had going on, that the Saturday just after Thanksgiving had a HUGE target on it. It was set apart for something special-- a reserved, non-negotiable Cardon Family Fun Day.

We loaded up the car bright and early that morning, picnic lunch packed, winter clothes piled on, gorgeous Colorado sun at our backs, and Christmas carols blasting on the radio. Boy were we ready to hit the road and explore some mountains! 

We picked to do the St. Mary's Glacier Lake hike, which is about a 1.5 mile out-and-back trail with  1,200 feet of elevation gain, to an alpine lake with stunning panoramic views of the Rockies. The trail was mostly snowpack, with obviously some steep elevation gain but the kids did awesome. The weather was incredible too-- probably 50 degrees and sunny and clear skies.

Miss Lizzie is the only one who got a free ride, but she loved hiking in the backpack as long as I was moving. If I stopped she wanted to get out and explore for herself.

Some winter sun on that little face! We definitely met our vitamin D quota for the day.

The lake was completely frozen solid, and the kids had a blast "ice skating" and being pulled by Zach on this mat like a sled.

Lucy and Zach wandered out all over the lake and found some cool fishing holes people had drilled out, but that had already frozen over again.

Sunbathing on the rocks. I guess the "beach" is still in these kids just a little... 

Enjoying our picnic lunch of crackers and cheese and smoked salmon. Yum!

There were lots of other hikers and people enjoying the weather. I'd love to go back in the summer and see the alpine lake thawed out-- supposedly it's just clear and pristine. Also, we could probably hike across the lake (we didn't have snowshoes and the snow was much deeper on the other side) so we could enjoy those panoramic views of the Rockies right in front of us.

After our hike we headed down the mountain to Idaho Springs, an old mining town with a semi-famous pizza restaurant called BeaJo's. It's the stuff of backpacking lore! It's in an old abandoned boarding house, with hot water pipes, exposed brick walls, and it pretty much looks like a total dive. But the pizza is legendary, and every mountain-man worth his weight eats there when coming down off the mountain after a tackling a 14-er.

And dang, that pizza was GOOD! It was like a stuffed pizza with layers of toppings, and it was deep dish-- so their thing is you're supposed to eat the pizza part and then take the crust and dip it in their signature Colorado honey. We'll definitely be going back!

Right by the restaurant there was this amazing frozen waterfall. I think they look so cool-- and the kids couldn't believe it could get cold enough for something as powerful as a waterfall to freeze over.

That night we got home just in time to decorate our house for Christmas, and the kids basically decorated our Christmas tree for me. They did a great job and have such a fun time pulling out all the ornaments and remembering the stories associated with each one. It was an amazing festive finish to an already amazing day!