A couple of years ago, my cousin Andrew came out to Colorado for a visit with one of his buddies. We had a great time & he's talked about coming back ever since. I personally think one visit to Colorado is enough to convince you to live there (since that's what happened to me), so everyone, come visit!! ;) Anyway this winter Andrew mentioned maybe coming out this summer with his long time girlfriend Jenna, who I'd met a couple times in Illinois. We absolutely love having visitors, so of course we agreed that they should! Plans were made and that was that. Until Andrew called me a few weeks ago before they came out, and said he had big news to share. He was planning on proposing to Jenna while they were here! We were thrilled for him & new plans were made, to include a pretty backdrop up in the mountains for their engagement.
A & J arrived Sunday evening and first thing Monday morning, we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park to a lake that had killer reviews for accessibility (hello, toddler) and stunning views of the mountains. Sprague Lake, you did not disappoint.
Sadly Mike couldn't join us, but B was happy to be along for the ride. That boy looooves to be outside. I absolutely LOVE this pic Jenna snapped of us at the beginning of our hike. Little bear is hard to wrangle for photos these days & I am rarely in them anyway, so win-win with a good one!
Very happy to be out of his carseat finally after the drive up the mountain!
Seriously, Colorado. You win.
We found this awesome little dock on the far side of the lake, and it was the perfect spot for a foursome pic.
And also the perfect spot for THIS!!!! Happy, happy, happy.
I was so honored to get to be along to photograph their engagement. What special pictures for any newly engaged girl to have!!
And then the texting & calling & general bliss excitement began.
As we headed back around the other side of the lake, we noticed a man frantically pointing while we were taking pictures. We moved around the corner into a clearing in time to see mama & baby moose walking across the lake where we had just been!! I've lived in Colorado for almost seven years and I've seen marmots, tons of elk, big horn sheep & deer. But never a moose. This was an incredible experience for all of us. Even Brady, who woofed like a dog & pointed at them.
He was quickly disinterested in the big "dogs" we were excited about, and went back to playing with sticks. He is already fully BOY.
He & Andrew were buddies all day. Here they were checking out a little ground squirrel running around on the trail.
Feeling the cold mountain spring water.
This is an exact representation of what life with Bubs is like these days. He's on the MOVE. Most of my time is spent chasing him from behind as he explores everything, literally everything he can get to. He lingers only for a few seconds and is incredibly hard to photograph from the front (he's a blur), but this represents what life is like with him anyway. Hands up, tilted forward, moving almost faster than his legs can go but somehow (mostly) staying upright. He's at a fun, terrifying, exhilarating, exhausting, sweet age & I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Congrats, Andrew & Jenna on your perfect beautiful engagement!!! Thanks for letting us be part of the experience!
Stay tuned for Part Two of their trip out West, and our week together.
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