WE ARE IN DENVER!!!

Pete, Carol, Alex, Josh, Mattea and I left Dubuque at 7:15am on Saturday morning and started our adventure to visit Jeff in Denver for Christmas. The van we rented had ample space for all of our bags, Christmas gifts and whatever else we could fit! We ran into a slight snag about an hour into the trip when Mattea got car sick! (At least that's what we thought at the time.) Josh, with his inquisitive and caring nature, had to check it out and was concerned for his little sister. So, I will let you guess what happened next. Yup! You guessed it... he got sick, too! We made a pit stop at the next gas station and cleaned them both up. They were both troopers and we didn't let it diminish our excitement to get to Denver. Mattea continued to get sick the ENTIRE trip. She slept off and on and I have NEVER heard her so quiet!!!

The boys were phenomenal travelers. We played games, read books and watched movies. They didn't complain when we told them we weren't stopping for lunch for another hour even though they were already hungry. They didn't complain that the van smelled a little stale! (Thank goodness for air fresheners!!!) We had a hotel reservation in North Platte, Nebraska, but cancelled it around 5pm because we decided we just wanted to get to Denver. Since everyone was in good spirits and willing to go the distance, we carried on. Mattea didn't eat or drink much all day, but continued to get sick right up until we pulled up into Jeff's apartment community at about 9:55pm.

Jeff was thrilled to see all of us! We carried our stuff up THREE flights of stairs to his apartment. He had gone shopping and had blankets, pillows and an inflatable mattress ready for our slumber party! Pete & Carol stayed in Jeff's bed and the rest of us had a slumber party in the living room. It was so great for us to be together!!!