Breckenridge Family Reunion

The highlight of our summer was our family vacation to Breckenridge, CO.  Drew's Grandma Borton rented an AMAZING cabin in the mountains for a Borton family reunion.  Everyone was able to attend except for Drew's cousin, Sarah, and Drew's brother and wife, Brian and Natalie.  We missed them and wished they could have been there too!

We flew in on a Wednesday and stayed through Monday evening.  It was such a great time with family, very relaxing, and the first time some of Drew's relatives have even met the kids.

First a funny story though...so apparently Drew and I booked our flights a week EARLY.  Thankfully our mistake was discovered the day before our scheduled flight.  Let me just say it was a mad rush to cancel the flights and rental car and try to decide how to proceed.  Do we still go out to CO to see some family, but miss out on the actual reunion (and amazing cabin)?  Do we cancel our plans and not go at all?  Or do we rebook our flights for the correct week and just pay the cancellation fees as well as last minute ticket prices?  Boy was that a tough decision that had to be made QUICKLY!  So we decided the family reunion was the main reason we were going out to CO in the first place and we didn't want to miss out on seeing family that we don't have the opportunity to see often.  We "bit the bullet" and decided to pay the extra fees.  It's amazing to see God's hands in the "little things" in how He takes care of us and provides for us.  Over the  next few hours, we definitely saw God's hand in all the mess.  We cancelled our rental car without any fees (thank goodness!) and Drew's aunt and uncle who live in CO offered to let us use one of their vehicles, so that saved us some money.  Then as Drew's on the phone with the airlines we discover that we are able to rebook our flight for the correct week, have it still be a direct flight, AND without any additional fees whatsoever!  The reason for it was that since the airlines had changed our flight times a few weeks back by just a few minutes, so we were able to rebook without incurring any fees.  On top of that, we didn't know that was their policy - the agent offered that to us without our even prompting him.  Just amazing!  So, all-in-all everything worked out and we were still able to go out to CO and enjoy time with family.

Now on to the pictures!

Jenna and Grant outside the Dayton airport ready for their flight

Waiting in line at the ticket counter

This girl was all smiles to be on the plane!

As was this little fellow

Both the kids watching a movie.  Grant didn't watch for very long, but it kept Jenna busy.

Grandma, Aunt Jean, Uncle Stan, and Cathy all did a great job assigning families to rooms in the cabin.  They graciously gave us a room with a queen bed, plus a trundle bed for the kids, and an attached bathroom.  It was so nice and very convenient for us!!  We really appreciated how hard they all worked to make everyone's stay enjoyable!

Don't you just love the clawfoot bathtub??  The kids sure did!

I tried to capture the amazing view from the bathtub, but the picture just doesn't so it justice!  It was breathtaking!

Another view from the bathtub

We had a bathtub and a shower.  So nice!  Plus a HUGE walk-in closet next to the bathtub.

The view of our beautiful room from the door

The kid's sleeping arrangements.  It worked perfectly!

One day a group of us rented bikes and went on a beautiful bike ride.  The kids loved the ride and did great in the Burley.

All geared up and ready to go!

Just look at that view!

Nap #1 - although I don't think Jenna was really napping here.  Maybe just resting her eyes.

We stopped in Vale to catch up with part of our group.  There was a small splash area that just beckoned to the kids.  :)  How can you resist getting in??

After making it to Vale, we stopped and ate lunch.  A river was close by, so some of us wandered down there to play around for a few minutes.  Grant's playing with Uncle Stan and Jenna's with Drew's cousin Adam (in the blue shirt) and his good friend that joined us, Jack.  Jenna loved "the boys."

Nap #2 on our bike ride - I just love how Grant's head is resting in Jenna's lap.  So sweet!

Near the end of our bike ride, we stopped at a gas station and picked up some refreshing drinks.  The kids are finishing off some blue slushies, which is why Grant's lips look so dark.  :)  They love their Slushies!

Drew had us stop at one point so he could "explore" an area.  You can barely see him up on top of the big rock pile (mine tailings).

While we were there, everyone celebrated Grant's birthday.  It was so sweet of them to think of him.  Aunt Jean, Uncle Stan, and Adam even got him some water guns, which instantly became a favorite game of theirs!  :)  That was their first experience with water guns.

Jenna getting some quality time with B. 

A partial view of the cabin.  I wish we had gotten more pictures of the inside because it was beautiful!  We did take videos of the inside, but for some reason, Blogger still won't let us post videos.

A close up of some of the family

B with her grandkids

The cabin was in a perfect location.  We could walk to the gondolas and ride up to some fun theme-park type activities or ride down to the town of Breckenridge.  A few of the days we went down to the town and played in the creek down there.  Here's Jenna enjoying her lunch, while taking in the view.

Drew took the kids across the creek as it started raining.  Then we ran for cover and ended up getting stranded down in the town since they closed the gondolas.  Thankfully Ed saved the day and picked us up!

After a few days there, the kids discovered a secret hideout in our room. 

How cool is that?!  They definitely enjoyed that!

The cabin had 2 hot tubs.  Jenna was in heaven!!  She loves her hot tubs.  :)

Grant enjoyed it too!

My two favorite boys!

Posing on the rocks outside the cabin

The family with Grandma and Ed.  Thank you for an AMAZING trip!!  We loved everything about it - the location, the fellowship with family, the adventures - it was all perfect!

I added some pictures that Mom Borton and James took...

Hanging out in the kitchen around the food.  Actually I think we were fixing lunches for one of our excursions.

Cheesy grin

Jenna and Grant out with B, Grandma Borton, and Aunt Jean while Drew was mountain biking and I was napping.  :)  It was a really nice relaxing break for me and I know the kids enjoyed it as well.

So thoughtful of him to share his food.  ;)

Drew with his boy

The boys are ready for some mountain biking!

Another great picture of us on our bike ride.  I just love the view in the background paired with the bright blue sky.  So beautiful!