4th of July Weekend With the Knight's and Sigmon's

Carter and I were so blessed to have BOTH sides of our family come out to visit from Virginia, California and Florida for the 4th of July. Since Carter's last day of residency was June 30th, everyone was able to join in celebrating him officially becoming a physiatrist. He has worked so hard throughout 5 years of medical school + 4 years of residency; I am so proud of him. His next step is to work at Balboa Naval Hospital as a Navy doctor treating the 1 in 5 returning combat troops with Traumatic Brain Injuries. We are so excited for this next chapter in our lives.

On Friday, the crew flew into town and we had the official Carter's End of Residency party at the Highlands Garden Cafe. It was a beautiful evening and we had a gorgeous dinner out on the patio. We came back to the house for champagne and delicious cake from Gateaux bakery around the firepit.

So proud of him!

Saturday, we drove to Estes Park and had a great hike at Rocky Mountain National Park. We even lucked out with some good animal sightings of marmot, elk and mule deer. That evening, we went to Coors Field to see the Rockies win against the Royals. Afterwards, we saw one of the best fireworks displays I've seen yet.

Mule deer

Elk hanging out in Estes Park

Go Rockies!

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

On Sunday, we spent the afternoon cooking out at City Park and enjoying Jazz in the Park. I made these amazing Chocolate Chip Brownie Pillow Cookies from the Picky Palate, which were way better than the ones I experimented with a few months ago. Some really fantastic slackliners set up nearby, and Eva convinced us to give it a whirl. Good grief, I am in such awe of people who are good at this! I could barely stand on it without help, but had a lot of fun trying it out. I can't believe this guy was doing flips!

Tally wore her patriotic scarf for the occasion

Eva on the slackline

On Monday, everyone in our group participated in the 4th of July 4-Mile Liberty Run in Wash Park. We put on our best patriotic gear and all finished - go us! I was especially proud of our out of towners, who weren't accustomed to our heat or altitude. Way to go, everyone! We celebrated with a post-race brunch at Snooze - always delicious.

Thanks for coming out, everyone! We had such a great time and hope you come visit us again soon :)

Fun with the Fleming's

When we returned from Costa Rica, we were happy to catch Courtney and Jeff before they headed back to Richmond. We share the same wedding date and they were celebrating their 4-year anniversary as well. We enjoyed hearing about all of their adventures around Colorado and catching up. It was a beautiful day to stroll around City Park and we had dinner at one of our favorite neighborhood joints, Shells and Sauce. Although our visit was short, it was so refreshing to see you guys - come back soon!

 The meatballs at Shells and Sauce are as big as Courtney's head

Beautiful day at the park

Springtime for Sigmon's

We have been celebrating the arrival of spring; watching for the signs as each day more flowers bloom and unfold. The dogwood in our front yard is blossoming, the daffodils and tulips are coming up. I even saw the paddleboats being unloaded from storage at City Park the other day. I love everything about spring. Here are the ways the Sigmon's celebrate the arrival of spring:

1) Celebrating Renewal: Carter and I got a slammin' Travelzoo spa deal for the new Four Seasons downtown. By the way, if you're not signed up for Living Social, Groupon and Travelzoo, you are missing out! We got there early to workout and check out the facilities. I love spa days and soak up the entire experience. The hotel opened a few months ago, so everything was brand new and still smelled of paint. Yum! The gym overlooked a terrace with a pool, cabanas, fire pit, bar, etc. It looks like it will be a lot of fun when the weather gets a little nicer. The locker rooms were fantastic. The best part was the shower, where there were 6 - yes, 6 - shower nozzles coming from all directions. I could have stayed in there all day. Our spa deal was for a 30 minute bath soak in a private suite followed by a 90 minute couples massage. DIVINE! When we got to our suite, there was a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and two glasses of champagne. The bath soak was a great prelude to the massage and was so nice to relax with the lights dimmed, listening to meditative music and sipping champagne with my love (don't worry, I won't go all Tamara Barney on you! ;). The massage was phenomenal! My neck and back have been very angry with me. I love a good massage and Meg did an expert job of getting out all of the knots. I just love the feeling of all of the knots breaking up - ahhh :) The Four Seasons might become my new favorite Denver spa. I think I should go back soon, just to confirm.

2) Enjoying Springtime Fragrance: I love how my dog always sniffs flowers. She's my little Ferdinand. She is very camera shy and I can never snap a picture of it fast enough, but she loves to stick her face in the middle of a patch of blossoms. She also tries walking into the flower shop on 12th and Madison everytime we go by. I wasn't paying attention the other day and she just pranced on in. It's so cute how she just wants to smell the blossoms.

3) Cruel Summer: And just when I'm rejoicing over record breaking 85 degree temperatures, the need to buy more sunscreen, being able to bathe Tally outside and loving up spring, Denver reminds me of its cruel sense of humor - 50 degree temperature changes within 12 hours. Saturday: 85 degrees and gorgeous. Sunday: 40 degrees, windy, sleety and snowy. Boo. The good news is that we'll change back to nice weather just as quickly. Bring it!

4) New Beginnings: We have finally learned where the Sigmon's will be spending the next chapter of our lives. We have loved our 4 years in Colorado and will be sad to leave. Over the next year, we will be phasing out of Denver and then, off to San Diego for 4 years!