Memorable Meal

On the evening before the wedding, we gathered together with family and friends from near and far for a special dinner hosted at Eric & Charity's home. The evening was filled with a meaningful mix of stories from the past, toasts to the future, and great joy to have everyone together for the occasion of this wonderful weekend wedding.

The Colorado Leahys before the dinner

(We were thrilled to swap

our snowboots for short-sleeves!)

Soon-to-be husband and wife!

Eric is holding a special keepsake,

wedding advice that their father Jim had shared

with Scott before our wedding 10 years ago.

In his toast, Scott passed this along to Eric & Charity.

Handsome ringbearers Luke & Sawyer

with darling flower girl Macie

The 3 Leahy Brothers: Paul, Eric & Scott

The Lovely Ladies of the Family:

Scott's mother Margie with her

daughters-in-law Juli, Jami & Charity

Scott & Jami

Dad and Reid

Getting ready for the Big Day!

On Saturday morning, it was rise and shine ... and time to set up for the wedding! What a gorgeous day to be outside in the AZ sunshine as we prepared for the Big Day! Here are some fun pics from the morning...

Juli & Jami worked on the centerpieces ...

white hydrangeas with petite pale pink roses.

How many Leahy brothers does it take

to string lights in a tree? All 3 of them ...

and a lot of laughs!

The Rehearsal

Charity gives her dad a hug

as they rehearse for the wedding.

The Wedding

We will always remember when Eric first told us about Charity. You could immediately tell he thought the world of her, and when we met her, we did, too. Her quiet nature, generous spirit, kind heart, and creativity are just a few of the many charming qualities about Charity. She is a wonderful match for Eric, and they bring so much to our family. Since we lived in Arizona while they were dating, we feel blessed to have shared so many memories already with them. But our favorite memory to date comes from just this past weekend at their beautiful wedding. Set outside on a plush green lawn overlooking a lake in Tempe, they exchanged vows with nearly 100 family members and friends attending. Enjoy the photos below.

Beautiful day. Beautiful wedding.

Luke standing in the aisle before the wedding.

Girls just wanna have fun!

Juli, Mary Ann, Emily & Jami

pose for a pic before the wedding.

The KC Leahys

Paul, Juli, Sawyer & Stratton

Sawyer & Luke carried the rings,

while Macie followed sprinkling petals.

Eric & Charity exchange vows.

Eric's college friend Casey officiated the ceremony.

Reid and his cousin Stratton fell asleep right

before the wedding began and napped through it.

So sweet.

Divine wedding cake!

Meet the Parents

Ted & Margie, Eric & Charity, Vicki & Bill

The AZ Leahys and the CO Leahys

The Leahy side of the family.

Scott's dad was one of seven siblings.

Today these siblings do an amazing job

of keeping the family ties close. Four of the siblings

attended the wedding (including 2 aunts who drove

all the way from Omaha through a major blizzard.)

Eric, Charity, Jami & Scott

The Happy Couple with the Cappos

Bruce, David, Eric, Charity, Emily & Mary Ann

Mr. & Mrs. Leahy sit a spell

at dinner. The food was delicious!

Elvis (AKA Charity's Dad) made a special appearance

at the wedding for the father/daughter dance.

Her dad is an Elvis impersonator for church functions,

and he added a fun twist to the wedding reception, too!

Jami's dad also joined us in AZ

for the wedding festivities.

Once the sun set, the family hit the dance floor!

Scott and Reid dance with Emily

(who is Scott's cousin and Reid's godmother).

Years from now, Luke & Sawyer will probably

look back on this evening as "the night they learned

to dance!" Eric and his friends taught the boys

many fun dance moves. We all enjoyed the laughs!

Reid enjoyed dancing, too, and even

asked the flower girl for a spin on the dance floor!

Stratton struts his stuff

with Grandma Margie & Emily!

Luke & Mom on the dance floor

Dance Dance Revolution

The boys danced for hours that night.

Toward the end of the evening, Luke said, "My legs hurt.

Can I stop dancing?" But then another song would come on

and he'd be back on the dance floor. Party animal!

Denver Days

1st Day in Denver: The boys had a day off school on Friday ... hmmm ... what to do? We've heard rave reviews about the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and it's been on our "to-visit" list. We hit the road with Papa along for the adventure to visit this huge museum located on land in Denver's City Park. The boys loved the children's Discovery Zone and had fun naming the animals in the Wildlife Exhibits. They liked touring a Native American hogan and looking at a replica of the moon in the Space Odyssey exhibit. What a fun family field trip for us all!

The museum overlooks City Park, skyscrapers,

and even mountains in the distance!

The exhibits were so life-like ... with extra detail

put into the murals and scenery.

In the Discovery Zone, the little engineers

tested out this wind tunnel.

2nd Day in Denver: Today, we returned to Denver for our friend Cullen's 1st birthday bash. The birthday boy loved his cake, and we were so glad to join in his festivities!

Getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday..."

Let him eat cake!

Chillin' on a Saturday night

After the boys' first ice skating adventure last weekend, they've been buzzing about wanting to go again. We learned that our local ice rink has open skating sessions from time to time. So tonight we embarked on Round 2 of the Leahy Ice Capades.

Father and son take the ice.

Here's a funny thing about Reid.

When learning a new sport (like skating or skiing)

he's all too anxious to move to the next level

and try out tricks (involving jumping)

before he ever gets the basics figured out.

Mr. Thrill-Seeker.

Go, Luke, Go!

A few funny highlights...

• Luke could not get enough time on the ice. He loves it! He skated for well over an hour and probably would have kept going.
• Reid has perfected the art of walking (and running) in ice skates. Funny. Check out this video.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

The weather this past week was gorgeous! With nearly every day in the 50s, we enjoyed the warm weather with time at the park and family bike rides. We know that we haven't seen the last of the snow, but we certainly appreciated this week of warmth.

Our little climber.

The boys tackle the rock wall at the park.

Winter Weekend Away

Scott's job has so many wonderful benefits that we enjoy, but perhaps one of our favorite perks is the annual trip with the employees and their families to Snow Mountain Ranch near Winter Park. This is our 3rd year to go on this trip, and each year we find even more new opportunities for winter fun. Here are our favorite highlights from this year...

• Skiing at Sol Vista on Saturday (this was our first time for all 4 of us to ski together at the same time)
• Saying goodbye to the bunny slope and hello to the quad chair lift up to the top of the mountain!
• Teaching the boys to ice skate
• Roasting s'mores over a bonfire by the light of a (nearly) full moon
• Going night sledding with tubes and toboggans
• Snowshoeing on nearby trails
• Staying in a cabin with 7 other families and cooking dinner each night
• Spending time with friends old and new

Luke & Mom on the bunny slope.

He didn't need much time to warm up ...

he picked it right back up quickly!

Reid ran into this new friend on the slopes!

He asked all kinds of questions about "that tiger."

"Why is that tiger skiing? Is he going to ride the ski lift?

What if he falls down? Is he nice? What is his name?"

View from the top! We rode the quad lift to the top

and skied down as a family. What a milestone!

Dad helped Reid along the way.

Luke is skiing totally on his own now!

It was fun to watch his confidence grow

and feel so comfortable coming down the mountain.

Scott and his sidekick Reid

On Saturday evening, the employees have a staff meeting.

Jami took the boys and joined some friends

for an evening out and about.

First stop ... the ice skating rink!

Pushing milk crates along the ice is

a great way to learn to skate.

3 crates for Luke!

Sometimes it's just as much fun to push...

as to be pushed.

Behind every great man is a strong woman.

Luke's friend Audrey gives him a little push...

Roasting s'mores by the bonfire

We wrapped up the evening by tubing on the sledding hill.

Tubing has become a favorite tradition on this trip,

but we added a new twist by going at night!

Let them eat pancakes...

It would be an understatement to say that the boys like pancakes. They LOVE them! We make a big batch of Swedish pancakes on the weekend, so they can have them throughout the week. We've been known to make pancakes in the shape of airplanes and hearts, and we even have a new griddle pan that makes them with zoo animal faces! We heard that our favorite of breakfast places -- Snooze -- was having a special event in celebration of National Pancake Day (which also coincided with Fat Tuesday). Say no more ... we were on the road for a random trip to Denver to feed our pancake obsession!

We ordered these pancakes du jour ...

• Peanut Butter & Jelly (Luke's favorite ... it's the one with the ooey gooey swirl in the photo)
• Sweet Potato (Reid's favorite)
• Pear with Blue Cheese (Mom's favorite ... yes, it sounds funky but it was divine!)
• Pig in a Blanket (Chocolate chip pancake with bacon folded in with a caramel sauce!)

There was another bonus to this special pancake promotion. Money from each pancake sold was donated to the Denver Urban Gardens, who has a mission to bring local urban gardens to Denver and educate children in local schools. This is also a cause near and dear to our hearts to support local farmers, so this Snooze visit was certainly a win-win!