Journey to Juneau: one of those days.....

You know those days, where 10 p.m. rolls around, and you feel like you are pretty much the luckiest person in the whole wide world? well, i've had "one of those days" :) I feel soooo blessed to have married the love of my life, to have the greatest families we could ever ask for, to have the 2 sweetest girls in the whole world, and to have spent some very formative years making some of the dearest friends ever. yep, it's been one of those days.
I woke up the morning, and cris volunteered to watch the girls while i went for a nice run and explored some of downtown denver (We are in denver for 5 days for a sports med conference cris is attending). After my run we went out for a great little lunch, and then i spent some time playing with the girls. This evening we got to hang out with Dee and Justin (my friends from med school) who have the absolute greatest little family (complete with 5 month old baby Luca). Cris and Justin share a *nearly* pathologic love for the Ohio State Buckeyes, so they were able to spend some much needed time commiserating over the recent devastating news from the Buckeye State football community.
All in all, it was a nearly perfect day, spending time with some beautiful people, and being incredibly grateful for the many blessings in my life.

now, some pictures :)

Juneau and Nova are somewhat obsessed with Easter Egg hunts (yes, we do realize it is June, and Easter is llloooooonnnnnng gone, but these girls love a good Easter Egg hunt!) They spent a good deal of time hiding rocks in a nearby park for everyone to hunt. As you can see, Nova was VERY enthusiastic about this!!!

Nova and Mommy with the "Easter Eggs" (rocks!)

I cannot even start to tell you how exited Nova was to hold her very first real baby. Baby Luca is 5 months old, and is seriously the most ridiculously adorable, well-tempered little guy ever. I told Nova earlier today that we were going to see a little baby, and she spent the whole day squealing with excitement. When we finally made it to see Dee and Justin and Baby Luca, Nova was soooo ready to hold her very first real baby. It was pretty much one of the best moments of her 3 year old life :)

ahhhh....5 months old...and just abou the cutest little thing ever. I LOVED that Baby Luca was totally happy letting me hold him, and give him his bottle. he is just the cutest little thing with black hair and blue eyes and the cutest little smile ever.

and let me tell you....Baby Luca LOOOOVEEES to eat his hand! it is DELICIOUS!!! :) It was soooo great to see Dee and Justin and catch up on life, and meet their new addition!

Dee, Luca, and Aunt Tena!!! Aren't they just the cutest ever????!!!!!

Daddy and Nova giggling :) Nova has been into this hilarious little game where she tells us "Kiss The Tummy!!!!!", and then she dies in giggles while hold up her shirt to give us a chance to try to kiss her tummy. Then she squeals and squeals and says " No! No! Don't kiss The Tummy! Don't Kiss it!!". She LOOOOOVVVVEEEES this game!

Juneau and Nova chillin' out in Auntie Tena's Hammock at the end of a fun night!

The girls playing "soccer ball" while waiting for mom and dad to wrap up their conversation with Dee and Justin.

When I see this picture, I think back to the summer of 1997 (now FOURTEEN years ago!!!) when Dee, Justin and I were freshmen at Youngstown State University....18 years old, and embarking on a llooooonnnnggg trip to becoming physicians. Who would've known that 14 years later Dee and I would both be OB/GYN's, and end up in Colorado, with families, and kiddos, and happy as can be :)

and doesn't Baby Luca's face totally say "Hey....I was sound asleep! why are you guys waking me up!???!!"