Cherokee Castle- Valor Discovery Night

one of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken- no photoshop! 

 Mark and I were able to go to Valor's Discovery Night up at a real life castle here in Colorado a few weeks ago. It killed me that they allowed no photography inside the castle. Words don't do it justice. 

We ate an amazing dinner in the great hall and even got a tour by a man who was the butler for "Tweet",  the eccentric lady who owned it for many years. I was amazed at all the genuine, one of a kind, art pieces in this place. My favorite was the turret which housed a small library which had Edgar Allen Poe books signed by Poe himself. It seemed every piece/room had a history to it and the butler knew SO much. It was impressive. 

Here is the website... http://www.cherokeeranch.org/

I would LOVE to return for a Mystery Dinner Theatre sometime. 

view from the balcony of the castle. We got there right as the sun was a little too low for a great picture

The Wheels on the Bus

 This past weekend we had the fun opportunity to take your family up to Frisco,CO with some of the Valor Discovery Kenya Team from last year. Mark drove a school van with our family and 5 teenagers. The trip up there usually takes around an hour and a half but took us much longer seeing as it was snowing once we reached the mountains. Plus an accident occurred and we sat for a good 45 minutes before it was cleared and the road plowed. fun times!  

 We were able to stay at Britta's (the Kenya leader last yet- she teaches English at Valor) parents vacation home in Frisco- it was BEAUTIFUL and had plenty of space for our group! 

 Here we all are! Britta is holding Elijah:) 

We got all settled into and the all my kids were SO excited to sleep under a Christmas tree:)

 We hung out for a while and played lots of board games- the teenagers were SO sweet and played tons of games with our kiddos!~ It made them feel so special! 

 Arianna was very proud that she beat Chase in checkers!

We went to dinner at The Boat Yard- it was FANTASTIC! 

Ella formed quite the attachment to Ben! He was so patient with her and she just hung all over him and cried when he couldnt sleep in our room that night:) 

 We stayed up late watching Lord of the Rings movie 

(although I only made it thru half of the first one! I'm getting too old!)

 That morning the group planned out their Valor Discovery Trip presentation for chapel, while Mark and I cooked bacon, waffles and eggs for everyone! 

It was an epic breakfast! Boy can teenagers eat! 

 It was such a fun trip! Hanging out, getting to know some pretty awesome teenagers! 

And this summer, Mark is leading the trip to Kenya! 

What a privilege! Excited to see the group that is put together for the summer!