She's Legal!!

Here's Sleeping Beauty on the start of her long awaited 21st BIRTHDAY! Just as beautiful and angelic as the day she was born oh so long ago. Em and dad flew in for the celebratory weekend. As the girls headed off to the spa for the day, dad headed for the links. Although the weather was foggy the air was warm and the hot tub welcoming. We quickly donned our robes

and proceeded to relax poolside with a glass of champagne prior to our services and lunch.

All that relaxing was exhausting.

Here is dad and his girls primed, primped and ready for a night on the town.

Our server brought a sampling of drinks for Melissa to taste. Yummy.....

A fun day for sure. Unfortunately, after 36 holes of golf and 6 hours of spa we were all bushed, home, and in bed before the stroke of midnight.

Happy Birthday Mel. Hope you had a good time. We all love you!!!

I <3 Colorado

Denver pretty much combines everything I love into one place: tons of dogs; outdoorsy pursuits like skiing, biking, and running; parks; 300 days of SUNSHINE a year. I think I might just have to move there someday soon. It is the closest thing I have found to heaven on earth. Ok, maybe I'm over-exaggerating out of exhaustion, but it ranks WAAAAAY up there.

(Kevin and me at Vail)

Kevin and I had a blast skiing, hanging out with his sister and brother-in-law, and riding all around the city on bikes. The weather was really nice while we were out there -- with temps reaching the 60s in the city, and hovering around 35 in the mountains.

(The crew at A-basin -- I'm the one in the middle with the white helmet)

The snow conditions on Friday and Saturday were less than ideal, but a few inches of snow and warm/sunny weather on Sunday more than made up for it. We skied Vail on Friday, a non-resort mountain called Arapahoe Basin (A-basin) on Saturday, and Breckenridge on Sunday. The mountains were all about 1.5 hours from Meghan and Matt's house (Meg is Kevin's sister). At A-basin we parked right next to the lift -- Beachfront parking as they call it -- and cooked some breakfast on the hibachi grill.

(View from Breckenridge)

Despite not having skied in almost 5 years, I managed to keep up with Kevin, Meg and Matt -- cruising down black and double black diamonds. I even did a few jumps in the mini-terrain park. I reached my limit on the "Extreme Conditions" runs and had to slide down a nearly sheer cliff on my butt. Oh well -- maybe next year.

(Sliding down the cliff)

Monster Jam!

I know I haven't blogged in a while, so I figured I would catch up on it. I am now 18 (woo!) and I had such a great time at my surprise party. As part of my birthday present, Melody got Sarah, Benny, and me tickets to Monster Jam. We all had so much fun! I dressed up in overalls for the occasion. We went to a tailgate with Mel's family, and then we went over to the Bolles tailgate. The actual show started at 7 so we went inside to watch. The trucks were huge and loud, and the stadium was packed! ... with rednecks of course. At half time there was even a mullet contest. After we left, the crew headed to Famous Amos for a late night breakfast. It's a Hoffman family tradition. By the time we got home I was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I had such a great birthday weekend! Below are pictures from Monster Jam. (Mel Sarah and I, Brent and I, Blue Thunder, Benny and I)