Lions, tigers, and Emma Bears! Oh my!-Colorado mini-vacation!

So here goes the (near) weekly update. This past weekend was amazing and I think everyone had a really great time. Emma and I headed up to Colorado for a couple this days for some much needed relaxation, mountains, and....SNOW! (Kind of.) We did some shopping for some very sweet deployment gear for my up-coming tax-free government paid vacation to a little place called Afghanistan. Then we met up with our good friend Julie (husband Ryan is in school and couldn't partake in the festivities) who we stayed with for the next three nights. We went out to dinner at TGI Fridays which was delicious, but it turned into a White Russian night and I think we all feel asleep fairly quick. The next day we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo which was wonderful! The weather was perfect and Emma had a blast seeing all the animals. I think she was especially amused with the hippos, she just didn't want to leave them! We also took the chair lift up to one of the peaks and did a little rock climbing and picture-taking. We also had a little barbeque with some good friends at the Drayer's residence and it was really good seeing everyone. Taya and Emma kept shoving eachother into dog crates and locking eachother in, which made everyone laugh. The day finally came for Emma and I to depart back to Louisiana which was a sad sad day. We all took it a bit hard...as always. Then we both go back to work on Tuesday which eventually turned into what should have been a lovely Friday, only to find out we aren't getting paid becuse those, as my father calls them, "idiots up in Congress" can't agree on anything and that hit everyone pretty hard. We are just hoping that they find a way to work together in a positive way soon so they can stop affecting the good people that fight for this country. Other than the latter, it has been a great weekend and a decent week. :) Love the Holmertz Clan.