Remembering Our Hero's

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post.  Where were you when the world as we knew it in America changed?  I was a freshman in college in Missoula Montana, hundreds of miles from home when I heard the words that the towers had been hit and America was under attack.  It was a day that changed all of our lives.  All of us have memories of where we were when the news hit, but we are here because of the hero's that sacrificed their lives for the greater whole.  With tears in my eyes all I can say is "Thank you" to the heroes that saved my life and my freedom.  I am so thankful to everyone that has died for me, my family and America.  I am so proud to be an American.

I'll Never Forget (9-11 Tribute)

Let the world always remember,
That fateful day in September,
And the ones who answered duties call,
Should be remembered by us all.

Who left the comfort of their home,
To face perils as yet unknown,
An embodiment of goodness on a day,
When men's hearts had gone astray.

Sons and daughters like me and you,
Who never questioned what they had to do,
Who by example, were a source of hope,
And strength to others who could not cope.

Heroes that would not turn their back,
With determination that would not crack,
Who bound together in their ranks,
And asking not a word of thanks.

Men who bravely gave their lives,
Whose orphaned kids and widowed wives,
Can proudly look back on their dad,
Who gave this country all they had.

Actions taken without regret,
Heroisms we shall never forget,
The ones who paid the ultimate price,
Let's never forget their sacrifice.

And never forget the ones no longer here,
Who fought for the freedoms we all hold dear,
And may their memory never wane,
Lest their sacrifices be in vain.

Alan W. Jankowski

"WINNING"

Last weekend was a weekend to remember.  With it being the long holiday weekend we decided to head up to Black Hawk and stay at Ameristar our favorite hotel.  For those of you that haven't been to up to Black Hawk it is only about an hour away and it literally like a mini Vegas.  Brad and I aren't huge into gambling but there is so much to do up there and the hotel is so nice.  The best thing is the hotel rooms which are very inexpensive when you have a players card.  The rooms are VERY nice and all have great views of the town on the mountain.

View from the Room of the Town

We meet John and Maggie up there.  The night started with some lovely wine, all nights that start with wine end well :)  We all had to gamble some to make sure that we got the buffet for free.  That is another great thing about Ameristar is that fact that they have an AMAZING buffet that usually is free.  In order to get the buffet you have to swipe your players card to print out the receipt.  They had a game pop up on the screen just for card holders.  It was called "Gold Rush".  Basically you clicked on gold mine carts and what ever card you clicked on your won the prize.  Brad was happy that he won two free tee shirts.  I got a weird ticket that said gold coin.  I didn't think any thing of it and through the receipt in my purse.  While I was enjoying my fabulous clam chowder John was like, "you should see what that gold coin is, I am curious." So folks that is where the "winning" title comes in.  Mind you at this time I was a slight bit tipsy on the above mentioned glass um bottle of wine.  I walked right up to the friendly lady at the guest services and said I have this gold coin ticket.  Her eyes got big and she said in a high voice... "YOU ARE THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER!!" Brad and I both looked at each other and said "what are you talking about?"  She said you won a REAL gold coin... what get out!!!  So the value is... drum roll... $1890.  I couldn't believe it!!!  After what seemed like 30 minutes the CEO of Ameristar and the Banker delivered it to me in a little ceremony.  Then they proceeded to ask me if I wanted to be escorted back to the room by security.  What, What I could barley control my utter shock.  So ladies and gents what started as being a fun weekend get away turned in to yours truly being a high roller.

Waiting for the coin to be delivered

Gold Bliss

Happy Winner

We finished the night in the hot tub on the 26th floor looking at the beautiful stars.  The pool and hot tub are so relaxing and fun.  The next morning Maggie and I enjoyed the private spa.  It was AMAZING.  They have a large hot tub, steam room, sauna, fire room, snacks, amazing flavored water and much more.  We literally sat and relaxed reading magazines for hours.  The boys gambled and we Spa'd it up!!!

Every  fun/winning weekend must come to an end, boo!!!  What a great trip to Ameristar I am sure we will be back soon. 

The Cabin

Last weekend we set out for the cabin for the weekend. We asked John and Maggie to join us and we're happy they could come with us. In true cabin tradition we stopped on our way up at the Kingsoopers in Conifer. I sware to you I don't know what it is but they have the best food! It is always very fresh and delicious. The rest of the drive was a little nerve racking as it got dark very fast and it was raining. We finally arrived and got the cars unloaded and started dinner right away. Maggie got Omaha steaks (what a treat) and the boys spoiled us with making dinner while Maggie and I decided to relax with some great wine (a whole bottle to be exact ;) Dinner was amazing, I must give props to John that he makes the best steaks.

View from the Patio where we ate lunch

We woke up the next morning to beautiful mountain weather. The cabin is in FairPlay,CO which is a very cute, charming mountain town. We were able to hang out on the deck for breakfast and watch the hummingbirds for a while. We then headed to Breckenridge which is about 25 minutes away. We weren't aware that Colorado was hosting a professional bike race with one of the legs ending in Breckenridge that afternoon. We had made lots of plans of things we would do once we got into town, due to the race our whole day changed! After it taking forever to park and getting shuttled into downtown we were able to walk around town and shop some. We went to our favorite restaurant Kanosha Steakhouse to sit on the patio and enjoy the beautiful views of the slopes. After lunch the bikers finally made it to town. It was exciting to see the racers. They were riding at about 30 mph which was awesome to watch.

Bikers on the final stretch before crossing the finish line

Maggie and John on the slide

Coincidentally we brought our mountain bikes up to ride the Gondola up to the top of the lifts and then ride back town. Long story short we got to the top after battling some rain/lightening to find out the lift to the top was closing and we couldn't go up. John and Maggie decided to ride the Alpine Slide and Brad and I just enjoyed the mountain views.




Since we had lugged our bikes everywhere we decided to ride our bikes back on the road from the ski base to town. Great idea right.... WRONG... About half way through in started to down poor. Here we are riding as fast as we can soaking wet, it took about 20 minutes from when the rain started to get back to the car. We were all cold and WET and decided to head back to the cabin. That night Maggie and I treated the boys to dinner while we watched the Bronco's game. The sunset that night was beautiful, we all enjoyed the crisp mountain air and sunset.

View from the Deck

Sunday we slept in and decided to go fishing before taking off. We all semi-caught trout at least one trout. Some got off before we got them to shore. Once again it started to rain so we packed up to head back to the cabin. The weather was interested all weekend but what can you do it is the Colorado Rockies! It was sad to leave that afternoon as we had such a great time.

Brad with a Rainbow Trout

Fishing at the lake

Thanks to John and Maggie for coming with us, we had such a great time and can't wait to go back up with you guys again!

Just one more...

Brad officially has a new obsession... Autographs!! It all started in February at the Bass Master Classic. Before we left for New Orleans I get a call that Brad and John (his BF) are going to Hobby Lobby to make a special card holder. Don't call me prejudice but two boys in Hobby Lobby made me laugh. Then I come home to the two of them asking me if we own baby powder as the need to specially rub the fishing cards so the sharpie autograph will be a better quality. All I could do at this point was crack up with their silly obsession. Fast forward us being at the Classic me hiding everywhere we are at as Brad is getting every one's autograph. Literally he got EVERYONES autograph, we would be in mid conversation and he would run over to have someone sign something. He even held up our tour bus to get some one's autograph. I will say that the fishing world appreciates the autograph love and we did get lots of free stuff because of him knowing everyone and every detail of their professional and private life. It all ended for him at the Classic with KVD (Kevin Van Dam) autograph on special Allan and Ginter cards. Brad was the only one to get his autograph right after his million dollar win. Brad was shaking, smiling and over all in dis-belief he pulled it off.

Right after winning the Classic

Pure joy that he was the the only one to pull off the autograph

It continued in the Spring when he went with John early to the Rockies game to get autographs. There is a special "society" as I will refer to it. This society is OBSESSED with the Colorado Rockies and get to the games 4-6 hours before to stand in the shade in the hope of the players pulling over in there cars before they park. I can't lie I have partook in the society but have always felt creepy doing so like a stalker. One member in the society even knows all the players cars! Back to the topic at hand. The first time Brad partook in the autograph activities who does he get... Troy Tulowitzki's autograph on a ball. This is the same player that will be a Colorado Rockie for life, he is definitely an all star here in Denver. And so it began a summer full of autographs and obsessions.

Fast forward to us a day on Pearl Street mall. Brad found a free magazine with a title "Who does Denver love Best, Tim Tebow or Troy Tulowitzki?" I saw his face and officially knew the autograph hunt was on. Brad set the goal to get both of their autographs on the front. Tulowitzki he knew was going to be much easier with knowing all the tricks from the special society. Sure enough it took Brad and John one game day and Brad pulled off getting Tulowitzki to pull over in his pimped out Camero and vola one down one to go. Tebow was Brad's unicorn and he was in for the challenge.

Note-Definition in autograph world for unicorn: someone who is near impossible if not impossible to get there autograph.

Brad devised his game plan that the only chance for Tebow's signature would be during Training camp. For those of you who don't live in Denver, Tebow is CRAZY popular here with a HUGE fan base. We went to the practice at Mile High first, Brad patiently wanted for practice to end to start the hunt. Unfortunately he had no luck that day. The following week we went to Dove Valley for the first time for training camp. First thing Brad said to me when we woke up was "today is the day". We sat through 4 hours of practice, sun in our eyes, 95 degree weather when much to every one's surprise all the quarterbacks started to sign autographs for fans. There was a scary mad dash with girls screaming and pushing to get close to Tebow. Brad was in the thick of it while I took my normal hiding stance. Tebow only signed for 20 minutes and guess what... BRAD DID IT! He got his unicorn! He was so happy and giddy about it.

The prized possession soon to be framed

We went to the first Bronco's preseason home game and what did we do after, you guessed it... We got autographs. There will always be a new quest Brad will be working on and I will always be in the corner chuckling and shaking my head hearing, "Just one more!"

Von Miller- 1st round draft pick

Brandon Lloyd- All Star Pro receiver

Bronco's Season Opener and Estes Park

This weekend was jammed packed with good summer fun.  It started on Saturday with Season opener tickets to watch our beloved Denver Bronco's take on the Buffalo Bills.  Brad and I try to make it to as many Bronco's games a year as we can as they are so much fun.  We were able to find a great deal on Ebay for United Club level seats.  Brad and I are serious football (especially Bronco's) fans!! This is our time of year when our weekends are jammed packed with tail-gating and football. The weather was perfect for our so said "season opener".

In front of the house before leaving for the game

We decided to spice up our game time ritual this year and go to a new BBQ restaurant that was highly recommended instead of our usual Mexican feast.  M and D BBQ lived up to the fabulous reviews that I had heard. The BBQ was very southern served with corn bread and all the other fixins'.  They even had my favorite appetizer, Fried Okra!! Life couldn't get much better then great southern BBQ before a Bronco Game..Bliss. 

Me excited in the car showing off my tatto

After walking through all the tail-gating Bronco's maniac's (my kind of fans) we entered the Mile High Stadium aka Bronco Country.  Lets put it this way... once you go club you don't go back! We entered the glass entrance special gate, showed our tickets no fewer then 10 times and then we officially arrived.  Brad and I were in awe of the greatness of CLUB LEVEL.  After our 2 year old excitement we were able to see multiple bars, free face painting, free merchandise and Autographs from former players.  It was AMAZING.  We partook in all of the activities and lived it up to the fullest.

Us in our wonderful seats

Go Bronco's

The Bronco's played well for it not only being their season home opener but Couch Fox's and the rookies first game in the new Sports Authority Field at Mile High. It was great to see all the new Draft players as well as the ongoing battle of who will be QB 1,2 and 3.  It was a great game full of good hits, touch downs, and fights.  The Bronco's held their lead through out the game and won 24-10.  After the game Brad and I stood and got autograph's from many of the players. We even got to see Von Miller, our number one draft pick (An Autograph post to come soon).  It was a great night and good kick off to all the football to come this year.

Sunday we decided it would be nice to go up to Estes Park for a hike and some shopping.  My mom and I like to make at lease two trips per year.

Lilly Lake

Lilly Lake is my mom's favorite.  It is a short hike around the lake but you can do other harder hikes from the same trailhead.  We walked around the lake one and took pictures and then decided to go off on another trailhead that takes you to the top of the mountain where there are great views of the lake and Long's Peak.  The view from the top was breathtaking.  We say so much wildlife as well including... Black squirrels, chipmunks, baby ducks, rainbow trout, and a muskrat.  The weather started to turn when we were at the top so we tried to hurry down the trail before it got bad but we didn't quite make it before the sky's open and it down poured.  It was crazy it was coming down so fast that all we could really do was run to different dry tree spots rest and then run to the next.  It was defiantly an adventure to say the least.  By the time we go back to the car we were all soaked and laughing from the great adventure.  It was a hike not to forget!

 

At the top of Mountain

View of the Lake

After drying off in the car we heading into Estes Park to walk around and enjoy the shops and festivel that was going on.  It got very warm and the town of Estes was very Charming like it always is.  We were able to get some small gifts and I even scored an ornament. If you know me you know I pick one up where ever I go, it is the one thing that I love to collect and love Christmas when I see all the ornaments from all the different places we have been!! They even had a petting zoo, my favorite!!  There were lots of baby animals including a baby cow and 11 day old goats.  We got some goodies from our favorite candy shop and had a good dinner before heading back into town. It was a great day and a great way to finish the weekend.  I can't wait to go up for the Elk calls next month.

Summer, Summer where have you gone

Wow is it really almost the end of August?!  I was so busy with work all summer I almost couldn't breathe and in all of my busyness Blogging came to a halt.  Now that things are starting to go back to normal I am back to blogging the "Sill Family Adventures".  Brad and I are always up to something new that we would love to document for not only us but all of our family and friends as well.  So raise your glass fellow, current and future followers... I am back to Blogging!!!

Blogs coming soon

Sorry for the ONE MONTH delay in a blog ( I still have Easter as a background!!) .  I have been so busy with work putting in 65+ hours a week!!!  I would like nothing more then to have the time to blog each day but unfortunately I just don't have the time.  I have lots of blog ideas that have been floating around in my head so here is what's to come in the next couple of weeks....

1. Favorite Vacation spots
2. The ABC's of the Sill's
3. Anniversary Timeline and Memories
4. Summer Plans

I hope everyone is doing well and I promise soon I wont be so neglectful with the blog!!!

XOXO