To our surprise, everyone said they were coming! Yikes. But fun. At one point we were planning on 12 people coming. It ended up being only 10. So we rounded up air mattresses, sheets, and pillows. And tried to get all of our boxes unpacked and the guest room put together.
Because we hadn't been here more than a month, we'd never really been to the touristy places around town, so it gave us a chance to explore. Luckily it worked out well and I think everyone had fun.
-First up, we had Hyrum's promotion. It was kind of rare for someone to have so many visitors at a promotion ceremony, because most people in the Army don't live near family. Hyrum had quite the entourage, which was really helpful when it came to carrying everything from the car inside. The ceremony was brief, Hyrum said some thank-you's. [The regimental commander from Hyrum's time in Afghanistan works at the Division headquarters here at Fort Carson, and was able to squeeze the promotion into his busy schedule. That was a fun surprise to see him.] After the promotion we had a luncheon. I spent a lot of the week making chicken salad and cupcakes, and it was all worth it because it was delicious! At least in my opinion... We had almost 100 cupcakes, and came home with quite a few. Better too much than too little.
These pictures have poor lighting, but they're the best I have.
-Hyrum had to work the rest of the day on Friday, so I played tour guide. We went to the Focus on the Family visitors center for the kids to play. That entertained them for a few hours, then we went to the Air Force Academy. They close at 5, so we showed up with just enough time to watch the short video, but just seeing the view from the north part of town was beautiful! If Fort Carson is brown and desert, the AFA is green and lush. Same city, but totally different.
-Friday night we went to Red Robin to celebrate Hyrum's promotion. It was awesome to not have to cook, and I love a good burger with fries. [A note on eating for the rest of their visit: it made me nervous to have to feed so many people... but it was not bad at all. The toughest part was figuring out how to fit everything in my fridge and freezer! I had all our normal food, plus food for the promotion. Space was tight!!]
-With the girls' naps, we spent some time just hanging around our house and eating. It gave Tiago plenty of time to play with his cousins. He kept calling Oscarito 'scareee-to'. It was cute. He loves having cousins around. We had ordered a mini-trampoline, and when it came in the mail we decided to put it together. Hyrum started doing it with Helaman, then left. Helaman and Mike ended up doing the whole thing-- and it wasn't easy! I felt a little bad for making them do it, but I was glad to have it completely set up!
-On Saturday, before everyone left, we went to Garden of the Gods and drove around. It started to rain, so we hurried around, then Helaman and his family left. The Porters stuck around, and we had a picnic outside under constantly changing skies. We mostly stayed dry, but it was about 20 degrees colder than we expected. (My poor kid was in shorts!) Fortunately, we had some blankets to share and keep us warm while we ate and played. After lunch the Porters left. Hyrum's parents stayed until Sunday morning.
-Saturday night we wandered around (to the PX) and then played games at home once the kids were asleep. It was nice to relax and enjoy the smaller crowd. And best of all, my house was spotless! We had the best house guests ever--they made beds, vacuumed, emptied trash, swept, etc. It looked better than when I clean it.
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