Family | Life Elevated Mom

The Broadmoor: The Setting for the Perfect Family Getaway (Part I)

December 30, 2012 by Amber

Our Broadmoor toddlers

Shamefully, it has been almost a month since my family visited The Broadmoor and I’m just now getting around to documenting it. Jamie has been obsessing about returning to Colorado’s longest-running consecutive winner of both the AAA’s Five-Diamond and Forbes Travel Guide’s Five-Star awards.

And who can blame him? Our two previous trips were absolutely epic. We first took the kids when they were only 1 and 3 in December and again a few years ago when we stayed in their opulent cottages with my parents.

All December long, The Broadmoor has a sundry of Christmas activities that start the day after Thanksgiving and last through Christmas. From Santa’s elves who share holiday stories to Breakfast with Santa to fireside tales with Mrs. Claus to The Broadmoor’s Christmas House with hundreds of gifts to ice sculptures to family bingo. The holiday family workshop has fun for children of all ages including writing a letter to Santa, holiday crafts and movies.

Pretty much, it is Christmas spirit overload.

During our latest visit, I was invited to cover the White Lights Ceremony–the resort’s holiday kick-off–for The Broadmoor Magazine. We invited Jamie’s parents along for the ride and it was one of my favorite getaways ever.

Since I’m busy writing the article, I’ll dedicate my blog to telling our story…in pictures. I’m convinced every Coloradoan should stay at The Broadmoor at least once in their lifetime. Enjoy!

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Our Rooms

We stayed in two adjoining suites with beautifully-appointed amenities.

Our first time ordering room service

Bode adjusted a little bit too well. This is him watching TV from his canopied enclave.

His reentry into the real world was tough.

The Resort

Though I was initially disappointed we didn’t have any snow, who can complain with views like this?

Hanging out with the swans

This was one of my favorite photos of our entire trip. One morning, I woke up early to go for a trek and captured that perfect moment of white lights giving way to morning glory.

The Pool

Since first opening in 1918, this luxurious hotel has boasted such offerings as the beloved Bee Bunch Children’s Programs (seasonal), distinctive restaurants, indoor/outdoor pools, a playground, an award-winning spa, six tennis courts, 26 specialty retail shops, 54 holes of championship golf and numerous specialty tours, activities and programs for guests of all ages.

And what does my family choose to hit upon arrival?

Untouched photo from the pool of the golf course

If it is this beautiful in late-November, it is mind-blowing during the summer.

The Cast of Characters

Since abandoning us a few years ago for Utah (we’re not bitter) any time with Jamie’s parents is treasured.

AAA Four-Diamond restaurant Charles Court

: Illegally(?) cruising with Grandpa

My favorite guys

The Food

All of the food at The Broadmoor was delicious but nothing compares to their elaborate Sunday Brunch in the elegant Lake Terrace dining room. Featuring over 100 items, elaborate ice sculptures and live piano music, we thought we’d died and gone to heaven.

Round 1

Quite appropriate, too because if I were to have a Last Supper, it would be The Broadmoor’s Brunch.

Stay tuned tomorrow as we delve into the White Lights Ceremony’s holiday events. Read it here!

Filed Under: Colorado, Family, Family travel, Foodie

Rewriting the Nativity on Christmas Eve (Extortion, Anyone?)

December 26, 2012 by Amber

Confession: I went a wee bit overboard with Christmas Eve. It’s just that the night before Christmas is traditionally my family’s big celebration and I was bummed to not be surrounded by family. And so I invited ward members and neighbors who didn’t have nearby relatives. And kept inviting. My final count was between 25-30 people.

Oh, and I kinda forgot to tell my husband about it. On our way to Loveland Ski Area on Christmas Eve morning:

“We have to hurry back so I can get everything ready.”

“Get what ready?”

“Christmas Eve. We have [listed off families] coming tonight.”

“WHAT?”

“I told you about it, didn’t I?”

“I think I’d remember something like that.”

I’d like to call it Jamie’s Christmas Eve Surprise Party.

But it all turned out splendidly and was a reminder that we have so many beloved friends who are like family. We had so much delicious food we were literally busting at the seams and ran out of table and counter space.And we played my favorite games that included the Christmas bells and the Left-Right Game (which always brings down the house). And for the first time ever, we reenacted the Nativity. In Young Women’s the previous Sunday, our wonderful president pulled together a very spiritual program with carols and scriptures. I grabbed a copy of the script and vowed we’d do the same on Christmas Eve, with assuredly the same result.

Yeah, right. With young kids, that ain’t possible. A couple of the young ones had meltdowns and our darling who was to hold the star got freaked out and refused to do it. (“Star light, star fright?”)

Hadley was thrilled when her peers selected her to be Mary but I couldn’t convince anyone to be her Joseph. I finally had to bribe Bryan, one of the boys with whom I carpool, to do it.

Though chaotic, the entire night was a shining reminder that the Christmas season is about celebrating Jesus’ birth surrounded by those we love.

And my greatest takeaway: The Lord’s wise methodology of having an angel appear to Joseph in a dream to tell him to take Mary as his wife was far more effective than bribery.

Filed Under: Family, holidays, Humor, LDS

Why you should totally feel sorry for Bode

November 19, 2012 by Amber

Bode is pretty darn delightful these days–he is always humming or singing a song he’s learning in music class and is a happy kid. I’m convinced kindergarten/grade 1 are about the best years ever of a kid’s life. You’re old enough to really do things for yourself yet young enough to not shoulder the responsibility of any real demands or homework.

Unless you’re Bode who begs me to make up homework for him. (While I can’t force Haddie to do hers).

And of course, there is play. After a brief hiatus from sleepovers (likely recovering from the previous ones) Jamie’s sister Lisa generously offered to host each of the kids on their very own sleepover. Haddie’s was a few weeks ago and Bode has been chomping at the bit for his turn. The problem is, our travel schedule will be starting to heat up with some pretty epic trips.

Bode’s uphill climb

Last week, Lisa sent this email:

Would Bode like to come over for a sleepover on Friday? Let me know.

Jamie’s response:

Bode I know would love to come over for a sleepover. He has a B-day party on that Saturday at 11:30 a.m. that he needs to go to. Will that be a problem? Other than this Friday Bode is booked until mid-December. It is hard to be the Bode. So very hard.

Filed Under: Bode, Family, Humor, Jamie

Another warning to parents everywhere

November 3, 2012 by Amber

My dad and brother Jade are middle-of-the-night eaters. I am not.

However, I recently had an extreme lapse in judgment as I trudged to the bathroom at 2 a.m. We had eaten a light dinner and I spotted the kids’ candy bags, which we were erroneously storing in our bedroom to prevent them from snacking.

And at 2 a.m., Snickers sounded like a really good idea.
I partook of the forbidden fruit and within minutes, I was BUZZZZZZED. And on speed.

So, consider yourself warned: Snickers Really Satisfies…All. Night. Long.

P.S. Today is my brother Jade’s birthday. I dedicate my late-nighter unto him.

Filed Under: Family, Humor

Duct Tape Man Does Hurricane Sandy

October 30, 2012 by Amber

**READ NEW ADDENDUM**

Between Jessica Ridgeway’s horrific murder and Hurricane Sandy, I’ve been watching a lot of news lately (in fact, CNN is currently playing in the background). My heart goes out to all those impacted by this storm.

My brother Jade lives in New Jersey and was one of only five people who showed up for work yesterday (common sense obviously does not run in our family). Further evidence: When he was Duct Tape Man for Halloween. I’ve been following his Facebook wall to see how he waged the storm. His latest update:

Many years ago I successfully repaired a light fixture I broke in my parent’s bathroom with black hockey tape. I used this knowledge obtained from youth last night as my fence laid broken in two during the storm. Instead of reaching for the tool bag I grabbed the hockey bag instead once again and patched it up with some hockey laces! It withstood the storm, a valuable lesson to all.

Lesson learned.
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ADDENDUM: After publishing this on my blog, my brother posted the following new profile picture on Facebook of him waging a battle against Hurricane Sandy. Monster: created.

Filed Under: Family, Humor

When your family is a bloody mess (literally!)

October 22, 2012 by Amber

They say blood is thicker than water in reference to the bonds of family. However, after seeing this picture of Jamie’s brother and sister at Denver’s 2012 Zombie Crawl last weekend, I beg to differ.

And I am more than just a little big glad we’re not blood related. 🙂

P.S. Bode is still traumatized from seeing them.

Filed Under: Colorado, Family Tagged With: Denver

Fat Kitty on the Lam

September 13, 2012 by Amber

Fat Dude has a pretty easy-going life as an inside house cat. He sleeps. He eats. He snuggles. He sleeps some more. And if he’s lucky, we take him for supervised visits in the backyard (remember his first Great Escape?)

Basically, Fat Kitty is our prisoner.

The other night, he made a bid for freedom that failed oh-so miserably. Every night before bedtime, he dutifully waits for Hadley on her bed and falls asleep with her. He’ll usually make his way into our bedroom later and sleeps perched above my head.

He’s like a bit, fat, squishy pillow.

But when I woke up Wednesday morning, he was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t worried. Occasionally he likes to pull an all-nighter with Hadley or wander the house. Jamie opened up our bedroom window a crack and discovered it was raining HARD. It was a shock because we assumed Denver forgot how to rain (it has been that long).

And then I heard a very distinctive MEOW!

It wasn’t his normal morning “hey wassup” meow but rather of a ticked-off cat in distress. I started racing around the house to see what closet he accidentally got locked in this time (don’t judge; it happens). But I couldn’t find him anywhere.

Until I went downstairs and looked outside. There, sitting on the patio was a verrrrrrrry angry Fat Kitty who was locked outside. Remember when I mentioned it was raining? Welp,it rained cats and dogs (pun intended). All. Night. Long.

Every evening in the summer, Jamie opens up the windows and blasts our attic fan to cool down the house. What likely happened that night was he’d opened up the back door and Fat Kitty must have snuck out through the busted screen.

And yes, Jamie will continue to be nagged until it is fixed.

Then, when Jamie locked up the house an hour later he unknowingly locked the Fat One outside. Did I mention the rain storm?

Fat Kitty won’t let us forget about it. But he hasn’t shown any desire to go outside so don’t be watching for him on Prison Break anytime soon.

Especially when it’s raining.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: Fat Kitty

One-week freedom anniversary

August 29, 2012 by Amber

Today marks one week that both kids have been in school and I’ve fallen into a nice pattern.

5:30 a.m. Wake up, work.
6:50 a.m. Wake up kids.
7 a.m. Wake up kids again. I really mean it this time. Get Bode breakfast
7:15 a.m. Wake up daughter AGAIN. Threats begin.
7:16-7:54 a.m. Eat breakfast, make beds, get ready, more threats.
7:55 a.m. Walk son to the bus stop
8:15 a.m. Drive Haddie and our carpool to school
8:30-10 a.m. Workout/play
10:30 a.m..-3:10 p.m. Work.
3:11 p.m. Pick-up kids, homework, chaos, dinner.
10:30 p.m. Fall into bed. If I’m lucky.

My level of productivity has astounded even me and it’s helped I haven’t had any glaring deadlines this week. After Labor Day, work meetings/lunches begin but I’m making a concerted effort to keep my first couple of hours free to hike or bike.

My friend Tiffanie asked me to help lead a 20-mile hike with the Scouts on Labor Day so I’ve been exploring some new routes in Boulder. Jamie calls it slacking off. I call it research.

Either way, I win.

As for the kids, they are thriving. Bode starts soccer next week and adores first grade, his teacher, the school and his buddies. In his assessment he tested waaaay above the standard in all his subjects and hopefully he’ll keep at it. I’m relishing our walks to the bus stop and that he still adores me enough to hug, kiss and even take me down in the occasional thumb war.

These are limited days, indeed.

Hadley is also doing really well and will begin swim team and piano lessons in September.

I, of course, was worried because she started a new school but she loves it. Well, she loves most aspects of it except the academic part (which I suspect will be a battle until she graduates). She has made a BF in class, plays in the treehouse with all the boys at recess (gulp), is thrilled to be learning the violin in orchestra (painful earplug gulp), thinks she’s bilingual with her Spanish class and is counting down the days until her first field trip and the pranks they’ll pull on the boys

In our public school, they went to the museum, to a play or the zoo. Wanna know what her charter school has planned? A 3-day, 2-night camping trip to Mesa Verde National Park.

It’s no wonder she’s liking it.

And I’m really, really happy she’s there. Though there have been some preliminary hiccups/annoyances, I love the beautiful campus (I’ll have to post pictures soon) and the kind of activities they have planned. From their back-to-school picnic to a potluck with all the families in our class to a Fall Festival for the community to a 5K…that’s all within the next month.

And just how is Fat Kitty adjusting to our suddenly-quiet house?

Rather well, I’d have to say.

Filed Under: Bode, Family, Hadley Tagged With: Fat Kitty

My mother’s horror and our best Canadian day ever

July 31, 2012 by Amber

I’m a sucker for traditions and on our trip to Calgary, we instituted a new one.

Much to my mother’s horror.

Remember when I let the kids jump into Fish Creek fully-clothed and we had the best night ever?

They begged my dad and me to take them back during the day so they could wear their swim suits. We went to our favorite spot: the ice caves. Remember last winter when we literally walked on water?

It’s a much different scene in the summer.

We were delighted to stumble upon some kids who were attempting to catch minnows and they graciously loaned us their nets.

Who knew miniature carp could be so fascinating?

Grandpa also held a tutorial on skipping rocks.

I only got pegged once.

But what unfolded next is still causing my mother sleepless nights. When we were at this area last summer, we saw some teens who were covered in mud. I didn’t think much of it–they had climbed straight up a precipitous cliff to get there and risking life and limb didn’t appeal to me. This summer, some teens emerged who’d done the same thing but it wasn’t until I saw a family of four take a much tamer path up the mountain that I decided to investigate.

“C’mon, Hadley,” I barked. We were Johnson girls on a mission.

We climbed for a few minutes until we stumbled upon a trail that was covered in mud. Thinking this was the final destination, Hadley and I called the boys up to come check it out. We then, of course, got dirty.

Really dirty.

Bode and my Dad joined us and Bode tepidly stepped into the mud. His shoe sank. He panicked and soon his other shoe got stuck, he freaked a bit and I thought he was having nothin’ to do with that mud.

Until Grandpa saved the day.

While Hadley and I had assumed this was the final destination, my dad forged forward through the mud and continued upward on the dry trail. And that, my friends, is when we stumbled upon a mucky, oozing wonderland: the mud pits. There were literally pools and slides of mud.

“Well get in!” I squealed.

My kids hesitated. Could it be? The woman who is always saying “stay out of the mud” was actually encouraging it?

They never looked back.

Muddy kids w/ view of Fish Creek below

Cooling off later at Annie’s Bakery & Cafe

And we’re counting down the days until we can do it again next summer.

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Family, Family travel, Favorite Posts, Hadley

Tales from the Motherland

July 24, 2012 by Amber

Though I have a camera or my iPhone in my kids’ faces taking pictures on an almost daily basis, I rarely shoot video. Once upon a time when I was a broadcast journalism student at BYU, I became really proficient at shooting and editing video. I had to be. We had zero budget to do otherwise.

But that was 15 years ago and I haven’t kept up with all the photo editing tools that are out there so that corner of my life has gone to the wayside.

Until my friend Stacey stepped in.

At Bode’s birthday last week at Fish Creek, she shot several short vignettes of the festivities and edited them together through iMovie on her iPad into a darling/hilarious superhero birthday movie trailer.

I’d show it to you but she has yet to send it to me. Something about having to join YouTube or Facebook in order to upload it.

As great as she is with technology, it cracks me up she wants nothing to do with either of them.

So she graciously came over to my parent’s house yesterday to show the kids and me how to make our own movie trailer using Jamie’s iPad. I was delighted it was pretty easy but we quickly realized we needed a lot more footage than our little outings that afternoon and I regretted I hadn’t been shooting video of our entire trip.

There’s always next time.

So, take 1 minute (that’s how long it is) to check out an afternoon in Tales From The Motherland. I think we did a pretty darn good job for our first effort. though I realized I would never make it as a movie director; it made me too bossy.

“No, stop there. Come back. Now run. Don’t smile at the camera. Look natural.”

You get the idea.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30hnfTOmgcI]

I expect Hollywood to come calling any minute.

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Family, Family travel, Hadley