We took our annual trip to Colorado Springs to see my Aunt Carol. 

We had a big group this year and my Uncle Tom, Aunt Tammy and Emily drove out to meet us. 

This ended up being very bittersweet. More on that later. 

We picked the girls up from school and headed to the airport. 

An uneventful flight took us into Denver, picked up the rental car and headed to the first stop we always make. 

In N Out. 

No one else loves it like Ava and I. 

But they suck it up.

Double protein burger, animal style. YUM! And messy.

We got to the AirBNB and Tom, Tammy and Emily were already there! 

We picked our rooms and headed to the grocery store. 

Back to get settled and a good nights sleep. 

Up early the next morning because I promised Ava we would do more hikes this time around, since I'm a little healthier. 

Our hike was actually a walking trail but much longer than we thought.

Still beautiful views and cool things along the way!

Back for showers and loaded up the car to head to Cripple Creek! 

*Uncle Tom had dialysis this morning and was pretty sick. 

He stayed back while we all headed to mountains.

I have so many photos in this spot. The Continental Divide.

We kept it a low key evening since Tom was still sick. 

The next day, we headed to Royal Gorge. I hadn't been there in many years and my girls had never been there. I had to face my fears as I'm petrified of heights. 

*Tom was still super sick so Tammy stayed back with him.

We made it across the bridge! 

But it was a long walk...we decided to take another mode of transportation back. 

Ava chose zip line. 

I was freaking out. 

She is such a rock star.

The others took the tram. As you know...this isn't my favorite. 

Once we got back to the house, this is where things took a turn. 

Uncle Tom was sooo sick. We ended up calling the ambulance and they took him to the hospital. 

He was admitted into ICU. 

About an hour after he was admitted, they called my mom up there because they were going to read Last Rites. It was so scary. Somehow he rallied. He was still very sick. 

The next couple of days were spent traveling back and forth from the hospital while maintaining a "vacation" for the kids. 

Saturday was game day so Nate and John stayed back, so did Addy and Ava and I went shopping in between hospital visits. 

After we went and picked everyone up from the hospital, we decided to drive through Garden of the Gods. It's a must anytime we are in Colorado. The scenery never gets old.

Although this trip was a big deal for me. I typically cannot do any hiking with the family and take everyone's photos from the bottom. Well, this year I was in the photos!

We finished off the night at Top Golf. We took the sisters back to the hospital and headed for one last night of fun. Many decisions were being made. 

Addy worked on this in between outings. 

My Time Hop...

Last year when we were there we got 3 feet of snow. 

This year it was mid-70's and almost too warm for how we packed. 

My Uncle Tom continued in ICU and no one wanted to leave him. 

My mom, Tammy and Emily made the decision to move to a hotel and stay in Colorado until he was able to be released. 

It was a hard goodbye. We made the trip and for that, there is no regrets. 

Such a bittersweet time.