Boulder, Colorado

Over Easter weekend I had the opportunity to head to Colorado with some of my family to meet my newly discovered half aunt for the first time. We found out about aunt Susie last August while my aunt Melinda was doing family history. After some blood tests it was confirmed that my grandma Nonka (Lowe) had a baby when she was 19 (if I'm remembering right) during world war two. She moved to San Francisco during her pregnancy and kept it a secret from everyone. We don't she told a single person she knew. 

We decided to meet in Colorado so that my uncle Jeff, who is not in the best condition, would be able to meet her as well. We stayed at my uncle Jeff's ex-girlfriends house. Sounds kind of weird, right? I guess she has a good relationship with my family, and a lot of extra space, so she offered her home. It was the most beautiful home located in Boulder. All of the kids got to stay in the huge basement while the adults slept on the top floor of the house. It was a serious good time.

 We had fun exploring Boulder for the short time we were there, and hanging out at the house. There were lots of tender moments (sorry, that's the only way I know how to put it) and tears of happiness and sadness shed. My aunt Susie reminded us all quite a bit of Nonka. She shared her passion for dance, and she has her hands. I loved that we were all able to instantly connect with her, and it felt like she had been apart of the family all this time. Lots of gifts were offered to Susie to tell her a bit about her family. There was a book made about my Uncle Kim, who passed away when I was nine, that brought back so many vivid memories. There was a letter that Kim wrote to my family while he was in jail, and the speech that my mom gave at his funeral. It was really cool to go back and reopen these memories about my uncle since I was so young when he passed away. 

Later that night my uncle Jeff told us about his current condition, and he gave us what seemed to me like a goodbye speech. I think it had everyone in the room teary eyed, but it was really comforting for me to look around and know that this big family is mine, and that we have each other no matter what. I will always cherish that weekend spent in Boulder. 

The four of us got to road trip down together. Don't be fooled by my smile, I was extremely grumpy for the first half of the drive, but I perked up a bit after I took a nap ;)

 I stole this from Georgie's insta but there was the same sign in the girls bathroom and we all had a pretty big laugh over it.

 I seriously love this pose me and Torill had going on at Kim's funeral. I have another picture of us doing this exact same pose next to Cass and Ty when they were going to prom together. Haha why we were getting a picture taken with them I do not know.

Valentina was loving Nick, and it seriously took an entire day for me to get her to even care about me. I love that funny and smart little one.

The family we stayed with had chickens and goats running around their yard, and I thought that was just fabulous.