I heard Jamie on the phone raving that he got the best Father’s Day present ever and I wondered what he was talking about. Was it the new North Face boots? (We lost one of his winter boots on a trip last season.) The Broncos camping chair? The new THEATER sign to hang outside of his home theater in our new basement?
Nope, none of that. “Our house is under finally under contract!”
Oh yeah, THAT!
Yes, we’re under contract for a second time. It feels right and I’m cautiously optimistic all will go according to plan. This literally came to fruition in the 11th hour, right before we would need to make some big changes to our timeline (and finances) and after my near nervous breakdown. Our buyers are a cute family from North Carolina and they offered us our full asking price. The second one, not the first. It’s a wee bit painful it’s $15,000 less than our original offer but I’m so over the whole process that I’m ready to take it and run.
Jamie first told me they were submitting an offer on Friday when I was volunteering at Bode’s Cub Scout Twilight Camp. In the hot sun. With poorly planned activities that required us to entertain them for hours on end (my definition of hell). I was happy with the news but not that happy until after I’d downed a Slurpee, taken a cold shower and had a full night of sleep.
Once I was refreshed and in air-conditioning, I promised Jamie I’d make him his favorite apple pie for Father’s Day. Our ward has an awesome tradition of eating pie for Mother’s and Father’s Day so after stuffing our faces at church, we escaped Denver’s 99-degree day and headed for the hills.
The day after Jamie and I got engaged, he took me hiking to St. Mary’s Glacier and it has been an annual tradition ever since. I get a bit misty-eyed thinking about all our adventures there–from when we carried baby Hadley in her backpack to when she hiked it herself when she was 3, to Bode’s arrival on the scene, to hiking it with friends and carsickness (puking) on the trail, to when Hadley scaled the entire glacier two years in a row, to the time Jamie ran over her foot in the parking lot and we decided to forgo the hike. Memories, I tell ya!
St. Mary’s Glacier truly has some of the most beautiful vistas just outside of Denver.
When Hadley is enraptured with her surroundings, she steals my phone to take pictures. She has an eye for photography and I’d love to get her a real camera.
A trip to a glacier wouldn’t be complete without an old-fashioned snowball fight. (Note Jamie’s snowball mid-flight.)
We came back exhausted, much cooler and made a big spread of grilled burgers, veggies and, of course, more apple pie while we curled up in our cool basement to watch a movie in our home theater room.
The perfect Father’s Day? Pretty much. And I couldn’t ask for a better husband, father and father-in-law to celebrate.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 