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8:02 PM

my birthday.

when dan and i were first dating he would always miss my birthday because of hockey. the first few years my birthday would come and go and he would feel terrible for missing it yet again. he would promise me that someday he would make it up to me.

many birthdays have passed since our college days. with every passing year dan goes above and beyond when it comes to my special day.

not, that i ever really thought he had too. just being able to spend it with him was all i ever wanted...but if you know dan then you know he takes his promises very seriously. if he says he'll make it up to me, then you can bet your bottom dollar that he will!

this birthday was no exception.

we headed west for a long weekend in one of our happy places...

although the idea was to enjoy a kid-free weekend...when you have four kids the guilt of leaving all of them is pretty thick. we decided to bring this one along because she's just so darn cute...ok, ok honestly its because she's free!

she was the perfect little companion on our mountain adventure

on my actual birthday we took our time getting up in the morning...

hit up vail village for a little birthday lunch

and took a birthday hike up strawberry

this might be my new favorite picture

it was the perfect day.

on friday we decided to take a little day trip to aspen

had this little dive bar been open we would have had lunch there for sure. unfortunately a lot of places were closed because early november is the calm before the ski season storm.