merry christmas and happy new year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Madsen's!
We had a very nice Christmas, but certainly missed being with the Kolacinski family as well.  Hopefully next year we will have a Colorado Christmas with both families.
I think the highlight of my Christmas morning besides being with my family and giving and receiving many wonderful gifts, was Howard wearing his new ski helmet the entire time we opened presents and when Ann opened her ipod nano she starred at it for about 3 minutes trying to figure out what it was... when she did she couldn't put it down! 

P.S. Dad and Sarah we definitely missed having your cameras around. Needless to say the photo above is nothing spectacular due to the fact we are in our small condo and put the camera on a tripod on the counter:)  Also no Christmas morning photos:( 

oh yea...i got bangs!

"the grandmas and grandpas"

A classroom parent of mine said she was feeling like she wanted to do something nice for someone else...  So I arranged to take my class to the nursing home here in town.  I have been preparing the kids by telling them that we are going to visit some grandmas and grandpas that all live together in a big house and need help sometimes.  So all last week we talked about singing and reading to the grandmas and grandpas.  Today was the day that they got to ride on the little mini bus that I drove (this was very exciting), sing jingle bells quite a few times, and read a book of their choice to the residents at Heritage Park Care Center.  It was such an amazing feeling to be there showing love and care at this time of year.  The grandmas and grandpas were so thrilled to see all the cute little kids. It was just so precious!  It made my heart smile today.  After this venture was over we made a pit stop to the local Santa Mailbox to mail our letters to Santa.
In conclusion a very gratifying day!

new skis!

Last winter, once again, I realized I was out skiing my skis.  Don't get me wrong, the Solomon Mynx are great all mountain skis, however, I am completely infatuated with the deeeeeeep powder and needed some of those "water ski" fat skis.  Had eyed a pair toward the end of the season last year, saw them at the store this summer, and finally purchased them this fall.  Skied on them this past Saturday, love them! They were surprisingly great on the groomed trails...

Now I just need some powder!  Please snow!

fall break

We just had a four day weekend which was so fantastic! We headed south to Alamosa and went to The Great Sand Dunes National Park with our friends Tiff and Rick and their 10 year old twin boys Keegan and Rohnan.  The weather was perfect sunny fall weather with cool evenings by the fire. We spent time relaxing, hiking up the dunes and then sledding down, playing bocce ball, eating yummy food, and exploring. Click on "the holt clan" link on our page to view some more pics our friends posted. Tiff has also explained our fun weekend in great detail. My blogging will hopefully become more frequent and more detailed when I finish graduate school. Only 3 more classes to go!

my best friend's wedding

2 years ago Sara called me up and told me she was engaged and I remember being out and about somewhere and screaming with excitement in public. The wedding finally happened Labor Day weekend. I took off of work for 3 days to travel back to Milwaukee for the wedding (yes I left my new batch of kindergarten students with a sub after only a week of school). It was so great to be at home and hang with my family for a couple days, Sara and I had some exclusive best friend time which was totally needed, and the wedding was absolutely beautiful! It was such an honor to be the matron of honor and witness my best friend reading her vows. The reception was an awesome party with lots of dancing. Congrats once again Sara and Josh!

on the way to the wedding, riding in style in a limo

isn't she beautiful

a beautiful ceremony

sara, love your dress

i love you best friend

what a handsome man i married 3 years ago

super lady like right...

a fantastic couple

mountains and miles!

4 friends, 2 dogs, 3 days, and 31 miles... jarrid, liz, marty, and i went on a 3 day backpacking trip. we began at the maroon bells in aspen, headed up and over west maroon pass, over to crested butte, and then back over east maroon pass. the weather was fantastic! friday and saturday were blue bird days, sunday had some clouds and a few sprinkles but the shade from the clouds actually felt quite nice. the thing i love about backpacking the most is that we are the only ones who can see the beauty we saw because we hiked far into the wilderness. nobody else gets to see the views unless they bust their butt carrying 45 lbs. on their back for 3 days. the hard work is always worth it!

crater lake at the maroon bells

tired pups!


copper lake: day 2

top of west maroon pass, climbed 3,5oo feet in elevation


top of east maroon pass, ready to head 11 miles back to the car.

tired, sore, and blistered feet

June..."flew" by

I can't believe June is already over, it is my favorite month of the year. This has been our month...
June 2nd: Last day of school!
June 3rd: Drove to Denver, got on plane to go to Michigan to visit Grandma and Grandpa.
June 6th: Marty's birthday!
June 11th: Back in Denver again to take a trip with our good friends Scott and Nicole. We went to the Bahamas and it was so much fun!



June 16th: Happy Birthday to me!
Week of June 21st: Happy 3rd Anniversary to Marty and I on the 21st!


Kindergarten hiking camp this week.
Marty's family and a lot of relatives in town for his brother's wedding. Wedding on the 24th!


June 26th: Back in Denver for the third time this month to fly to Milwaukee to visit my family and throw my best friend Sara her bridal shower and bachelorette party.

Today, July 1st...This is literally the first quiet moment I have had all month. I have had a wonderful time with all the events and time with family and friends this month. I have spent time with my parents and sister, Meg, Daddy, and I went to Six Flags which was a blast, tonight Marty gets in and we are going to Summerfest (Milwaukee's big music fest), Sunday we go to see Dave Matthews Band, and then...whatever else the week brings us.

Summer is Here!

Summer break is finally here. Another school year is finished and Marty and I are more than ready to begin relaxing and doing things on our schedule. We head to Denver tonight to catch a flight in the morning to the Bahamas with our friends Scott and Nicole. We can't wait to be on the beach!

february=family and friends!

February was filled with visitors. My sister Meg came out for two weeks at the beginning of the month, she left and we had four days to clean the house again, do some laundry, and get ready for our next house guests. One of my best friends from college, Emily, and her husband James came out to visit for about two weeks as well. It was so much fun to have friends and family out here. We did lots of skiing and just hanging out. Emily and James were our good luck charms and brought Aspen lots of deep powder. It has been a long winter thus far, not much snow. Thanks Meg, Emily, and James for coming to visit us. We miss you already!


Me and little sis. Meg skied amazing! She had only been on skis two other times.


Powder Day=Very Happy Carly!!


Nice powder shot James!


Em, I love that you are smiling while you ski!

Slip...Slide... Fall... and a Little Skating Too!

Sounds of non stop giggles and occasional "oofs", sights of gleaming smiles filled the ice rink. I was a brave one and packed up the mini school bus and took my two classes of 5 year olds ice skating (on separate days of course). I also had the help of my wonderful sister Meg. Out of the 31 kids total, only 2 of them had ever been on ice skates before. To see the smiles on their faces made my heart smile. I was responsible for giving these children an experience they may never forget. All of my students by the end of the 40 minutes had learned how to ice skate. Many of them said they wanted to go ice skating with their families. When the field trip was ended with cups of hot chocolate and tired little ones, we loaded back onto the bus. Me driving the bus may have been just as exciting for the kids as the ice skating. A successful two days of just enjoying my students!

Once Upon a Dream...

The things I do for the kids I love. My friend Sarah's daughter Maggie was turning 3 on January 10th. Months ago, in fact on Thanksgiving as we spent the day with the Maas family, Maggie informed me she was having a princess party for her birthday. She requested that I dress up as Belle from the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast. Maggie said that I needed to be Belle because I had brown, curly hair just like Belle.

Maggie's life is all about princesses. She would have her party be no other way. Sarah, a very creative artist threw the party with all the frills and royalty a princess would expect. It was enough to make a little girl think she was really at Disney World.

A theatrical neighbor friend came as the surprise guest, Cinderella or Reallyrella as Maggie used to call it. Grandmas were fairy god mothers, Sarah was a queen. Little girls asked me how I, princess Belle got to the party? My natural response was in Cinderella's pumpkin carriage of course. Where do I live they asked? In the castle at Disney World, that is where all the princesses live!

The party was a huge success, in fact Maggie was so partied out that before all her little girlfriends left she was already in her pajamas (princess ones of course) ready for her nap.


the birthday princess


sarah made the cake!


fairy god mothers, cinderella, prince charming, a tired princess, and the queen


belle and her favorite little friend maggie

Maggie, thank you for inviting me to be a part of your special day. I love you!

A Winter Photo Shoot

Over the holidays, in Hartford, Wisconsin my sister-in-law Sarah made use of her new Christmas gifts for her camera and took some amazing family pictures. Thank you Sarah for the fun time, even though it was freezing out!


The photographer and her assistant are ready to go out into the winter wonderland.

Holiday Happiness!

Marty and I were fortunate enough to be able to fly back to Wisconsin again this year for Christmas with my family. All the kids and spouses were home and it was great time spent with family. All the traditions were carried out, including Christmas cookies and coffee all morning and afternoon as we opened presents. I also got to see my best friend Sara and spend the day with her and her mom bridesmaid dress shopping. The second week of our break was spent with Marty's parents who drive out to Colorado each year. We already miss everyone and look forward to the next time we all get to hang out.
I had two weeks off from work, one week with no grad school, but sadly the real world starts back up tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m.
January and February brings visitors to Colorado. Meg (my little sis) comes out at the end of this month, and in February my great friend Emily and her husband James are coming out to visit us for ten days of fun and skiing.
Here is a glimpse of the Kolacinski Christmas...


so many presents, and there aren't even grandchildren yet, we are all spoiled!


christmas eve


ryan is pretty excited about a marshmallow gun...26 year olds still like getting toys!


marty got his flip video camera. there will be lots of videos on the blog now.


are you jealous meg...


even daddy got a new toy. an helicopter to fly inside!


here i am super excited because marty surprised me with a green amethyst and diamond ring.


mom with some festive bowls.


another christmas with mom and dad madsen.

Thank you to everyone for all the moments we shared this Christmas break. Thank you again for all the nice presents. 2009 was a year to be thankful for family, friends, our jobs, and health.