A very eventful year has passed since Matt, Ika and Bo first set eyes on Golden, Colorado. They did fall in love at first sight, however there were many hurdles to jump for this dream to come true. Matt had been flying for Southwest less than a year back then, and was based at Houston Hobby. Ika, being from Sweden originally, had tried valiantly to survive the Texas summers; but understandably spent her time indoors during our six-month season of heat. With Bo learning to walk and wanting to spend his time outdoors, Ika and Matt knew Golden was to be a place of joy for their family. The hiking is beyond compare, and cool enough for year-round enjoyment, to say nothing of the skiing and snowboarding during the winter months. They rented the first six months to give themselves an opportunity to find something even remotely affordable in Golden (a herculean task:) Our prayers were answered when Heather and Zeb decided to move to a country place with acreage. Zeb is a master at woodwork and remodeling, so it was a house to fall in love with, and they did. The rest is history.

When Mamou (that would be me:) came to assist in the move, I fell in love too. The gas stove came with a griddle for the family fav breakfast, pancakes. Bo’s room has an amazing bay window where he will perch at his desk (someday) and see mountains to the left of him, and mountains to the right. The dogs got a new fancy crate so they can feel special too. Most importantly, downstairs there is a guest quarters (aka mother-in-law suite:) that brought tears to my eyes. There is a full kitchen/bar, gym, rec room with pool table, theater room complete with fireplace (Matt’s working on that!), Texas-style bedroom, and the bathroom was a work of art thanks to Zeb’s expertise. What’s not to love? (just kidding about the mother-in-law suite, Ika).

I could carry on about the house, but I’ll let Matt and Ika provide the details of the main house as visitors from Texas come to see this amazing city. The last day of Mamou’s visit Ika, Bo and I set out for a short walk to downtown Golden. It reminds me of Galveston in the mountains. The downtown retains the rustic mining-town storefronts and brick streets of a century prior. So many bars (it is a college town:), restaurants, local sporting goods and clothing shops. You could spend an entire day shopping and never see the same store twice. The lucky students accepted to Colorado School of Mines have summer tubing available through the center of town, to say nothing of the winter skiing a short drive out Highway 70.

I would love to think Bo will be one of those students some day. In the meantime, Ika can walk him to school on the crosswalk over the highway from their neighborhood to Bo’s Mitchell Elementary School. At most a five-minute walk. What a lucky Bo! What a lucky family. Mamou is truly blessed.