A Fab Fourth!

So how DOES one little family celebrate the long 4-day 4th of July weekend together?  Here's how:

We went to the parade in Monument early that morning with some friends and ended up with more candy, snacks, waters, ice pops, toys, coupons, beads, etc than we knew what to do with:

We spent the afternoon around the house doing some fun things before our big 'ol BBQ (and games and homemade ice cream!) with friends and family here at the house:

We unfortunately didn't get to see a fireworks show that night.... VERY bummed about that.  :(


BUT..... after all of the holiday festivities were over and the day came to an end, it was time to get ready for our fun-filled, relaxing weekend away.  We started off by going to the Denver Zoo.  Never been before (surprisingly) and it was a lot of fun!  Gorgeous, too!

After the zoo, we headed to our hotel - with a pool on the roof!  Needless to say, we spent a lot of time here.  ;)  (And yes, we eventually made our way over to a cabana!)

As the weekend was coming to an end and we had to head home, we decided to visit the Bass Pro Shop in Denver, play at an amazing park in Castle Rock, eat at a fun place for lunch, do a little shopping and then take Noah to see his first movie in the theater - Monsters University! 

Really couldn't have asked for a better, more perfect weekend.  We sure do have some good times!!  Love, love, love life right now!  =)

The Black Forest Fire

Well..... here we go again!!  As if the Waldo Canyon Fire wasn't bad enough for us and our city last year, we had to suffer (and panic and worry and pray and ....)  through yet another fire THIS year.  Except this year, the fire was MUCH closer to us than the WC fire.  And instead of being pre-evacuated, we hung out right on the pre-evac border.  And instead of pre-evacuating ourselves and our stuff to another home, we hosted others and helped others evacuate.   (Noah was absolutely beside himself with excitement that Auntie and Mr. Bob were staying at HIS house for awhile!!!)  We are counting our blessings, more than you can imagine, to have successfully avoided yet another fire.

However, choking up as we type these words, our dearest family friends, our second parents, some of our biggest supporters in this life, Bob and Cheryl, sadly lost their home in the fire. We cannot describe the absolute anguish we have been feeling for over the past week.  It's indescribable and beyond heartbreaking.  That home felt like a second home to us.  Heck, Greg even spent many days/hours over there helping them BUILD that home!  Seeing pictures and visiting the property was almost nauseatingly unbearable and we couldn't help but be transparent with our emotions.  It was like a bad dream you couldn't wake up from.  Surreal.  Please keep them in your prayers as they grieve, process and attempt to move on the best they know how.  They are staying positive, trusting the Lord and are beyond ready to move on with the next step(s).  A website has been set up to begin helping them get back on their feet.  Please take a look.  If it's within your means, please consider helping.  The goal has already been met (and fast too!), but it would still be awesome to see their socks blessed off as they have done that for countless others.  Click Here. 

 

The view - across the highway from our home.

 

Gran's House

We just got back from our yearly trip to Arkansas. Spent the last 9 days visiting with Jen's Gran and family and enjoying the nice warm weather.  =)

Noah seemed to have a blast no matter what we did - blowing bubbles, playing on the deck, feeding the ducks, playing at the park, roasting marshmallows, catching fireflies, playing in the pool, shopping, exploring the backyard, etc.  He also had a great time at the family reunion at our cousin's house - swimming, lounging, fishing, watching movies, playing, eating, etc.  The plane rides to and from thrilled his little soul to no end.  He talked almost non-stop about the big plane and the little plane he got to ride in to everyone who would listen.  Actually, the "little" plane was a new experience all around - an 8-seater..... yeah..... lol. 

A great time was had by all!  We love it there and hope we get to go back again next year!  =)

Yay! It's May!

We sure can't seem to get enough of all this warm weather we've been having lately.  Multiple zoo trips, nightly walks, playing basketball on the driveway, working on outside projects, working on inside projects..... my goodness!!  We also couldn't possibly have had any more fun than we had this past weekend.  Estes Park was absolutely gorgeous and we just couldn't get enough of its amazingness!  We love our tradition of going there every Memorial Day weekend!

The trip first started off with breakfast on the way up at the cutest little coffee and pastry shop in Castle Rock.  Here was the best family picture we could get.  (lol)

Our visit to Estes Park this time was a little bit different and we had THE best time!  Our second day there, we decided to visit one of the family fun centers there.

We rode the bumper boats......

 

Went down the HUGE slide...... 

 

Raced the go-karts...... 

 

And played 18 holes of mini golf! 

We think we'll make that a regular tradition as well.  We all had a blast and were definitely ready for lunch (at a new place!) after that little adventure!  ;)


Coffee (and chocolate milk) by the river was a traditional morning routine for us......

Sitting by the river outside of our cabin became an obsession......

Walking through town and watching the water wheel is a favorite pastime......

And we even bought a couple of new games to help make "cabin time" a little bit more fun!

What a great weekend!  =)

Mr. Noah Head

"MOM!!!!!  Will you picture me, please?  I'm SO silly!!!!!"

Dang, this kid is cute.....  =)

A Little Party and a Big Party

A Little Party
Our dear friends' little boy turned one last week and they threw a "little man" party for him.  It was above and beyond cute and WAY too much fun.  One of the best parts was a photo booth they had set up and took pictures with an old-school polaroid camera.  Here we are!!  This one goes in the memory books for sure!  =)

A Big Party
Our longtime friend, Kyle, who is pretty much like a Brother, got married in California a couple of weeks ago, and this weekend had his "Colorado reception."  We had the honors of helping with the dessert table and etc, but it seems the chocolate fountain was the biggest hit out of all the stations set up.  ;) 

What a Lovely Winter We're Having This Spring

The weather kinda toyed with us this past weekend.  It gave us a glorious day to play outside and even have a picnic!  But not just any picnic, a picnic in Denver with family!  We spent the late part of the morning and early afternoon with Greg's sister and her family up at their house, hanging out, catching up and having a little playdate if you will.  Then it was off to the park to eat and play!  It was too cute seeing the little cousins together.  =)

But..... this nice weather hasn't been the normal for us, and our week ahead is forecasted to have lots of snow as well.  So.... we'll just have to keep finding indoor activities to keep us occupied.

So far, Noah's practiced his cutting......

He's done a sensory activity......

We've watched movies, made cookies, read lots and lots of books, played many games, put together a few 100-piece puzzles, played with lots of "new" toys in the basement, cranked up the fireplace and had dinner picnics in front of it, colored in the giant coloring book, made milkshakes, colored on the windows, went swimming at the YMCA, went for fro-yo at our new yogurt place here in Monument, went shopping, tried new restaurants, had a few playdates with friends and etc.  We've done pretty much everything we could think of to pass the time since we've been stuck mostly inside waiting for the weather to turn warmer.  Shouldn't be too much longer though.  We can't wait to get out there!!!

Spring has sprung!