For the Love of Instagram

Can't seem to get enough of Instagram these days..... love love love love LOVE it!!!!  Seem to use it and be editing pictures ALL the time!!!!  Here are the top (hard to pick!) 10 fav's: 

 

 

  

 

  

Red Rocks and a Tiny Town

So there's the neatest venue in Colorado called the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.  We have never been to an event there before, so months ago, when we found out that Brian Regan was going to be there, we quickly bought tickets for last night's show!  We had such fun under the stars and hope that someone else we love performs there in the future as well so we can go back!!!  =)

(The best pictures we could get..... the iPhone seemed to be having issues.....)

This morning, we found ourselves back up around the same area in Colorado at a neat little place called Tiny Town. (Well.... WE thought it was kinda cheesy, but Noah had a blast!)  ;)

 

Side Note:  We are now on week three of  having Noah do "chores."  Here's a picture of the first week. We'd say it went quite well!  =)

 

N-O-A-H

Little man LOVES to spell his name.  Find his name.  Write his name.  SEE his name.  Say his name.  Count the letters in his name.  Etc.  So lately, here's what's been going on with THAT:

So he has this sheet of letter stickers, (to which we ask over and over, "where do stickers go, Noah?" he responds, "on people and on paper!" - apparently this particular day was an oversight) and one night as we were getting him ready for bed, we happened to glance over and see his name on his closet.  We really couldn't help but laugh and shower him with praise.  =)

 

One day, as Jen was cleaning up the kitchen, he yells, "look, Mom! I spelled my name!  Look, it's N-O-A-H!"  (Geez.... he even lined them up all nice and straight, too!)

 

In an attempt to add a little variety to our food choices, we sometimes get the whole grain Chef Boyardee Spaghetti-o's with meatballs and have them for lunch.  Well.... guess who picked and picked and picked at his food until he found his name?

 

So Williams Sonoma came up with this nifty little invention called the "pancake pen."  New to the market?  Probably not. New to us?  Yes.  It's been fun making (and eating!) non-boring pancakes..... especially when they spell "N-O-A-H!"

 

Window markers still thrill his soul.  "Help me write my name, please!?"

 

This one will throw you....... "Look Mom, there's my name!!!!"  (what?!)  "Yeah, look, N-O-A-H!"  (heh, he found the letters and spelled out his name - lol)

 

Same as above.... "I found my name! Look!  N-O-A-H!"  (sometimes it takes a second to figure out what the heck...)  ;)

 So glad he loves his name.  We just so happen to be quite fond of it, too.  ;)

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.