Today, Dad and I took a bunch of pictures for Brittany’s senior picture portfolio. We found a great spot, although I think that right there is the ONLY spot in Colorado with mosquitoes. We had to fend them off, but got some great pics!
We love you cutie! After we got done, we had to pull out the anti-itch stick, but other than that, we had a great time! 🙂
Today we got up early and went and had breakfast Applebee’s. It was for a school music fundraiser so we thought it was a great thing to support. The students served us. 🙂 After that, we went and watched the Douglas County Fair Parade in which the girls were both marching in the band.
They sounded really good and looked really professional. They are really enjoying marching band although Brittany really misses her Metea marching band friends. They keep her posted on what’s going on back in IL.
After the parade, we went back home and the boys and I played baseball in our backyard until we were totally hot and worn out. 🙂
We relaxed the rest of the day and enjoyed having mom and dad and Ally with us.
Tonight Angela and I attended the Grant Thornton Denver Office Summer Soiree. It was at the Curtis Hotel in downtown Denver. We had a lot of fun hanging out, eating some good food, and playing Jenga! 🙂
Today, my mom and dad arrived from Utah! They came to watch the girls in the parade, and to enjoy some time with us! We’re excited to have them here!
Happy Birthday Angela! We hope you enjoy your day! You continue to look WAY younger than you are old! 🙂 Love you beautiful!
In addition to Angela’s birthday, we had a visitor come to stay with us from Illinois! Ally Tanner (one of Brittany’s good friends) came out to visit and will be staying with us for the next few days. She is a great friend and we really like their family. Brittany, as you can imagine, was SUPER excited!
Today was the boys first day of school at Clear Sky Elementary. It was also Ben’s first day of elementary school as a new Kindergartner! 😐 That’s the last first day of Kindergarten we’ll ever have for one of our own! 🙁 We were feeling really old today! Ben was a bit nervous to go but was excited as well.
When they got to school, Angela walked Ben into class. We didn’t know about specific traditions, like the kids all getting there early on the first day of school, so Ben was early to school but a little late getting into his class with everyone else. He jumped right in and looked like he was going to have a GREAT time! Zach hit the ground running as a new 4th grader with no snags and we know he’ll do great too!
Kindergarten is full day but only on Monday, Wednesday, and every other Friday here. You have to pay extra for full-day every day Kindergarten. That makes things nice because it saves Angela having to make extra trips to the school! 🙂 The boys got out right on time and were really excited to tell us all about their first day!
They can’t wait for tomorrow! As a reward, Angela let them hang around the park by the school for awhile and play, which was a good thing. It got a lot of their excess energy out for when they got home! 🙂 Great first day boys!
Yesterday afternoon we packed up and went on our first family camping trip in Colorado! We were very excited to get out and into nature. The place we picked is called Devil’s head and is pretty close to us. It’s MUCH better than a forest preserve with a mowed lawn! 🙂 It is a beautiful area. There are campsites there and the trailhead to the Devil’s Head Fire Lookout, which is actually in use!
When we got there, we put up camp, built a fire, and ate dinner. Then the boys went exploring. We had a great time relaxing and enjoying the beautiful night. At first it looked like it would rain a bit (typical afternoon), but then it cleared up and the night was beautiful and perfect for camping.
After dinner we made s’mores and the girls used Oreos instead of graham crackers. They coined the term S’moreos! 🙂
This morning we got up early and went the boys, Angela and I went on the hike up to the top of Devil’s Head. Kirstyn twisted her ankle last night and wasn’t feeling too much like walking, so Brittany volunteered to stay behind with her and sleep. 🙂 The hike was absolutely amazing and we got some GREAT pictures!
When we got to the top, there are about 230+ stairs that you climb up into thin air to get to the lookout post that is situated on the top of the rocks. There is a ranger house up there that is occupied by rotating shifts of forest service personnel.
We could have spent a long time up there taking in the views, but we had a baptism to get to so we had to hurry back down the trail to the car, pack up everything and get home to shower the smoke from the fire off of us. 🙂 The baptismal service (Kelsey Fradin in our ward) was nice and we went over to their home afterward and hung out, ate some food, and chatted with extended family members. It was great getting to know them better!
Today was a busy day. The boys had swimming lessons (which have been going on all week) and really love them. They are quite the fish out of water. 🙂 Their teachers are having them jump off the diving boards and everything. Ben was a little nervous about that at first, but after the first time, that’s all he wanted to do…forget about the technique and actual swimming strokes!
Tonight we had back-to-school night for the boys. They are really excited to be at Clear Sky Elementary, and their teachers seem really good, especially Zach’s teacher. She comes highly regarded from many people we know. We know he’ll have a GREAT year! We were hoping that the boys could have gotten into Aspen View Academy (the new charter school that is just finishing up just across the way from us) but that’s OK. They’ll do great wherever they are! 🙂
After running over to back to school night for the boys, we went over to the high school to attend a freshman parent meeting for Kirstyn. We are excited about her being at Castle View High School! It will be a great and challenging thing for her and we hope she does well. We were able to meet, introduce ourselves to, and talk with the principal there and we were really impressed with him. He seems to have very high values (not just educational, but personal and moral ones as well). Brittany and Kirstyn will love that environment.
Today we had a great and relaxing time! We went to a free concert at Butterfield park (that the Meadows sponsors every year). They brought in a U2 cover band. They were really good, but didn’t play a lot of the really familiar stuff. It was a beautiful evening and with some food, camp chairs, and blankets to sit on as well, it was nice. We invited the Liddell family who came over as well and it was great to kick back and chat with them.
There were also lots of companies there with booths trying to drum up business so the boys got a bunch of free stuff, and Angela and I got “concert series” t-shirts. 🙂 We also ran into our insurance agent who we had a great chat with. She told us to make sure we come over at Thanksgiving to the office to pick up our free pie that they give out to all their clients. 🙂 Sounds good to me!
What a GREAT way to end the month of July! 🙂
Today we are official Colorado residents! We went to the DMV and got our driver’s licenses! Fortunately, all we had to do was take the eye exam. We didn’t have to take the written test like we did when we first moved to Illinois. That was a relief, especially for Brittany!
Zach and Ben also started swimming lessons today at the Recreation Center and had a GREAT time!
Today, I left really early from home and went and picked up the girls from camp. They had a GREAT time and absolutely loved it! The bear thing wasn’t a big deal, although one was spotted, and sleeping in tents was a lot of fun for them. Brittany was a Youth Camp Leader (YCL) this year like she was last year. This was her last year of camp, and it was both exciting and sad for her at the same time.
I helped them pack everything up and then helped our ward pack up and we came home. The girls were exhausted and after the mandatory shower and unpack/cleanup, they went to sleep and slept most of the day. 🙂
Good to have them back home!
Happy Pioneer Day everyone! We didn’t do anything special today… Just hung out and missed the girls who are at camp.
Brittany and Kirstyn left today for girl’s camp! They were a bit nervous because they had never had an experience at girl’s camp like this one would be! 🙂 Instead of staying in A/C cabins and eating in a A/C lodge, everything was outdoors, and they slept in tents the whole week! 🙂 They also had bear whistles and bear patrols to keep the kids safe! In IL, the most dangerous thing you could run into was a skunk. We’ll see how they do! 🙂
