Family Visiting- Day 1

We had the joy of having my brother and his family spend a couple of days with us at our house. The cousins had so much fun playing until their hearts content! They were so fun to watch together. The last time we saw them Avery and Kyle were just babies!

 Sophie meeting her Uncle Dave and Aunt Cathy for the first time!

 Uncle Dave making her laugh!

The first afternoon they were in town we decided to take them to Palmer Lake. Sadly, the lake was practically empty. We don't know if they were taking water from the lake to fight the Waldo Canyon Fire or if it's dried up from lack of rain, but it was a sad sight!  So instead of having fun throwing rocks into the lake, we had fun on the playground. 

 Such a great Daddy!

 Kyle learning about a "sick" lake.

Waving to "Thomas" the train!

  Uncle Dave swinging them way high! 

Catching up...

Hello! I'm going to spend some time catching up. 

At the beginning of June we had a garage sale which was mostly successful. It always feels so wonderful selling things we no longer use. I can't stand stuff just sitting around. Our garage sale fell on a cold and windy weekend so we ended up cutting it short the second day. Of course we had to treat ourselves to donuts! You definitely can't have a garage sale without yummy donuts! Avery loved setting up, tearing down and eating donuts; she was a great help! Sophie was a trooper too!

During the Waldo Canyon fire, we decided to head up to Denver to stay at my Dad's for a couple of days. It was nice to get away from the smoke, but our hearts were in Colorado Springs while we were gone. It was surreal to watch our city be so devastated by the fire on the news. Our good friend Laura lives in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, but thankfully her house is still standing  The three directly behind her were gone, so they are very blessed to still have their home. Just the other day we went to see first hand the sad devastation of this fire. It was heartbreaking to see the many homes that are gone. We also saw many people going through the ashes of what used to be their home. Just heartbreaking!

After playing outside all morning at my Dad's, we visited a couple of our favorite spots in Denver.  First we took the girls to Washington Park. I used to live right up the street from this park and we also spent a lot of time here as kids, so I have a lot of great memories at Wash Park.

After Wash Park we went to the downtown REI. We browsed the store, but mostly hung out by the river and watched people tube and swim down the rapids.We hung out there until it started raining on us.

A big thanks to Dad and Eileen for letting us come stay with them for a couple of days!  It was so nice to spend some time at your house!  We love you!

Waldo Canyon Fire

The Waldo Canyon fire has devastated our city! We're just so sad!  Please pray for Colorado Springs, all of the fire fighters risking their own lives and the people who have already lost their homes. Lord, please send RAIN!! 

We live directly across the interstate from the Air Force Academy. Because the Air Force Academy was evacuated, we decided to head up to my Dad's house in Denver. We're very thankful to have family nearby. We figured we were better off getting away from the fire and smoke. Even before it came over the ridge yesterday, our entire city smelled like a campfire.  So terrible! Very eerie feeling yesterday as we drove away from our precious city!

Chicken POX!

Our poor girls came down with the chicken pox this week.  Bizarre I know, but we hadn't gotten them vaccinated for chicken pox and now we won't have to worry about doing that!  Sophie got them first and definitely had a greater amount of pox than Avery. The hard part was they both had them in their mouths and lost their appetites for a couple of days. Also, before the pox showed up they both had a couple of days of fevers and that is never fun for anyone. Thankfully, they're both healing up very well and we're out of the contagious phase. We all don't do well with being trapped at home, so we're so happy we can get out and about again!  I'm happy they're back to themselves and feeling much better. It was hard to see Avery in so much pain and discomfort from her pox on her feet. She had a couple a really rough nights! Sweet Sophie didn't seem too phased by all of her pox, which is surprising because she had so many!

 You can see her pox all over her legs...

 on her face and hands...

Avery's pox hadn't broken out very much at this point, but we're so thankful they weren't as bad as Sophie's.

After a week at home, we got the girls out of the house and met Muttie and Pop Pop up in Denver at the Spaghetti Factory. They went to the Rockies game after dinner and we took the girls to the 16th Street Mall to walk around. It was a perfect and much needed outing for all of us! 

Elephant Rock 2012

I completed my 5th Elephant Rock Ride last weekend (2005,2006,2008,2010,2012). It's fun to look back at the years with some years skipped in order to get married and have two sweet girlies!  I've still only done the 62 mile course, but I keep saying one of these years I will do the century. The 62 mile is such a great and fun ride though, so it's hard to change it up!  Regardless, this will be a ride I continue to do.  This year I rode with my Mom and friend Laura. Gabe was registered to ride, but was unable to take the day off from work which was a bummer! I'm thankful Gabe's Mom came out from Kansas to stay with the girls so that I could ride! Thank you Muttie! 

  As always I feel so alive and joyful while on my bike. I've been cycling now for 9 years, but it's so funny to think back about 11 years when I remember saying to my mom, " I will never wear those crazy cycling shorts and outfits". Well here I am, embracing and loving the cycling culture. I get a thrill out of being on my bike, charging up hills, down hills, and taking in this beautiful state that we live in.  I can't think of a better way to challenge myself while taking in such gorgeous scenery. Elephant Rock is just such a beautiful ride! We were really blessed with perfect weather as well; so thankful we didn't have wind!  

1st rest stop

Palmer Lake

Finish line

The night before the ride, Gabe and I went up to Denver to celebrate the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Stout! My sweet friend Ashley got married! It was such a beautiful wedding and so fun to go on a date with my husband! 

 

This weekend wouldn't have been possible without Gabe's Mom! Thank you, thank you for coming to watch the girls, especially while they were both coming down with sickness (which we now know what the CHICKEN POX!). We love you!

Memorial Day Weekend

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Garden of the Gods for a nice family "hike". We are so grateful it's practically in our backyard! I think you all know by now that we spend a lot of time there!