Helen Hunt Falls

For the fourth of July this year we wanted to go somewhere fun and do something together as a family. We found out about a waterfall hike nearby and decided to check it out. We packed a lunch and some snacks and headed to the mountains.

Here are the kids at the bottom of the hike.


Some pictures of the falls.




Finishing up the hike.


The beautiful view.


Rachel by the falls.



We had a great time on the hike and hope to explore more of beautiful Colorado!

Bees vs Sky Sox game

Thanks to my sister Sarah and her husband Spencer, we were able to go to a Bees minor league baseball game. They were playing none other than the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. The Sky Sox stadium is minutes from our house in Colorado Springs.










We had fun watching the game and just being together. Thanks Sarah & Spencer!

Cute cousins and Lagoon

While we were at my parents house, my sister Mollie and her family was able to be there as well. Here are all the cute cousins lined up all ready to go to Lagoon.




Emma liked to ride in the wagon as opposed to going on rides. We were able to talk her into going on a few.



Here are the boy cousins riding the airplanes.



We bribed Emma to go on the carousel with aunt Sarah. I think she ended up enjoying herself.



Here's Rachel having fun riding her horse!



I didn't end up taking a lot of pictures there - it's kind of hard to get a picture of someone on a ride. Everyone had a lot of fun! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa

Slip 'n Slide

The kids had fun getting wet at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Emma never really got the hang of sliding but still had fun running through the water.









Thank goodness for wet summer fun!

Rachel is 11!

We had a fun time celebrating Rachel's birthday. Her birthday was on June 9th and we celebrated a couple of days early. She wanted to go out to dinner as a family to Red Robin. I didn't bring the camera - but she was way excited when they sang to her and brought her a dish of ice cream. Later at home she opened her present - the much requested camera.



You can check out Rachel's blog for more fun pictures. Please let me know if you would like an invitation to her blog.

Here is her cake - these were the only 2 requirements she gave me - it had to be chocolate and she wanted to decorate it herself. Sounded good to me!



While we were in Utah, we also had a celebration for her birthday. We made a fun "rainbow" cake. It was Rachel's idea to decorate it with roses from my parent's yard. It turned out beautiful!










Here is the inside of the cake - a rainbow cake!



I can't believe my oldest is 11! She will be going to middle school in a few short weeks. Can anyone help me figure out how to stop my kids from growing?

Summer Haircuts

With the busyness of moving and getting settled and unpacked, I had neglected to give the boys a haircut for a while. You can tell from the pictures that they were both pretty shaggy. I think boys look so sharp with a nice short haircut. Here are the before and after pics:

David Before:


David After:


Josh Before:



Josh After:



Much better!

Good Old Fashioned Water Fight

The other day, the kids were riding bikes and getting pretty hot. I was telling David that when I'm running and I get really hot, I like to pour some water on top of my head and it cools me down. Well, one thing let to another and soon everyone was pouring water on everyone else. I told the kids if they all got in their swimming suits, they could go out back and have a water fight. I filled up a camping water dispenser (you know, with the spout at the bottom) and armed them each with a water bottle. They had so much fun filling up their bottles and getting each other wet. It was a nice way to cool down on a hot summer day. The weather here changes so frequently that they actually had to come in when it started raining. They had a lot of fun while it lasted!

Swimming Lessons

The first thing that we did to start out the summer was swimming lessons. Last summer we didn't do any because we had just moved to Las Cruces and I was still trying to figure out what was what. We joined the YMCA a couple months ago - one reason was for the great swimming lessons. I really liked the program. All the kids got 8 45 minute lessons and they all learned a lot.

Here's David


Josh always likes to make a fun pose


This was Emma's first time ever having swimming lessons and she did great!


Josh getting some one on one with his teacher.


Here's Rachel doing her favorite stroke (I think it was the back stroke)


The kids all did very well and learned a lot!

Half Marathon Training

So, I haven't officially signed up or anything, but I'm planning on running a half marathon here in the Springs on Labor Day. I started a blog that will detail my training program and workouts. It's mainly for me - just so I can keep track of everything, but in case you are curious, here it is:


My First Half

I am most definitely not a "runner". I just want to finish the race and improve my endurance. Wish me luck!

Finally, some house pictures

So, it took me a while to unpack and even longer to take some pictures. I still need to take some of the outside and the basement. Here is the living room.



Here is another angle.



This is a semi-formal dining area that is next to the living room.



And the kitchen is right next to the dining area. It's kind of an open space with the living space, dining space, and kitchen all in the same room.



This is the front entry/hall way.



This is looking into the office/study, which is off of the main hallway, and has french doors. It could be a formal dining room, but we thought the room would be much better utilized as an office.



other side of office...



This is our bedroom - which is off of the living room.



another angle...



We really like the layout of this house. It is one level with a finished basement. Upstairs are two bedrooms (ours and Emma's) and the basement has a TV room, 2 big bedrooms for the other kids, a storage room, and a full bath. Next to Emma's room upstairs is another full bath. It seems to work well for our family right now. I'll take some pictures of the basement in a couple of days.