She's Legal!

OK, so she was technically legal last week, but now it is more than just a piece of paper.

M got her driver's permit in the mail today!

She went last week to the DMV to take her test and did great....especially for physically driving only once.  She now has a year to log in 50 hours and then she can get her license.  She is not as excited as T was to get his....she is a little more timid and afraid of it than he was.  But she has been driving with her dad once more since last week.  It seems to be hard to find the time to take her out for practice.

But it is a milestone that she is excited about now that she holds the actual card in her hand.  Way to go M!

And So It Begins!!

Yes, summer is officially over when the sprinkler system is drained and we start preparing for snow days from school.

This is what we woke up to this morning...although there was no snow day even though the kids did all they could to get one.

It is suppose to snow all day today and we are to end up with 6 inches.  We will see if that holds true as this is, after all, Colorado.  And to prove that point, we are suppose to be back in the 60's in a couple of days with sunshine.  That is our life here!

But the kids will continue to pray for a snow day TOMORROW!

Road Warrior!

(**I think the cake lady at Costco needs to learn how to write better in frosting!...just sayin)

J had her Cross Country Banquet last night at Fargo's Pizza.....that seems to be the only time we ever go there and they have a great salad bar.  Anyway, it is always fun to go to these banquets.....to see the kids hang out with their friends.....visit with other parents.......EAT.....and basically make a final goodbye to the sport with awards and memories.

This was J's first year ever running XC and we were so pleased with her efforts this season.  If she keeps going, she will be so fast by the time she is a senior.  She started out with a time of over 14 minutes in her first race to 11:01 in her last race and finally running on the A team to boot!  She did awesome!!!!

She was hoping for the "Spirit" award, but was happy that it was her good friend that got it.  She did get a "Road Warrior" award as the coach said that all runners are warriors for running and to keep running even after they are exhausted.  I agree, cuz I can't stand to run.  So I am thrilled to see any of my children like to run long distances.

So you go girl and keep up the fabulous job!  We are proud of you J!!

Fall Break!

The one thing that I love about this school district (sometimes it is the only thing I love) is the 2 week fall break that we get in October.  It is just so great as it seems to break up the school semester a bit and gives us all a break before the big projects and finals right before Christmas break.

This year we decided that we would just hang out here and do things around home.  Besides, T had his last 2 cross country meets that we didn't want to miss....and J had her first basketball camp for middle school too.  (Had to add this pix as it was looking pretty boring as a post without some visual :)  )

There were also ortho appointments, haircuts, flu shots, and church things that needed to be put in there as well.  Not to mention the sleeping in and laying around the house reading books, playing video and computer games and watching movies.  I think that was all we did the first 3 days of break and it was so nice.  (With older kids and as busy as my kids are during the school year, they are happy to just hang out at the house or with friends.  It sure takes the pressure off of me to keep them entertained every single day!)

We did manage to get in a movie or two, bowling, sleepovers, shopping, girl's time (both young and old), and lunches out.  We tried this new burger place called CRAVE and it was so yummy.  It reminded me of one of those Man vs. Food joints...it had a challenge that would put your name on the wall if you ate this enormous amount of food in 45 minutes.  It was very good, although it was pricey.  I think I might try the sandwich on a glazed donut the next time I go there.

M also took her test and is now an official driver of the state of Colorado......she got her permit and so now she needs 50 hours of driving to get her license in a year.  She is not as excited as T was to drive, but I think that will change as she gets more comfortable behind the wheel.

We were happy that "daddy" took a couple of days off to spend it with us.......the cannery and the Denver Zoo.  It doesn't happen often, so we were excited to have him join us in some fun.

Overall, it was a nice relaxing break...now back to the routine of the daily grind and on to the next sport....basketball for both girls.  I think T is happy to have a break for a bit...he was running from sun up to sun down with seminary, school, cross country, work and add in homework somewhere in between, not to mention time with the girlfriend :)....   The house will sure be quiet!

**FREE**!!

That has to be about the most wonderful word in the world!..........FREE!

I love it when I can get things for free. 

My husband was out of deodorant this morning and said, next time you are at the store can you pick me up some.  I told him he didn't have to wait and went to the cupboard and pulled out a big bucket containing oh so many things of deodorant.  His comment was WOW, that is alot of deodorant and I was happy to tell him that they were all FREE!  Don't you just love it.....at least 20 things of deodorant and I paid nothing for them.  Love it!!!  The same goes for toothpaste too.

A month or so ago, I ordered an 8X10 collage picture from Walgreens for my mother-in-law.  I had taken a ton of pictures at my father-in-laws funeral in June and I wanted to give her a collage of all her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren that attended the service.  They are only $3.99, but I had a coupon code that made it FREE!  I was able to spend a little bit extra on a nice frame and gave it to her.....just because.  Cool huh?!  In fact all the collages in my house were FREE....including the one I just picked up a few hours ago with a bunch of my son's senior pictures......FREE!!

Don't you just love that word!  It makes me happy inside knowing that I got something for free.  I could go on and on about all the things I have gotten for free over the last few years, but I will get on to the post I intended to write......and it has to do with, of course, being FREE!

This past week we went to the Denver Zoo for.....you guessed it.....FREE!!!!  Ok, so the gas up and back including food purchased was not free, but......

I love the days that are free to any of our favorite spots in Denver.  They have them several times a year and I love it when they fall on a no school day...not a weekend cuz that would just be too crazy.  Although if you don't get to the zoo when they first open, then you have to park a mile away.  That is why this week we woke up earlier than we all wanted to on a non school day and got up there just as they opened....can you say front row parking!!!

We spent the nice sunny morning going around to see the lions and tigers and bears....oh my!  And you can't forget about the seals, giraffes, monkeys, and elephants too.  We had a great time and were done in a few hours. 

So of course, we had plenty of time to go to IKEA for lunch and a bit of shopping before we had to head back to the Springs.

**we have so much fun spinning the carts...have you ever tried it?  We love playing with the carts when we are there....almost as fun as the shopping itself**

We made it back just in time to see T run in Regionals for cross country to end his season.  It was a great finish as he and his teammate sprinted side by side to the finish line.....ok, so the other guy beat him, but I love the determination on T's face.......and that was FREE too.

We finished the day with crepes for dinner (not free but oh so very yummy)....I'd say it was a great day all the way around!

Working for Our Food!

So for a long time now......like over a year.....my hubby and I have wanted to take our children to the church cannery.  Afterall, it is only 15 minutes from our home.  We thought it would be a good experience for the kids to know how to can food for our food storage.  Finally we made it and we all had a great time working to stock our food storage.

The missionary couple working there was so sweet and helped us a lot.  They took us back to get all the food that we were going to can, showing us the storeroom.  Then they showed us how to go down the line and get it all done.  We were the only ones there so it was nice to have room to spread out.

We all tried the various parts of the process, but T and M ended up opening the bags and pouring them into the cans, while either J or K smoothed them out and added the oxygen packets.  My hubby sealed the cans while me and J or K would attached the labels, put them in the boxes, tape them up and place them on the cart.

It went really fast as we got in a rhythm. We canned or bagged about 600 pounds of food in 2 hours......2 carts full.  Now where are we going to put it all????

The kids were commenting how great that was and when could we do it again.  I am glad that they enjoyed themselves, cuz I was just so happy to be there together as a family.  After we got started, I was very disappointed that I had not thought to bring my camera.  Thank goodness for cell phones.  Don't you just love the hair nets though?

It's Landing!

So last Thursday I was in the shower after working out...and I heard a helicopter fly over.  Then I noticed out my skinny window in my shower that it was actually a Black hawk Army helicopter and that it was getting lower.  I stood up on the edge of the tub.......thank goodness the window is high...and I saw that it was going to land in the park a few blocks away.  I wondered what it could be doing landing next to the school, so I hurried and finished up, got dressed, grabbed my camera and was out the door to the park....not looking my best mind you.

But I had to see what was up and this is what I found.......

The school had arranged for them to land and talk to the kids.  It was all very exciting and I was able to snap some pictures of K as her class got close to the helicopter.

It was taking forever so after awhile I ran home to change and spruce up a bit (I was feeling very self-conscious) and came back in time to see it take off.

**I love this picture of this 1st grade class as they got their ribbons and got close to the helicopter.  They are so excited and happy...I thought it was cute.  I actually took this pix to get K in the background in the pink shirt leaning over and ended up getting these cute kids in focus.

What an exciting day for the kids.  The wind was blowing quite a bit and the principal told me that they did not tell the kids beforehand cuz they were not sure it was actually going to happen.  Thank goodness it did...the kids couldn't stop talking about it.

Love This Weekend

So this weekend was pretty busy as most of my life is with 4 active kids.  But I love the first weekend in October cuz we get to do this........

watch conference all weekend long......in jammies!
 It was great this time, as usual.  I love sitting with my family for 2 days listening to our Prophet and the General Authorities speak to use about how to be better in our lives.  It was a very uplifting conference.  As usual, we had the cinnamon rolls and the chicken wings and YUM!

When I was in college,  I would cross stitch while I watched conference.  I usually just sit and listen nowadays, but this year I actually accomplished a few things while I listened.......

So happy to get some things done I needed to but haven't found the time to just SIT and do it.  Last week a friend and I put together this for our front doors.......

I am having a blast coming up with ideas for my cute frame that I have on my front door....thanks friend for finding that wonderful frame idea!  I love it!

Also this weekend was Homecoming for Vista Ridge......Since T wasn't able to go to HIS Homecoming last week (quite the story there), his girlfriend asked him to go to hers.

T found out when he got to her house that they were actually going with a group of girls.  Thank goodness there was at least one other guy, but can you say awkward....

While T was there, M was invited to a friend's birthday party.  She was asked to wear her homecoming dress but also a mask to the party.  I thought that was odd, but then again it sounded fun too.  So we headed off to Target and found this really cool mask for her to wear.....

I think that was it for our weekend.....phew!  Now for a busy week before we head into Fall Break.  And I really need the break too....so excited to sleep in and play with my kids for 2 weeks!

Lifestyles of the Rich

Ok, so my hubby and I were able to steal away for a few days in the middle of September.......without the kids.  This is the first time that we have left the kids without someone watching them.  We decided that they could handle it and we needed the break.  So when an amazing deal popped up in my email, I jumped at the chance.....a sort of belated anniversary gift to us!

We took off on a Friday afternoon and didn't come back to reality until Sunday night.  It was a nice weekend spent in a lovely condo in Snowmass.  We had never been up that way before and were excited to take in the sights.  It was absolutely gorgeous up there.  The drive was pretty despite the clouds at the Continental Divide. 

The aspens were just starting to change colors and the whole area was so nice and green.  It made a pretty foreground for the snowy mountains.

Our condo was wonderful, we had a great view and it was only minutes to a yummy Mexican restaurant.  We were about the only ones there.  We walked around the shops a bit afterwards.

 view from our back window

dinner at Venga Venga

We realized it was so pretty and there was still lots of daylight left, so we decided to head up to Maroon Bells before it got dark.  It was beautiful up there and we had a great time just walking around the lake taking pictures.  We even saw a beaver swimming across the lake and into the beaver dam at the other end of the lake.  We ended up being the last car to leave the parking lot and we were lucky to have just barely enough light left to find our car.

when we first got there

 about an hour or so later...look how calm the lake is now

getting pretty dark by now

The next morning was suppose to be rainy and cloudy......and it was.  Although I was able to catch a glimpse of the sun in the early morning hours for a minute.

That weekend was the Balloon Classic, but because of the weather, they did not go up that morning.  So we headed back out to Maroon Lake to see what kinds of pictures we could get.  You have to be past the ranger station before 9:00 if you are driving your own car up to the lake.....otherwise you have to take a bus.  So we made sure to be up there early.  The Bells were socked in with clouds so this is the best picture I could get with the lake.....

We decided to take a hike, as did many other people that were there....it was quite crowded.  We hiked up to the waterfalls that are behind Maroon Lake.  The trail was wet with puddles and quite sloppy, but we had a great time anyway.  Our pants were dirty and wet and our shoes were soaked, but we got some pretty pictures that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

By the time we got back to Snowmass, the sun was poking through the clouds every now and again and we had a great time exploring Snowmass Village.  It sure is quiet around here in the summer...I can only imagine how different it is in the winter with all the hustle and bustle of skiers.  The gondola ride was free today (of course we took it up and down) and there was a wine festival going on as well (of course we had to participate....NOT)  There were tons of people eating and drinking and we enjoyed watching them all.

We went into Aspen and I can tell you that we did not fit in....we felt so out of place, but it was fun hob nobbing with the rich.  You could totally smell the money.  There was a Farmer's Market downtown that we walked through.  We were going to get a danish but they were like $7 a piece. Really....yikes.  Everywhere you looked there were dogs.  Everyone had a dog on a leash and there were hardly any kids.  The couples were all dressed to the nine.  It was a very interesting place to people watch.  The downtown streets were pretty and quaint.

I want some of these...I bet they are everywhere here in the winter and out of my budget too!

There happen to be a rugby tournament going on this weekend, so we stopped and watched.  Since it had been raining off and on the field was wet and the players were filthy.  It was fun to watch as I have never seen a game in person.  Are there any rules anyway????

That evening was the balloon glow and BBQ......and free yogurt which we each got like 3 a piece.  It was a gorgeous evening and we had a great time laying out our blanket on the hill and watching the balloons blow up and glow.

The next morning we woke up to the most beautiful morning I have ever seen.  The sky was so blue and the snow covered mountains in the background with the lush green everywhere.  I could get used to this.  The balloons went up this morning and it was so fun to see them all go up and then come down and then go up again.  They kept switching positions with each other. 

Again, we headed out to Maroon Bells because this was going to be the best picture day of them all...the weather was perfect and we didn't want to miss our chance to do more hiking and see the gorgeous area.  It did not disappoint!  Absolutely gorgeous.  I think I have used that word way too many times in the post....but it was unlike anywhere I've seen.

We got some good shots on the hike down too.  We had some fun taking pictures of the 2 of us....

One last stop in Aspen for a burger at CK and we were on our way.  The Continental Divide looked way different this time through....windy but sunny.  We actually got out and walked up to the overlook this time around....I was a bit chilly in my short sleeves and flip flops.

WOW....this post ended up being longer than I intended it to be.....but we had such a fabulous time.  It was much needed time together and the kids even did great without us. I was worried before we left, but then forgot about it all once I got there.  Thanks honey for such a wonderful time....when can we go again?