Busy times!

Grandma and Poppy came to stay with us for about a week and a half in July, and we are soooooo glad that they did! While here, they helped us with a TON of updating around the house. I will attempt to blog about that soon with the highlights, but we just can't thank them enough for putting up with and helping out with all of our many projects. Even though we accomplished so much, we also managed to have some fun!

Enjoying some frozen yogurt at YoYogurt with Grandma.

Grandma and Sadie just hanging out.

The boys all ready to go fishing.

Our longtime friend, John, even came through for a quick visit during that time. It was great to see him!

We also went to my aunt's house for dinner and fun.

Andrew and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary while Mom and Dad were here, and they were kind enough to take care of the kids while we got away for an overnight date. It was so great to get away and reconnect.

On the deck of the B&B we stayed at....gorgeous view.

Before leaving the next morning....on our room deck.

Bye, Grandma and Poppy! We love you!

Fun on the 4th!

We had a super fun 4th of July! We started off the day by sleeping in and relaxing a bit before heading out for a yummy lunch at Qdoba and some errand running. We were also super excited about Grandma and Poppy coming for a visit! They arrived that afternoon, and of course, we grilled for dinner.
Andrew and Parker playing baseball.

Dad grilling our dinner.

Sweet Sadie.

I enjoyed making some fun patriotic foods. Chocolate-and-sprinkle-covered strawberries....cute AND yummy!

Jello cake made with red and blue jello.

I also made some marshmallow pops which were a big hit with the kids.

After dinner, Andrew and Dad took apart Sadie's crib and put up her first big girl bed! She seemed to be a mixture of excitement and nervousness at the idea. Here she is for the last time in her "baby" bed.

We had the kids stay downstairs during the process so we could have a Big Reveal once everything was all set up. Parker was actually more excited than Sadie seemed to be about what he kept calling the Big Move-eal. I think he thought they would be watching a movie or something. At any rate, here is Sadie's bed all ready to go!

Sadie was soooooo excited once she saw everything! She had helped pick out her new bedding, and she was especially happy about that.

Parker climbed in to try it out with her.

Our family at the end of a fun day!

First night in her big girl bed! She has made the transition without a single hitch.

Last but not least, a super cute video of the Big Reveal!

June wrap-up....

Well, again, it's been a while since I've blogged. I think from now on I'm going to just stop pointing that out. Anyways, June went by in a flash. I had a sinus infection which ended up making me sick for pretty much the entire month. And then there was the heat....I don't remember a summer that Colorado has felt so HOT! And then, of course, there were all of the Colorado wildfires including the one in Colorado Springs, Waldo Canyon Fire. That fire took over 300 homes, displaced thousands of residents for a period of time and, when all was said and done, ended up on the books as the most destructive fire in the history of Colorado. We are fortunate to have been a safe distance from the fire, but the black on our mountains serves as a constant reminder of what so many lost. 

Waldo Canyon Fire - June 26, 2012 (taken from several miles away -- sorry if the picture is too small)

The last weekend in June, we decided to head out of town for the weekend. As we were loading the vehicle and getting ready to go, I looked up and saw this.

FIVE bucks....the house in the background is straight across the street from ours. It's not unusual to see deer in town on occasion, but I've never personally seen any in our neighborhood before. I'm assuming that they were pushed into town from the fire several days prior. They walked down the sidewalk and back up again before turning the corner and disappearing around this intersection.

Once all of that excitement was over, we headed out of town to visit with Andrew's grandparents who work at a fish hatchery a couple of hours away.

Parker just relaxing....

We took the kids fishing, and this was Sadie's first trip! I was a little afraid she would let go of the pole and it would disappear underwater, but she did great.

Parker loves to fish, and even wanted to hold his fish this time.

After fishing, we went up to St. Elmo to feed our friends, the chipmunks. This is becoming one of our favorite summer traditions!

  

From St. Elmo, we drove up to the Alpine Tunnel Trailhead. Basically, you can walk on a path that used to be railroad tracks to an old tunnel. We'd never been before so we thought we'd give it a shot.

Our family along the trail.

We had walked a considerable distance when we came upon a sign that said there were 3 more miles to the tunnel. There wasn't enough daylight to continue our hike that day, but we decided to next time we'll head out sooner so we can make it all the way to the tunnel.

On our way back down the mountain, something BIG happened....Parker lost his first *real* tooth! It had been loose for a while, and during the drive he just turned to me and said "Mom! My tooth!" and it was in his hand. Brave boy!

He was super excited about the Tooth Fairy coming, and even insisted on writing a note to leave for her.

What the Tooth Fairy brought him!

The next morning we headed up to Cottonwood Pass! Thin air, but just beautiful up there.

The kids also enjoyed feeding the fish at the hatchery....

....and we all enjoyed some 4-wheeling before heading home! We had a great time!

P.S. Only two days after losing his first tooth, Parker lost his second one! $2 and counting!