Well, it has been a year since my last update. I had to get all that Dubai info down before all the amazing details left my mind...guess I forgot to do the kids' blogs at the time! I have since updated theirs and feel like I better fill this in.
Last year after we got back from Dubai we took another quick trip in Feb. to Puerto Vallarta to visit my parents. We did something a little different when we went...we went to a school in Magisterio...a nearby town that many of the locals lived and worked off the dump. It is an extremely poor community and is very sad. Basic plumbing and electricity is something they don't have. We took care packages to three of the grades (to correlate with our kids' grades) and our kids handed out the gift packages to all the children in the class. Each package had a note of some sort attached...our kids had the students in their school make pictures and notes and then we took them to PV with us. The look on the children's faces was amazing. They were so happy. Later in the day Ehren and Emily stayed behind to help distribute a package for every kid that was in school that day. Each package had beans, rice and flour I believe...staples that were essential for these families. It was truly an eye opening experience for all of us.
As the school year ended we had a visit from Gramma Elaine. She was here for three weeks and some of the time she was here was the beginning of our kids' summer break. We had a great time with her and she was able to enjoy some time with the kids as well as we were here for the rest of May and all of June.
In July we took a three week trip to Canada. I was there with the kids for three weeks and Ehren flew back hone for a bit to work so he was gone 2 weeks. We spent time at Windermere, BC and then in High River. It was a nice little get away. Later that month I had a cousin that got married in Los Angeles area. We drove to CA and spent 10 days there. We got to see many of my Mom's side of the family which I hadn't seen in a long time, and had the treat of spending time with Deana and her family as well as with Mom and Dad...outside of our own dwellings! We were care free with little responsibility...it was great! We did Disney and CA Adventure and then went to San Diego and stayed a couple nights with our great friends there. It was a very relaxing trip!
Kids started school in August and then it is all a blur. :-) We did the Hot Chocolate 5k this year again as a family...a 5k ending with a chocolate fondue. Very fun! We also did the Boulder Bolder this year as a family...a 10k in Boulder which is a blast. Elaine joined us for that and her and Jaelynn walked together. :-)
In November my parents came through on their way to Mexico. While they were here Ehren and I had planned a weekend get away with some friends. We took three days and went to Santa Barbara to do a half marathon. It was so much fun and the weather was perfect! We also got to see a long time friend of mine...Jackie, who lives in the area. It was great to catch up with them!
Over Thanksgiving we did an early trip to Puerto Vallarta this year. With Emily being in middle school we didn't want to take her out of school for too many days so decided to go over Thanksgiving. We had a great time and this year we went to the PV Zoo. It was so much fun and we paid the extra buck for the kids to play with the monkeys and baby tigers at the end. Very interesting observation for those of you that read Evan's blog...he was very sneezy and itchy after that...didn't even think of it, but he is allergic to the feline family...not just a basic house cat! The trip was wonderful and we did get in golf and tennis as well as some great beach time.
This year for Christmas we had a special treat. Lana and Samuel decided to come this way from Dubai! They were here for three weeks and spent time between Deana and my house. Mom and Dad also came for 10 days...so the first time in about 8 years that we have had our family all together! It was so nice. Once catch...I broke my darn toe on my left foot! Broke it bad and still cannot skate or ski...or run. :-( Yes, poor me. I am hoping I won't have to have surgery but they had a hard time setting it so not sure if it will heal good enough. I will know in a couple weeks. Keep your fingers crossed!
I am still working a couple days a week at the cancer center and Ehren is still going full tilt at Qualcomm. Both of us loving our jobs. Running has slowed a bit over the winter...although I am on a full hiatus at the moment. :-( I am volunteering in the school weekly...sometimes twice a week and then I give myself a day or two for errands and sanity time. :-) Ehren has also been helping a lot with Evan's hockey team, coaching department. :-)
So for the year coming up...we are heading on a 4 day ski trip with a couple other families to Winterpark. This will be the first time our kids have skied somewhere other than Eldora. I think it will be a pleasant surprise! We are also going to head to Utah to Bryce Canyon and Zion in May, and then in July back to Canada for a wedding, reunion and some R & R...hopefully! Elaine is coming again in March, and I'm sure my parents will be through in April.
I do believe I need to update more often as this became rather long winded and it was not full of a lot of details! Yikes!
Monday, January 19, 2015
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Dubai 2013/14
Well! The time finally came after having the tickets booked for 8 months! The kids were more than excited and we were too...we could not wait to visit "the Dubai cousins". :-) We were not sure how the kids would do on the flight...which it turns out they did good on. We flew DEN to Heathrow and then Heathrow to Dubai. It was about 9 hrs then 6.5 hours. The break was good and kids flew well. They did not sleep a whole lot on the flights but they did get in a lot of movie watching! I think I slept about 1 1/2 hrs on the whole flight east. We left here on the 19th at 5pm and arrived at 1130pm on the 20th...long day. We had a welcome arrival as Lana picked us up at the airport...took us two hours to clear customs and a short drive to the house...so was about 3 a.m.before we settled. I won't bore you with the details of sleep...I had zero jet lag from the get go but Ehren and kids took a couple days. :-)
Our first day there was actually Gabe's bday so Lana had organized a bit of a party with a big bbq to help keep us awake. We met a few of their friends including a wonderful family from Australia that they used to live next door to. We ate great...Samuel was home...so we ate great and lots!! :-)
Our first bit of sight seeing was the Miracle Gardens. You can see pics on our site and is an amazing display of flowers organized in several different ways. We went to the Burj Khalifa...tallest building in the world which boasts 828 m (905yards, 2722 ft or just over 1/2 mile high). The stats on the building were phenomenal including longest elevator in the world. It was amazingly smooth.The building can house 35,000 people at any time and has 57 elevators and 8 escalators and the spire at the top can be seen from 95km away. Pretty cool! The view from the observation deck was phenomenal!
What else did we see? Well, we went to the Sheikh Zayed Grande Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It is yet another site to be seen. It is one of the few that they have open for tourists and use to educate people on the religion. It is actively used for prayer so there is limited access to many parts of the building...when I was there before we had "free roaming", however it wasn't open for prayer at that time. It's stats...82 domes and minorettes, 12 chandeliers the largest weighing 12 tons, can house 40 000 people outside for prayer and 7 000 inside...total cost >545 million. It was beautiful. Lana and I wore the traditional abaya and khimar. Women in the mosque must have their hair covered and their arms covered to the wrists and legs to the ankles. No shoes allowed for anyone. Outside the mosque the general population dresses how they so desire...based on their religious belief...there is no "rule" set by the country for dress. This same day we went to the Royal Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. It is a beautiful hotel with many people with too much money. We also saw the gold ATM's...forgot to take a picture but you can buy gold pendants, earrings, etc. just as you would take money out of an ATM!!
We saw several shopping malls in Dubai, including the Mall of the Emerites that has the ski hill in it. We took the kids indoor skydiving at Mirdif mall and they loved it! We drove out to the Palm Jumeriah island to take a quick peak at the Atlantis resort. Last time I was there the islands were still under construction...oh, and if you didn't see the New years eve fireworks from Dubai...you need to check them out on youtube! They set a world record and it was amazing! We saw the fireworks set from the Burj Khalifa from Lana and Samuel's roof and then we went inside to watch the rest of them from the islands on TV.
We spent Christmas day having a picnic on the beach at which time we saw the Burj Al Arab...famous for the pic with Tiger Woods hitting a golf ball off the helipad. We spent New years day at the camel races at Al Marmoon Track. It was very cool and I hadn't seen these before. They only do them a few months of the year b/c of the heat. Boy...do those camels lope along! They come across the finish line frothing at the mouth as they chase the cars that drive along the track beside them...kind of like dog races.:-)
One of our evening adventures took us Dune bashing. Started with 4x4'ing in the dessert (holy crap I almost peed my pants!). Ali (our driver) told us the secret...as long as you have two tires on the sand still...and keep them moving you won't tip over! Great...glad he knows all the secrets!! Once we got to the party site there was camel riding, henna art, hooka pipes, belly dancing and a wonderful evening of entertainment and middle eastern food. We sure did eat well...buffet style!
A second day trip took us on the Dubai bus tours...double decker bus. We went through the city on a hop on hop off. We did a Dhow river cruise, hit the gold and spice soukes, Dubai Museum, Children's city, and drove through old town. It was an eye opening once we got into the bowels of the city and the kids were overwhelmed when we got to the busy streets of the gold souke. You could smell the spice soukes from a block away. It was really cool. We also took a morning to go to La Karama...where the "knock off" goods are purchased. We did a lot of looking around!
We hit a few parks and also went to Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. It's an over priced indoor amusement park (surprise) but the kids loved it. Been there done that! The last day we were there we went and got some "real" henna done...at an actual salon for women only! They do amazing body art!
Aside from all the great sites we had an amazing time just visiting, eating, and the kids played a lot...and got along great. From foosball to picnics on Isabelle's balcony...they did it all. Oh, and did I say we ate a lot??? We felt special that Samuel took two weeks off work to hang out with us and help haul us around the city. He is a great cook and fed us well...we caught on to the Lebanese way...offer food and offer more!! :-) We wanted to try and get to Oman but never quite made it work but it would have been awesome. Here's a list of the amazing food we had...Hommos, Kibbeh, Molokhina (like spinach), fish (Sea Bream and Balti)...first time for both, Izmir Kebab, Shish tawuk, Manoushi...jibneh(cheese), shanklish, and zataar (spices), Lahm bajeen (meat pizza), Haloumi, cheese rolls, fattoush, tabbouleh, baba ghanouj, moutabel, vine leaves, cilik leaves, shawarma, beans on toast!!, arayes labnie & zataar, falafels, aniseed tea....and drum roll.....CAMEL milk! The amazing thing...our kids tried everything and liked almost all of it! My favorites were the Kibbeh, Manoushi jibneh, molokhia, hommos of course and the falafels were to die for! And I so wish I could get the air filled "bread" to eat with hommos here! It's to die for!!
It was so nice to be on their "stomping ground" and we had a great time. Tears were shed when we left...and even still at times by the kiddos. Our flight home was the same route as the flight out...everyone did a bit better on the trip back as far as resting and comfort. It was funny cause we left at 2.30 a.m. on sunday morning and arrived at DIA at 3 pm sunday afternoon...wow funny how time flies!! Kids were back to school monday morning! We are having to face reality now and get back into the swing of things. Jet lag has since passed and we are getting there. Thanks Ait's for the great time!
Our first day there was actually Gabe's bday so Lana had organized a bit of a party with a big bbq to help keep us awake. We met a few of their friends including a wonderful family from Australia that they used to live next door to. We ate great...Samuel was home...so we ate great and lots!! :-)
Our first bit of sight seeing was the Miracle Gardens. You can see pics on our site and is an amazing display of flowers organized in several different ways. We went to the Burj Khalifa...tallest building in the world which boasts 828 m (905yards, 2722 ft or just over 1/2 mile high). The stats on the building were phenomenal including longest elevator in the world. It was amazingly smooth.The building can house 35,000 people at any time and has 57 elevators and 8 escalators and the spire at the top can be seen from 95km away. Pretty cool! The view from the observation deck was phenomenal!
What else did we see? Well, we went to the Sheikh Zayed Grande Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It is yet another site to be seen. It is one of the few that they have open for tourists and use to educate people on the religion. It is actively used for prayer so there is limited access to many parts of the building...when I was there before we had "free roaming", however it wasn't open for prayer at that time. It's stats...82 domes and minorettes, 12 chandeliers the largest weighing 12 tons, can house 40 000 people outside for prayer and 7 000 inside...total cost >545 million. It was beautiful. Lana and I wore the traditional abaya and khimar. Women in the mosque must have their hair covered and their arms covered to the wrists and legs to the ankles. No shoes allowed for anyone. Outside the mosque the general population dresses how they so desire...based on their religious belief...there is no "rule" set by the country for dress. This same day we went to the Royal Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. It is a beautiful hotel with many people with too much money. We also saw the gold ATM's...forgot to take a picture but you can buy gold pendants, earrings, etc. just as you would take money out of an ATM!!
We saw several shopping malls in Dubai, including the Mall of the Emerites that has the ski hill in it. We took the kids indoor skydiving at Mirdif mall and they loved it! We drove out to the Palm Jumeriah island to take a quick peak at the Atlantis resort. Last time I was there the islands were still under construction...oh, and if you didn't see the New years eve fireworks from Dubai...you need to check them out on youtube! They set a world record and it was amazing! We saw the fireworks set from the Burj Khalifa from Lana and Samuel's roof and then we went inside to watch the rest of them from the islands on TV.
We spent Christmas day having a picnic on the beach at which time we saw the Burj Al Arab...famous for the pic with Tiger Woods hitting a golf ball off the helipad. We spent New years day at the camel races at Al Marmoon Track. It was very cool and I hadn't seen these before. They only do them a few months of the year b/c of the heat. Boy...do those camels lope along! They come across the finish line frothing at the mouth as they chase the cars that drive along the track beside them...kind of like dog races.:-)
One of our evening adventures took us Dune bashing. Started with 4x4'ing in the dessert (holy crap I almost peed my pants!). Ali (our driver) told us the secret...as long as you have two tires on the sand still...and keep them moving you won't tip over! Great...glad he knows all the secrets!! Once we got to the party site there was camel riding, henna art, hooka pipes, belly dancing and a wonderful evening of entertainment and middle eastern food. We sure did eat well...buffet style!
A second day trip took us on the Dubai bus tours...double decker bus. We went through the city on a hop on hop off. We did a Dhow river cruise, hit the gold and spice soukes, Dubai Museum, Children's city, and drove through old town. It was an eye opening once we got into the bowels of the city and the kids were overwhelmed when we got to the busy streets of the gold souke. You could smell the spice soukes from a block away. It was really cool. We also took a morning to go to La Karama...where the "knock off" goods are purchased. We did a lot of looking around!
We hit a few parks and also went to Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. It's an over priced indoor amusement park (surprise) but the kids loved it. Been there done that! The last day we were there we went and got some "real" henna done...at an actual salon for women only! They do amazing body art!
Aside from all the great sites we had an amazing time just visiting, eating, and the kids played a lot...and got along great. From foosball to picnics on Isabelle's balcony...they did it all. Oh, and did I say we ate a lot??? We felt special that Samuel took two weeks off work to hang out with us and help haul us around the city. He is a great cook and fed us well...we caught on to the Lebanese way...offer food and offer more!! :-) We wanted to try and get to Oman but never quite made it work but it would have been awesome. Here's a list of the amazing food we had...Hommos, Kibbeh, Molokhina (like spinach), fish (Sea Bream and Balti)...first time for both, Izmir Kebab, Shish tawuk, Manoushi...jibneh(cheese), shanklish, and zataar (spices), Lahm bajeen (meat pizza), Haloumi, cheese rolls, fattoush, tabbouleh, baba ghanouj, moutabel, vine leaves, cilik leaves, shawarma, beans on toast!!, arayes labnie & zataar, falafels, aniseed tea....and drum roll.....CAMEL milk! The amazing thing...our kids tried everything and liked almost all of it! My favorites were the Kibbeh, Manoushi jibneh, molokhia, hommos of course and the falafels were to die for! And I so wish I could get the air filled "bread" to eat with hommos here! It's to die for!!
It was so nice to be on their "stomping ground" and we had a great time. Tears were shed when we left...and even still at times by the kiddos. Our flight home was the same route as the flight out...everyone did a bit better on the trip back as far as resting and comfort. It was funny cause we left at 2.30 a.m. on sunday morning and arrived at DIA at 3 pm sunday afternoon...wow funny how time flies!! Kids were back to school monday morning! We are having to face reality now and get back into the swing of things. Jet lag has since passed and we are getting there. Thanks Ait's for the great time!
January 2014
Well November came and went. We had a great Thanksgiving and friends from San Diego came out for the week. Kids played, parents visited...a great time! We took in an archery class for the first time (all 9 of us) and found it fun and challenging!
The kids have kept us busy as many of you have seen from the Christmas letter I sent out. We have a dog which has added more "fun" to the family...her name is Lucy. Evan has started hockey and the girls stayed with their same activities. They will all be picking up new activities in the new year.
We planned a great trip to Dubai for Christmas...all focus was on that for a long while. We only had about 2 1/2 weeks between Thanksgiving and the time we left so not much to report on in that time. Check out my Dubai update!!
The kids have kept us busy as many of you have seen from the Christmas letter I sent out. We have a dog which has added more "fun" to the family...her name is Lucy. Evan has started hockey and the girls stayed with their same activities. They will all be picking up new activities in the new year.
We planned a great trip to Dubai for Christmas...all focus was on that for a long while. We only had about 2 1/2 weeks between Thanksgiving and the time we left so not much to report on in that time. Check out my Dubai update!!
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Oct. 1 update
Well, it seems that I am not so great at updating our website! It has been a couple months and a lot has happened!
August brought a lot of excitement for us. Right off the bat we collected Lana and her entourage from the airport...they were to be here for two weeks! Kids (and I...us) were very excited as it has been a couple years...maybe three since they'd been to Colorado! We managed to get them settled...when, the next day...we welcomed the arrival of a new cousin!! Baby Cam arrived a month early to our surprise. Lana was tickled b/c she was suppose to be long gone to Dubai before he arrived the end of August! All was well for the first 24 hours and then because of some concerns they decided to admit him to the NICU. We anticipated this as a shorter stay...which ended up to be a month long. All was fine and he was mainly a feeder and grower...the feeding and strength a bit of a challenge at times due to his prematurity and his DS. He was a trooper...as were Mom and Dad...and big bros! He arrived home right around his due date!
Back to Lana and kiddos...we had a blast with them. We toured a dairy/milk farm, went to the parks, sunflower farm, slot cars, introduced the kids to crawdad fishing, and Lego exhibit. We had several hours of helping out with Deana's kiddos too...between Longmont and Windsor...we had a grand 'ol time! My Mom and Dad popped down as well for a quick visit...actually Dad was 2 days and Mom ended up as two weeks helping out. Lana got bonus time with Mom. :-) It was sad to see them go but we get to see them soon as we are planning to go to Dubai for Christmas this year!!! Very exciting!
What else? Well, kids started school right after Lana left. They love their teacher and are doing great. I ran the Pike's Peak Ascent (half marathon up to 14,000 ft). It was the hardest thing I've ever done...not sure I'll do it again! :-) I met my goal...but need to finish the season on a quicker note...so am running a half next weekend down the canyon. :-) I have been running a lot and will start hockey soon. I am working once a week and once again taking a spanish class. I also help out in the school twice a week. Ehren has been playing hockey all summer and continues to play twice a week. He has started to run again and is trying to challenge his achilles...in hopes of success. He continues to play guitar and is loving his newest hobby...shooting! He heads to the range almost on a weekly basis...and got a kick out of running into our Pastor there last weekend. :-)
We made a quick trip to South Dakota over the long weekend in Sept. You can see from the pictures that we went to Jewel Cave, Crazy Horse, and Mount Rushmore..that was one day. We then did the Reptile Gardens, Bear Country, and a dinosaur museum the next day. The third day and the day we drove home we hit the Mammoth Dig site. An amazing dig site that has been going on for about 40 years...and still so much to find. It was a great little road trip and the kids had a great time.
Our kids are busy in sports and school. Jaelynn picked up piano and Evan has been working on guitar. Emily continues with violin. Soccer and swim are underway and Emily picked up tap dancing! She loves it! We will have one more thing to keep us busy as we decided to get a dog! This weekend we will rescue a 1 1/2-2 year old Lab/Ridgeback mix. Her name is Lucy and she is wonderful! We are all excited! One other plan for the weekend...we are doing a Hot Chocolate 5K as a family in Denver sunday morning. Perfect...get the kids up early, run, fill them up on chocolate then go get a new pet...and expect them to go to relax and go to bed that night? Likely not! :-)
Lastly, our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families affected by the Colorado floods. We appreciate all the thoughts and well wishes people have sent us. We were extremely lucky that we went untouched by the flood waters...as did Deana and Jay. There was much devastation throughout Northern Colorado...hard to believe and to think this is the second flood we've seen this summer. What's up with the weather! We hope everyone bounces back...it's a long haul for some.
Well, we are expecting Blair and Dar for a couple weeks this month on their way south...as usual. Halloween is right around the corner as is...Ehren's 40th! Woohoo!!!
August brought a lot of excitement for us. Right off the bat we collected Lana and her entourage from the airport...they were to be here for two weeks! Kids (and I...us) were very excited as it has been a couple years...maybe three since they'd been to Colorado! We managed to get them settled...when, the next day...we welcomed the arrival of a new cousin!! Baby Cam arrived a month early to our surprise. Lana was tickled b/c she was suppose to be long gone to Dubai before he arrived the end of August! All was well for the first 24 hours and then because of some concerns they decided to admit him to the NICU. We anticipated this as a shorter stay...which ended up to be a month long. All was fine and he was mainly a feeder and grower...the feeding and strength a bit of a challenge at times due to his prematurity and his DS. He was a trooper...as were Mom and Dad...and big bros! He arrived home right around his due date!
Back to Lana and kiddos...we had a blast with them. We toured a dairy/milk farm, went to the parks, sunflower farm, slot cars, introduced the kids to crawdad fishing, and Lego exhibit. We had several hours of helping out with Deana's kiddos too...between Longmont and Windsor...we had a grand 'ol time! My Mom and Dad popped down as well for a quick visit...actually Dad was 2 days and Mom ended up as two weeks helping out. Lana got bonus time with Mom. :-) It was sad to see them go but we get to see them soon as we are planning to go to Dubai for Christmas this year!!! Very exciting!
What else? Well, kids started school right after Lana left. They love their teacher and are doing great. I ran the Pike's Peak Ascent (half marathon up to 14,000 ft). It was the hardest thing I've ever done...not sure I'll do it again! :-) I met my goal...but need to finish the season on a quicker note...so am running a half next weekend down the canyon. :-) I have been running a lot and will start hockey soon. I am working once a week and once again taking a spanish class. I also help out in the school twice a week. Ehren has been playing hockey all summer and continues to play twice a week. He has started to run again and is trying to challenge his achilles...in hopes of success. He continues to play guitar and is loving his newest hobby...shooting! He heads to the range almost on a weekly basis...and got a kick out of running into our Pastor there last weekend. :-)
We made a quick trip to South Dakota over the long weekend in Sept. You can see from the pictures that we went to Jewel Cave, Crazy Horse, and Mount Rushmore..that was one day. We then did the Reptile Gardens, Bear Country, and a dinosaur museum the next day. The third day and the day we drove home we hit the Mammoth Dig site. An amazing dig site that has been going on for about 40 years...and still so much to find. It was a great little road trip and the kids had a great time.
Our kids are busy in sports and school. Jaelynn picked up piano and Evan has been working on guitar. Emily continues with violin. Soccer and swim are underway and Emily picked up tap dancing! She loves it! We will have one more thing to keep us busy as we decided to get a dog! This weekend we will rescue a 1 1/2-2 year old Lab/Ridgeback mix. Her name is Lucy and she is wonderful! We are all excited! One other plan for the weekend...we are doing a Hot Chocolate 5K as a family in Denver sunday morning. Perfect...get the kids up early, run, fill them up on chocolate then go get a new pet...and expect them to go to relax and go to bed that night? Likely not! :-)
Lastly, our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families affected by the Colorado floods. We appreciate all the thoughts and well wishes people have sent us. We were extremely lucky that we went untouched by the flood waters...as did Deana and Jay. There was much devastation throughout Northern Colorado...hard to believe and to think this is the second flood we've seen this summer. What's up with the weather! We hope everyone bounces back...it's a long haul for some.
Well, we are expecting Blair and Dar for a couple weeks this month on their way south...as usual. Halloween is right around the corner as is...Ehren's 40th! Woohoo!!!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
July
Well, so the summer seems to have slipped by! There is a lot that has happened since my last update. School did finish...as did several of our activities. There was a lot of last minute field trips and parties that went along with the winding down of everything. It always makes the year so crammed at the end. Oh well...before we new it we had summer break! The kids had a week off then took a week of camp at the school...a science camp they loved. Early in June the kids did a kids triathlon in Longmont...it was great fun to watch! Check out the pics on our site. We did a golf camp and then started with our first little get away to Moab, UT!
We had this camping trip planned since last fall. It was a 5 day camping trip with two other families. We did some great hiking at Arches National Park and The Canyonlands as well. The kids spent endless hours swimming in the CO river as it swept by our campsite. This was very handy b/c the weather was 100 degrees and we had no showers or facilities...except and outhouse. :-) The river was our savior from the heat! We took bikes and the kids rode around the sites, they chased lizards and even saw a snake nearby. One of our last days there we did an amazing hike not too far from our trail. It was alongside a creek and allowed the kids to step through lots of water...hunt for crawdads, chase tadpoles, and cool off!
Once we were back from UT we had a week at home then took off again to Canada this time. We hadn't been there in two years so it came with much anticipation. We started in Windemere, BC where Ehren's immediate family all met up at Blain and Grace's lake house. It was very relaxing and the kids spent many hours on the lake skiing and tubing...Uncle Blain was kept busy at the wheel of his boat. :-) Ehren even tried wake surfing...and did a great job at that! The weather was very hot and humid...a change from what it had been. Perfect for being on the water.
After 6 days we drove to High River AB to see my parents. Ehren only got one full day as he then had to catch a plane back to CO to work. I stayed up with the kids for two more weeks! High River had been hit hard with the flood of June 21...and Mom and Dad had gotten back into their house only days before we arrived. They were one of the fortunate households that only had "damp" carpets...no standing water. Needless to say the yard was a mess...we spent many hours working outside trying to get things looking normal again. A few days before we left to go home the dry wall touch up and paint was done and we had carpet in the basement again. Along with all the work we did manage to get in some good fun...we made it to the stampede, train museum, couple shopping trips, and visited Paula and boys in Okotokes. It was really nice that Lana and her kiddos were there...the cousins all kept each other company and I got in some nice time with Mom and Lan.
We are now back home and back into the swing of things. School supplies are purchased and the kids are taking a few weeks of golf and tennis lessons. Emily has been doing violin as well. Lana arrives with her kids for a couple weeks in August, and my kiddos will do another kids triathlon in Boulder. School is right around the corner!
Ehren and I have been busy. Ehren has been playing hockey twice a week and is in a golf league. He has pulled his mountain bike out of the dust bunnies and has been biking...both road and mountain. I have been mainly running. I am training for the Pike's 1/2 ascent in less than three weeks. Just this weekend Ehren and I went and jogged/hiked Mount Audubon. It was a good way to get some exercise. I had never done it but he has. :-)
I have taken the summer off of spanish and work. Whew...and that will all start again soon enough. Like I said...school is right around the corner!!
We had this camping trip planned since last fall. It was a 5 day camping trip with two other families. We did some great hiking at Arches National Park and The Canyonlands as well. The kids spent endless hours swimming in the CO river as it swept by our campsite. This was very handy b/c the weather was 100 degrees and we had no showers or facilities...except and outhouse. :-) The river was our savior from the heat! We took bikes and the kids rode around the sites, they chased lizards and even saw a snake nearby. One of our last days there we did an amazing hike not too far from our trail. It was alongside a creek and allowed the kids to step through lots of water...hunt for crawdads, chase tadpoles, and cool off!
Once we were back from UT we had a week at home then took off again to Canada this time. We hadn't been there in two years so it came with much anticipation. We started in Windemere, BC where Ehren's immediate family all met up at Blain and Grace's lake house. It was very relaxing and the kids spent many hours on the lake skiing and tubing...Uncle Blain was kept busy at the wheel of his boat. :-) Ehren even tried wake surfing...and did a great job at that! The weather was very hot and humid...a change from what it had been. Perfect for being on the water.
After 6 days we drove to High River AB to see my parents. Ehren only got one full day as he then had to catch a plane back to CO to work. I stayed up with the kids for two more weeks! High River had been hit hard with the flood of June 21...and Mom and Dad had gotten back into their house only days before we arrived. They were one of the fortunate households that only had "damp" carpets...no standing water. Needless to say the yard was a mess...we spent many hours working outside trying to get things looking normal again. A few days before we left to go home the dry wall touch up and paint was done and we had carpet in the basement again. Along with all the work we did manage to get in some good fun...we made it to the stampede, train museum, couple shopping trips, and visited Paula and boys in Okotokes. It was really nice that Lana and her kiddos were there...the cousins all kept each other company and I got in some nice time with Mom and Lan.
We are now back home and back into the swing of things. School supplies are purchased and the kids are taking a few weeks of golf and tennis lessons. Emily has been doing violin as well. Lana arrives with her kids for a couple weeks in August, and my kiddos will do another kids triathlon in Boulder. School is right around the corner!
Ehren and I have been busy. Ehren has been playing hockey twice a week and is in a golf league. He has pulled his mountain bike out of the dust bunnies and has been biking...both road and mountain. I have been mainly running. I am training for the Pike's 1/2 ascent in less than three weeks. Just this weekend Ehren and I went and jogged/hiked Mount Audubon. It was a good way to get some exercise. I had never done it but he has. :-)
I have taken the summer off of spanish and work. Whew...and that will all start again soon enough. Like I said...school is right around the corner!!
Monday, April 15, 2013
April'ish
So I have proven that I cannot keep up with the monthly blogging anymore. I think I will have the kids start writing their own updates...should be good for their typing skills too!! :-) February flew by. My parents were in town for a couple days on their way back down to PV. They had a quick trip up to AB to see an orthopod as it seems that Mom has to have her hip replaced this spring. It has been a long time coming and well...it's finally that time! We had a nice couple days...short and sweet and we will see them back here next week on their trip back home for the summer!
Elaine arrived the end of February. She was here for 6 weeks...we were part of her temporary housing while she was waiting for her suite to become available in Calgary. The weekend she arrived we celebrated Emily's birthday. In the weeks she was here we celebrated all three kids' birthdays actually...and took in two hockey tournaments (on of Ehren's and one of mine) as well as Easter. We kept her busy and she did some tag teaming with the kids as well. She was also here during spring break in which time we went to Celestial Seasonings, Hammonds Candy Factory, Denver Aquarium. and The Wild Animal Sanctuary...home to hundreds of wild animals including bears, tigers, lions and even a camel. :-) We got a little snow here a couple days before Gramma had to leave to help acclimatize her to the good 'ol SK weather!!
So, as for the family...we've been doing well. We made it through another set of birthdays, report cards, and are only weeks away from the end of school...already! Ehren is busy with work right now as they are in review period. He continues to play hockey and recently decided he will be playing twice a week. Running has become a challenge. He recently tried training for a 1/2 marathon and after getting in 21 miles in one week his Achilles acted up again...trashed that idea...so hockey and golf it is! I am working about once a week and am now enrolled in yet another Spanish class. I have finished hockey for the season and recently signed up to do that Pike's ascent in August (which Ehren was also suppose to do but cannot). I am excited for school to be done...only just over a month left!
Keep ya all updated as we go...may be a month or two.... :-)
Elaine arrived the end of February. She was here for 6 weeks...we were part of her temporary housing while she was waiting for her suite to become available in Calgary. The weekend she arrived we celebrated Emily's birthday. In the weeks she was here we celebrated all three kids' birthdays actually...and took in two hockey tournaments (on of Ehren's and one of mine) as well as Easter. We kept her busy and she did some tag teaming with the kids as well. She was also here during spring break in which time we went to Celestial Seasonings, Hammonds Candy Factory, Denver Aquarium. and The Wild Animal Sanctuary...home to hundreds of wild animals including bears, tigers, lions and even a camel. :-) We got a little snow here a couple days before Gramma had to leave to help acclimatize her to the good 'ol SK weather!!
So, as for the family...we've been doing well. We made it through another set of birthdays, report cards, and are only weeks away from the end of school...already! Ehren is busy with work right now as they are in review period. He continues to play hockey and recently decided he will be playing twice a week. Running has become a challenge. He recently tried training for a 1/2 marathon and after getting in 21 miles in one week his Achilles acted up again...trashed that idea...so hockey and golf it is! I am working about once a week and am now enrolled in yet another Spanish class. I have finished hockey for the season and recently signed up to do that Pike's ascent in August (which Ehren was also suppose to do but cannot). I am excited for school to be done...only just over a month left!
Keep ya all updated as we go...may be a month or two.... :-)
Monday, February 04, 2013
Feb 1 update
Well, the holidays have come and gone and now I have time to sit down and fill in the blanks! :-) We had a great December. The kids all had great report cards to start the month off. We were full tilt in all activities and the kids started skating lessons as well. We also managed to get up skiing a couple times and are hoping to get up a couple more times in the next month or so.
December was all about the holidays of course. We had my parents come up for Christmas this year so we had a great family Christmas with us, them and the Landrigans. We finally got snow on Christmas Eve which was wonderful. With the roads coated in snow we were able to get out a handful of times and play road hockey with some of the local kids joining us. We all had a blast and were sad when the snow melted off the streets. I took the kids to a performance at the Boulder dinner theater over the holidays which they loved. It was about friendship and giving...now they want to go to another play as well. :-)
January started school up again and we got back into the swing of things. Evan added hockey twice a week and him and Jaelynn both added basketball to their schedules. Jaelynn is also doing something a bit different this semester...she has started into drama and will be "Tiger Lilly" in "Alice In Wonderland" in May. She is very excited and loving it. We had parent conferences recently and they went wonderfully. Great reviews for all!
We just got back from our annual trip to Puerto Vallarta. It seems that they get better every year. The kids were so much fun as they are getting bigger and able to do more. We took in a pirate ship cruise where we went sea kayaking, banana boating and held a sea urchin. The kids really got into boogie boarding this year and they played a bit of tennis too...took their tennis rackets. Perhaps the biggest advancement which meant a lot to Ehren and I is that we all went golfing!! The kids went on a couple rounds of golf with us and my parents and did great! They had great patience on the course and even managed to golf a couple holes. There were iguanas to see, crocs and different birds of course...not to mention driving golf carts...oh yeah, they got to drive golf carts. Did I mention the golf carts!!:-) I think it was the high light of the golf for the kids! :-)
Ehren and I are still very busy. Reviews coming up for the Qualcomm which means long hours for Ehren. I continue to work 1-2 times per week, volunteer in the school and started another spanish class that is 2x a week. Really liking that. We are also playing hockey and trying to keep up with the running. Bought a new treadmill for Christmas to that makes indoor running much more pleasant. :-)
Not much else at this point. We are expecting Elaine to arrive the end of this month for a long visit. She will be here for Easter and Birthdays...spring break is in there too so the kids will get lots of visiting time.
December was all about the holidays of course. We had my parents come up for Christmas this year so we had a great family Christmas with us, them and the Landrigans. We finally got snow on Christmas Eve which was wonderful. With the roads coated in snow we were able to get out a handful of times and play road hockey with some of the local kids joining us. We all had a blast and were sad when the snow melted off the streets. I took the kids to a performance at the Boulder dinner theater over the holidays which they loved. It was about friendship and giving...now they want to go to another play as well. :-)
January started school up again and we got back into the swing of things. Evan added hockey twice a week and him and Jaelynn both added basketball to their schedules. Jaelynn is also doing something a bit different this semester...she has started into drama and will be "Tiger Lilly" in "Alice In Wonderland" in May. She is very excited and loving it. We had parent conferences recently and they went wonderfully. Great reviews for all!
We just got back from our annual trip to Puerto Vallarta. It seems that they get better every year. The kids were so much fun as they are getting bigger and able to do more. We took in a pirate ship cruise where we went sea kayaking, banana boating and held a sea urchin. The kids really got into boogie boarding this year and they played a bit of tennis too...took their tennis rackets. Perhaps the biggest advancement which meant a lot to Ehren and I is that we all went golfing!! The kids went on a couple rounds of golf with us and my parents and did great! They had great patience on the course and even managed to golf a couple holes. There were iguanas to see, crocs and different birds of course...not to mention driving golf carts...oh yeah, they got to drive golf carts. Did I mention the golf carts!!:-) I think it was the high light of the golf for the kids! :-)
Ehren and I are still very busy. Reviews coming up for the Qualcomm which means long hours for Ehren. I continue to work 1-2 times per week, volunteer in the school and started another spanish class that is 2x a week. Really liking that. We are also playing hockey and trying to keep up with the running. Bought a new treadmill for Christmas to that makes indoor running much more pleasant. :-)
Not much else at this point. We are expecting Elaine to arrive the end of this month for a long visit. She will be here for Easter and Birthdays...spring break is in there too so the kids will get lots of visiting time.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
November update
Well, it's been too long since I've done this and now I can hardly remember what has happened over the last 10 weeks! We've been busy with school and all extracurricular activities. I have been working a lot...3 times a week, and then volunteering 5 hours a week in the school (all in one day) as well as being Kindergarten room parent. It has left little time to get much else done! I am playing hockey and running quite a bit. I ran the Boulder back roads (1/2 marathon) in Oct. so I could get a qualifying time for an event I want to do in August. It went better than I thought it would...and on only 3 weeks training! I am getting ready to start a 3 day a week spanish class...which means less time for work for me! This is great actually as I've been wanting to do this for the last year and am now making it a priority! It is a day class as my evenings are very busy with kid activities so should work out great! Ehren has been busy with work and playing hockey. He has been running and swimming as well. This Sept. was his 15 year anniversary with Qualcomm! Wow, where has the time gone? They had a nice celebration dinner for a few of the guys up at Flagstaff House in Boulder...wonderful meal and a view to die for!
In Sept. we added a pet to the family...sorta say. Her name is Skittles and she is a gecko...born in July and growing fairly quickly! You can see pictures of her as well on our website. She's pretty squirmy yet but apparently can become a great companion...likes to watch TV and be talked to a lot. :-)
We had a bit of excitement in early Oct. as Emily was bucked off her pony and broke her wrist. You can read more about it in her blog. She was without use of her right arm from her elbow down for a month...kinda hard when you are right handed!
We had a short notice adoption in October...not the kind you think! Ehren's Mom sold her house and we adopted her piano that she has had since the late 60's. It is in amazing condition and with 2 weeks notice...Ehren booked a flight up and a UHaul to drive it back with! We are now the owners of a piano! Thanks Elaine!! We'll take great care of it!
Halloween has come and gone. The kids were dressed up as a skeleton, a pink leopard, and a gypsy this year. We had beautiful weather and were out trick or treating for 2 1/2 hours! Needless to say they ended up with more candy than necessary and I was glad when they decided to donate much of it . :-)
We just got back from a road trip. It was much shorter and lasted only 5 days. We covered some great territory heading south to New Mexico and dipped into Texas right near the Mexico/Texas border. We visited Carlsbad Caverns (main drive behind the trip) then went to the White Sand Dunes, up to Fire and Ice (Bandera volcano and Ice cave) then to a Wolf Wildlife Sanctuary in CO. The Carlsbad Caverns was very impressive...much bigger than the Cave of the Winds which we we went to last summer in CO Springs. The White Sand dunes (miles of them) were amazing and we enjoyed sledding down the dunes. Check out our pics of all the stops we made on our picture page!
We recently had some very exciting news as we have yet another nephew!! Ehren's brother Nathan and his wife Kiran had the birth of their first son, Arjun Leo van Melle on Nov. 13th. He was 6lbs. 15 oz. and 18" long. Hopefully we'll get to meet him this summer!
We are now getting ready for the Holidays. We are having Thanksgiving with Deana and Jay and will be celebrating Christmas here this year and my parents will be coming as well this year...so more family time! In the New Year we have planned a trip to Mexico once again. Hopefully I will get to updating the site again before another 10 weeks is up!! :-)
In Sept. we added a pet to the family...sorta say. Her name is Skittles and she is a gecko...born in July and growing fairly quickly! You can see pictures of her as well on our website. She's pretty squirmy yet but apparently can become a great companion...likes to watch TV and be talked to a lot. :-)
We had a bit of excitement in early Oct. as Emily was bucked off her pony and broke her wrist. You can read more about it in her blog. She was without use of her right arm from her elbow down for a month...kinda hard when you are right handed!
We had a short notice adoption in October...not the kind you think! Ehren's Mom sold her house and we adopted her piano that she has had since the late 60's. It is in amazing condition and with 2 weeks notice...Ehren booked a flight up and a UHaul to drive it back with! We are now the owners of a piano! Thanks Elaine!! We'll take great care of it!
Halloween has come and gone. The kids were dressed up as a skeleton, a pink leopard, and a gypsy this year. We had beautiful weather and were out trick or treating for 2 1/2 hours! Needless to say they ended up with more candy than necessary and I was glad when they decided to donate much of it . :-)
We just got back from a road trip. It was much shorter and lasted only 5 days. We covered some great territory heading south to New Mexico and dipped into Texas right near the Mexico/Texas border. We visited Carlsbad Caverns (main drive behind the trip) then went to the White Sand Dunes, up to Fire and Ice (Bandera volcano and Ice cave) then to a Wolf Wildlife Sanctuary in CO. The Carlsbad Caverns was very impressive...much bigger than the Cave of the Winds which we we went to last summer in CO Springs. The White Sand dunes (miles of them) were amazing and we enjoyed sledding down the dunes. Check out our pics of all the stops we made on our picture page!
We recently had some very exciting news as we have yet another nephew!! Ehren's brother Nathan and his wife Kiran had the birth of their first son, Arjun Leo van Melle on Nov. 13th. He was 6lbs. 15 oz. and 18" long. Hopefully we'll get to meet him this summer!
We are now getting ready for the Holidays. We are having Thanksgiving with Deana and Jay and will be celebrating Christmas here this year and my parents will be coming as well this year...so more family time! In the New Year we have planned a trip to Mexico once again. Hopefully I will get to updating the site again before another 10 weeks is up!! :-)
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Sept. 1 update
Well what a great month August turned out to be! It's been busy with back to school and sports starting up...but it's all good. I have volunteered to be room Mom in Evan's class so will be busy with that as well as volunteering pretty much all day Thursdays between all three classrooms. I have also been busy with work as I am now working 3 days a week until sometime in November. I am covering some medical leave between Longmont and Boulder offices so am in quite often. Ehren's work is steady and not too stressful at the moment. Review time is coming up which always means more meetings, therefore, more work and extra hours.
Ehren's playing hockey again this fall and mine will start up soon. We are busy with trying to keep running and just keeping up with our kids!
We took a day trip to Estes Park this month. Ehren booked us a riding session for an hour one saturday. It was a lot of fun. The horses were very well trained and looked after nicely. The wranglers were great with all of us and gave great instruction. After riding we went up to Alluvial Fan in Rocky Mountain National Park for a hike. We didn't get far on the hike b/c we came across the waterfall/river and the kids played in that for over an hour. They had a lot of fun and did get wet! Our stomachs called so we had to leave for lunch but would love to go back soon. For lunch we ate at a little restaurant on the side of the road...great little place...and we ate outside. Beautiful view of the mountains and a bench swing to boot for the kids to play on. :-) WE went through Lyons on our way back and hit the Pro Cycling Challenge of CO. We got to see all the racers. It was really cool to see all the support vehicles and media that was both before and after the cyclists. Very neat! Evan lost his first tooth on the way home so it made it even that much more of a special day. :-)
The end of the month we went to Johnson Lake, NE with the Landrigan family. We went to celebrate Levi's birthday. What a great weekend. The weather was awesome and we couldn't keep the kids out of the boats, water, tubes, etc. When not on the water they were usually on the trampoline. So much fun and we thank Don and Charlotte for sharing their special place on the lake with us. :-) We hope to go back next summer again. The kids water skied, Ehren tried wake boarding...and me, well, they only had a slalom ski when I was out and that's not for me! Next time we'll make sure they have two skis. :-)
Life is busy but that is great. We are in a good routine right now and the kids get some down time in the evening which is nice. We'll keep plugging along!!
Ehren's playing hockey again this fall and mine will start up soon. We are busy with trying to keep running and just keeping up with our kids!
We took a day trip to Estes Park this month. Ehren booked us a riding session for an hour one saturday. It was a lot of fun. The horses were very well trained and looked after nicely. The wranglers were great with all of us and gave great instruction. After riding we went up to Alluvial Fan in Rocky Mountain National Park for a hike. We didn't get far on the hike b/c we came across the waterfall/river and the kids played in that for over an hour. They had a lot of fun and did get wet! Our stomachs called so we had to leave for lunch but would love to go back soon. For lunch we ate at a little restaurant on the side of the road...great little place...and we ate outside. Beautiful view of the mountains and a bench swing to boot for the kids to play on. :-) WE went through Lyons on our way back and hit the Pro Cycling Challenge of CO. We got to see all the racers. It was really cool to see all the support vehicles and media that was both before and after the cyclists. Very neat! Evan lost his first tooth on the way home so it made it even that much more of a special day. :-)
The end of the month we went to Johnson Lake, NE with the Landrigan family. We went to celebrate Levi's birthday. What a great weekend. The weather was awesome and we couldn't keep the kids out of the boats, water, tubes, etc. When not on the water they were usually on the trampoline. So much fun and we thank Don and Charlotte for sharing their special place on the lake with us. :-) We hope to go back next summer again. The kids water skied, Ehren tried wake boarding...and me, well, they only had a slalom ski when I was out and that's not for me! Next time we'll make sure they have two skis. :-)
Life is busy but that is great. We are in a good routine right now and the kids get some down time in the evening which is nice. We'll keep plugging along!!
Monday, August 13, 2012
August update
Well, I have pretty much missed the whole summer of blogging...so that indicates a busy summer, therefore, a lot to write about! :-) June flew by! The kids started tennis and loved it. A great age appropriate class for each of them. Definitely a must for next summer. Emily of course fell in love with her riding lessons and Evan enjoyed Tball. It is a bit of a commitment but he really liked it. Emily and Evan also took golf lessons and really enjoyed it. Jaelynn was wishing she was taking...but she waited a bit too long. :-) We continued with swim and violin as well...the usual stuff.
The girls did the Longmont Kids Triathlon this year (and I did the adult one) in June. They had a great time and talk about doing it again next year...Evan will likely take part next year too. :-) We had a great Father's Day with hanging around for some Daddy time, then off to the Monster Truck races at the CO Speedway. It was a blast and the kids loved it. Wasn't too hot which was a bonus as well. There are some good pic on the website as well.
Throughout the month of June we did weekly hikes with some friends in the neighborhood. We went to several places throughout Boulder county and saw some new areas. The kids enjoyed and we found a couple great areas.
One hi-light of the summer was our camping trip to Ouray, CO. It is about a 6 hr drive southwest down near Telluride. We took 4 days and went down with another family (kids same age as ours). Even with the fire ban at the time we had a great time. It was warm enough we didn't need fire for warmth...and mid summer so we had light pretty late. We encountered snakes, baby skunks (at a safe distance), lizards, squirrels, deer, and we had a nice little black bear at the campsite. I think between our 6 kids they kept the bear away from the camp sites. I'm sure our neighbor campers were happy. :-) Ehren and friend Todd hiked up a 14-er (main reason for this location of trip). That day Heidi and I took the kids hiking, to the beach, and then for iced cream. :-) On this trip our kids also learned to fish...themselves that is. :-) It was a great time. We took part of a day and drove to Telluride and rode the gondola up the ski hill. A beautiful area that we'd love to go back to sometime!
July brought the 4th of July and then the Johnson family visited us for a weekend on their trip back to San Diego from Canada. As soon as they were gone we had Blair and Dar around for a couple weeks. They were grand kid sitting. Ehren and I went to Vegas for brother Nathan's wedding to Kiran...Mom and Dad watched our kids while we were gone for the 3 1/2 days. We had a great time in Vegas...all Ehren's brothers and Mom were there so we had some good visiting time. The wedding was simple but very well done...all at the Wynn. A great weekend!
We arrived home Sunday evening from Vegas, unpacked and re-packed to head out on a two week road trip! We decided since we'd just seen my parents, and Ehren's family at the wedding we were going to change our summer up and do a road trip south instead of north this year! We have some great pics on the website to check out but here's what we did...
Monday left to Santa Fe, NM for a brief stay. Over the next couple days we visited the Painted Dessert, Petrified Forest (kids earned Junior Ranger badges), Sunset Meteor Crater, Wupatki National Monument, and Walnut Canyon. We took a drive up to the Grand Canyon and did the Watchtower and hiked along the South Rim. We spent nights in Flagstaff (beautiful town) and Tusayan (near grand canyon). We started south to Scottsdale and enjoyed a wonderful Marriott and dinner at Benihana's. The next day we took off to San Diego. Here we stayed with the Johnson family, visited some old friends from Longmont (met at the beach), went to the Midway (aircraft carrier where the kids earned junior wings), and did SeaWorld. That evening we went to Anaheim to spend a day at each Disneyland and California adventure...we spent my birthday at Disneyland...what a treat! Fun thing...our kids now love doing the bigger roller coasters now...so we did all there was to do! :-) On Thurs. we went to Las Vegas and stayed at a wonderful family resort south on the strip...and did the Hoover Dam. Spent some great time in the pools and then took off driving home on Saturday. Our plan was a two day drive home but by dinner time we decided to drive the whole way...so we actually arrived home sat.night...late. What a wonderful trip! There are so many memories and some great places to see!!
So, that is two months in a nutshell (sort of). Kids' blogs will be short since there has been such a time lapse. :-) School starts shortly and they are sooo excited. Emily starting 4th, Jae to 2nd and Evan in Kindergarten. Wow! I will also start working Mondays and Tuesdays until the end of October once the kids start school. It will be to cover a maternity leave.
We hope you are all doing well and will update you again soon!
The girls did the Longmont Kids Triathlon this year (and I did the adult one) in June. They had a great time and talk about doing it again next year...Evan will likely take part next year too. :-) We had a great Father's Day with hanging around for some Daddy time, then off to the Monster Truck races at the CO Speedway. It was a blast and the kids loved it. Wasn't too hot which was a bonus as well. There are some good pic on the website as well.
Throughout the month of June we did weekly hikes with some friends in the neighborhood. We went to several places throughout Boulder county and saw some new areas. The kids enjoyed and we found a couple great areas.
One hi-light of the summer was our camping trip to Ouray, CO. It is about a 6 hr drive southwest down near Telluride. We took 4 days and went down with another family (kids same age as ours). Even with the fire ban at the time we had a great time. It was warm enough we didn't need fire for warmth...and mid summer so we had light pretty late. We encountered snakes, baby skunks (at a safe distance), lizards, squirrels, deer, and we had a nice little black bear at the campsite. I think between our 6 kids they kept the bear away from the camp sites. I'm sure our neighbor campers were happy. :-) Ehren and friend Todd hiked up a 14-er (main reason for this location of trip). That day Heidi and I took the kids hiking, to the beach, and then for iced cream. :-) On this trip our kids also learned to fish...themselves that is. :-) It was a great time. We took part of a day and drove to Telluride and rode the gondola up the ski hill. A beautiful area that we'd love to go back to sometime!
July brought the 4th of July and then the Johnson family visited us for a weekend on their trip back to San Diego from Canada. As soon as they were gone we had Blair and Dar around for a couple weeks. They were grand kid sitting. Ehren and I went to Vegas for brother Nathan's wedding to Kiran...Mom and Dad watched our kids while we were gone for the 3 1/2 days. We had a great time in Vegas...all Ehren's brothers and Mom were there so we had some good visiting time. The wedding was simple but very well done...all at the Wynn. A great weekend!
We arrived home Sunday evening from Vegas, unpacked and re-packed to head out on a two week road trip! We decided since we'd just seen my parents, and Ehren's family at the wedding we were going to change our summer up and do a road trip south instead of north this year! We have some great pics on the website to check out but here's what we did...
Monday left to Santa Fe, NM for a brief stay. Over the next couple days we visited the Painted Dessert, Petrified Forest (kids earned Junior Ranger badges), Sunset Meteor Crater, Wupatki National Monument, and Walnut Canyon. We took a drive up to the Grand Canyon and did the Watchtower and hiked along the South Rim. We spent nights in Flagstaff (beautiful town) and Tusayan (near grand canyon). We started south to Scottsdale and enjoyed a wonderful Marriott and dinner at Benihana's. The next day we took off to San Diego. Here we stayed with the Johnson family, visited some old friends from Longmont (met at the beach), went to the Midway (aircraft carrier where the kids earned junior wings), and did SeaWorld. That evening we went to Anaheim to spend a day at each Disneyland and California adventure...we spent my birthday at Disneyland...what a treat! Fun thing...our kids now love doing the bigger roller coasters now...so we did all there was to do! :-) On Thurs. we went to Las Vegas and stayed at a wonderful family resort south on the strip...and did the Hoover Dam. Spent some great time in the pools and then took off driving home on Saturday. Our plan was a two day drive home but by dinner time we decided to drive the whole way...so we actually arrived home sat.night...late. What a wonderful trip! There are so many memories and some great places to see!!
So, that is two months in a nutshell (sort of). Kids' blogs will be short since there has been such a time lapse. :-) School starts shortly and they are sooo excited. Emily starting 4th, Jae to 2nd and Evan in Kindergarten. Wow! I will also start working Mondays and Tuesdays until the end of October once the kids start school. It will be to cover a maternity leave.
We hope you are all doing well and will update you again soon!
Saturday, June 02, 2012
June 1 update
Here we are already in June. Wow, time has flown. School is officially done for the kids with the girls ending in a fun field day at school. Evan with Pre K grad under his belt and the girls finished 1 and 3rd grades! School activities have finished and we are doing violin and swimming and Em started horse riding. Evan continues with T-ball (now games) and Golf lessons this past week for Em and Evan. In June we start Tennis for a couple weeks!
Earlier in the month we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with our neighbors and the Landrigans. We had a wonderful meal and a lot of fun...kids broke a pinata and we had a lot of margaritas! Next on the agenda... a great Mother's Day! I had crepes made for me, lunch made for me...and dinner out at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. In the afternoon we went for a pretty good hike...fair amount of elevation gain on rocky terrain, and then a lot of bouldering. We had a wonderful time!
The girls finished a triathlon this morning which we included in the June 1 update pictures. They are comfortable in the field now and had a lot of fun. Next year little bro will be able to take part. :-)
Ehren continues to play hockey and we're riding, biking, and swimming (a bit) right now. I did a last minute sign up for the triathlon tomorrow but other than that we are a "race free" summer. Deana and I may do the Venus de Miles 67 mile leg in August...have to sign up yet.
This month is a lot of fun activities and a camping trip planned in the southwest corner of CO near Ouray and Telluride with two other families. We are quite excited and the kids are loving the summer so far!
Earlier in the month we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with our neighbors and the Landrigans. We had a wonderful meal and a lot of fun...kids broke a pinata and we had a lot of margaritas! Next on the agenda... a great Mother's Day! I had crepes made for me, lunch made for me...and dinner out at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. In the afternoon we went for a pretty good hike...fair amount of elevation gain on rocky terrain, and then a lot of bouldering. We had a wonderful time!
The girls finished a triathlon this morning which we included in the June 1 update pictures. They are comfortable in the field now and had a lot of fun. Next year little bro will be able to take part. :-)
Ehren continues to play hockey and we're riding, biking, and swimming (a bit) right now. I did a last minute sign up for the triathlon tomorrow but other than that we are a "race free" summer. Deana and I may do the Venus de Miles 67 mile leg in August...have to sign up yet.
This month is a lot of fun activities and a camping trip planned in the southwest corner of CO near Ouray and Telluride with two other families. We are quite excited and the kids are loving the summer so far!
Monday, May 07, 2012
May 1
Well, we had a lot go on in April! We managed to get through Jaelynn and Evan's birthday parties...and we had a wonderful visit from the Gramma's! Ehren's Mom and Gramma came to visit...drove down for a week and spent Easter with us. We had a great visit with them and they managed to take in a lot of activities with us. We had a great Easter with them and had our first fondue at the house for Easter dinner (had a big Easter ham at a friends house for lunch that day too).
Their visit flew by and we had a week to get things "turned around" and then my parents flew in to town on their return to Canada from Mexico. Ehren and I had a couple days here after they arrived then we took off to Vegas for three days while Mom and Dad babysat the kids for us. We had a great time...it had been 6 or 7 years since we'd last been there and boy, a lot has changed!! We stayed at The Mirage which was newly renovated, and took in a Cirque du Soleil show as well as had a nice evening out at a steakhouse. We did a lot of walking and bought our very first real piece of art. It was a great time and very over due!
We made it back to get back into the swing of things!
One last very exciting piece of news...we will be an aunt and uncle again! Ehren's brother Nathan and his fiance Kiran are expecting a baby in November!! Yay!! Congrats guys!
Their visit flew by and we had a week to get things "turned around" and then my parents flew in to town on their return to Canada from Mexico. Ehren and I had a couple days here after they arrived then we took off to Vegas for three days while Mom and Dad babysat the kids for us. We had a great time...it had been 6 or 7 years since we'd last been there and boy, a lot has changed!! We stayed at The Mirage which was newly renovated, and took in a Cirque du Soleil show as well as had a nice evening out at a steakhouse. We did a lot of walking and bought our very first real piece of art. It was a great time and very over due!
We made it back to get back into the swing of things!
One last very exciting piece of news...we will be an aunt and uncle again! Ehren's brother Nathan and his fiance Kiran are expecting a baby in November!! Yay!! Congrats guys!
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