Take Me Out to the Ballgame

We spent the weekend watching baseball. Last night Ben and I went to the Rockies game with our friends Dane and Elena. The Rockies beat the Pirates 5-2. I think we were good luck. A cool front came in right before the game, so at least we weren't hot. Here are some lovely photos to document our good time.

Early this morning (9:00) we got up to watch the most awesome softball team, the D-backs. Anna did really well. She got 2 hits and made some plays in the field. She enjoys playing and getting to hang out with all of the girls.

The above picture is of Anna rounding home and scoring a run for her team. She also got to be the catcher one inning, which she loves.
Nick's baseball game was at a very hot 2:00. The players and fans got to bake through 2 full hours of 10 year old ball. Nick's team, the Tigers, came back and almost got the win. Final score, 12-11. He did great and walked once, like usual. He also got a good hit and rounded all of the base for one of his teams precious runs. He is having a great time playing.
Lily got to go from game to game. She doesn't mind too much because the games are at parks with playgrounds close by.

Nick now has a new chore. He mowed his first lawn this week. Doesn't he look like he is having a great time?

So Lily doesn't get left out, here is a picture of her actually enjoying swimming lessons. She is putting her face in the water and having a great time. Yeah for Lily.

Ramble On

I wish that I could type up these amazingly witty posts for all of you to read, but that is not one of my talents. Instead, I will just ramble on for a few sentences about some of our happenings.

Today is our anniversary. We have been married 12 years. We have a had a good road so far, and I hope that the next 12 (full of teenagers) will be as good for us. That is all I am going to say about that, I don't want to get sappy.

Ben's parent's got their mission call today. This will be their seond time out. Four years ago they went to Oakland, CA. I guess that wasn't exotic enough for them, because they got called to Cape Town, South Africa. They will be working in the employment office. That will be so exciting for them. I am glad our kids have such good examples for grandparents.

I think that summer has finally really hit Colorado. We have had several HOT days this week. I think we hit 99 yesterday. Here is a picture to remind all of you why we love summer!

"First Day of School, First Day of School" -Nemo

As you may or may not know we have year round school here in our district. We always start the new year right after the 4th of July. So, today is the first day of school for Nick and Anna. Lily will start here last year of preschool in September. Nick is now in the 5th grade. That kind of freaks me out. How old am I? Nick has the same teacher as last year. That makes for a really easy transition. With year round school they are with the same group of kids all the way through elementary. So, the new school year is not that different than the year (or six weeks ago) before. Anna is a 3rd grader and so excited to be back with her friends. Her teacher is very nice and we are excited to see what she can do this year. I am always a little sad when school starts because it is proof that these kids are growing up. I love them so much and just want them to succeed. I will have lots of time with Lily the rest of the summer. She is already done with me and wants a friend to come over. We are blessed to have such great kids and are happy to see their progress.

Rocky Mountain Fourth

The day started out like any other holiday. We packed up and headed to the HR parade. It was lame, just like last year. I am not sure why we put ourselves through this every year, but we do. So, my camera battery died and I didn't get any pictures. Too bad for all of you. Then, we went over to the street fair/crowded mess thing. We waited in a couple of very long lines to get the girls' faces painted. Anna's was very cute:

Lily insisted on getting a snake that she almost immediately smeared all over her face. We were hot and grumpy by this time so we had a couple of snow cones and left. Ben then had this great idea to drive to the top of Mount Evans. It is the highest paved road in North America, and only 45 minutes from our house. Any one who knows me knows that I am VERY afraid of heights. This road is very narrow and scary. If you take the road too fast or hit any kind of bump you could go flying down the side of the mountain. AND there are no guard rails and lots of other cars taking holiday drives up the mountain. Luckily Ben is great driver, but I still sat in the back of the van. The kids were also scared because they inherited the fear of heights from me. Well, we got to the top and the view was amazing. We even saw quite a few mountain goats. I still did not have a camera, so we used Ben's phone and took these pictures.

As you can see our family survived our first (and hopefully last) trip to the top of a fourteener, a mountain that is over 14,000 feet in elevation. The trip down was much easier, but I still sat in the back. I do not recommend this trip for the faint of heart, but it is beautiful if you can stand the 14 miles of pure torture.

I did get the camera charged when we got home. The kids did some poppers and pull fireworks. Here are some pictures of them in the backyard.

Our day finished off with dinner with Ben's sisters and their families and off to the fireworks. It was very fun. We found a new viewing spot from our church parking lot. Much less crowded and getting home only took a few minutes. Overall we had a good day, but are glad to be back on flat ground here at 5280 in elevation.

Beige No More

Here are some pictures of our newly painted house. The color is a little more bold than we were anticipating, but we love it. We are no longer a part of the many shades of beige in the neighborhood.

BEFORE

AFTER

That last picture is of our front door, a lovely shade of red. Please ignore all of the bikes and chairs on the back patio. They just finished painting and we need to rearrange.

Just for added measure, a picture of Lily with her cousin Gracie at the waterpark last week. You put the two of them together, you had better watch out!