While Grandma and Papa were here visiting, we checked off one of our summer bucket list items.  We went for a ride on the Georgetown Railroad.  Just about 30 minutes from us, this narrow gauge railroad was the original mode of transportation for miners during the Gold Rush and beyond.  Afterwards we went back into Georgetown and had some ice-cream.  It was a great day!

Three posts in one day!  Hey, I only have one day a week when I can really sit at the computer and get some stuff done so I am going for it:)

A couple of weekends ago, we had our very long overdue family pictures taken.  Because we are all so busy, our dear friend, Andrea, met us at 7:45 AM, before church and we got those things taken care of!  It was a bit chilly and windy but I am super happy with how they turned out.  Truly, she is a magician with the camera!  So looking forward to getting a new pic over the fireplace!

Happy Fall!

They middle/high school kids have finally finished up their cross-country seasons.  The girls ran their last race last weekend in Salida and Sam finished his season at Regionals in Grand Junction on Thursday.

Alice and Paige had a great last run with Alice finishing 2nd on her team and 22nd overall.  Paige was a little bit farther back in the pack but she had a great, strong season and the most important part is that she had so much fun!  Sam finished well.  He ran all but one varsity race this year, as a freshman, conquering his goal for cross-country.  We are super proud of him.  He is not only juggling xc practice everyday but also advanced classes and the speech and debate team.

Alice getting ready for her last middle school race.

And they are off!  Alice is in the middle with yellow jersey.  Paige is to the right, green jersey, teal shorts.

Sorry, no pics of Sam’s last race.  He was three hours away and we just couldn’t make it this time.

 

Jennifer

 

Samuel went to his first homecoming dance at the beginning of the month.  He was pretty sure that he would not go but when his good friends decided to go together, he got on board.  Here they are having a blast with pictures.  This is such an awesome group of kids.  We are blessed that Sam’s friends are so nice (and their parents too!)

No, we didn’t let them take the giraffe to Homecoming (although, they wanted to take him along). As parents, we were pretty sure that might stick with them for all four years of high school.

 

Our fall weekends have been really busy with cross-country meets.  Unfortunately, the middle school and high school only have two overlapping meets but Scott and I are making it work.

So we are mostly doing this…..

And some of this….

and lots of this…..(below…Alice coming in fast for a second place finish).

No complaints here…is has been a gorgeous fall for running and we couldn’t be prouder of our all our kids.

Just 5 weeks late….but who’s counting!

Samuel 9th grade, Alice 8th grade, Paige 6th grade and Mason 4th.  Mom (not pictured)….back to school full-time as a special needs paraprofessional.  Whew!

(taken with my cell phone….don’t judge….4th child!)

Sam is loving high school, running varsity cross-country, just finished his last MTB race of the season, plays his trombone with the Summit Youth Orchestra, learning to play the tuba, just joined Speech and Debate and won’t miss church youth group for anything.

Alice had a fun summer with her friends. She is running middle school cross-country, loves playing the flute, is excited to start Geography Bee, and is preparing to audition for the Lion King Jr.

Paige is loving middle school.  She has made a ton of new friends.  She is running on the heels of her sister in cross-country and is also getting ready for an audition, learning to play piano and percussion and getting used to switching classes!

Mason is taking 4th grade by storm.  He is always helpful at school and home.  He is working on the next belt in karate and learning how to take down an opponent (Sam), just started an all boys hip hop class and can’t wait for chess club to start.

Mom is driving.  A lot.

Dad’s head is spinning.

Again. Whew.  And it has only been five weeks.

 

 

 

Scott’s brother, Matt, and our nephew, Jacob, are here visiting from Michigan for a long weekend.  Scott has definitely kept them busy with all sorts of Colorado activities.  Their first night here we took them to a gorgeous spot overlooking Lake Dillon and did some rock climbing.  On Friday we took them to the peninsula for a mountain bike ride and this morning Scott, Paige, Matt and Jacob made it to the summit of Mt. Sniktau (elevation 13, 234 ft).

While they were climbing a mountain (actually coming down in this pic)….

 

Alice, Mason and I went across the road and hiked to three small lakes.  It was such a gorgeous day and we had so much fun exploring.  The wildflowers were beautiful and the views amazing.

Now the bigger boys (Scott, Matt, Jacob and Sam) are backpacking for the night.  No rest for the weary.

I think that I may have drawn the short straw because I am taking Alice, Paige and Mason to a midnight release party for the new Harry Potter book.  This party is wayyyy past my bedtime!  Right at this moment they are making t-shirts that say….On a scale from 1-10, we love Harry Potter….9 3/4.  They are so creative:)

Jennifer

So, Alice and I have been training for most of the summer for a triathlon.  We SUPed 3k(stand up paddle board), mountain biked 15k and trail ran 5k.  It was so much fun training and competing together.  Alice did so well and smoked me on the run.  We did stay together for the paddle board and bike but she took off on the run and I didn’t see her until the finish.  I was so proud of her and can’t wait to do it again!

 

I haven’t mentioned yet that Alice was the youngest competitor and won her division, 19 and under.  Way to go girl!!!! She did so well in a very competitive field of over 200 racers.

Jennifer

This year we decided to forego having a float in the parade and watched instead.  It was super fun to catch candy and check out our competition 😉 It was also much less stressful!  My mom and dad stayed with us for a few days over the week of the 4th and it was fun to celebrate the holiday with them.

Paige and Grandma Marilyn snuggle on our patio.

Grandma tried some new things this week….corn hole…smores….

Grandpa Jerry also tried something new…..paddleboarding! I wish I had a picture of that but the camera and water are not friends.

Scott’s parents came to visit us for a week at the end of June.  It was so great that they came to visit for Alice and Mason’s birthday.  It was so much fun showing them our little slice of heaven, especially when the weather is beautiful and warm:)  Unfortunately, Grandma Peggy fell and broke her elbow but she was such a trooper and didn’t let it slow her down.

Dancing….the moments right before Grandma Peggy fell and broke her elbow….

We went for a drive and did a short hike out to an overlook of Mount of the Holy Cross.  There were still piles of snow around and we all enjoyed cooling off with a spontaneous snow ball fight.

We also went over to Vail to the Betty Ford High Alpine Botanical Garden.

It was a wonderful week packed full of fun.  We also we to the Strawberry Hot Springs in Steamboat, rode the gondola in Breckenridge and had fun just hanging out at home.

Jennifer