31 on Mt. Evans

Monday, July 19th was my 31st birthday. Matt had to fly home this evening and so we decided to head up with our little family and Catherine to drive the highest road in North America. Eve first spotted the mountain goat. She gets the eagle eye award! Can you spot the goat in this pic?



When we reached the road's end, Matt and I ran to the peak(14,258 ft) and enjoyed the view! Being on top of a mountain is always breathtaking!
We really love the Rocky Mountains and miss them back home. We were glad to get some mountain time! Here are some additional pics of the trip.

Beautiful Colorado

Friday, July 16th we packed the car and headed to Denver. We both have family and friends there and decided to spend a little vacation time there. The kids were so good for the car ride out. We made it in 13 hrs. We are so lucky that my parents invited us to stay. The kids have enjoyed staying with Grandpa John and Grandma Bonnie.
Saturday was very fun for me! Matt played bastketball with my dad while I whipped up a batch of whole wheat pancakes. Later, Matt watched the kids while I went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with my girls (Mom, sisters, and nieces.) We also did a little shopping :)




In the evening, Matt took the kids down to Franktown for a dinner/tennis tournament with his family and I got to see my sister, Catherine perform with her dance company. It was great to see her dance again!
Sunday, we went to a previous ward and got to hear Emma give a talk on keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and Hannah sing Oh Lord, My Redeemer. Both girls did a wonderful job!
Following church, I went to my sister's house for a BIG surprise. Here are the words of my sister Annie from her blog: "So Beckie and her family got into town late last Friday night for a 2 1/2 week visit! Our entire family is thrilled. We have had so much fun already and have lots of plans while she is here . . . a family photo, get-togethers, etc. But I was most excited about one event in particular.

Beckie's best friend, Christina, told me this Spring that she was pregnant again and that she wanted to keep it a secret from Beckie until she came to visit. So this whole time I've kept it from everyone in my family (except Jeff and - only recently - Jennifer - with Christina's permission. . .

Well, Christina had her baby on Saturday and we decided to reveal the secret on Sunday afternoon after church.

I had coordinated with Jennifer to keep Beckie at her place after church (Beckie went to her ward). I left Mary with Jeff, drove to Jen's, we blind-folded her, and hopped into the car and drove to Skyridge Medical Center.

Beckie had guessed that Christina had something to do with this surprise, but she thought it might have to do with her birthday on Monday. Still blind-folded, we took her up the elevator to the second floor. She remembered the smell since she delivered two babies there and said "Are we in a hospital?". Then right as we came up to Christina's room she asked, "Did Christina have a baby??!". Then we stepped into the room and lifted the blindfold. And there to Beckie's surprise was Christina in a hospital bed and her husband to her left holding their newest little baby, Charlotte.

Beckie was definately surprised! I think she almost cried. It was a pretty neat moment. I was glad I got to be a part of it."

Isn't that amazing? I just have to say, Sometimes a smell can give a clear picture of where you are! After having 2 babies at Sky Ridge, I can remember that place blindfolded (literally.) It is not a bad hospital smell, just distinct! I am so happy for Christina and her little family! I am sure you can imagine how much effort went in to keeping this a surprise with facebook and everything! I guess it just shows how awesome my friends & sisters are, and how much changes in 9 months of being gone!

Sunday evening, we had a family dinner to celebrate the July birthdays in our family. Talk about a fun and eventful weekend!

Nauvoo

Last weekend we went to Nauvoo with our friends. It was so much fun for the kids. The 3 hour car ride was smooth and the weather was pretty temperate for the middle of July. There were lots of fun activities for the kids.
We started at Pioneer Pasttimes where the kids dressed up and played pioneer games, played house, and climbed trees. Later we got to take a ride in a wagon pulled by oxen and we saw lots of the historic buildings (blacksmith shop, gun shop, tin smith shop, school, brick making shop, the bakery, and more.)-some were on Saturday. We also enjoyed the visitor center and the gardens.
Every meal was a picnic with occasional brass band or bagpipe band in the background. We were able to see the pageant Friday night which was enjoyable. We didn't have time for the festivities beforehand. (Next time, I guess) On Saturday the kids swam at the hotel and we were lucky enough to take a turn going to the Nauvoo temple (an especially neat experience!) We saw more historic buildings and learned how they made rope, candles, barrels, etc.
We also got to dance in the cultural hall where the early saints had dances. It was a great weekend! We really enjoyed being with friends and getting away from the routine. We hope to go again if anyone wants to join us:) There was so much to see and do! I know next time I could see even more. Here are some pics. I especially think the pic of Adam and Eve hanging laundry is fun!

Fourth of July Surprise

This year for the 4th of July we watched fireworks by the bridge on Friday. The day following the 4th we had the Corless and Owen families over for a potluck. The food was great. We watched The Princess Bride on the big screen and afterwards when Eve was showing off her loose tooth, surprise, out came the tooth. Everyone cheered and she was so proud! It was all she could think about for the rest of the evening. We had the traditional flag cake and that evening Eve put her tooth in her little pocket pillow for the tooth fairy. That was such a fun first for me!

We're going to the ZOO ZOO ZOO . . .

We have enjoyed the St Louis Zoo many times this season. The kids love to ride the train and carousel. You may still notice Eve's cheeks in some of the pics. Incidentally, we love to sing the song that goes with this title, especially when we really are going to the zoo!

Eve gets "Slapped Cheek Syndrome" Aka "Fifth Disease"

In June, Eve picked up an interesting virus that I had never heard of that causes "Slapped Cheek Syndrome." I am sure you can see why they call it that. Except for itching, she felt ok. We are glad it wasn't too hard on her. We think most of the residual rashes (it moves to the rest of the body in patches) are now gone.

Father's Day 2010

We love Matthew! On Father's Day, Matthew got breakfast in bed, a salmon dinner, and Rice Chex dessert! We also went to a concert in the park that our city does on Sunday evenings. It is uplifting music played by a band. I especially love to hear The Star Spangled Banner! The kids love to bring the bunnies for all their friends to see. Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads out there, especially my sweetheart!

Eve's Dance Recital

This weekend, was Eve's first official dance recital. She had a dress rehearsal Friday night, and a show Saturday night. Her performances were beautiful! We were very grateful that her experience was so positive. Her ballet piece was choreographed to a lullaby written about Moses. Her tap piece used a cute "Magic" song. I was so excited for her! She did a great job! The last picture is Eve being silly backstage :)

Swimming in the Sun

On Friday, we went to a friend's swimming pool with the Owens. It was great to have some cool water now that things are heating up! Sheri really relaxed, as you can see. Eve's confidence in water is really growing! Most of us ended up with pink shoulders despite sunblock. Next time we will make sure it is waterproof, and apply more often! :)

Fishing Fair

On Saturday, we were able to attend a fishing fair in a nearby city. This was such a well planned event! We had fun at all the little stations learning to cast, tie knots, fish with magnetic frogs and poles, painting fish, making first aid kits, etc. Then, at the end, we were able to fish for real fish! Eve caught a little one and was thrilled. However, she didn't want it to die. We told her that it wouldn't be a good pet or even make it home. So, we took it to the cleaning station where they cleaned it, and the cooking station, where they breaded and fried it. We all enjoyed it. Now that is my kind of fishing! We also got some cool things to take home like a fishing pole, tackle box, and other fun things. Sheri really enjoyed looking at all the frogs, water snakes, lizards, and turtles!

After the fair, we rode the ferry across the river and back. We all went home to relax. We watched Tom and Jerry. My favorite part was when Sheri would say "Yay Jerry!" after each episode. We all had a great day!

Froggie Friday

Last Friday, Matthew had some great bonding time with the kids when he climbed down the window well to play with "our" frogs. We have one big frog and 2 little ones. We're so glad when Daddy comes home! When we were done, he put them back for another day.

We're Blue

Sometimes I have a lot of fun dressing up the family. This Sunday we decided blue was the color. I love my babies in blue!

Strawberry Summer Day

About nine years ago I was introduced to freezer strawberry jam. Thanks Mary! Ever since, I have wanted to make some! Each year in Colorado we went to the raspberry farm and loved spending time picking and enjoying the day out. Well, yesterday we got to go to a strawberry patch out at a local orchard. We went with my good friend Kristen and her kids. We picked about 3 flats or about 35 lbs of strawberries.

After we got home we went right to work making jam. We ended up with about 24 pints of regular strawberry jam and 24 pints of freezer jam. The jam turned out very delicious and we still had stawberries leftover to eat and freeze for later. Kristen and I agree that it is much better to work with a friend (more fun, more hands, more help when kids need a hand, and 2 heads are better than one!) We finished about dinner time. What a full and fun day! I have learned one more skill, Yay!