Ashlyn's 10!

I can't believe that Ashlyn is 10! It seemed like a big milestone to me when she hit double digits. We were going to be in Salt Lake for her birthday, so we celebrated with our family on Sunday, August 8th with her favorite dinner (Sweet Pork Burritos, corn on the cob and Oreo ice cream cake for dessert...With a trick candle that was very entertaining). 

I honestly couldn't have asked for a better oldest child than Ashlyn. It's really fun to watch her turn into a young woman full of confidence, quirkiness and creativity. She's constantly surprising me, the way she thinks and tackles new challenges with enthusiasm. I'm grateful for the example she is to her younger brother and sister. I expect a lot of her because she's capable of so much, but I hope she always knows how proud I am of her. Happy birthday, Ashlyn! We love you more than you'll ever know!

Favorite RANDOM pictures of the summer...

Well, it was yet another summer of unpacking and adjusting to life in a new area. It should feel routine after how many summers we've done it, but it's always tough to keep the kids busy when we haven't met friends from school yet and he pace of life is a little slower. Thankfully, we met some great friends in our ward and spent lots of afternoons at the park and pool. I like it here in Broomfield much, much better than Erie. It was just never a good fit for us... Too quiet, too far from everything, too many mosquitoes! I can say that each of us is happier here so far. Here are some of my FAVORITE pictures from this summer...

(Above and below) July, 2010: My kids and the Stouts, selling lemonade

(Below):  August, 2010...We LOVED swimming lessons at Lifetime Fitness all summer and are continuing them once a week through October. Look closely at this picture... Corey and Ashlyn both have mis-matched flip flops. Can you tell we were excited to get out the door for swimming???

(Below): I took this picture with my cell phone from the park across the street from our home.  Can you believe this sky???

(Below): Of all my kids, Ashlyn dislikes shopping the most. She did manage to have a little fun goofing off when we were doing her back-to-school shopping!

(Below): June, 2010...Father's Day

(Below): My beautiful sister Andrea and her newest addition, Luke: born July 20th

(Below): July, 2010....Ashlyn & Claire tired after a fun day!

(Below): July 3rd, Greeley Stampede Rodeo & Carnival... 

Yes, that's my 55 pound boy on that massive bull. Yikes!

I LOVE this picture of Claire that I took last Sunday after church...

We've seen the most amazing rainbows since moving to Colorado!

Rocky Mountain National Park...

July 30-31st, we camped at Shadow Mountain Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. I'm not sure the plethora of pictures I took can adequately capture how breathtakingly gorgeous this place is. Rocky Mountain National is a little over 2 hours from our home and has the highest average elevation of any National Park. A lot of the Park is above treeline, with delicate tundra landscape. As we were driving to our campground, we OOHED and AAHED at the scenery and even stopped to see a moose in a field by the side of the road. There were glacial lakes, yellow-green fields, majestic pine trees and amazing views...

Here's the moose we saw (below). Yes, the grass was THAT green.  These pictures are taken with my cell phone and aren't edited at all.

When we arrived at our campground, we were slightly disappointed to learn that pine beetles had destroyed most of the trees near the camp, so the Forest Service had cut them down and had made piles of wood to burn. In areas of Rocky Mountain National, pine beetles had already left the telltale signs of orange dead pine trees and in other areas, the pines were green and untouched. 

We arrived and set up camp just as a storm rolled in and we scrambled for shelter in the trailer. We played a fun new card game Hit The Deck for about an hour, then decided we were not going to be able to cook our tin foil dinners over a fire in the pouring rain! Plan B was heading to the quaint little town of nearby Grand Lake and having dinner at a barbecue restaurant there. It wasn't what we'd planned, but it ended up being a lot of fun. The rain stopped and the sun came out, as it often does in Colorado, so we browsed the little shops before heading back to our campground for the night.  The lake was gorgeous and I don't think we saw a single mosquito the whole weekend.

Saturday morning the sun came out, so we made a fire and fixed some english muffins with sausage and eggs, fruit and juice for breakfast, then headed to Grand Lake. We rented a speedboat for an hour and went out on the lake. There were so many cute cabins with matching boathouses surrounding the lake and we each chose our favorite cabins. Dan let each of the kids take a turn behind the wheel before we headed back. We watched the hummingbirds and got some ice cream in town, then went back to do some fishing at Shadow Mountain Lake. 

I've often said since moving to Colorado that the sky is more beautiful here than anywhere else I've ever been and that was the case as we fished by the lake. Another rainstorm was headed our way, but the sky was filled with fluffy white clouds and the sun was warm. We brought some chairs and an umbrella down by the lake to watch Ashlyn & Corey try to hook us a big one. Unfortunately, the big fish never showed, but we had a relaxing afternoon playing in the cold water and enjoying the sun.  Claire was was drenched and I'm not sure how she coped with that cold water, but she didn't even seem to mind!

We packed up to try to beat the rain on Saturday afternoon and drove home another way. We passed Winter Park ski resort, but turned around and headed back after seeing they had an Alpine Slide! Unfortunately the Slide closed at 6 PM and we missed it by just a few minutes, but we stayed and had dinner on the patio at the base of the ski lifts and watched the interesting parade of people that walked by as we ate. The kids loved taking the free gondola from our car to the resort and we promised Ashlyn we'd return soon, either to ski or to ride the Alpine Slide. Claire was beyond tired and grumpy by the time we got to the car and headed home. She was asleep in the car as we pulled out of the parking lot.

I woke up Sunday morning with one of the worst headaches I'd ever had in my life. I immediately went in the bathroom and threw up. Dan was kind enough to teach my Primary lesson for me which I'd already prepared and I went back to sleep for 4 hours. My father-in-law called that afternoon and I told him about our weekend and he suggested that I had altitude sickness. Of course! I often get headaches and sometimes nausea when I go skiing or to my family's cabin in Wyoming. Our campground the night before was at about an 8,500 foot elevation and though we live near the "Mile High City," I was sure that altitude was to blame for my raging nausea. Well, we do plan to camp in Rocky Mountain National again, but next time you can bet that I'll be drinking a lot more water!

Horsetooth Reservoir...

The weekend of July 16-17th we camped at Horsetooth Reservoir near Ft. Collins. It's only about 80 minutes from our home and it was a fun weekend getaway. Our campground overlooked the lake and 3 small camp cabins (pictured below) so it was a nice spot. The lake shore was a red clay mud that oozed up through your toes and gave me the creeps, but we still managed to have some fun in the water. I'm not sure if the water's always as high as it was because there were big trees that were surrounded by water in the cove by our campground. It wasn't my favorite camping because we had some crazy-loud neighbors both nights, but anytime we can get away together as a family and be outside is a win for me.

Dan's brother Ken drove up from Loveland Friday night and sat by the fire with us after dinner (my favorite: tin foil dinners). We talked and roasted marshmallows and made S'Mores. Ashlyn stayed up with us until Ken left and we looked for constellations. 

Saturday morning we got a prime spot for fishing and Ashlyn hooked a little fish with the biggest mouth I've ever seen. Claire & Corey enjoyed throwing rocks into the lake (which is probably why we didn't catch any other fish!) We came home tired and smelling like campfire, but it was a nice weekend. 

Downtown Aquarium...

July 14th we visited the Downtown Aquarium in Denver for the first time. I'd heard mixed reviews about this aquarium, but after going, I'd give it 2 thumbs up. We absolutely loved it! 

We spent the majority of our time in the fish-viewing tunnel, which featured manta rays, sea turtles and sharks. It was fascinating to watch such amazing creatures swim directly over you! The huge green Moray Eel was incredible too (and we learned that Moray Eels are actually BLUE, but secrete a mucus that makes them appear GREEN). 

The kids enjoyed the underwater viewing bubbles, which were underneath several of the tanks. They made for very fun and weird pictures too! 

With our admission, we paid for a 3-D movie and either face painting, fish to feed the stingrays or climbing a coconut tree. Each of the kids chose what they wanted to do. I loved watching Ashlyn & Corey feed the stingrays and at one point, a stingray came up out of the water and over Ashlyn's arm to eat her fish, which was hilarious.  It was fun to share our first time at the Aquarium with my Mom & my nieces and nephew!

More fun with Nanny & the cousins...

On Tuesday, July 13th, we went swimming at our neighborhood swimming pool, then hit the WOW Museum in Lafayette. It's such a small museum, but we ended up spending over 3 hours there and the kids loved it. I love it because the kids can play, pretend and create. Tyler and Anna were masters at creating full-body bubbles and they all enjoyed dressing up in silly costumes. 

NOW it's a party!!!

I'm the oldest of 6 kids and I'm the only one who doesn't live in Salt Lake.  My family is really close, so I miss them terribly! From July 12th- 15th, we were blessed to have my Mom, my nieces Jane & Anna and my nephew Tyler come visit from Utah! My Mom suggested the trip and it ended up being a perfect solution! None of them had seen our new home in Broomfield, so it was fun to show them around our new city & have some good time together.        

The afternoon they arrived, we went to The Butterfly Pavilion, which my kids love. We got there just in time to see them release a new batch of freshly-hatched butterflies! My Mom was brave to fly alone with 3 kids and I'm sure we looked like quite the crowd with 6 kids in all. We took so many fun pictures, so forgive my plethora of collages:-)

There are butterflies everywhere! A few landed on the kids and hitched a ride. There were flowers on the ground and Corey got a butterfly to climb right onto the flower in his hand. The tropical plants there are pretty amazing too. 

Everyone but my niece Anna (and my Mom & I) wanted to hold Rosie the Tarantula. ...Brave souls!!!

We stayed until we were all red-faced and hot from the tropical climate inside the greenhouse and the kids had their fill of insects, then we headed home to get ready for Claire's birthday party...

We had dinner, then decorated cupcakes and opened presents. These kids have some mad-cupcake-decorating skills!

My Mom & sisters spoiled Claire with some fun new toys!

After presents, we headed outside to use Claire's new bubble machine. I love these pictures of the kids dancing around in their pajamas! We all slept well that night!