Garden of the Gods

It was fun to have Amy and Jane come visit us mid-September.  Good thing they were here or we might not have gotten out and explored the area before winter hit.  We really didn’t know what to expect… but we headed to the mountains and found some great paved walking trails perfect for Jane in the stroller and some red rocks to climb on for the rest of the kids.  It turned out to be a beautiful day. { Too bad we had made a quick decision to cancel our Steamboat Springs weekend trip because of bad storms and rain the night before. } We had a great low key day, which we all needed, amidst a busy ‘move in’ season.  So fun to get out of the house and explore our new city… I’m sure we’ll be back many more times.  Company welcome!

We took our lunch to the base of the Siamese Twins and had a picnic and more fun exploring.

September Life Captured via the iPhone

• I got a new calling… Beehive counselor!  I love young womens!  Look at all those cute Beehives!
• Luke and Matt have new Star Wars Bedding and bunk beds… they were in toddler beds in Germany so we’ve been pretty excited to get some real beds and fun bedding!
• First time to the Denver Temple with Chris and the Dawsons.

 

• Enjoying my time with only this little squirt in the afternoons.  Love that kid.  Turning into such a big boy!!
• SO many trips to TARGET with a new house.  Matt says, “We’re going to Target again?”   I LOVE being 2 minutes from a TARGET!!!

                                

• Watching lots of High School soccer games this fall.  So fun to watch Ryan play!

                                

• Emily and Megan starting gymnastics again every Thursday afternoon.  Learning back bends, cartwheels, back bend kick overs, handstands, pull overs and back hip circles on the bar and a lot more.  They LOVE it.

                               

• BRACES for my two teenagers.  Katie: SO excited.  Ryan: not so much.  Ryan’s will be pretty quick.  His teeth are fairly straight to begin with… just some jaw alignment work.  Katie will be in them for longer but is fully embracing them with all the colored rubber bands and everything.  Katie wanted the ‘AFTER’ picture.  Ryan: not so much.  He needed an afternoon at home to get used to them before returning to school the next day.  I don’t blame him.  Milkshakes for both of them!

                             

• I can NOT get over the blue skies and pretty view out my bedroom window when I wake up every morning.   We don’t have blinds yet so the light comes streaming in but I’m just so excited to see the view, I don’t even mind.  Love Colorado skies!

• Love this kid.  Such a cutie. 

                             

                             

• Fun to explore this park in our new neighborhood.  The Alice in Wonderland Park.  Had a picnic, brought scooters, and played for a couple hours.

• Ryan had his friends over for pizza before heading to the Stake dance.
• Matthew pulling himself over a chair to watch the BYU game.  “Go Blue Team!” he shouted over and over again at 10:00 at night.
• Matthew likes to eat AND play with all our PEZ characters (We sort of collected them for fun family travels in Europe)  He carefully categorized them and then showed me and said, “I put them how they are in a family.”

                            

• Hired piano movers to get our piano into the “piano room”.   I think I may have started crying when it went in.  Worth the $200.  And then we had it tuned.

• Luke doing his daily homework (which he does right before lunch everyday) and Matt just being his sidekick.

                              

• A beautiful evening for a walk.  We love taking a family walk but haven’t had much time lately.  This is really our first one since moving in.  Such a beautiful night.  Love the colors in the sky here.  Beautiful sunsets and sunrises.

• Boy with a lost tooth.

Here we go.

I’m so far behind, with so much to catch up on that I’m not sure where to even start.   We’ve enjoyed our transition to Colorado Springs… we love our new house, the neighborhood, the Elementary, Middle and High school, and our new ward.  The kids have seemed to transition really well… and have jumped into extra-curricular activities and made lots of great friends.  I’m so grateful for that.  Chris enjoys his work, his big TV with surround sound and watching sports ‘live’ at the right time of day.   I’m loving my mornings with the boys and my afternoon trips to Target with Matt.  I don’t even mind my afterschool extra curricular driving schedule, since everything is so close to my house!  It’s so fun to be in Young Women’s again with Katie.  { This is my fourth time being the Beehive Counselor. } But I wish I could get a handle on my never ending and overwhelming to-do list that revolves around this new house and our 6 kiddos.  Life is good… but I’ve got to prioritize my time so I can jot some things down here to remember it all.  The good, bad and crazy.  That’s one of many new goals I have for myself.   More recording.  Wish me luck.

Kindergartener

Luke on the first day of school with his new Star Wars backpack and our traditional cookies for teacher.

This cute kid couldn’t be more excited to start Kindergarten.  I signed him up for afternoon Kindergarten which suits our schedule just perfectly.  He and Matthew spend the whole morning playing dress up, Star Wars guys, Lego and trains.  Then at 11:00 we head downstairs and sit at the big kitchen island to do homework while we eat lunch.  Matt works on his preschool workbook and every day says… “I have homework too even though I don’t have school.”  At 12:30 we walk down to the school (Matt rides his Spiderman bike with training wheels) and drop him off.  School is from 12:45 to 3:45.  Emily and Megan pick Luke up from the fenced Kindergarten playground and the three of them walk home together getting home right before 4:00. 

Start of School

Monday, August 19th was the first day of school… just five days after moving into our new house.  The turn around was quick but I think it worked out great.  The kids were excited about getting back into a schedule and I was able to organize and unpack while they were gone.

Emily started 5th grade this year – her last year in Elementary School.  Typical Emily with a rubber band around her wrist.  Megan started 3rd grade.  The two of them walk to school together.  The Elementary School is so close we can see it from our front door.  No bus ride for these girls!

Our elementary school starts at 8:45 and goes to 3:45.  Late!  But we are getting used to the schedule.  The girls wake up at 6:45, listen to scriptures as they eat breakfast and then have almost an hour and a half to get dressed and get their hair done, practice piano and then sometimes get their reading done as well.  Then they leave the house at 8:30.  I love it!

On the first day of school we were invited to a neighborhood Back to school breakfast out in a nearby cul-de-sac at 8:00am.  So many friendly parents that are so welcoming.  Tables were set up outside with donuts, muffins, fruit and juice and we ate and chatted.  It was especially good that Emily was able to connect with Caroline – another girl that she had met a couple days before who was going to be in her class.   At 8:30 everyone walked over to the school together.

View of the back of our school from the end of our street…  It’s a pretty new school.  It opened with 72 students in it’s first year and is up to 500+ students in it’s 7th year.

The kids found their teachers and excited waited in line.  Then we heard some words from the Principal and Vice-Principal.  It was a great beginning.  Love this school already.