Pictures of the Week -- Week 35

Jeff and I were completely honored to be asked to be Jaelynn Rose Hawkins' godparents.  Jaelynn was born on April 5th weighing 7 lbs and 13 oz. and was 18.5 inches long.  She is a happy and healthy baby and Jamie & Lindsey are wonderful parents.  Jeff & I made a quick trip to Chicago for the baptism.  We got LOTS of snuggle time with Jaelynn and enjoyed catching up with Jamie & Lindsey.  We are excited to be a part of Jaelynn's life!

While we were in town, we got to visit with Tim, Katie, Jake, Justin and Kristina. We enjoyed a delicious steak dinner... Tim even grilled in the rain for us.  What a guy! We got to see all of Jake's medals & trophies, watched Justin build with his Legos and played with Kristina. It was wonderful to spend some time with family.

Pictures of the Week -- Week 34

Instead of pictures this week, I am going to share some videos that I finally downloaded from my FlipCam. Enjoy!

This is Josh singing "BumbleBee".  I love hearing him sing because when he does, this totally deep voice comes out from his tiny body and cracks me up EVERY SINGLE TIME!

This is Mattea singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".  She learned it at school.

Alex's First Day of Seventh Grade

We have a seventh grader. When did this happen and how do I make it stop??? Seriously.

Alex started his 2nd year at Falcon Creek Middle School on Monday, August 22nd after a LONG summer off. I think he enjoys being on a traditional schedule. He was quite resistant about me taking the usual pictures on the porch, but finally relented when I agreed that Dad could be in some of the pictures. (Note his tight lipped smile in the first few pics.) Mattea wrote the Happy First Day of School sign on our memo board.

Picture of the Week -- Week 33

Cody was relaxing next to Alex's big whale stuffed animal and Alex popped his head in between them. They looked so adorable... Alex loves Cody so much!

Pictures of the Week -- Week 32

Alex and his friend Jacob washed my Jeep and my friend Karol's car today. Since Alex rarely will let me take his picture anymore, he just HAD to be a goofball. (Notice the placement of the hose in picture #2.)

This is the scene at our house most days after school... snacks, homework and Legos (for the boy who hasn't started back to school yet!).

Josh's science teacher gave him the recipe for "oobleck". It's that stuff that you make with corn starch + water and it's an ooey-gooey liquid, but if you put pressure on it, it turns into a solid. Here's a fun video that the kids enjoyed watching about oobleck. (Note to self: Do NOT use food coloring in the oobleck to make it pretty.)

Pictures of the Week -- Week 31

Mattea started playing softball for the Spartans this year. She has practice 2 nights a week and games on Saturdays. These pics are from her first game on August 6th.

We got to puppy sit for the cutest little "Chiweenie" (Chihuahua/Dachsund mix) this week. The puppy belongs to the Nieman's -- Mattea goes to school with Nikki and Lexi Nieman. I sent a text of the puppy to Aunt Julie and freaked her out! She thought we were crazy enough to have gotten ANOTHER puppy!!

Grandma Judie and Grandpa Bob visit!!!

Grandma Judie and Grandpa Bob came out for a visit and brought Alex back from Iowa with them.  It was wonderful to have the peace of mind that Alex was being accompanied on his plane ride.  I truly was freaking out when I had to put him on that plane going to Iowa ALL.BY.HIMSELF! 

We had a very relaxing time with Grandma Judie and Grandpa Bob.  In addition to spending time with us, I think Mom and Dad thoroughly enjoyed the Colorado weather... especially the low humidity. 

While it was a bit stressful to hear that Dubuque had received record rainfall, they remained calm and content in knowing that their wonderful neighbors back home were making sure the basement didn't get any water.  Whew!

Grandma got ambitious and tackled both Alex and Josh's closets.  She is always such a big help when she is here.  Dad pitched in, too, and helped hang curtains in Josh's room.  Josh was so excited when he came home!

Grandpa Bob spent some time helping Mattea hone her softball skills. It reminded me of the millions of times Dad and I played catch in the backyard. Ahhhh... the memories!

We took a weekend visit to Keystone to visit Uncle Terry.  We had lunch and then headed up the Gondola to walk around Terry's "office".  Jeff and I got a look at all of the electrical stuff that Terry uses on a daily basis.  A-maz-ing!  We took a nice hike and saw sailboats on the Dillon Reservoir. 

On Sunday, we had breakfast and then the kids played in the water. After that, Terry took us to meet his friend, Karen, who works at a horse ranch. She surprised the kids by letting them go for a ride on the horses. Alex & Josh even got to ride by themselves. They had such a blast!

After lunch, we said goodbye to Terry and headed back home. What a fun visit!