HE'S FINALLY FORTY!!!

So, I married a younger man.  This is a good thing, right???  Well, it seems that the older I get, the more often I hear about how I am OLDER than Jeff!  He is such a stinker that he even has the boys teasing me about it!!!  Well, this year on his birthday, he FINALLY entered into my decade again.  Since it was a significant birthday, I threw a surprise party for him so he could celebrate with his friends.  We had a great turnout for the party and Jeff was totally surprised!  It's always amazing when I can keep a secret!!! 

I used all of the pictures everyone sent to make a memory album for Jeff.  I brought the album to the party with some journaling cards and asked everyone to write a note to Jeff.  I also took pictures of each person with Jeff before they left.  I'm going to add all of the notes and pictures to his book along with some pictures from our trip to Colorado Springs.  Jeff loved the book and all of the kids just loved seeing all of the younger pictures of their Dad. 

The kids and I took Jeff to Colorado Springs for the weekend to continue the celebration.  We had a fun weekend of horseback riding, touring an air force museum, swimming in the pool and just relaxing with no responsibilities of home or work.

Grandma Judie and Grandpa Bob's Visit

Grandma Judie and Grandpa Bob came out for a week long visit at the end of August.  The goal of their vacation was relaxation and I'm pretty sure we accomplished that goal!  Since they both had just gotten over a nasty sinus infection and Jeff & I were stressed to the max with work, it was nice to have some time to kick back and relax.

 Terry came down for a couple days to get some Mom & Dad time which was nice for us, too, since we hadn't seen him for awhile.  While the kids were in school, we took a day trip to Red Rocks. 

 

 On Friday morning, Jeff and I rode our bikes along with Josh to the middle school.  It is nice that he is not to the age yet where he is embarrassed having his parents take him to school.  We said goodbye to him and decided to ride our bikes to get some breakfast since Grandma Judie and Grandpa Bob were getting Mattea off to school for us.  Unfortunately, our nice morning turned terrible when I hit my front brakes instead of the rear brakes and went head first over the handle bars.  When I lifted up my head and blood was gushing out, I knew it wasn't good.  Jeff jumped into action quickly and asked a concerned woman who had pulled over to call 911.  The paramedics asked me all sorts of questions as they assessed my injuries.  At one point, they had me sit up, but when I started feeling light headed and seeing stars, they laid me back down.  Because I had a head injury, they had to take precautions, so they put a neck collar on me and moved me to the ambulance on a back board and then took me to the Emergency Room.  I ended up with a separated shoulder and four stitches in my head.  I felt pretty lucky to escape with only minor injuries since it truly could have been much worse. 

 

 We decided to take one more day trip with the kids this time and it was such a fun day!  We didn't want to go too far, so we headed up to Estes Park.  (Looking back now, we are all very grateful to have made the trip before the Colorado Flood of 2013!)  We had lunch at a cute diner downtown and then headed towards Rocky Mountain National Park for some beautiful views.  We got in for free thanks to Grandpa Bob!  We all went for a hike at Bear Lake which was a new stop for us.  There was a nice, easy trail that took us all around the lake.  We saw some wildlife on our way out of the park, too!

 

My sweet Mattea

Mattea has a way with words.  I have told her this many times.  She writes the sweetest notes that just melt my heart.  She had to do an assignment for school and I couldn't help but take a picture of it before she turned it in because I want to treasure it FOREVER!!  (Especially when she enters her teenage years and I need to pull it out often to remember the good ole days!)

First Day of School

The kids are back in school!!!  WOOHOO!  Alex started his freshman year at Grandview High School this year.  His school day starts at 7:10am, so his alarm clock goes off at 6:00am... yikes!  He gets up like a champ, but he often grumbles about being tired.  Welcome to the teenage years, my son!  His classes are longer and they alternate schedules each day, so that takes some getting used to, but he is enjoying it so far.  He has men's choir and he said there are a ton of boys in it, so he's excited about that.  He is also taking German which will be interesting.  I had suggested he take Spanish, but Jeff urged him to take German.  We all know that is just so Jeff can take him to Germany to order his beer.  : )  I was so thrilled that Alex actually let me take some pictures of him on his first day.  I did later find out that Jeff had talked to both boys to ensure that they didn't give me any grief when I asked to take their pictures on the first day.  What a sweet hubby!

Josh is in 7th grade this year at Falcon Creek Middle School.  He is quite happy to be the only Dolan at the school.  In true Josh Dolan form, I have already had a call from the Dean because he was caught with a laser pointer flashlight pen which he swears he was only writing with... it's interesting how a teacher would bust a kid for simply writing with a pen, isn't it???  Anyway, that's not to say that Josh is always in trouble at school -- just that he can be a little mischievous at times.  We'll see how the rest of this year plays out.

Mattea started third grade at Rolling Hills Elementary and she ended up with the same teacher that Josh had for fifth grade.  She is super excited to be in third grade this year since that means she can join the choir!  She is all about style right now and comes up with some very creative outfits.  Her style also transcends into other things... we had to take patterned duct tape to her boring pencil box to give it some pizazz.  I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of that!

Last, but not least, is my one "outtake" from our photo shoot.  Right before Josh left on his bike to ride to school on the first day, I said "Let's do a self-portrait!".  So, I turn the camera around, aim it at us, put on my best smile and click.  I turn the camera back around to see if I even got us in the shot and what do I see???  Myself and my little turd kid who made the craziest face.  But, I laughed SO hard that it might end up being one of my favorite pictures.  I know for sure it will be one of the pictures on the collage at his high school graduation!!!

 

 

Broncos Training Camp

Josh and I went to Broncos Training Camp on Friday.  We were both really excited to see the team up close and to see how they are looking going into football season.  The energy at Dove Valley was buzzing and it turned out to be a great day! 

We were in great position to see Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler throw passes to the wide receivers and tight ends.  We also enjoyed watching the running backs catch short passes and run through agility exercises and the special teams run back punts.  It was awesome!

 

It was hot and Josh got a little bored in the middle, but we stuck it out and it paid off.  He ended up with 3 autographs... one of which was Peyton Manning's!  Josh was totally excited about that one - especially since they are birthday twins!!!  Josh had some older kids looking out for him when he was trying to get autographs.  One young man held him up while shouting "Hey Peyton, this cute kid shares a birthday with you!".  That effort didn't pay off the first time, but after Josh and his new found posse moved to another spot in the throng of people vying for Peyton's attention, it did.  The young man got his football signed and then I heard him shout out to Peyton again about Josh sharing this birthday.  Before you know it, Josh is handing his jersey to Peyton AND having a conversation with him about his birthday and his age.  It was an amazing experience... one that neither one of us will forget!!!

4th of July

Mattea was invited to her friend's house to decorate her bike for the 4th of July.  Our community hosts a bike parade and pool party every year to celebrate Independence Day and, although we have lived here for five years, we have never attended.  Mattea had a fun time decorating bikes at Chloe's house.  She was very creative and her bike looked great!

When we got to the clubhouse for the party, I was flagged down to lead the parade since apparently, I was the only adult that showed up on a bike!  So, I donned a fluorescent yellow vest and took the kids around the block for the parade.  It was challenging to keep the older kids (some of them riding electric scooters) to go slow enough so that we weren't leaving the little kids in the dust, but I think I managed to maintain control.  Luckily, the parade was only around 4 blocks!  When we got back from the parade, we headed to the pool.  After playing in the pool for awhile, we enjoyed a catered lunch and then headed home to relax.

Our thoughts turned to Indy throughout the day since he would have turned sixteen years old on the 4th of July.  We miss him all the time... he was such an amazing dog for our family.  Happy 4th of July, Indy Boo.