Hanging Around the House~Part One~

I have realized that I take WAY too many pictures. And going through them to put up on my blog has been quite painful. I think I have ONE more post and I'll be done with our visit with the family. Then, I don't think I'll be posting for a while!

Grandma and Grandpa Browne got the kids a trampoline, while they were here. What fun! Thanks grandma and grandpa!

Putting it together

PULL!!!

Almost there!

The finishing touches

And jumping!

Even Emily tried it out!

That was hard work!

Daddy's been flipping away!

The boys were out there, first thing the next morning, pjs and all.

Cutie!

Blowing bubbles

I love this picture. So cute!

The girls

My kids thoroughly enjoyed having a baby in the house.

Lots of puzzles were done...

lots of food was eaten...

babies were played with...

and fed...

and pool fish got barbecued on Frisbee "plates."

What! Yes, someone thought it would be a good idea to play with the barbecue with the swimming nemo fish on a Frisbee "plate." Of course that was the one time I didn't open the barbecue, when I started it. Needless to say, we ended up with a gooey, messy barbecue, and 2 VERY sad kids. You would have thought that they're FAVORITE toys had been in there. Luckily the boys cleaned it all up and it was ready for our real lunch, in no time.

New Moon

Finally a New Moon trailer. Click here to watch it. Can't wait until November!

A Mountain Adventure

Well, we finally had some blue patches and a little sunshine. So, we decided to spend a day in the mountains. We started at Red Rocks Amphitheater. It was gorgeous.

The view of Denver, in the background

It think Ryan and Caleb were playing in the rocks?

Mr. Happy
The gang walking down into the amphitheater.

Looks like they're ready to take in a show.

What a cutie!


What a hike up!

I can only imagine how amazing it would be to take in a good concert with this view behind it.

My boys

The two goofballs

MY little cutie

All the girls

Then we headed out to Dinosaur Ridge. We didn't end up actually taking the tour to see the dinosaur footprints, but we had fun hanging out for a little bit.

Digging for "fossils."

Then we were off to enjoy a picnic lunch, by a lake. That's about when the day took a turn for the worse. We'd been watching dark clouds float around all day, but as we got deeper in the mountains, the clouds got blacker too. Then HUGE hail started hurdling towards us.

We pulled over and here's a glimpse of what we saw. It was SO loud.







It was intense!

Our cars took the brunt of that one. I'll have to get a picture of mine on here...quite a few hail dimples have been added. Thank goodness dad got the insurance on the rental van. His was worse than mine.

The storm continued to follow us through our loop through the mountains. We had to pull over a few other times. It poured all the way through Denver and didn't stop until we were almost

home. Needless to say, we were all very hungry and cranky by this time. I was annoyed to spend the night before and morning packing all the stuff we would need for the day and meal, and then unpack the cooler and eat at home. How annoying! Oh well!

It stayed stormy through our downtown drive as well.

Lightning kept striking behind this church and it looked so cool. Of course I couldn't catch it, but I still thought it looked neat, poking out among the black clouds.

I don't think it was quite the trip any of us thought it would be, but it was definitely an adventure to remember.

Slow Dance

My sister-in-law sent me this, this morning. It really hit home with me. So, I thought that I would share it.

This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital .

It was sent by a medical doctor.

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask

How are you?

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,

Do you lie in your bed,

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die,

Cause you never had time

To call and say,'Hi'?

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift....

Thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

This young girl has 6 months left to live, and as her dying wish, she wanted to send a letter telling everyone to live their life to the fullest, since she never will. She'll never make it to prom, graduate from high school, or get married and have a family of her own.

A Day At The Zoo

We were able to enjoy the past week with family. It was so nice to have them all here. Unfortunately my typical sunny weather did NOT produce itself. It was nice the day they came, rainy every day after, until the day they left. My word! I have a ton of pictures. So, I will do a few posts. We did get a few okay days, for at least the first half. We went to the zoo and had a lovely afternoon, before the rain came in the evening.

Checking out the lake on our walk to the zoo.

Taking a ride on grandpa. The closest parking we could find, wasn't even at the zoo. It was a bit of a walk.

Caitlin LOVES her cousin Emily

Checking out the seal show.

My little photographer took 100's of pictures at the zoo. I do believe she got one of EVERYTHING...including individual fish in the tanks. Oh my!

They had fun riding the "Ferris wheel" again, and again, and again.

Goofy boys!

There were QUITE a few geese wandering around the zoo. I guess Caleb wanted to be one also.

Taking a rest, after a long day of walking.