Happy Birthday Lizzy!

Nine years has flown by with this vivacious, funny, outgoing little girl.  She is definitely the spark in our family and I am so thankful that we were entrusted to care for her while she is on this earth. Happy Birthday my sweet Lizzy!

Annie

It was just one of those nights...mid week, tired and no energy left by the time I was supposed to make dinner.  So we decided to head out and grab a bite.  When lizzy came down the hall I couldn't help but laugh.  She had a costume wig on, sunglasses and her boots and striking a pose.  The whole reason I am posting this is because I always want to remember how spunky and creative she is.  She is our little rock star with a heart of gold.  The first one to be there to help and always making people smile.  So how could I tell her to take it off? :)  Love this girl!!

I wanted to put this in because Joe always dodges my pictures :)

Christmas Tree Time

On Saturday we went up to the mountains to hunt down a live Christmas tree.  We had so much fun hiking through the snow, sledding, lunch and hot cocoa with some great friends.  Just an incredible day to enjoy the beauty that God has given us and such amazing people in our lives.
On a side note when we got home the tree was taller then the garage.  I guess our eyes are bigger then our house! :)  After a good little trim we now have a Charlie Brown tree.  I will post pictures after we decorate for Family Home Evening tonight.

Thanksgiving Break

Once the chores were done, we decided to head to the Children's Museum in Pueblo for some fun.  The kids had a great time making snowmen, building a fort and just creating to their hearts content.

The snow is here!

Not long after I finished texting my cousin that we missed our chance at snow (she lives up in Denver and had already gotten some), did we get a nice batch down our way!  Most times it seems like there is an invisible wall just below Colorado Springs.  It can be snowing and storming up that way and here we get nothing.  So this was wonderful!  The kids were up and ready to play in it but I took advantage of that motivation and had them do their chores first ;).  Then we headed off to the High School for some sledding.  Mind you I hate playing in the snow, I do it once a year for the kids and that is all they get but sledding is a different story.  Just plain old fun.

Jackson hiked this hill over and over and loved it.

Arf!

Lizzy was able to be a part of the 3rd grade production of Arf! at her school.  She played the part of Poodle-aycious, a sassy snobby pink poodle.  It was hilarious and she pulled it off.  We all agree she belongs on the stage but boy was she nervous!

Marble Jar Date Night

We are trying out a new system in our house that has come highly recommended from some super great moms...the marble jar.  For various tasks and chores the kids can earn marbles.  They can also reward their siblings with marbles or get them taken away by Mom and Dad for a poor attitude.  Once the jar is full they can choose money or a date with Mom or Dad.  Miss Lizzy filled her jar and who was lucky enough to be chosen for a date but ME!!!  We had a fantastic little date going to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

Zoo Fun and Family

 Ok, so a month late is good right? Just wanted to post some pictures from our trip to Pueblo Zoo. We had a wonderful day with great weather and cute animals. The kids are getting to the age where it is not so much chasing them around but enjoying our time together, it was such a great day! We had some peacocks come over during lunch, the kids liked it for about a minute and then we were shooing them away.



 

A little unsure about the peacocks





Warming up to them





Some super fun kids





Lizzy loved the zebras!





Ma and Baba came for a visit.

My parents also came to stay with us for a few days.  It was so great having them here!

Summer Wrap-Up

I thought I should post more of the summer pictures before I put up the school year ones.  Hopefully the girls will remember all the fun we had when they get older!

Tennis lessons.  The girls loved it and Jackson got to play with all of the little brothers that were watching.

Their 2nd annual lemonade sale.  Thankfully the people on our street are pretty nice :)

They upped it from 25 cents last year.  Inflation I guess

Going to the drive-in's to see Cars 2

At one of the summer camps they did, a baby bird had fallen from a tree and the kids got to it before the parents knew it.  So why not take a picture? :)

More Summer Fun

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera for the 4th of July fun but WOW, what an amazing day!  We started with a 5k, the girls both ran their first ever and did amazing!  Emily wants to continue and train for another in August while Lizzy is on the fence.  After that we went to the Wet parade in Pueblo West.  The kids were soaked and laughing and screaming the whole time.  I sat with a friend near an umbrella (for shade, it was 95 out) and that made us an instant target.  We were soaked by the end as well.  Later that night we went to a BBQ with friends and watched the fireworks.  It made me so grateful for the town we live in and the freedoms we enjoy.  Thank you to all who have served to provide that!~

Another favorite around here is bowling.  During the summer the local bowling alley offers free bowling for the kids, who can resist?  Jackson is big enough to do it now too and they all had so much fun.  Here are some pictures from one of our recent trips and the kids hamming it up.

Summer Fun

Summer is in full swing and going fast!  Our new found favorite pasttime is skyping with the family.  It is so fun to chat with all of our family and see their faces!

Skyping with Pops and Gaga

Our friends Tina and Andrew came for a visit, it was so wonderful to see them!  What darling kiddos too!  



Christopher and Lindsay goofing off with Joe



The kids started swim lessons and even Jackson is doing them now. Both of the girls are in level 4 together and doing great. They have to swim across the pool and I always get so worried that Lizzy will run out of energy but sure enough she makes it!



Back to School

Well, it's that time again, the kiddos are off to school!  Lizzy is in morning Kindergarten and Emily is in Second grade.  So that just leaves Jackson and me :).  Here are some shots from the first day of school.....

I also want to note here that all their little friends picked skirts for the first day of school but both Emily and Lizzy picked shorts and sneakers :).

The girls also ran in a kid's race in Florence.  They did so great!  Emily was the first girl and Lizzy the third, way to go girls!  You can see Jackson over there cheering for Lizzy as she came in :).