Just a few more. . .

Here are just a few more pictures that my dad took while here.  I like the one of me and my mom at the park.  And Minnie with her Chick-Fil-A cow hat--that one cracks me up!

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming to visit and all you've done for us!  We love you so much!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

PC and Grandpa took the kids to the zoo last Saturday while my mom and I were at Time Out for Women.  I got some of the pictures my dad took before they left and thought I'd share.

On the SkyRide and climbing the wall at the top.

GlowGolf

My parents left yesterday.  We were sad to see them go. The kids kept asking if they could stay another day or two.  My sister is waiting in Utah for them to come visit her, though, and I knew they were ready to get going.  For their last night with us, we went to the mall and played GlowGolf.  I realized that we have never taken our kids miniature golfing.  They didn't have it in England and they were too small to play when we lived in Texas before that.  Needless to say, they had a blast. 

Landsharks

Monday, Mom and Dad went out sightseeing by themselves.  I had really wanted to take them on the cog railway up to the top of Pikes Peak, but it was gloomy day, so it really wouldn't have been very nice.  I stayed home and did laundry, which I think my family appreciated in the end. :)
That night Bucko and Minnie had their first Landsharks meet.  Landsharks is a cross country association for the schools here.  I've been helping coach at our elementary school.  (Yeah, don't laugh.)  We practice before school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  It's been a lot of fun.  (Well, it has been for Minnie and me.  Poor Bucko broke his ankle and has had to just sit and read instead of participating.)  Bucko was able to take his boot off last week, so he ran at practice on Friday. His ankle was hurting a bit, but we told him to just keep trying, so he ran his whole mile on Monday night.  Apparently, that's not really a great idea when you haven't been using your foot in a while.  He couldn't walk on it Tuesday and I took him back to the doctor.  It had healed from the break, but because we had him run on it, he has really bad tendonitis.  Now, it will take about 6 weeks for that to heal!  He is not allowed to run at all--only walk.  He was NOT happy about that.  This morning at Landsharks, some of the girls in his class asked where he was.  When I explained to them what had happened and told them they should watch him at recess and remind him not to run on it, they replied, "Ok, we'll be on 'Thomas Patrol!'"  See why I love coaching these kids?  They are so fun.  Anyway, Minnie had a blast at the meet and can't wait for the next one!  Bucko really did well, but limped pretty much the whole time.  We all had fun cheering them on.  It was pretty exciting. 

Time Out for Women. . . Denver

Friday afternoon, we headed up to Denver.  One of my good friends from England recently moved here to Colorado, so she went with us!  We met two of my sister-in-laws up there with their moms and one sister.  We met at P.F. Chang's for dinner. I had never eaten there, but my sister-in-law makes a copycat recipe for their lettuce wraps.  I am definitely going to have to look it up!  We had a couple of speakers that night, along with Jenny Oaks Baker, whom I could listen to all the time.  I had bought her Disney album she released last year after Time Out for Women, and we all love it.  I want to get some of her hymns now as well. 


Love that we have the three pregnant redheads in front!

Saturday was all day of speakers and music.  I ended up buying Our Best Bites cookbook and a couple DVDs.  We went down to the 16th Street Mall to Subway for lunch.  It is a neat outdoor mall with lots of little shops.  There are several pianos all along the way too. I liked this one that was painted to look like the animal crackers box.  We also saw a wizard walking down the street both days.  That was fun.  We were beat by the time it was over, spiritually and physically. It was a very inspiring weekend.  We stopped and picked up Chinese food at the Bamboo Garden as well.  PC had planned on making dinner, but called us on the way and said Dad wanted to treat again, so we picked it up. It was yummy.  Bucko devoured the fried rice!

One last note:  Last year, I went to Time Out for Women in Richmond with my best girlfriend in the whole world.  I missed her so bad this time, especially when we saw presenters that I had seen last year with her (i.e. Jenny Oaks Baker, Laurel Christensen).  I was already crying because it was so touching, but some of it was because I missed her too!



Garden of the Gods

My parents arrived last Wednesday, the 12th.  It was a rainy day, but we were so excited to see them!! Friday was much prettier and I took them out to Garden of the Gods.  We reminisced about when Mom had dragged us to Arches National Park in Utah when we dropped my older sister off at BYU. It had been SO hot that day and we were all so tired of travelling, that Dad had said he never wanted to see another rock garden again.  But, they both enjoyed Garden of the Gods.  It wasn't too hot, but the sun was beating down and we had a bit of a breeze.  Dad treated us to Chick-fil-A afterwards. 

Glasses

Minnie had been complaining that she couldn't see the board at school, so we went to the eye doctor a few weeks ago.  After clearing up some allergies in her eyes and doing a lot of tests, they determined that her eye muscles stay tightened up when she switches from looking close to looking far away, so both things will end up looking fuzzy.  Her muscles just don't relax as quickly so by the end of the day, she really has a hard time seeing clearly.  So she had to get bifocals and we picked them up today.  She looks different but very cute, and we are still trying to get used to seeing her wearing them. 

Reading

I LOVE when PC reads to our kids.  He is so funny, and they never stop giggling the whole time!  He uses funny voices and makes up stories to go along with the pictures, but not the real story sometimes.  I was able to capture this picture the other night.  I just love all their beautiful smiles and am so grateful for such a wonderful companion and father for our children.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings

Yesterday, Goofy and I went on a field trip with his preschool buddies to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.  We all bought a good deal off of Living Social, so it wasn't too expensive.  All the kids loved climbing through the dwellings and the teepee (though they spelled it "tipi," so I guess that is how it really should be spelled).  As we walked up to them, Goofy said, "Oh, a castle!"  :)  That's what he's used to visiting from living in England!

Balloon Festival

Every year on Labor Day weekend, they do a balloon festival in Colorado Springs.  They light them up one night, but we didn't go to that.  On Labor Day, we decided to go down to Palmer Park and watch them take off from that vantage point.  We picked up Johnny because he really wanted to go as well.  We had been to Palmer Park before, but only to the playground area.  The rest is so neat, and we plan on going back soon!  The kids loved hiking the trails and climbing the rocks.  The balloons were fun too, but I just enjoyed being with my family in the early morning. 

Oh, and the view of Pikes Peak was spectacular.

We then headed up to Ikea.  We got a desk and some storage pieces for our home.  It was a good trip.  Tink loves walking through the store with us and the younger three LOVE the play area! 

Picnic at the Park

On Friday, August 31st, the kids had a day off of school.  Nana had been telling us about this park a few miles away that we have been wanting to go and when talking with a friend, we decided this would be a perfect day for a picnic there.  The kids loved the park area and then we went on a short hike up the mountain.  It was hot and Goofy was wearing flip-flops. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Bucko broke his foot a couple weeks ago.  He fell off the counter. He used crutches for a couple days, but then we went to ortho and they gave him a boot.  He only has to wear it for three weeks total.  He has a small fracture on the side of his ankle, but also one through his growth plate, which is what they were mostly concerned about as it could cause problems later in life.  He does really well with it and was ready to give up the crutches after two days!  (Even though for the week before I took him in, he kept hoping against all hope that it was broken so he could have crutches!  He quickly realized how NOT fun they are!)  You can see his boot in some of the pictures below. 

After our little hike, we ate our picnic lunch.  The wind picked up and we got a bit chilly from it blowing on us.  Goofy's sandwich bag blew away and he jumped up to get it and his flip-flops came off, but he kept on sprinting after it.  He ran through yucky prairie grass and stickers and was crying when he came back.  It was so sweet. I told him he was so fast, his shoes couldn't keep up!  He felt a little better after that.
It was a fun park and we look forward to going again!

Uncle Johnny's Birthday



After coming home from the temple, we got ready for Uncle Johnny's birthday party at our house.  It was combined as a get together so some family could see our new house as well.  We had lots of finger foods and all the kids had fun.  We got Johnny a police light, which he loves.  We also gave him these cool gun sunglasses. 

Denver Temple

On Saturday, August 18, our ward had a temple day for the Primary.  We met up at the temple and were given a tour of the grounds.  The kids really liked it, though Goofy had a hard time sitting still halfway through.  They heard the story of all the Primary children saving their pennies and raising the money for the "bride's bench" which was a pretty bench area to take wedding pictures.  They all (except Goofy) went up and touched the temple walls.  That is always a special experience. We had them do that in D.C. and I still remember doing it when I was young.  It was a good experience and they each got a bookmark with the words to "I Love to See the Temple," so they sang that song all the way home!