Life Connected July Picnic

We hosted our Life Connected church group's July picnic on Sunday, July 7th.  We had over 50 people (including kids/babies) attend.  We had such a wonderful time with food, water fun, fellowship and good conversation!  I look forward to the next chance we get to host these wonderful families! 

 

Starting Traditions

Tim decided that he wanted to start a tradition with Drew that involves going on a hike together every July 5th.  So, they began with Flatirons 1 (which is the first flatiron that you see just south of Boulder).  They had a great time hiking all the way till the trail ends and Tim said Drew did a great job of keeping up without whining (even when it got steep).  I am proud of my boys and hope they can continue this tradition. 

 

 

They actually had to hike up this rock slide

 

 

At the trail end looking up at the flatirons (if you look closely there is a man rock climbing the face of it in the middle of the pic) 

 

 

Drew thought this rock looked like a good bed...I think he was tired before they even started down

 

This is a picture of the construction happening at Tim's new office in downtown boulder (the yellow building).  They will hopefully be in the new building this fall. 

 

As a reward, they went to a pizzeria near Tim's new building and Drew was lucky enough to try a REAL Coca-Cola!

 

I think this photo is hilarious...Drew there is a mountain lion sniffing your head!

 

Here is an up close picture of the construction site that will become Tim's new offices

 

Fireworks and the 4th of July

The night of July 3rd (our 9th anniversary) we went to watch the fireworks in Erie, CO with Grandma Sue and Aunt Annie.  After waiting what seemed like forever, they finally started and were amazing fireworks.  We just happened upon a really fantastic spot to watch them.  The kids were exhausted since we did not get home till 10:45. 

 

 

Tim took some excellent photos of the GRAND FINALE!

 

This is the only photo we took on the 4th of July apparently.  It was a quiet day spent at home and then a BBQ at our pastor's house that evening.  The kids were so tired from the fireworks the night before, we came homeat 8:30pm before they even started and put them to bed.  Tim and I watched the fireworks that were at Waneka Lake from our driveway, while the kids slept soundly!!

Brew Master

So, almost 6 years after buying him a beer brewing kit, Tim has finally used it and brewed his first beer.  He met a guy at our church that helped him with his first batch, which is a Nut Brown Ale.  Here are some photos of Tim trying his beer for the first time...

 

his reaction was "Yuk!  Needs some more time in the bottle...it is really bitter!"

He has drank a few more since these photos were taken and he says they do continue to get better with age. 

Off the Bench Sports Camp

The last week of June, Drew participated in a christian-based sports camp called, Off the BENCH.  He had such a great time socializing, learning God's word, and dancing to music.  They learned a different bible story each day, good values like "Always be prepared" and "Be an Encourager".  They learned a memory verse and each time you repeated it for your coach they put your name in a drawing.  Drew won a CD of the wonderful music they learned all week. 

 The last day, Friday, the 4 and 5 year olds sang one of the songs...it was very cute! I was lucky enough to be able to watch him Monday and Friday and see how much he grew in a week. Evelyn and I worked the Art Camp for older kids on Monday and Friday. It was lots of fun but lots of work for this preggo momma!

Drew's T-ball "Orange Broncos"

Drew started t-ball in June.  He really is learning a lot and enjoys it...I think we will have to start looking for something more competitive next year.  He is a great ball player.  His games start this weekend (they play 2 innings and each get a chance to bat each inning).  Should be interesting! 

Lemonade Stand

Drew and his friend, Eva, had a lemonade stand at our garage sale in June.  Our neighbor girl, Lily, also joined to sell cookies (not pictured here cause she was out shopping the other garage sales). 

They earned some good money and were so cute when they would take the money and put it in their cash register. 

Black Tie Affair

Tim and I were honored to be asked to attend the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award ceremony, where his CEO Steve Hughes, was nominated for one of the awards.  The night was a fun event with lots of great food and laughter. 

 

The nomination video for Steve

 

Steve accepting the award for Entrepreneur of the Year in Retail Services

 

Steve with his daughter, Caroline (who also works with Tim), and his trophy

Father's Day 2013

These pics were taken shortly before Drew was struck with a bout of food poisoning...at least we think it was that because nobody else got sick.  We had a nice Father's Day dinner at our house with Dick, Sue and Annie. 

Jolly Good Time

These are our friends the Jolly's.  We met them through church and our life connected group.  They are wonderful people.  Corrinn and I really hit it off because we are both Iowa girls.  They have a 4 year old, 2 1/2 year old, and 1 year old twin girls...CRAZY!  We had them over for brunch one morning.  Evelyn and Drew love to play with the Jolly kids!

Living History Farms

I can't believe this is true, but I have never been to Living History Farms in Urbandale. IA.  So we decided to take the kiddos there and then to the Machine Shed for dinner. 

 

Before we went, Cael had to get in the "mood" by wearing Drew's cowboy boots. 

 

 

Ev and I riding behind the tractor to the farm site

 

Drew really enjoyed learning about the way farmers/cowboys lived in the old days

 

Ev making Grandma push an empty stroller

 

Kiddos measuring their height in "hands" like farmers measure horses

 

When we got back to Gma and Gpa's house, one more ride on the Gator before we had to fly home the next day.