A Park to Camping...

Just an afternoon at the park. The kids had a great time and a small herd of young bucks wandered by. We all loved seeing them...
Our Campsite! We looked out onto the 2 fishing lakes and Canadian Geese that inhabit the area. We got two spots so as to have a place to park the cars behind us all. David, the boys and girls, dogs and I slept in our tent (red one). Bonnie, her girls and Kristina slept in the blue tent (borrowed from Jan!).
Unfortunately the two fishing poles the boys got were both broken. So no fishing this trip. But next time we'll be better prepared. The kids did get to feed the geese and run all over the campground, which of course kept them all entertained and busy for quite some time.

Last night shortly after we all went to bed a cold front moved in and the winds started up. I woke up to our tent whipping back and forth but still left the windows open so as to keep cool. Sometime after that the temps dropped and the winds whipped up into a fury at which point I closed the windows. Believe it or not the tents held and we all stayed warm. Not necessarily rested, but warm. We did sleep off and on after getting used to the sound of the tents whipping around. I guess around 5:30 a.m. I headed off to the bathrooms with Kristina and got to see other tents in the same condition as our own. Battered... but still standing. We loved it all! Everything about this adventure was a plus in our minds. Now as for really camping out in the wilds of Colorado? Well I don't know about that. But I sure did enjoy the campground with its amenities and scenery. Thank you to Carrie, Cole and everyone out at the "Golden Eagle Campground" for a great experience.

Olivia checking out the tents again. She was so impressed that we had tents to sleep in. Of course....... so was I! Everyone seemed to like the fact that they had somewhere to hide for time out or just to relax. See Max in the tent?

Some of the neighbors...

Bonnie attempting to show me how to start a fire for cooking. Please remember that I said attempting...

Carrie and Anika joined us for S'Mores last night. We so enjoyed seeing them and getting to see Anika and how much she has grown. This is Carrie getting ready to enjoy her S'More.

Celebrations, arrivals, and more...

Birthdays! July holds 2 for us. First was Parker's on the 8th. Grammie and Papa sent a card with a check and it took me a while to figure out just what to pick out for him this year. But I finally came up with a great idea and boy was he excited to see these items. A new sleeping bag! and his very first Fishing Pole! Wow! Just a little ripple of excitement ran through the house with the unveiling of these two items.
Bonnie and the girls arrived and then it was time to play dress-up! Yeah!

Kristina's "Sweet 16" birthday on the 16th! She and Bonnie decided to make her cake, this of course didn't surprise any of us, knowing what bakers they both are. White chocolate dipped vanilla wafers with white chocolate shavings over the buttercream frosting sprinkled with pink sprinkles that covered a carrot spiced double layer cake. Sweet enough even for all the kids.



Kristina's birthday dinner consisted of brats, salad and chips.

The wedding ended up occuring on the 13th instead of the 16th since they couldn't find a judge who would perform the ceremony on Friday. So we had to wait until Saturday to celebrate Ivan and Kaitlyn's wedding since they had school to attend to and David was out of town. We decided to celebrate here at home.

Remember having to line up for the ice cream man?

Getting Married...

early this morning...

still very early...

can't believe that we were able to get everyone dressed and ready to go before 7:30...

8 a.m. and the ceremony is starting.... the boys got to participate by being the ring bearers.

the judge finishing off the ceremony and we all know what is coming....

Yep! There it is! The kiss...

All done.

Changes all around... and more.

Parker's 8th birthday! I can't believe he's 8 now. Time just flies by. It just seems like yesterday that we were in China and he was 22 mo's old and I was having trouble keeping his clothes on him. O.k. well I still have that problem on occasion its just that now keeping the clothes on appears to be a choice!

The wedding date has changed. David had an impromptu business trip come up so he'll be gone from Tuesday - Thursday, which of course includes the 14th. So Kaitlyn and Ivan were kind enough to postpone the wedding until the 16th! Which we all think is great....... because.... that is Kristina's birthday! Now if you know our group then you know that David and I got married on my birthday. My brother Rick got married on Kaitlyn's birthday. So we could say we've started a bit of a tradition in this family in getting married on other family members birthdays. So who's next?
Haircuts! At least 4 people in this house need haircuts. So my friend, Jacque, came over yesterday to cut every ones hair and make them all presentable, if not for the world then at least for the upcoming business trip and wedding. They all lined up, Ivan, Kaitlyn, Kristina, David, Olivia and Jolie. The boys and I declined as we're still doing o.k. Here are some before and after pictures....

After...

Before....

After....

Before....

After...

Still working on the knitting. No big changes to report there. But here is a nice picture of some of the kitchen additions that signify summer for us southern folks! Fresh Okra, Tomatoes, Lemons/Limes and Fresh Apricots. Yep, summer.....

Can you believe it! Yes, that is the bike in the back of Jack's extremely small pickup truck. Please take note that the bike is almost as big as the truck. Turns out the alternator has gone bad, so the bike will be in the shop (Wild West Customs - can't say enough about Joe and that shop! They're great!) until the end of next week. Yuk! But at least it will be in great running condition when we get it back.

Well if all has gone well and according to plan Bonnie and our grandbabies have left Minnesota today for their trip to come here for Kaitlyn and Ivan's wedding. They're stopping in Sioux Falls, SD and Rapid City, SD for some sightseeing before heading on into Colorado. Can't wait to hear all about their sightseeing adventures.

New Mother-in-law, Dogs, 4th of July and........ Still knitting!

Just some of the clouds that greeted us on the afternoon of the 4th! We ended up with serious storms that evening that did affect the fireworks displays. But I think to everyone watching, seeing the lightening and fireworks together was just the pinnacle of the evening...
I guess the word is out. I'm about to become a Mother-in-law again. Ivan and Kaitlyn are getting married on the 14th of July. Quick!, Yes, I know. Do we like Ivan? Of course, whats not to like. Why so .............quick? Well they want to be married before Kaitlyn goes off for basic training. So they decided to do a Justice of the Peace wedding now and perhaps later do a more formal affair. We're all getting ready to add another young man to the family with open arms.
I couldn't resist this pic! Sorry Ivan! Truth be known you have to have a sense of humor to get along in this group....

The 4th found me trying a couple of new recipes that included Blackberry's my favorite fruit! So we had Blackberry ice cream and cobbler! YUM!!! The ice cream was wonderful without being overly sweet. The cobbler was definitely sweet, just as it should have been. Then we partied with Barbecue Brisket, potato salad (Ivan's addition - which was very nice), black eyed peas, cornbread, fried rice (Jason's contribution - which turned out to be the hit), roasted corn in the husk, etc. We had plenty of food and it wasn't the normal 4th of July fare. So... I was pleased.



The layout....

Max and Jake get medicated twice a day every day. Max for his heart and esophagus. Jake for his seizures. Jake is so easy to get medicine down. I just open his mouth and pop in the pills his body goes totally lax and he just melts into the couch/floor/chair where ever he happens to be. Max on the other hand is a grab, pry open his mouth and start shoving pills down his throat kind of dog. Well as of yesterday he has officially mastered the technique of working the pills (3 of them) back into his mouth and then shaking his head where the pills get slung across the room!, or at the very least lost in the carpet or on the couch! I'm about ready to ask the vet for a blow gun and darts! to medicate this dog. I wonder if they really have that available? I checked, they don't offer dart guns and darts for dogs.... bummer.
Still knitting away.... working on the Rastafarian Sweater at the moment and trying to get at least 50% of it done. Then there is the Eventide scarf, Nutkin sock, Fable Classic scarf, Blanket from Hell, Geodesic Cardigan, Cable Net socks, and the list goes on. All get worked on weekly to some degree.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! EVERYONE...