Coffee, Kids and More...: Wow!

So much has gone on since I last checked in. Today will find us at the lake playing, picnicking and getting sun. But more of that later...

This is a picture of the deck pre-decorating. I need to take a picture of it now.

Jolie relaxing...

Time is getting close for our camping trip out to Gunnison, Co. with Yael and her boys! We're ALL so excited and anxious to get going. I still have the tents to set up and check for holes and just clean. Dad needs to check out the camp cooking devices. Last trip we discovered a broken part in the gas delivery system which almost took away our ability to cook on the stoves. So this time we're checking everything thoroughly before we go! I can't have no stove to cook on with this group. Actually we use stoves AND the campfire to cook our meals on.

Dad is finally starting to get better. He has battled pneumonia for a few months now. After 2 rounds of hellishly strong antibiotics followed up immediately by a Z-pack and then another antibiotic I think he can finally say that he is truly feeling better! Now if we can just get his voice back to normal. :-)

Here is the group with their 3-D glasses on watching Shrek 3-D.

We've had an interesting couple of weeks around here.

Parker was bitten by the neighbor's dog. Caught him right in the upper lip. I was able to repair the lip with a butterfly bandage, no stitches required. The kids have played with these dogs literally for years now and we've never had a problem. But the family had just added a Doberman pup a few days ahead of the bite and we figure that Haley may have been having some issues with the new addition and extra kids around just exasperated the situation. So Parker was unfortunately the recipent of Haley's bite. Bob brought Parker home and explained to me that Parker had done nothing to Haley to deserve this. I was relieved to hear that but obviously upset that he had been bitten.

I had a surprise root canal and major tooth re-building done. That, of course, is always fun and exciting! A great way to spend your morning....

Kristina headed off to Nebraska with a friend for about 10 days.

Took Olivia on a day long motorcycle trip around a bit of Colorado. We put 230 miles on the bike and she seemed to enjoy the day. We did a wonderful circle that took us through Johnson Village, Salida, Canyon City and then back to Colorado Springs. Long day with lots of beautiful country.

Knitting is coming along as usual.

Planting veggies on the deck with a few flowering plants.

Took a leaf from a couple of African Violets at a local store and I'm trying to get starts going. We'll see. Just couldn't bring myself to buy the whole plant as they were in bad shape. So far the leafs are still alive and appeared to be doing well until today. Oh well, I tried.

Dad painted the swing on the deck and we discovered that the company we originally purchased the set from is still in business and we should have cushions in 4 - 6 weeks. We also picked up a patio umbrella for the kids to sit under when we're all out there enjoying the day. We also finally were able to get cushions for the chairs. Our deck is now a livable area for us. Frankly it has shaped up quite nicely. I'm happy! Here's Max waiting patiently for his piece of the brats!

Jolie recieved her response from President Barak Obama. What an exciting day that was! She mailed a letter to the White House back in April, I believe. She was thrilled to see this envelope arrive at the house.

Cole came out and fixed the 3 tiles that we needed to have done. Yeah!

I had a group of ladies out to the house for a community knit on Sunday. Invited 18 in all, had 16 arrive with dishes to share. We had a good time and worked on making a fish dishcloth. I had hoped that we could go on the deck for the knitting time but the temps climbed up to the high 80's and there was no clouds in sights. So we stayed in.