New Hair!

We've talked about it for a while, and yesterday were finally able to

hang out with Aunt C at her hair shop for Bug's short summer hair!

And, because I'm totally lazy and didn't want to find the camera

we just love playing with Photo booth...

here's a few shots!

It's short and sassy and fits Bug to a T!

She's super proud!

And...

Well, you've probably been reading here long enough to know that another member of our family would not be left out of the short haircut, photo booth photo shoot, pose striking fun...

so here you have it!

Ace's normal, run of the mill, no maintenance short sassy summer haircut...

Photo Booth Friday...

This afternoon we were messing around with Photo Booth...

hoping to get to talk to Aunt Bec on iChat.

I grabbed Libby and decided to take our pic...

Ace couldn't help but look in on what we were doing!

Can't Wait for Wednesday...

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this kid!

He is doing his best to take great care of Libby.

In the process, he may be laying it on a little thick!

Poor Libby doesn't know what to think just yet, but I'm sure that soon they'll be besties!

He brought her in the kitchen tonight like this and said

"Mommy wook! I holdin Wibby, she wubs me! Take our picture wif your pone!"

This is the look I got when I asked them to smile :)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Hubs, you're the greatest man and daddy!

We love you so much.

You keep us safe,

watch over us

teach us

provide for us

make us a strong family

I couldn't have picked a better man for my kids to call dad!

I love you!

Back.

I've started several blog post since returning, but none of them seemed post worthy.

Nobody wants to check in here and hear me whine about how we're hot or worn out from having so much fun on vaca :)

So, we've had a bunch going on .

I'll start with just a few pics of our last days of vaca.

On Saturday when we left Colorado it was 42 degrees and raining.

Yes, 42.

Brr!

Hubs and the kids dropped me off at the Annual Wool Market.

I wasn't sure what to expect.

I mean, I figured it had to do with yarn and knitting

but why not call it a yarn market...

Well,

I sure didn't expect this.

A lot of the wool at this market was still on the animal...

and this, my friends

is an awful picture of a pen of Yaks...

yes, I didn't know until Saturday, but you can buy yarn made out of Yaks,

even Buffalo!

There were also people at this market spinning their own yarn,

and others buying trash bags full of "shorn??" wool to spin yarn.

Just a little note to my friends out there...

at the first inkling of me deciding I need to spin my own yarn

STOP ME!

Have Hubs commit me or something.

I don't need any more quirky hobby's at this stage in my life!

Thanks in advance...it kind of looked fun.

Anywhoo I did pick up this super cool bag...

Which after I quit giggling, I realized I couldn't live without!

Because what I need in my life is another bag!!

OK,

so we left Colorado and the next day we lunched at the Big Texan in Amarillo.

Yum!

We were serenaded by a singing cowboy and took a few pics.

Remember how I said that Sat morning it was 42 degrees?

Well, Sunday morning it was 92...

yesterday, our thermometer hit 100...ick!!

Here's a few pics the kids posed for.

Well, there you have it.

Since we've returned home things have kind of been blah.

We had a funeral on Monday for one of our church deacons who has been battling Alzheimer's for probably 10 yrs, and I would have to say it probably was one of the best services I've been to.

An absolute celebration of a great man gone home to be whole with the Lord.

Wow.

Things perked up yesterday, however...

We added a new family member to our household.

No, not the kind people have been bugging us about.

Meet Libby.

She's our new "pet indoors" that Bug has been bugging us about for so long:)

We decided several months ago that we would wait until after vaca to find a new pet...

needless to say we love her already!

(there were a few minutes last night Hubs and I laughed hysterically at how stupid crazy we were for doing this...but the problem was soon resolved...Libby is now sharing a room at night with my whirlpool besties!  Don't worry, it's full air conditioned, far a way from where anybody else is trying to sleep, and she loves it!)

We think she's settling in pretty well too!

Ace decided to share this pillow seat with her :)

We Made It!!

Glad to be home!

Me and my Whirlpools are going to be up close and personal for a while :)

We have a lot of yard and garden work to accomplish this week!

Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers and comments while we've been away!

Are We There Yet??

No, we're not.

I'm doing my best.

Trying very hard not to go whiny on Hubs.

But Geez Louise I just want to be home already!

Out With a Bang...

Today was our last full day here...

very sad.

So, we decided to pack in as much fun as possible.

We visited and hiked around 2 of our favorite lakes here and had a blast.

It's late, and we're leaving for Denver in the morning to lunch with some family, so I'll just throw out a few of our favorite moments of the day!

(no his mommy did not hit him in the head with a snowball...that would be mean)

We're a little Ace heavy today, but he really hammed it up for the camera today.

On any other day, if you want him to go bashful in a second, either pull out a camera or make a comment about his red hair in public.

And lastly, Hubs made the mistake of mentioning that he ran across a yarn store in town...

unfortunately, for him, I've been pulled out of my recent knitting hiatus :)

How cute is that bag??

So, I've broken my pact with Bec about buying new yarn before all the rest is knit, 

but have a fun project for the ride home!

Don't Feed The Animals...

Yesterday afternoon we hung out at Lilly Lake.

We'd never been there before, but will we ever go back!

It was gorgeous.

Hubs was able to do some fishing with his redheaded shadow.

Bug and I set off to hike around the trail, but were interrupted by rain...

So we hung out in the car for a little while while the storm ran through.

We're just hard core like that!

Now, the next part happened quite innocently.

See, when you travel with Hubs, you must always have a bag of sunflower seeds with you.

We have a huge bag right in front of the console, and he just grabs a handful whenever he wants.

The kids and I munch on them occasionally, and when we got out of the car Ace grabbed the bag to take on our walk...Cuz I might be hungry and need a snack...

Well, lesson learned...

because it seems that these little guys hearing is fine tuned to crinkling plastic bags...

In an instant, we were surrounded by 4 eager chipmunks.

Well, these guys were coming right up to our feet...

for those of you who have met Bug and her quirks, 

you can just imagine the screaming and scrambling that occurred the first time a chipmunk ran up to her.

I'm still recovering the hearing I lost.

Hubs came on over after he was done fishing and had to show us how brave he is.

At one point they were actually holding on to his pinkie to get the seed!

And of course, Bug the Brave was assuming her normal position...

And now...for the mystery animal of the trip.

I'm hoping one of you avid readers can solve the mystery...

There were 2 of them.

Initially we were thinking beaver...

looks like a beaver from here...

but after closer examination

They don't have a flat tail.

They swam great, were eating trees and weeds in the water,

but their tails looked like a thick, dark, rat tail...

our mystery swimming, beaver, rat thingy.

All input appreciated!

Snow Day!!

Number One on the kids list of things to do this week has been to play in the snow...

well, today we found it!

Here's a full family photo on the way to the "top of the mountain".

and this is where they have plowed the road out...

it was at least 10 ft of snow...

even the visitor center had to be dug out!

This has nothing to do with snow...but Ace had to have a vest just like daddy and Grandpa...

I love this kid!

Of course, we had to pull over for some snowball fighting!

yes, Hubs sank almost to his knees!

And, finally, one more family shot...

The View...

A lot of today was spent in the car.

We went up Trail Ridge Road.

I had forgotten how absolutely breathtaking the scenery is here.

So, for now, I'll just awe you with the view...

Wow, this place has a way of making you feel pretty insignificant!

To imagine that the same God that made these mountains even bothers with you and me is very humbling!