Paul and his friend Jace took the kids up into the mountains for a one day backpacking adventure. Amy and Andy joined them for a little bit, with their drone, but they didn't stay overnight. Ethan and Jonny were able too though and they all had a lovely time.
We had dinner and dessert with the Hunt family, and ate these delicious double chocolate cookies, then Amy asked for a picture, before surprising me with her teeth! Made us both laugh.
Fashion show with Matix and Lullaby, they are so silly together.
We were surprised with calls from neighbors one morning when a group of kids behind the fence line (across the street from us) started a fire by accident from their fireworks. It's too dry in Utah and it caught really quickly. I got a couple video clips from friends, but the fire department put everything out pretty fast, and only one fence was burned down. The kids were from the neighborhood below ours, and one of them came to apologize, which I thought was really good.
The Lopes family came to Utah for a visit and we got to hang with them several days, although they didn't stay at our house this time. Night swims at the pool are a must in the summer.
They took us out to see Singing in the Rain at the Hale Theater and it was amazing! Good friends and good shows are so fun. We also ran into friends from Houston, whom we haven't seen since we moved from there in 2016! They still live there, but were in Utah visiting family. What are the chances?!
Pool day with friends again.
Dinner with the Lopes family, then fireworks with the neighbors.
On the 4th, we went to the Harmers house for dinner and some fireworks in the street, before heading back to our neighborhood for the night time fireworks. Birdie let me braid her hair.
Dinner at the Martinez house, the Englebrechts came too. It was a party.
Dinner party with the Hill, Martinez, and Englebrecht families. The pool was a huge hit with the kids.
Road trip to Colorado to give Lullaby a surprise early birthday gift, and of course to visit with Jolie and her family, and the Abbajays. We had to stop at Little America for an ice cream cone. Then we got to the Abbajays house for dinner and games and a tour of Richard's garden. Even Grayson came for dinner which was so nice.
Learning Poker from the queen herself.
We baked cookies to take to Bruce and MaryJo's for dinner. Everyone helped to decorate.
Hawk got a happy surprise when we got there, Uncle Brucey (as he now wants to be known) keeps bees and needed helpers to harvest some of the honey. It was so fun to see how he does it. We have several friends who do this too, but everyone has different little tips and tricks that they do.
Then inside, Auntie Mojo (another new name, ha ha ha) taught us how they harvest it.
Sully got to work after dinner and built a house in the backyard. It was a great night reconnecting. I had babysat for Bruce and MaryJo in college too, their daughter Grace is a year older than Izzy and their son Jake is a year younger than Izzy.
While we were there, Paul took Lullaby to her secret surprise birthday adventure. She wasn't sure what they were doing or where they were going.
When they got to the theater, she read on her tag that she was in fact at a Regina Spektor concert! Just three rows back, and she couldn't believe it! She sang the words to every song, and the very last song of the night was Samson, her favorite song! It was magical, and I'm so glad Paul could take her to do something like this.
Playing with Izzy's hair is so fun.
Jill took the kids out and got them all new outfits, toys, and games. They came back just brimming from ear to ear. She said yes to everything.
Richard had to fly back to California for work, so we all said good bye. It was awesome to see him, even just for a couple days.
Izzy took the kids to the pool and they had a great time! Fort Collins has such great family friendly things to do!
Jill and Izzy and I had a sleepover and watched some romance movie. Plus, I scared Jill, and got a video of it. It was just like college all over again. The next morning, Izzy made breakfast and then we headed to Jolie's house.
We had planned to surprise her, but she saw us before we could get Solace hidden! Dang it! So she helped us to surprise Alexandra instead, which was great!
Jolie was having a new backsplash installed and Solace beguiled the contractor into letting him do some of the work.
The kids played and Jolie and I planned what to do. She said that Alexandra had been wanting to go to Meow Wolf, in Denver. It's an interactive art exhibit and visually overwhelming. It was amazing.
After a while, Bradley was over it, so Jolie took him out while I ran around with Alexandra and my kids for another few hours.
We met up with everyone at the gift shop and got some stickers to remember it. What a fun day!
Silliness at Jolie's house.
We went for an afternoon of river floating on the Poudre. The water level was really low, so you had to keep your butt up over the rapids so you didn't get hurt. Bradley even went down once, but then didn't want to play anymore.
Paul and his friend Troy (from his mission) reconnected and went for a long backpacking hike up to Mount Sneffels while we were in Colorado. It was a BEAST of a hike, and one of Colorado's 14-ers. They had a great time and Paul got to check off another 14-er from his list. They swam in glacier water, hunted salmon, and saw views not many other people get to see, ever.
Once Paul was back, we headed for dinner with Jolie, and the Abbajays at the food trucks near City Park. Then out to Walrus for dessert.
Late night sewing work with Jill while we chatted and planned the drive for the morning. We love the Abbajays and how sweet they are to us. It was great to see them, and to see Jolie and her family while we were there.
We left later than expected and Paul had to jump on a meeting while we were driving, so we stopped at a gas station and he was able to do his meeting in the restaurant part while the kids and I ate and played games.
