Veteran's Day Service Project

We had the day off from school today, so our "Fellowship of Christian Warriors" high school group planned a service project to serve the homeless on the streets of Boulder.

We started at our house this morning at 10:00am and put together 50 sack lunches.  The students also brought over 100 items of warm-weather gear (coats, shoes, scarves, hats, etc).  God is so good, because today happened to be our first day of cold weather, so we knew the clothing items would be of good use!  The temps were in the teens and it was cold!!

After making the lunches, we drove to Boulder and hit the streets!  We were in small groups and handed out the lunches and clothing items and also offered to pray and talk with people on the street. We ended the afternoon at the Bridge House, part of the Boulder Homeless Shelter where homeless men and women can get a hot meal in the winter months (they serve breakfast and dinner) and warm up in a small room, we are so thankful for those who volunteer and contribute to the homeless! We pray that God used the students today to be a light in a dark place and were thankful to have our eyes opened to people that God loves in need of help.

Making lunches

The girls bought fleece and made scarves

Getting organized with the lunches and clothing

 Carson & Aliana trying to stay warm! They were troopers!! :)

We talked a LOT this afternoon with Carson and Aliana about how thankful we are for our home to keep us warm and for the food we have to keep our bellies full!

Praying you all had a safe and blessed Veteran's Day.  We are so thankful for the men, women and families who serve our country!

FOUR Fall Birthdays!

This afternoon we wrapped up the last of our birthday celebrations for the fall!  Here's the run down...

Aliana - September 12.  Aliana started off the birthday celebrations.  She had a little party at the house with 3 of her girlfriends.  She is now 5 years old!!  Aliana is enjoying kindergarten and is starting to read and write!  She loves to write notes to us and for her babies and is very proud when she can figure out how to spell different words.  Today it was "Buty & the Beest".  Got it?!  She is quite the girly girl.  She loves dresses, jewelry, Disney Princesses, and gymnastics.  There is still a little attitude in this girl... one afternoon when she was stomping around the house with her hands on her hips, I asked, "Do you act naughty like this at school??"  She just looked at me like, Are you kidding mom, I would NEVER act like this at school! :)

(sweet girl!)

Mommy - September 17.  Next we celebrated Mommy's birthday.  Since Mommy, Aliana and Aunt Melissa all have birthdays in the the same week, we had a Packers Birthday Bash.  Here's the wild crew!

Daddy - September 30.  No, this next picture is not a picture from Daddy's birthday party... but it is a picture from his birthday!!  Every Tuesday Brian & I help lead "Fellowship of Christian Warriors" at Brian's high school.  We meet from 6:30 (AM!) until 7:15, just before school starts.  Brian's mom graciously comes over to get the kids up/ dressed and ready for school so I can grab them after FCW and head to school.  We have between 15-25 kids each week.

("FCW")

Since there is about a 3 week gap between Brian and Carson, we enjoyed Saturdays at the soccer field  (Brian coached Carson's team again this year and they did awesome!).  We also met up with some friends at the Pumpkin Patch just down the hill from our house - it was a beautiful day!!

Carson - October 21.  Carson's birthday is "last" in our family for fall celebrations.  We started things out with some family celebrations since Opa and Carson have birthdays in the same week.  My mom and stepdad came last weekend and helped Brian tile the guest room we are converting to a laundry room and also our downstairs bathroom.  The kids had fun reading stories, making cookies and loving on Nana and Grandpa John.  

(the kids love spending time with their cousins)

(thank you Nana and Grandpa John for coming to visit!)

Then today, Carson had 6 boys over for his "friend" party.  Carson planned the whole thing and it was awesome!!  We went and got red t-shirts and iron on numbers from Walmart.  We made "jerseys" for all the boys - we walked to the neighborhood park and had a soccer match!  Carson has really LOVED playing soccer this fall with the rec league and also with his friends every day during their lunch recess.  He has a very sweet group of boys (but also very active!!) that he hangs with at school.  His teacher this year is extremely patient and loving and is a perfect fit for them!  Carson continues to be "all boy" in his activities and really enjoys school.  He says that gym is his favorite class (Aliana says that too!) and continues to love to read, write stories and figure out challenging math problems!

(playing in the leaves before the boys came)

(soccer team!)

(goofy kids!)

("Jerseys")

(Birthday boy!)

Happy Birthday kiddos!!  We love you and thank God for each and every day that we get to spend with you on this earth!!  You are a joy to us and to others!!

Busy and Back to School!!

It's September 1st!  Wow!  It has been a little hectic getting back into the school routine (mostly just for me!), but God is good and we are just taking it a day at a time!  Here are a couple of recent photos.

Today we took a drive up into the mountains, near Nederland and into a State Park.  

It was beautiful!! (a bit windy and definitely getting chilly, feeling less like summer and more like fall!)

This morning we took Aliana's training wheels off her bike and within minutes she was riding like a pro! (high heels and all!!)

Last Thursday we started back to school!  Aliana had to wait until this past Tuesday but now we are all back into the groove!  The kids have wonderful teachers and some sweet friends in their classes - we feel very blessed!!

Finally, the weekend before school started, I competed in my first triathlon!  It was an all-women's / sprint distance.  I loved it!!  I trained most of the summer, borrowed all my gear from a girlfriend, and really enjoyed competing in something a little different!  Brian and the kids were a great cheer team :)

July Wrap-Up

Here's a look at what we've been up to in July!


1.  The month started out with a new pet!!  Carson saved up his money and bought a mouse!  (yes, we actually own a creature that most people spend a lot of time trying to keep out of their house)  His name is Lightning Bolt, he's a black mouse with a white stripe down his nose.

2.  My dad and stepmom came to visit over 4th of July.  We had a great time with them going for day hikes, swimming at the pool, and enjoying the local 4th of July festivities.

3.  In the middle of the month I spent a weekend in LA with my brother, sister-in-law and beautiful niece and nephew - they are getting so big!  We had a fun weekend of outlet shopping, attending a Japanese Festival, going to dance class and eating amazing food!  

4.  During the rest of the month we've been busy with house projects and enjoying some beautiful hikes around the area.  Yesterday we got back from a 2-night camping trip out west.  It was wet and rainy the first day, but God graced us with some gorgeous sunshine the second day and we really enjoyed our trip!

A few weeks left of summer... then it's back to school!! :)

Colorado Springs

Brian was in Colorado Springs (about an hour and a half south of Lafayette) for the past 2 weeks for a class.  The kids and I took a trip to see him over the weekend and had a great time!  We had a mini-vacation and did lots of fun touristy things!

Friday - we packed up after lunch on Friday and drove south to Colorado Springs. The kids were so excited to see daddy after being away from him all week!  We swam at the hotel pool and then drove to the Garden of the gods (or as Aliana named it:  The Garden of God :)

Saturday - today we drove to the little town of Manitou Springs.  We went to Cave of the Winds and went underground on a tour of the caves - it was so cool!  After the tour the kids used sluice boxes to find gems in a bag of sand and dirt.  We walked around the town and had lunch and had planned to swim at the pool again in the afternoon.  Since it was pouring rain, Brian and the kids ran around in their suits!

Sunday - for our last morning we drove to the TOP of Pike's Peak, 14,110 feet!!  It was quite the view from the top!  Colorado Springs is absolutely beautiful and we really enjoyed getting to see more of God's amazing creation!