I said yes!

5 years ago Steve and I had been dating for 18 months. We headed to the mountains for a picnic lunch. We ended up on a rock in the middle of Geneva Creek. Steve got on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes! We went back to our rock last Friday. It's so fun to be able to visit our happy place!

In 2009 -

In 2014 -

Family photo shoot

We had pictures taken yesterday. We got a family picture, Stephen's 3-year picture, and Paul's 18-month picture. The boys were very cooperative, and we got great pictures!

Paul James - 18 months old

Stephen Joseph - 3 years old

Goodbye, old friend!

I bought my beloved Saturn Ion brand-new on August 9, 2003 with about 65 miles on it. It now had 112,000 miles and had been a great "friend." We made MANY trips between Lincoln and Denver together. But now it was time to part ways. I hadn't been driving it, and it needed a bit of work to make it more reliable. We listed it on Craigslist on Friday evening and had it sold by Sunday evening. It was a bittersweet goodbye.

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Daddy took off work on his birthday yesterday, so we were able to have a fun day celebrating him! We started by opening presents.

 Next, we discovered some deer hanging out by our swingset.

Stephen wanted to take a picture of the deer also.

Capturing the deer from outside

 Then, we headed up to our favorite mountain spot with a stop in Georgetown.

A picnic along Guanella Pass

Yummy cookie!

Exploring with Daddy

King of the mountain!

King of the bigger mountain!

Stephen wanted to take our picture.

After lunch we headed towards our rock. We didn't hike all the way in but did enough hiking to satisfy Stephen who had been wanting to walk on a mountain.

2 happy boys!

Throwing rocks in the river

 After eating tacos for supper (Steve's favorite), we had a birthday German chocolate cake (also Steve's favorite). The boys were very excited to help Daddy blow out the candles.

Colorado vacation 2013

My family came out once again in July. Stephen was very excited to have more people to play with!

On Wednesday we headed to Evergreen Lake. We got there just in time to see them unloading some fish into the lake.

 We got a great group shot with some beautiful scenery.

 We walked a bit around the lake before it started raining. We took shelter and then found a dry picnic bench to eat lunch at.

After lunch another storm was threatening so we decided to head home. After supper we walked to a park and had lots of fun! Steve joined in a game of tag with Clare and Jacob.

On Thursday we headed downtown to visit the State Capitol.

Then we went to the downtown library. The kids all enjoyed reading books.

The next morning started out with a bike ride for most of the group. Stephen had his first ride in our bike trailer. He wasn't too sure about it, but he did calm down and enjoy the ride.

Paul really wanted to join the big kids.

Paul and Monica had fun playing.

 After we picked up the bike riders, we went to a sprayground. The kids all had a great time playing in the water.

Stephen enjoyed filling his hat with water.

We had a picnic lunch and then headed home for naps.

On Saturday the kids played outside, and then we headed to Wings Over the Rockies, a museum in an old Air Force base hangar. It was cockpit demo day, so the kids could get into some of the planes. Stephen loved it. He still talks about the airplanes he saw at the airplane museum.

Getting some help from Jacob

Getting some help from Monica

Ever since seeing the jet cars, Stephen has been enthralled with jet engines.

Steve even got to climb in a cockpit.

We had a picnic lunch under this airplane.

Cuddling with Grandma

That evening we went to one of our favorite restaurants - Dino's. We drove through a crazy rainstorm with some very close lightning, but the food was worth it!

After church on Sunday morning we got a couple more group pictures.

Brushing teeth before church

After lunch we went to the hotel where my parents and Amy were staying to swim in the pool. Stephen and Paul had a great time!

That evening we grilled and played outside. Stephen liked having some digging buddies.

We even grilled s'mores.

On Monday it was time for everyone to head home, but we managed to line up the cousins for a photo.