I just love this picture of my mom and Livi

And I love this one of my dad and the kids. What awesome grandparents they have! I'm so grateful!

Buddy!

Carson really wanted to ride cousin Brianna's horse while we were visiting this summer and the timing worked perfect for us to spend some time at the stables one evening while their other horse was being trained. He was so excited. Livi was so scared. She clung to me the whole time, just watching, and then when I got up on Buddy, she sat in the car and waited. But by the end, she was brave enough to brush him out, which she thought was pretty cool.

Brianna was so sweet to lead him around so many times!

Brianna showed us everything in the barn and what it's for.

Cousins! And I love that Brianna is wearing Jason's mom's old boots...so cool!

Thank you Bridget and Brianna for such a fun experience....and for letting us ride Buddy, even though he was hot and tired. He's such a beautiful horse. I just love that you guys get to have horses and get to be with them so much. Thanks for showing Carson and Livi everything...that was a fun time. We miss you guys!

I'll never know why I hardly ever hiked the Flatirons in Boulder growing up there....this place is amazing! We had fun hiking with some friends while we were there this summer. The flowers were awesome, as was the blue sky!

my dearest Angie & Brody

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond is a beautiful lake just 20 minutes from home and we love going up there and renting a little electric boat for a couple hours and tooling around on the water. It's gorgeous up there. We took a picnic lunch and parked the boat on a little dock and ate on a bench overlooking the water. They are extending the season till mid October if any locals want to head up there, it's so fun. Here are a few pics from our day.

We tried to get a nice family shot, but it didn't really work out. :-)

Livi's First Day of Preschool

Livi was so excited to go to preschool this year. I think she saw how much fun Carson had last year and wanted some of that. She's at the same school as he was, but at a different campus, so it's sort of all new for us. It's such a great school, cute classroom and lots of little girls in her class.

We dropped her off that morning and she was happy, same with Thursday, in fact, she said with a smile and a sweet voice thru the little waving window, "Bye mommy, go away." But this week she has not been as excited to go. Crying during breakfast, saying she wants to stay home and be with me. But once we get her to school, she does great and is happy and is smiley when I pick her up. All afternoon she'll tell me little tidbits about her day, which I love to hear. It's an adjustment for her and us, too! It feels super wierd to be here at the house with just Carson. I've loved the time I've had with him for sure, it's pretty special to have mom all to yourself, even when there's just 2 kids in the family. :-) The first day we dropped her off and left, Carson said, "Yay, Carson and Mommy time!!"

I know Livi's going to learn a lot this year and make some great friends, what an exciting time in her little life!

her sweet teacher, Mrs. Sondreal

My boy

I love the things this boy comes up with:

Fun Stuff!

I enjoy reading the Family Fun magazine. They often have good ideas for crafts & activities to do, and the last two we tried this past week were really fun! I love things that are really simple but have super fun results!

Check out The Foamerater!!

and...I can't find a link to this one, but it's easy.....

1. spread 1/2 inch of shaving cream onto a cookie sheet.
2. Dot the cream w/ drops of food coloring, then swirl it into the cream with popsicle stick or toothpick.
3. Lay a sheet of cardstock on top of the cream and press lightly.
4. Peel off the paper and use a squeegee or spatula to remove the excess shaving cream. Hang or set aside to dry and enjoy your colorful creation!! Love it!