Busy Summer

I apologize for the time it took me to update. It has been a very busy summer. Here is a photo update on our comings and goings.



Here is Sam on his birthday holding what is now his prized possession......"Cars, The Movie"!!! He's obsessed with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mader.

Our trees in the back yard have the prettiest pink flowers for about a week every year, so I always try to get some pictures.

Sam wouldn't look at the camera, so he was forced!! :)

Ainsley and cousin Lander at the Denver Zoo during our weeklong stay with Grandma and Granpa Schlup.

Ainsley striking a pose before her recital. Notice the ringlets, please notice them......they were a pain in the butt.

We've been doing a lot of landscaping this summer. This is the before........

And here's the after. We also installed a drainage system around the entire house and are getting new siding put on this month (more pictures of that later).

Here's Sam on a tractor at Old McDonald's Farm during a camping trip to the Black Hills.

Ainsley has been loving gymnastics this summer!! She's mastered her headstands, cartwheels, and somersaults. (The girl could literaly somersault befor she could walk)

A kind of scary, but pretty cool wall cloud that went over Gillette. It ended up producing a tornado about 15 or 20 miles later.

Brian and Sam on a hike down to Porcupine Falls in the Big Horns on our latest camping trip. I highly recommend it!! It was a steep hike, but totally worth the sweat. It was beautiful down there.

At the bottom of the trail to Porcupine Falls (that's not it in the background, that's just an offshoot that comes out in the middle of the rock, pretty cool).

We're off to Yellowstone today, so we'll be posting more pictures shortly, yes, shortly. :)

Sam's 2nd birthday

Sam turned two on Tuesday!! It makes me happy and sad at the same time, he's growing up way too fast and I can't keep up. The weekend before, we went to the "Spirit of the Hills" wildlife sanctuary in Spearfish with some grandparents and cousins to celebrate. It was a really fun place for kids and adults and I recommend checking it out sometime. All the animals had really interesting backstories. Anyway, after the "zoo", we went to the city park in Spearfish for some BBQ and cupcakes. Sam opened his presents and got loaded up with toys and clothes, and a birthday card that plays Alvin and the Chipmunks singing "Won't you take me to Funky Town" (that was a hit). All the kids played on the massive playground at the park, and exhausted themselves. It was a very quiet trip back to Gillette ;)

On his actual birthday, we just did pizza (his favorite meal) and opened presents from us. He's such a sweet little boy and he brings a ton of joy to our lives. He did start exhibiting some signs of the terrible twos however. On his birthday, he learned how to use the word "mine" and he uses it often and loudly now. The next year should be interesting!!

Big Day

We just got back from Ainsley's second soccer game, and we think she scored a goal!! We were at a bad vantage point at the other end of the field so we couldn't see what exactly happened, but when we asked her about it she said "The orange guy kinda kicked it in, but I kinda kicked it too". We're giving her credit for her first goal anyway. They still lost by a bunch, but who cares. It was a lot of fun to watch and cheer for those cutie pies.

Sam, meanwhile, has invented his own game. He's seen us play Duck Duck Goose with Ainsley, so he's now taken to walking around in a circle saying "duck, duck, duck" over and over again. It's really cute and funny to watch.

Soccer game

Ainsley had her first soccer game last week. Because of the weather she hadn't had a practice yet, so the team was a bit disorganized. (but who can expect four-year-olds to be organized) They didn't exactly win their game, but I don't think most of them knew there was a score being kept, so it was all good. Ainsley was a little frustrated that the game wasn't like the little practices with her daddy where she gets to kick the ball a lot and score a lot of goals. She got knocked down a lot but she got right back up and kept going. As long as she's having fun (and burning off energy) it's worth it.

Easter Eggs

Ainsley and I found a cute idea in Family Fun magazine and decided to try it out for our Easter egg hunt. It took a long time, but not as long as I thought it would.

What happened to spring?!?

So I brought this on myself. I wrote that stupid post a few weeks ago about how the weather was so nice, and spring was on it's way. And here is the result of that wishful thinking:


This happened last weekend and we were stuck in the house for three days!! Brian stayed home from the office and all of the kids activities were, of course, canceled. We were all ready to strangle each other after being cooped up for that long. Fortunately there were some fun moments in all that mess. The power was off for a while, so the kids got to eat breakfast by flashlight, which they found quite fun. Ainsley got to say "Holy Cow, that's a lotta snow!" over and over. Sam was just thrilled to have his Dada around all the time. Brian and I also got quite a workout moving all that snow; it was really heavy and wet.

Well we dug out OK and things got back to fairly normal, but guess what.................another 6 to 12 inches are expected tomorrow night :) Here we go again.

Las Vegas

I know it's taken me forever to blog about Vegas, we've been back for two weeks now, but I lost my little camera and it took forever to find it. (It was in the glove box........very lost, I know) Vegas was a lot of fun. We stayed at the MGM Grand, and spent most of our time walking from our room to anywhere, and back again......that place is freaking huge. But seriously, we got to watch some basketball (the Pokes won one game), we went to the Price is Right stage show, and saw a Cirque Du Soliel show as well. The highlight of the trip was getting a stress fracture in my foot from doing way too much walking in brand-new, unsupportive flip-flops! I should have paid a few extra bucks for a few more cab rides. Oh well.....

Here are some pics from the trip. Enjoy!!

Thanks again for the limo ride Rob!!!


I won this one at a slot machine!!! (I wish)