Forever Friends

Okay, so the title is a little cheesy, but it's so true. I grew up with these girls, and their friendship is nothing I could ever put into words. We have been through some amazing things, from innocent tea parties, lemonade stands, roller skating, and Barbies to difficult challenges, including family struggles, eating disorders, divorce and miscarriages. And through it all we have been by each others' side. Whether it's advice, a shoulder to cry on, a laughing partner, or a sarcastic remark, we know just what the other needs. I have made friends as I've gone through life, from kindergarten to high school, to college, to a new city, and while all of my friendships are something I cherish, the friendship I have with these girls is unique...one-of-a-kind...and completely irreplaceable.

We were able to spend some time together this past weekend in Texas, and here are some pictures of us with our kiddos! It was total chaos, and such a blast. Be sure and check out the video on the bottom!!! Say marshmallow!!!!!!!!!!


Holly and Brooke (also mom to Will):


Lori and Cole:


Whitney and Aydia (also mom to Elijah):


Christine with Shelby (Christine is due with her first baby on Sept 14th! Can you even tell she's pregnant?!)

Me with Aydia:


Shelby, Aydia and Elijah:


Cole stealing a kiss from Brooke!!

And so proud of himself!! Too cute!!

The whole gang, from oldest to youngest: Will, Elijah, Cole, Shelby, Aydia, and Brooke!!

Shelby and Aydia:

More Family Reunion Pics

Here are some more pictures from this weekend's family reunion!!

Bath time with your cousin...priceless!

Shelby with Daddy and cousin Brendan at the water park! Fun!!

Shelby with Mama at the water park!

Who knew T-shirt dresses were still in style?!

Family Reunion - Fun Times!

We had a family reunion in Texas this past weekend. It was HOT! Coming from Colorado, Justin and I were a little in shock to step into 100 degree weather with 100% humidity. And it seemed that everywhere we went the air conditioning was on the fritz. The first night we were there, all 30+ of us were at my grandmother's house and the air conditioning was keeping the house at a balmy 81 degrees...torture! But, the company made it well worth it! We had all kinds of fun from cookouts and bowling to a water park all to ourselves! It was so great to get the family together! Enjoy the pictures!!

Shelby!!!!


Me with Brian (my brother) and our girls!


All of the great-grandkids with Nanny!!

Nanny feeding the newest edition to the family, sweet Alyssa!

Me and Brendan (my nephew) who is holding Alyssa!

Corinne (my niece) being silly!

5K "Fun" Run!

So a friend of mine from church convinced me to do a 5K with her. Not a big deal, right? Well, I don't mind getting out and going for a jog...about once a quarter! But, I decided to give it a try. When Justin and I pulled up to the parking area I should have told him to drive on. Little did I know that this girls-only race was put on by the Pikes Peak Road Runners club. WHAT?! About 90% of the fun-runners were RUNNERS! They were sprinting to warm up, doing high-knees, jogging on the course, etc. I was so intimidated! But, I lined up on the starting line with all of the others and made my way to the finish line. The first place winner finished in just over 18 minutes. How long did it take me? A whopping 32:51! My only goal was to jog the whole thing, which I did, so I was happy. Here are some pics!

4th of July Update...a Month Late!!

It's been a fun summer so far. Justin and I have tried to get out as much as possible. We took Shelby on a bike ride to downtown a couple of weekends ago. She did so well...riding behind Daddy of course. We borrowed our friends' Chariot, and of course we need one now. It was the 4th of July. We dodged the parade this year, but maybe next year we'll venture out for the candy-throwing, beauty-queen-waving, Harley Davidson-driving event.

Jen, YOU are an IRONMAN!

On June 22, my sister crossed the finish line of what may be her greatest race ever...the 2008 Coeur d'Alene Ironman. For those of you who don't know, the race begins with a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and finishing with a marathon, 26.2 miles of running. And she completed all three disciplines in 12 and a half hours! Words can't really express how I felt as I watched her push her body to limits she and I never thought were possible. Suzanne and I were on the verge of tears for the entire race...just knowing what she was overcoming mentally, spiritually, and physically was even humbling for us, and we were just on the sidelines. Way to go Jen, you are an IRONMAN!

Loving the Outdoors

Shelby loves being outside, but she isn't so sure about being in the grass. She doesn't want to sit in it, so she'll stand as long as she can and then she'll squat. Then she'll stand back up, and squat again. If she happens to fall she'll raise her left leg up so it isn't touching the grass. I'm not sure why she's so partial to her left leg. Her poor right leg always gets the short end of the deal!

Mama's Girl

I love these pictures of Shelby. I myself don't look so great, but she looks so sweet!!

We Got a Pool!!

Okay, so it's not the pool that Mommy and Daddy would've picked out, but Shelby loves it! Every year the seniors at Justin's school ransack the teacher's classrooms at the end of the year. Justin's room had things from a huge smoker with a slab of raw meat on it, to a sweet little inflatable pool filled with rubber duckies. Shelby has enjoyed the rubber duckies for a while, and this past weekend was able to have fun in the pool...finally! She loves being outside, and she loves bath time, so this was the closest thing to Heaven for her!!





This is what Shelby does when you ask, "where's Shelby?".

Memorial Day Camping!

A few families from church enjoy going camping every Memorial Day weekend, so we joined them this year. We were a little skeptical. The last time we went camping over Memorial Day was a nightmare, which we now look back on with much love and laughter. We were so excited to go to a beautiful town here in Colorado called Estes Park. Unfortunately, it snowed on us - snowflakes the size of quarters. We sat in our truck at the campsite, debating on whether we should stay or not. We decided to stay, so we set up our two-man tent as quickly as possible and got in, only to realize that once we were both in we couldn't move...two-man tents are tiny! So, we decided to just go to sleep, at seven o'clock in the evening. We unfortunately forgot our pillows, so we rolled up some clothes instead, which turned into bricks in a matter of minutes. We froze all night, and at about five in the morning we called it quits. We packed up (now the snow had turned to rain...still freezing outside though), threw everything in the truck, drove back to Colorado Springs and crawled into our warm bed where we slept, and slept, and slept.

So, that was three years ago and we were still a little nervous - and for good reason. This trip wasn't much better. There was no snow mind you, but there was wind. Colorado can be very windy, and this weekend was no exception. We had planned on staying two nights (while everyone else was staying three), but after Friday night's lack of sleep, a waking and crying baby due to wetting through her diaper and onto her pajamas, a windy afternoon that left Shelby with her nose constantly running, tears running down her face, and a dazed and confused look on her face we decided to head home. Shelby was such a trooper, but we couldn't allow her to endure the camping experience any longer!! There was a swing that I put her in, and she just leaned back, closed her sweet eyes and sung herself into oblivion. She was so out of it, but she held in there! So, when Justin came back from his white water rafting trip with the guys and saw our sweet baby so dumbfounded we both looked at each other and knew we had to go home. We were there about 24 hours and had to call it quits. It was a trip we won't forget!

Here's Shelby's eating set-up.



Still loving the Baby Bjorn, even though she's getting heavy for it.

There was a pool! It was "heated", but still pretty cold. We were so excited to take Shelby swimming and ended up just putting her feet in the water. We were pretty disappointed.





Here's Shelby napping! She napped pretty well, but the day after we got home she was so worn out that she took a four-hour nap.

Sunset over Pikes Peak

This picture was taken last week during sunset while a storm was clearing over Pikes Peak and the Front Range.