Welcoming Rylee Ann

My younger brother Dave and his beautiful wife Brianna are brand new parents of a darling baby girl. She was born on August 3rd at 12:05pm. She weighs 8lbs 1oz and 20 inches long. CONGRATULATIONS!!! We LOVE HER already!



Cassidy has had so much fun being the ONLY GIRL out of 16 grandchildren. As you see in the picture below (minus 4 cousins).

But now we're so EXCITED to have Rylee here!!! And in December my sister Jessica will be having a baby girl too, we just found out! Watch out Boys!

Renaissance Party

For a church activity we had a family Renaissance Party. We even had jousting. Our brave Knight put up a good fight. There was also a costume contest and we were surprised to have won. The prizes were awesome...free food from Chick Fila. Our family favorite! There was some good participation and it was a different creative way to have fun.

4th of July

The night before we invited some friends over for the Firework Show that the Sky Sox Stadium was hosting after their baseball game. It was a late night since the game wasn't over until after 10pm. The kids were in their PJ's and watching a movie waiting for the fireworks. We had fun just sitting around talking and eating chips and salsa and ice cream.



We've heard so much about the 4th of July parade in Monument we thought we would go this year. It was so much fun. It's been awhile since we went to a parade. They had great floats and passed out lots and lots of candy for the kiddos. Cassidy thought it was Halloween.

Start of Summer

Water Fun Playdates with Friends

Cassidy was involved with the Reading program at our Public Library...this is just one reward from all the books she read. She had to pick Grape/Sour Apple Sherbert with chunks of candy. Yum!

We made sure not to miss all the opportunities Chick Fila gave the public for delicious FREE food. We love it so much we eat there at least 1x a week. I know Ridiculous!

Cassidy helped Mommy and Daddy plant flowers

More Treats!

Summer Picnics at the Park. Oakley of course had to join us, he's part of the family!

Fortune Cookies

I had to share this funny story:

Tonight Derek decided we should have a treat and have carryout from Panda Express. It was yummy! When it was time to eat our fortune cookies we took turns to read our fortunes. Cassidy insisted on reading mommy's. So I let her. She started speaking in other languages that she claims to be "speaking in Spanish" and then her own made up languages. Some words sounded like "Epoe" and "Apee" and something like that.

Not to hurt her feelings I thanked her for my fortune and then took a glance at what my fortune REALLY did say:

YOU WILL TRAVEL TO MANY EXOTIC PLACES

We just laughed and found amusement that our little girl knew what she was talking about! :)

Playing at the Zoo

YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO VIEW IT LARGER

I'll just put your cracker down and you can get it yourself

Ahhh take in that fresh air

Cassidy driving the train...her friend Tyler, and cousins Damien & Lydia taking a ride

First taste of Cotton Candy...not so sure about it

Feeding the birds with Bird seed off a popsicle stick

Friends Nickell & Tyler

Cassidy & Lydia learning some facts about tigers. Very focused!

Lunch Break! Our little Hatchlings!

Watching the Bear Show

Baby Gorilla with Big Daddy

Momma Gorilla

Thanks Erin, Aunt Barb, Damien, Lydia, Uncle Brad, Nickell, and Tyler for a fun day at the zoo!

Memorial Park

We had a wonderful time playing at Memorial Park with cousin Erin, her kids Damien and Lydia, and Aunt Barb. We played in the water, walked around the lake and had a nice picnic lunch.

Fun at our Public Library

All summer long, our public library has their calendar booked with fun things for the children. Cassidy and I enjoyed listening, watching, and dancing to African songs played with drums and musical instruments from Africa. This group was awesome!

After the performance, the kids were invited to try out the instruments themselves.




I really like this 1st video because in the background you can hear Cassidy singing along





I love learning about and listening to music from other parts of the world!

Flying High

Every year we like to drive up to where Daddy works to watch the Thunderbirds fly high in the sky. They always put on a show for the Cadets for their Graduation at the Air Force Academy. The Fedex building parking lot is the perfect place for us to watch! And the bonus is to be with Derek during his lunch break. We usually have a picnic lunch and eat Chipotle burritos while we wait for the show to start.

Wishing Star Farm

Cassidy was invited to her friend Ava's 4th birthday party...the party was at the "Wishing Star Farm!" My friend Eve bought cowgirl/cowboy hats for all the kids. What a FUN place for the entire family!

We had the chance to feed, hold, play, and ride the animals. The farm had the typical animals: pigs, sheep, cows, horses, goats, dogs, chickens, ducks, but they also had a camel, llamas, and alpacas. Their sheep also just had baby lambs the night before the party. It was so sweet to hold the baby lambs.

Cassidy also had the chance to experience her first pony ride. She looked like a pro riding that pony named Sebastian. She had no fear. She definitely played the part and looked so cute in her cowgirl shirt and hat.

The Birthday girl Ava, (in the blue dress) and all her friends

Yee Haw!

Our little Cowgirl

After the party was over I was helping my friend Eve clean up while Cassidy was standing beside me. But just a couple minutes later I heard a lady scream, "There's a little girl in red crying over here!" I had a feeling it was my little girl so I ran out of the barn to see what was the matter. Cassidy was crying and was grabbing her tummy. She told me she was trying to share her chips with the ducks when an overly protective goose came over and bit her in the tummy. Thankfully, it wasn't that bad of a bite. A kiss and a bandaid made it all better. One minute your kid is beside you, the next minute she's off doing her own adventure.

All in all it was a fun day on the Farm!