The Texan's Visit

Tuesday we got a very nice surprise! My cousin Shari, her husband Mark, and their twin boys James and Andrew stopped by Mom & Dad's for a little visit. They were road-tripping through Colorado and stopped by on their way to Estes Park. Their twins are now 10 years old which is just mind-blowing. It was fun for Hunter and Reagan to play with them again. When they saw them last year in Texas, they were really too young to do much of anything but be held.

On my mom's side, Hunter & Reagan have 3 sets of twin cousins. My sister has 17 year old twin boys, my cousin Barry (Shari's brother) has 13 year old boy/girl twins, and then Shari's. I have no idea how many sets are on my dad's side. I know there's a few but his family is huge to say the least.

Dad has this HUGE bell in his backyard that the kids love to ring. That's the cord to it that Hunter has in his hands. I'm sure the neighbors love it!

Horsetooth Reservoir with Friends

In May, we planned a trip to go camping at Horsetooth Reservoir but if you read a few posts down, we learned a hard lesson with camping with the twins. So.. last minute we decided that we'd turn our 3 day camping trip into a day trip:-) We went up yesterday morning and I knew it was going to be awesome when we got to eat lunch at Taco John's in Windsor. If you know me, you know I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Taco Johns. They used to always only be in Wyoming but some have popped up in northern Colorado. After eating the best tacos in the world on the road, we made it up to meet the Fessler's and the Adam's. Hanging out at this spot was much easier than Brainard Lake because it was more open. There weren't trees everywhere to get lost in so we could keep a good eye on both kids. They had so much fun and got soooo dirty. Ryan took Hunter out on Derrick's little fishing boat and Hunter was in heaven. During their trip, a bad storm came out of nowhere and soaked us all. We of course were on shore but it was insane! I was pretty worried about the boys out on the water but the storm only lasted about five minutes and not long after that, they were back. Hunter was soaked but he couldn't wipe the grin off of his face. Not only was he ON the water, but he was able to get SOAKED with the water. You really have no idea how much this kid likes water! Reagan had a great time with us girls. She and Karlee had fun playing together and Reagan ended up taking a liking to eating dirt and rocks. Hmm... I guess it won't hurt that much:-)

Eating some lunch grub

I told you she liked to eat dirt!!He's such a good boy. I haven't had a Smirnoff since the Texas days!! I tried and tried to get a shot of Cade but this is as good as he'd give me. Hunter's first REAL fish!

Reagan & Karlee playing

The girl loves her cellphones!

Jaime & Karlee

The girls. Melissa, Jaime, and I. Melissa's breaking in her hat for the Poison concert we're going to in a week!! HA!

Reagan's First Haircut

Although she did not have much hair to cut at all, my hairstylist Angela recommended I bring Reagan in for a little "shape up". Reagan has just enough hair to get a very small barrette in which she pulls out in less than 3 seconds but her hair was getting a little wild. She had these rogue chunks of hair that would just stick out all over the place. I was able to get a little snip of hair for her baby book so I'm happy about that.

A sucker is supposed to make things better, right??

Guess not:-)
She's so proud of herself!

A little mix of pix

Here's just some fun pictures taken over the summer. I am finding it very hard to believe that it is almost the middle of August. It's just not right. I'm already trying to find Halloween costumes for the kids! I learned my lesson last year when I ordered them in September and they didn't show up until a couple of weeks before Halloween. I can't handle that type of stress:-)

Every Wednesday Melissa and I swap houses for a playdate and dinner. This was at our house a couple weeks ago but we had more kids: my sister's kids and Gracie from across the street.

Probably the most fun Bunco night I've ever had. Christina, Melissa, and I at July Bunco We got these outfits for the twins at Universal Studios in Orlando. Hunter has already outgrown his but we squeezed him into it one more time for a photo op Gotta love how kids are dressed when it's left up to Daddy to do the job. It was probably 100 degrees outside yet Ryan dressed them in jeans, socks, and left their pajama shirts on. I won't complain though.. ;-)I think the heat got to her considering she never falls asleep anywhere but her crib. And look at her hair!! Luckily she was still in half of her pajama's though;-)

Ronda at LCR at my house last Friday. She had a 5k to run the next day too. Ick.. I set up the tables on the deck. It was so nice playing outside!

Melissa & I

Miss Christina. Lovin' that look of hers!

Lindsay's 21st Birthday!!

Lindsay is our church's Saturday night worship leader and our pastor's daughter in law. Yup, she's married to a Son of a Preacher Man!! So.. her 21st birthday was a couple of weeks ago and her husband Jon, Ryan's friend, got a limo for the night. I think it is the first 21st birthday I've ever been to (besides my own) because my friend's were always older than me back then. We had so much fun and I told all of them that I never thought I'd be drinking in a limo with four preacher's kids! Jami is a good friend of mine and she is Jon's brother. Did you get that? I just love to tell everyone about the relations with the people in our church:-)

The Blackwell Girl's: Lindsay, Emma (soon to be Blackwell in Oct, Jami, and Rebecca)

What's up with my face? I must have been very excited for that shot!Emma

Jami just loves to hang out of windows!

Brainard Lake Camping Trip

We had this camping trip planned since January. Brainard Lake is absolutely beautiful and camping spots fill up quickly. We had hoped to buy a camper before the trip but since we didn't, we rented one. Thank goodness we only rented because our 3 day camping trip turned into a day and a half camping trip. We did spend one night but that is all we could take. The twins could have stayed forever but Ryan and my feet hurt so bad from chasing them everywhere, that we had to get back to life with containment, i.e. our family room! There were seven families there with a total of 20 kids!! Hunter and Daddy went fishing for the very first time and he loved it.. just giggled the entire time. We went on a couple of "nature" walks so at least we had a great time while we were there! We're going camping again this weekend to Estes Park so please wish us luck!

Raisa & Hunter
Hunter deep in thought

Tyler & Raisa

She can get such an ornery face on her!

Ryan & Hunter chowing down

Long time..

I know, I know.. I haven't posted anything in a month from tomorrow! It's horrible! So much has happened this summer and we have been so busy. Please give me just a little more time and you'll be flooded with updates and pictures, I promise:-) I hope you all are enjoying your summer!!