22 Years Strong!

Michael and I are celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary tonight. The cool thing is that our friends (and our personal financial planner) invited us to their annual customer appreciation dinner and it happened to be on our actual anniversary. Score! Free dinner! And we got a fun tour of the Broncos stadium along with it...!

Happy, Happy are we!

Mason is 17!

Another birthday boy in the house! And this boy won't be in the house much longer... :(  But I'm sure enjoying these last few years!

Mason knows how to choose a birthday meal... steak, baked potato, and green beans...

...with homemade cheesecake for dessert!

Maddox had a little help picking out (and paying for!) his gift to Mason - a new trackpad.

Morgan picked out (and paid for) his gift himself... a phone battery pack like his.

And so did Dad... a miniature quadracopter!
 

...and some new hats!! Mason loves a good hat - and he looks terrific in them!

I gave him a gift card to Barnes & Noble... along with that yummy steak dinner. ;) Happy birthday, Pook!

Together Day!

I love Together Days... this is what our Sundays have been for the last few months. Today, we went to the Evergreen Chili Cook Off!

There's always a juggling tent at this function, and Mason & Morgan love to go show 'em how it's done!! I think the guy who runs it remembers them from two years ago!

One of the chili vendors was giving away mustaches. Maddox and I just had to have one! Now I can be one of the guys...

And our day was made complete by another visit to the lake for some more SUP. :)

Ahhhhhh, what a gorgeous day!

SUP.

...that's short for Stand-Up Paddleboarding - our new family activity. We've done so much of it this summer, but it never disappoints! This evening, it was windy and the waves were very choppy, and since I wasn't in my swim suit, and since the water is getting a bit chilly, I decided to play it safe and KP... aka Kneel Paddleboard. ;)

Maddox has gotten quite skilled at the art of SUP. Morgan, although proficient on a SUP, prefers to relax in our inflatable kayak... with a snack. ;)

Maddox is 8!

Our little guy is now 8! Wow! Pretty soon, he'll be all caught up with his big brothers... ;)

For birthday dinners, the boys get to choose what they want to eat. Maddox chose beef tips, rice, broccoli, and an apple pie for dessert! Great choice! And since the weather was so nice, we ate his birthday meal out on the patio.

His brothers know just what he likes! Legos from Mason...

 ...and a shark robot from Morgan!

His "big" gift was a new keyboard. Maddox has been taking piano lessons for several months, and sometimes when he wants to practice, he can't because Dad is working... so now he can plug in some headphones and practice whenever he wants!

Happy birthday, pumpkin!!

Our New Black Belt!

Morgan has worked very hard the last couple of years to accomplish his goal of becoming a Black Belt in Taekwondo. We were so excited to support him tonight as he finally accomplished it!

Here is his instructor, Master Lura Roberts, awarding him his new belt.

Here he is with some of the other fine instructors at his studio.

He did such a fine job at his testing, and this is one of my favorite shots - him kicking and breaking two boards on the first try!

Morgan with Master Roberts:

...and here he is with his proud Momma. ;)

We are also happy to report that Morgan has decided to continue his career with Taekwondo! ...and the fun part is that he will now be teaching his little brother who has just joined the studio... our home will be well defended, me thinks!

A Day at Soda Lake

While the big boys were at band camp, Michael skipped work for a bit and we took Maddox down to Soda Lake just to hang out. It was a beautiful, relaxing day! Michael rented a paddleboard and he & Maddox toodled around the lake while I relaxed on the beach.

A picnic lunch in the shade...

...some sand castle building (and notice Michael out on the paddleboard again!)

 ...and then the perfect way to finish off a perfect day is dinner and a show with the WHOLE family - right on our patio!