what summer is all about

We spent the evening outside, taking it all in. Summer evenings are my very favorite. I love the perfect way the sun hits everything to give it all a soft glow. We ate out on the deck tonight. A perfect summer dinner of mandarin chicken salad with homemade bread. The baby bounced and bounced.

I couldn't stop admiring the progress our yard is making-slowly but surely. One of the best parts of my week was when there was finally a break in rain when I had time to go out and mow the grass. It was weedy and overgrown. To my surprise, the lawn is looking awesome. It's thick and green and getting better and better. I am so excited to have beautiful, green, thick, soft grass to run around on, picnic on, lay on and play on.

We jumped,

and jumped some more. It was perfect.

This little boy's happy spirit is like having a slice of Heaven. When he is giggling, smiling and joyful, life is at its sweetest.

We played until the sun gave way to the horizon and the flowers bid adieu. I could have stayed out there all night.

sweeties

Loving summer with these little people. Today we went to Roadside, a perfect grassy area with trees, bushes, and walking paths nestled right next to a flowing stream. A big group of moms and kids meet there every week and we savor that time to soak up summer in all its goodness. Kids run and play and leisurely float. Moms chat and laugh. We picnic and bask in the sun. Beckham sits peacefully on his blanket, gingerly playing with one thing at a time. Kaden runs amok, swings on trees, splashes and comes back for a quick cuddle when he's freezing. Beckham is getting quite a beautiful golden glow to his skin. He tans so easily. Kaden is as white as ever, being bathed in sunscreen regularly. After our little outing we came home and napped together while the clouds rolled in. We are loving this summer and the lazy days we get to spend together; it's just going by way too fast. I love it when life slows down and we can enjoy simplicity and savor the little things.

iron horse

My handsome brother John-Isaac works on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. It's pretty sweet that we can get the hookup to ride. Saturday we surprised Kaden with a trip up to Silverton. I can't begin to describe how excited he was. The ride is 3 1/2 hours and I thought he might eventually get bored, but he savored every minute and never wanted it to end. I think that one of my very greatest joys of being a mom is seeing my little ones light up with happiness and excitement. I think that the trip was as great for Dad and I as it was for Kaden. We loved it.

We got there early and saw the train hook up to the cars. Kaden was in awe. He is so funny when he is thrilled about something. He can get so excited and awestruck that he is completely quiet, just soaking it all up. He was like that much of the time, but every now and then he would get giddy and do a little dance and squeal with delight.

Kaden stood on his seat or wanted me to hold him up the entire ride. He hung his head out and wanted to see everything. We were the first gondola (open car) behind the engine and it was awesome. We could hear the engine chugging away and could see JI up in the engine. We saw the steam, the smoke, and ended up covered in cinders. Kaden's hair was full of cinders and his face was so black.

The views were absolutely incredible. I am always in awe at the beautiful place I live. I am so grateful for a God who made such a spectacular world. There is nowhere I can feel more spiritual, more connected, more aware of God's love than in the mountains, by a river, seeing and hearing all of the beauty around me.

I love my dad so much. He was so happy being there with us. He is so cute with my little boys and it's fun to see such a soft side to him. Kaden is his pal and the three of us couldn't have had a better time together.

It was really fun to get to see John-Isaac do his job. We had the perfect view from our seats. When we stopped for water we got to watch him get out and climb up on the coal and refill. He was the fireman on the train, and shovels between 5 and 7 TONS of coal roundtrip. Most of it is shoveled on the way up. The train travels nearly 4,000 feet up in elevation.

When we got up to Silverton Kaden got the special treatment. He got to climb up into the engine. He got to see all of the cool knobs, sensors, and gadgets. Uncle "Bud" is someone Kaden adores and looks up to. He thinks he's pretty much the coolest person on earth since he gets to work on the train everyday. Bud was so cool to take the time to show him things, let him follow him around while he oiled things up, and help make the day so special for my little man.

This picture pretty much sums it all up. I think it was one of the best days of his life.

words just aren't adequate

There is no possible way I could ever describe how much I love Andrea. I don't think I realized how lucky I was to have her until we were in college. I always knew I was blessed to be able to call her my best friend, but it took a while to realize that our friendship isn't something that comes along very often. I have realized that not everyone gets so lucky in life to have someone who is literally like a soul mate of a friend. We know each other backward and forward. Being around her is like a breath of fresh air.

I have always been a social person. I am thankful that I can make friends easily. I have older friends, younger friends, talkative friends and quiet friends. I feel like I love people of all types. But, there is just something about having a friend that is exactly like me, but also has qualities that are different than mine. She makes me think, makes me laugh, and makes me want to be better.

Andrea just came 'home' for a week and a half. We spent so much time together and I had almost forgotten how much I missed her. We got to see a lot of friends, we played, and we talked. I keep trying to convince her that this is where she needs to be. Andrea is adventurous like me. She likes to get out and do things. We are always on the go and I love that. She's fun. We walked, went to the lake, had a campfire, and even chased chickens and put apples in the road for cars to run over. She's funny. Oh, so funny.

Andre's family was my second family. Her home my second home. Since I lived 20 miles from school, I spent a lot of time at her house. I feel like I grew up there. I love her parents so much and feel like I am part of the family. Andrea and I have done everything together. We played basketball and ran track together. We were on the same relay teams. We scheduled all of our classes together. We went to college together, roomed together for 3 years, took classes together and had the same major. We vacationed together, cooked up awful tasting meals, climbed trees, played apple baseball, and hung out when our friends were out partying. When her mom got cancer I cried and cried. When we had our accident, she cried and cried. We experience everything together. The highs and lows, ups and downs.

While she was here we went walking late at night. I left Matt and my munchkins sleeping and we just walked around town for hours and hours. We talked and talked. Well, I mostly talked. I can tell her anything. I didn't realize how much I needed to just talk. Andrea understands me. She is the best listener. She sympathizes, laughs with me and cries with me. She has intuition and an innate sense to feel for other people. As we walked she asked, "how's your heart?" and I almost burst into tears. It's nice to know someone senses how you feel and really cares.

Andrea has always been known as the nicest person to walk the earth. Everyone that has ever met her talks about how sweet she is. She is the best example. She is always trying to improve herself; she does what is right. Despite her constant efforts to be her best self, she is the least judgemental person I've met. She loves everyone.

I could go on and on, but my words really seem so inadequate. How do you describe someone who literally completes your soul? Maybe that sounds cheesy, but it's true. She is me, plus everything I'm not. I have always been grateful to have a best friend, but now I know how truly blessed I am, and how rare a friend like her really is.

i'm a professional tuber

Last weekend I escaped for the day. I got to go to the lake with some of my favorite girls. Tessa and Eric invited us out on their boat and I can't pass that up. I had the worst sore throat but the week before had been a little rough so I was ready for a day out. I had the best time. It was cloudy and we had to try and outrun the rain a few times, but the day was perfect and so, so fun. I wakeboared for the first time (I can't believe I haven't done it before, how sad!) and loved it. I got right up and it felt awesome. Tubing is still my favorite thing. Eric was whipping us around like crazy. I have never gone that fast or flown that high on a tube before. I was laughing so hard I was about to cry. We couldn't see a thing from getting sprayed by the water and a few times I was afraid I would bite my tongue off from the crazy air we were catching. I think Tessa and I deserve some sort of trohpy for how long we stayed on the insane ride Eric took us on. My arms were like jello. It was awesome.

I loved hanging with Andrea and Nikki. We spent so much time together when we were in high school and our day on the lake felt like we were 18 again. I love those easy friendships where you can pick up right where you left off and it's like not a day has gone by. Tessa is probably one of the funnest people to be with. She is so funny and if the two of us weren't so busy I would bombard her with my friendship and make her hang out with me all of the time. For now, I will just invite myself along on the boat every once in a while.

I love summer. Love, love, love it. I wish that it didn't have to fly by so fast.