Riley's Field Trip to the Miller Farm

On Thursday, the Preschoolers went on their first field trip to the Miller Farm in Platteville.  It's a real working vegetable farm.  We got to go on a hay ride out to the fields to pick our own vegetables!  

Riley was excited about his first field trip, and his first ride on a yellow school bus!  The ECE students went with us, and each kiddo had a high school helper.  Riley's helper was Lacey.

Let's go to the farm!
When we arrived at the farm, there were HUGE pumpkins and squash all piled up.  I've never seen pumpkins so big!  The squash were all crazy looking.  
Hee hee hee...so juvenile. Naughty squash.
The hay trailer was pulled by a big tractor.  It was cool, except for the massive amounts of dust being kicked up.
The twins were there, of course!
First stop, green beans!  We picked a bunch, since they're dad's favorite!
Not only did we pick beans, we also picked carrots, pumpkins, red potatoes, and tomatoes!
Riley found a perfect pumpkin!

Here is our super ride!  It was hot and dusty!
On the way home, one pooped out preschooler!
Riley with all his veggies!  It was a really neat experience!
Look at this crazy carrot!
On Friday we used our veggies and made beef stew for our friends!  
Riley helped, of course.

I wanna be a supermodel...

I don't have pictures yet, but I just have to share this laugh.  We went to get our family pictures done at Target today, and also did pictures of the boys, of course.  When it was Riley's turn to get his picture taken by himself, he suddenly went into supermodel mode... The tossing of the head, the sparkling smile, the dancing eyes...  Steve and I were cracking up!  He was the biggest ham and cheese sandwich I have ever seen!  And the pictures turned out great!  He's such a handsome little man.  And always good for a laugh!  As soon as the pics are online, I'll figure out a way to post them!

If you've been under a rock...

Just in case you've been under a rock and haven't seen this YouTube video...always worth another look!

I'm not sure who I'd rather see recreate this: Cory Wendling, Jagger Hardy, or Brandon Lane... Actually, I'd love to see those Filipino Prisoners do this en masse! Hysterical!

Carter's First Day of School!

Today was Carter's first day of school, and I survived! :)  We love Bright Horizons so much, and one of Carter's teachers is the same teacher Riley had when he started there.  So of course we know that both our boys are in the best hands!  

We dropped our littlest man off this morning, and then rather than come home to the sad empty house, I went to school.  I don't actually start until Monday, but I figured today would be a good day to go visit, get caught up on what's been going on in my classroom and get a few things done.  And I only called to check on Carter once!  He had a great day, and everyone loved him, of course!

Getting ready to go to school!

Riley sort of remembered being in the Little Sprouts room, with Bayley, Ty and Tanner!
Thanks for taking such good care of our babies!

The Christening of "Quarters One!"

Mom and dad have been waiting for a few years to buy a cabin up at Sportsmen's Paradise, but they're hard to come by. Most of the time people will them on to their family members, and when one does go on the market, often the only way to find out is through word of mouth. Finally, mom and dad were able to get in on a great place for our family. Sportsmen's Paradise is a private mountain community up past Woodland Park, right along the South Platte River. It's a fisherman's dream come true, not to mention nirvana for anyone who loves the beauty of Colorado. This past weekend we went up to the cabin, which we have officially named "Quarters One" to christen it. We had one of the best weekends we've ever had! The cabin is just the right combination of mountain rustic and the luxuries of home. It's a three-bedroom, two-bath home with a full kitchen and satellite TV. From the deck, you can enjoy views of Pike National Forest and listen to the rushing of the river. It's incredible. There was no way to pick just a few pictures, so here are LOTS of pictures of our weekend.

This was early Sunday morning, taken from the river side. The deck looks out onto the river.
The blue sky!
Here is the front entrance of the cabin. It has a fenced yard for the dogs!

When we got there, Riley and Gran relaxed on the hammock!
My boys and I enjoyed a beverage on the deck.

Then it was off to the kiddie pond! There is a special pond for kids 12 and under, which is kept stocked with trout.
RILEY CAUGHT HIS VERY FIRST FISH! Check out this great video! It was so exciting!!!!

The proud fisherman!

All in all, Riley reeled in 3 fish, his limit. They were 10 and 11 inches long, not bad!
Here is fish number 2!

Gran and Carter got some quality time!
Three fish on a string!
Pure Joy.

They were heavy!

Later on, Dad, Steve, Harley and I headed back down to the river to fish ourselves. We were hoping to land the elusive "High Altitude Golden Trout" which likes to hang around under the bridge. That doesn't sound like a real thing, but it is. It's this BRIGHT yellow trout, a big ol' guy who just hung out, mocking us. Steve almost had him on the line, but he jumped off. Don't worry, had we gotten him we would have just taken a picture and thrown him back. But now, he's our own personal Moby Dick!

Harley loved splashing around in the water....down stream of course!

This is the biggest fish that was caught this weekend. I had to throw it back, it was at least 14 inches, and they like those put back since they're breeders.

Dad had a big breeder too!
Steve got his trout catching technique down! The fish were all over, it was like...well...shooting fish in a barrel!
Does it get any better?
We bagged 9 trout on our excursion, and ate them Sunday night. YUM!

Carter had fun!

And so did Riley!
Sunday morning on the deck. There was a slight frost on the ground. A cup of coffee was a great warm up!
Divine intervention?
Frost on the Mullein...I think I spelled that correctly. It was out in the field just beyond the fence.
Our own private section of river.

Aretha posing for a close-up.
This is the good life!
Steve and Riley went out to fish in the morning, and caught some more!
A great walking stick! Look at that sky!
After fishing we took all four of the dogs for a walk down the road.

Below is a really cool looking tree. It looks like the very top of it burned, possibly in the Hayman Fire. Up on the hill you can see a bare area where the Hayman Fire came down, almost to the river.
Our friend, Ric Mungo, the director of Farish, came to visit. He lives in Florissant, which is a few miles away from Sportsmen's Paradise. He's a true outdoorsman!
Wow, what an amazing weekend!! It just doesn't get any better.
Thanks mom and dad!!!

If you have 2 minutes...

Check out my littlest man!  It takes a minute for him to get going, but it's still too cute!  Sorry about all the baby talk, it doesn't happen very often, but sometimes it's hard to avoid!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!

Orbs

Our family has so many stories of visits and the presence of our family members who have passed on.  Some are hair-raising, but they're also comforting.  I do believe that those we love never truly leave us, and one example of that is the orbs that showed up in the following pictures.  Many believe that these circles and swirls of light are the spirits of  people who have died. These are just a few of the pictures that we have found with orbs.  What's especially interesting about them is the timing of the pictures.  I've read that orbs often show up in digital photography especially, and that a lot of the time they are reflections of dust, etc.  However, in these pictures, our family feels that the orbs are real because of the events when they were taken.

Below is a family picture taken after my Aunt Lagring's funeral.  My Uncle Dem is holding Auntie's picture, and you can see the orb of light just above her picture.  

On the right below is a picture taken by my cousin Tisa when visiting Auntie Lagring's (her mother) gravesite.  At the time, our cousin Renee was dying from cancer and was in and out of consciousness.  Tisa's son Russell saw the rainbow cloud which seems to be two spirits flying together through the sky.  Auntie Lagring and Renee? On the left is a picture taken right after my Granny passed away.  Her niece was playing the piano at the nursing home where Granny had lived.  Above her is a swirl of light that looks very much like the shape of the rainbow cloud, and just below is a moving orb.  My family believes it's Auntie Lagring and Cousin Renee's spirits taking Granny on with them.
Below is a picture taken last Christmas.  After Papa passed away, my mom was given his Purple Heart.  I found a picture of Gramps in his WWII uniform and had a plaque made.  Then framed the picture, plaque and medal for my mom.  See the trail of light above my mom and the orb on her shoulder?  Granny and Gramps were there to see her open her gift.
And the most recent photo was taken by my cousin Melanie.  Cousin Veronica is holding my other Cousin Michelle's little girl, Sarah Renee. (Renee was Michelle's sister).  This was taken at a celebration picnic for Sarah Renee right before Michelle, Brian and Sarah moved to Japan. Renee was there for the party!
Ok, so you may not believe these stories.  Maybe they are just tricks of light or dust.  But I like to think that we're constantly being watched over by those who love us, that they're there when we need them most, and that sometimes they let us know that they are around!

Smiles!!

What is the best feeling in the world?  Baby smiles just for mom!  Carter will now turn his head towards my voice and get a big 'ol smile on his face!  No, it's not gas!

Ahhh!!!