Proudest Mom EVER!

Emily had her first show on Saturday and she did great!!

On her way to ride. This is only her 3rd time riding this horse. His name is Cosmo, she had been riding Reno but he's a little fickle... so let's go Cosmo! How did I miss a good picture with her trainer? ugh... well, this is Melody, Emily's trainer.

Way to Go Emily!

Her video is not uploading right now, I will try to upload again tomorrow.

Day Away

Brian and I had a quick get away last week to The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera outside of the Beaver Creek/Vail area. It was a beautiful place, a little isolated, but it was nice to get away for a day and a half. If you're looking for a place to golf, or play tennis, or just chill it's great.

Isn't it pretty?! Views from our room...

We decided to do a 1.8 mile hike that started at about 9000 ft and climbed to about 11,500 ft. Notice there are no pictures at the top? hmmm... I hit grumpy and tired at about 1.6 miles and about an hour into it... here are some pictures from before I made Brian go back down - which was also hard! ugh!

Our new Christmas tree?!

Brian even managed to squeeze in a little fishing :)

The morning we woke up to leave we were greeting with a snowy surprise! The first snow of the year on the mountain tops! (Glad we weren't hiking today!)

Just Cute

At the grocery store. I tried to get him on the horse... no go. He's pretty much a walker now, but here are some cute moments from the last 2-3 weeks.

Busy Busy Day...again!

Saturday was quite the day for us! We started off our morning with a 5k fundraiser walk for the organization Stop Child Trafficking Now.. I'll put up a link later so you can check it out or donate! We had a great time walking with our friends Greg and Gabrielle and their baby Edamme from small group. Emily also enjoyed the bounce houses and Ryan loved the "Roller Coaster".

After the walk, we headed to Penrose to pick apples!!! (Please submit recipes to help me use them up in the comments ;) ) We were a little late in the season, but there were still a few ones way up high!

So, after apple picking we decided we were so close to Canon City, why not check out the Royal Gorge?! I'll tell you why not, because it's $25 per adult and $20 per kid. Which gets you in the gate to see the gorge that they have fenced all around so you have to pay to get in the "park". However, once inside the park sans $70 we come to find out everything is closed b/c it's off season! How terrible is that?! Colorado is the worst about ripping you off to see natural attractions! So, with no restraunts, rides, or ammenities open, we road the incline to the bottom, took a pic and road back up... If you wanted to get your money's worth I guess you could have ridden the carousel about 50 times, but once was enough for me! Save your money, I took pictures ;)


Ryan was NOT a fan of moving plastic horses...

Top of incline

Looking back up the incline

Royal Gorge Bridge

Arkansas River... I think?

Sew Whaaaat?!

I got crafty with it at my new favorite downtown (Monument that is!) destination, CraftyLaine. I have been wanting to learn to sew so I figured what better way than to learn to make fun stuff! Check them out on the web at craftylaine.com. Now, bring on the pillows and curtains!

Side note: Emily loved that I brought her home my scraps, she made Rebecca a swimsuit! How creative is that?!

Women of Faith

I forgot to blog about WOF! I went with a group of gals to the Pepsi Center in Denver 2 weekends ago to the WOF conference! It was amazing and I met some great new friends. Loved all the speakers, but I'm pretty sure God put Sheila Walsh there just for me! You may have heard of her from the 700club, but she's got a great book out called Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God... check it out! Also had a great guy speaker Marcus Buckingham, check him out too...

Have you heard of MaryMary - I love them, so fun.

And, you can't beat a little Natalie Grant mixed in! I've never seen someone make singing look so easy even pregnant and at 5000 ft!

House Updates - Basement

THE CABINET!! love it.Pillows...
new doors! love them too!

Labor Day Vacation Weekend

We had a great time in Texas over Labor Day weekend. We loved staying with my grandma Gram and getting to spend time with her. We spent Saturday up on Lake Livingston at my parents condo celebrating all the recent birthdays in the family.

Emily tubing ;)




My soon to be sis-in-law Erica tubing

My little bro Tim tubing

A very busy birthday cake

The birthday peeps

Ryan getting in on some more birthday present action

Pinata!

... now I know Tash has this hat... Steph and I hit the mall with her baby and when we left it was torrential outside so I ran out to retrieve her swagger wagon! Ah yes, this is the TX I love!