The Flood

We had an eensy weensy little flood here in Colorado. 

Juuuuust a little bit of rain...

 

 Patrick was in town for the first half of the storm(s).  He had to be in Portugal and the day he flew out he was able to get out of town and to the airport pretty easily.  The trip TO the airport was pretty miraculous because the town was cut off up until a few hours before he had to leave and closed again for a short while after he did get out.  He left me at home with the girls to weather the second half of the storm alone.  Luckily our home is on a bit of a "bump" and we didn't have any problems other than watching the torrential storm out the windows, seeing every low spot in our yard turn into a river, and biting my nails to the quick, and watching the rest of our tiny town slowly succomb to the water on the news.  It was, to put it lightly, a bit scary.  Our biggest threat was water and power--both were threatened at one point.  The girls were pretty oblivious and mostly pretended to pack on go on trips like Daddy was doing:

 

We baked cookies:

We hit the grocery store when the possibility of food and water shortages set in.  This is what we found.  It wasn't disconcerting at all...:

Once the water stoped pouring from the sky our town turned into this.  National Guard were everywhere I looked.  It stayed this way for a very long time:

Eventually we tried to get back to normal.  Trip to the mall, a train ride:

Out for lunch.  Caroline sucked down an entire chocolate milk in mere seconds.  She then wouldn't eat her meal: 

Trip to IKEA.  The girls have to relax on every single sofa we walk by: 

Trip to friends house to test out their new hot tub: 

Random after school picnics with our buddy Jamison.  Because what else do you do amidst the general chaos of after school pick-up? 

Maggie's 2013/2014 School Pic

Meredith Gets Married

After dropping Maggie off at her first day of school I went right to the airport and caught a flight to the bay area to see sweet Meredith get married.  I had not been back to Santa Cruz in something like 9 or 10 years!!  I looooooved being back.

Me in front of the Oakland Temple:

Walking around Santa Cruz.  I even managed a morning run along the cliffs one morning and it was, hands down, the best run I'd had in years.  I was so happy I was practically flying. 

Meredith and Laytons wedding was gorgeous and completely perfect.  I was so happy for them.  I've actually never been to a wedding where I felt so happy and I swear it was just so romantic (maybe I was high from my Santa Cruz bliss but SERIOUSLY...it was all so perfectly sweet!).

 Their first dance as Mr. and Mrs.:

The dancing was happy, joyous, craziness.  My dad kind of killed it.  He has moves! 

We spent the day at Capitola Village eating Pizza My Heart...and shivering.  In typical Santa Cruz fashion I was freezing. 

This is such a sweet picture of my sister Ellen and her daughter Courtney.  I had so much fun being roomies with these two for the weekend.  They. Are.  Funny!! 

No trip to SC is complete without at least one stop at Gayles.  Happiness in a to-go box! 

And a few shots from my dad's phone.  Us at the beach:

 At the temple:

At the hotel trying to decide on a place to eat:

Summer Fades

We had a very busy and eventful summer which was so much fun.  As August began we retreated into a more relaxed pace and just hung out a lot.  We prepped for school, hung out at the pool, and I organized our school year ahead.

 

The kids played video games in the playroom:

A random pic of the girls at church reading.  I was looking at them thinking that they are way too old to be laying around on the floor during sacrament meeting: 

Amidst the sweltering heat of August we began our school year.

Maggie's first day of second grade.  Mr Schufers class.  We warned her that second grade had a boy teacher and that she might be in his class.  When we found out she was indeed in Mr Schufers class she smiled happily and said, "He's nice."  Well ok then! 

First day of school.  The top left is at home with the sun in her eyes.  Top right is her very casual ride to school.  Bottom is Maggie with her new friend Jamison.

School starting also means extracurriculars are back on.  This year is dance for both girls and voice lessons for both girls.  I had wanted voice lessons for Caroline and piano lessons for Maggie but after watching Caroline's first voice class Maggie changed her mind and decided to join Caroline.

 

Caroline's first day of preschool.  Her second and final year at Cornerstone.  She was just so excited...until we arrived and the nerves took over a bit.  Good thing she adapts quickly and was back to happy times with old friends in a matter of minutes:

Summer Art Class

The girls lucked out big time and were able to attend a week long art class.  I cannot say enough good things about this teacher!  The girls had so much fun and actually learned about art, artists, art technique.  So amazing.  All I can say is that we WAY underpaid this sweet woman!  At the end of the week the kids had an openhouse for the parents to see all of their art on display.

 

 Each of the kids had made a little portfolio to store the art projects from class.  Can you tell which artist they had learned about here?  Jackson Pollock.  "Flicking paint is fun."

Each day was a different artist, ganre, technique.  All of this was documented in their sketchbooks:

August Part 1

Dress up play dates with friends: 

The aftermath of said play date:

Trip to friends home.  They had a playstation kinect and this was the girl's first attempt at operating one:

Our friends also have the sweetest dog ever which we took for a short walk: 

I can do it myself Mommy.  She couldn't.  It's hard for her to understand that she has to put her own muscle and energy into getting started.  Still beyond cute though: 

A little backyard exploring: