Family Day

Today is Family Day. It is technically the day that Kailei was put in our arms and completed our family. So today we celebrate.

We celebrate our health. We celebrate the love we have for each other. We celebrate all the blessings that God has graced us with. We celebrate the struggles in life which help us grow. We celebrate the smiles and giggles that make each day brighter. We celebrate family and friendships. We celebrate life.

Christmas in July

Took some time to visit the North Pole on Thursday. It is an amusement park located in Colorado Springs and has a Christmas theme to it. I like it because it is in the foothills, has lots of shade, is never very crowded and has lots of rides for little ones. Sydney, Nic and Grammy joined us. The kids had a blast. I'm afraid Kailei is an adrenaline junkie but that should come as no surprise. I'm sure we will be down there again before summer is up because it is just too much fun.

Mom Came to Visit

Did you ever have someone growing up that you considered a "second mom"? I was lucky enough to have that special someone in my life. We met while doing the musical "Anything Goes" put on by the town of Parker. We hit it off and it was great to have someone to turn to when my parents just weren't cutting it, to have someone to talk to about anything and everything, to have someone who thought I was just great and supported me as much as my parents did. I had that special someone in Mary (and still do). I hope my girls find that someone as they grow older and perhaps one day some teenage girl will see me as someone to turn to and I can pay it forward.

Anyway, Mary was in town this past week and we squeezed in some time to do breakfast and I showed her around the new house. It has been a while since we have seen each other but she is never far from my thoughts and prayers. So glad we could visit. Love ya Mary!

July 4th

Well, July 4th did not turn out quite as planned but we managed to have a good time anyway. We decided to kick off our 4th by going to the pool. Our friends the Wymans joined us and it was a perfect day to hang out in water because it was toasty around here. The girls had a good time but I'm afraid we tapped all of Keara's energy.

Of course we were a little clueless and thought Keara just needed a nap so we decided to head on over to Four Mile Historic Park with Mom since she having a less than stellar 4th of July with Dad sick. We basically got there and Keara was just too tired to walk around so she went home with Zeb leaving Kailei, Mom and I to tour the place. It is basically an old fashioned 4th of July celebration and my Mom just loves it. She pretty much wants to attend every year. It is always hot however and Kailei is not much for the heat so we traveled from one shaded area to another. Kailei panned for gold, wrote with quill and ink and ate a root beer float. We enjoyed the atmosphere but sure could stand it to be about 20 degrees cooler.

The last portion of the day included Zeb's brother Mitch and his family. They came over to watch the Parker fireworks and the cousins had a great time. Anika is getting cuter each day and Khiem will actually acknowledge "Aunt Chris" even if I don't have a ball in my hand. He had Kailei were a riot together.

Because Keara was just too worn down we watched the fireworks from our bedroom window while the rest of the Davison's went into town to see the fireworks live. They were of course beautiful but both Keara and I faded quickly and could be found asleep by 9:45pm.

All in all it was a nice day. Good friends and family to celebrate with. Can't ask for more.

Kailei-ism

After watching Keara throw up this week, Kailei could be quoted as saying...."Nobody should have to see that."

Poor Keara

Nothing worse than being sick on summer vacation and our cutie patootie Keara has been down and out. What started as a cold merged with the flu and life has not been pleasant for Keara. She has basically been sleeping on the couch most of the week. Things got slightly better on Thursday but she is still not herself. In the mean time, we are using lots of Lysol and germ killer around here. So far so good for the rest of us.

Not so good for the Archers and Wenzels however since I heard my Dad was feeling sick, my niece got sick and passed it on to Tracie. The lastest word is that the whole Wenzel family is down and out. Yikes!

Don't 'cha just hate cooties!

Our First Family Camping Trip

Never underestimate the power of persuasive mom's. Earlier this year a camping trip was proposed by one of the mwcc mom's and next thing you know I'm packing a tent. Now I haven't been camping in about 13 years but peer pressure permeated the air and alas I caved. The girls were thrilled needless to say.


We camped at Golden Gate State Park which was just beautiful. I feel like I had to pack the kitchen sink to prepare for the trip and despite the many forgotten articles, we managed to survive. And fortunately there were some camping pro's on the trip which saved this novice family.


We arrived late afternoon Friday night and promptly kicked things off with 'smores (my kind of camping). The kids slept well but Zeb and I had a rough night.


Sunday we packed up and headed over to a scenic overlook nearby. The weather was beautiful as we were leaving which just figures.


Overall it was a great time. Nobody laughed to hard at us and most importantly the girls had a blast.


Thank you to....

• Sheryl for getting the ball rolling
• Britt for finding the camp site
• Beth and Lynn for organizing the food and packing lists
• Gary for loaning us his tent and additional camp gear
• Jeanne for sharing hot water so we could have hot chocolate
• Lily and Sam for sharing their bikes
• Zeb for making this as painless as possible for me
• Keara and Kailei for their laughter and smiles
• Everyone for reminding me how much fun camping can be