First Day of School

Another year has begun. It is so hard to believe that I have been back to teaching for four years, and Caleb is now in 4th grade. Where does the time go?!



Caleb with Mrs. Shanklin


What is more unbelievable is that Emaleigh is now a middle schooler. Craig and I dropped her off the first day and let our baby go. She is officially a big kid now. Just typing this brings tears to my eyes. It seems like just moments ago I was pregnant with her and opening a new school. Fast forward 11 years and she is venturing to her own school--one that I have very little contact with--except for the fact that I teach her principals son! Upon meeting Mr. Ter Horst that first day back we put each others fears aside knowing that we are taking care of each others first borns!



Emaleigh in a sea of 6th graders!

Another Day on the Lake

Today we ventured to the Pueblo Resevoir with Grandpa Mann. While there were a few mishaps along the way--the tube had a leak, the bimimi top ripped while driving down the interstate and the crank on the trailer broke upon arriving back home---the day was filled with much fun and laughter! We found a fantastic cove that Grandpa ventured into and spent the day swimming and fishing. The kids--both small and big--caught many a fish. So many in fact that most of them had to be thrown back. It was one of the lazy days on the lake that make you appreciate all of God's goodness!

A Day Trip

Today we ventured to Georgetown, CO to cool off from the 95 degree temps we have been having this week. We invited Nana to come along and cool off. It was a great trip filled will sightseeing, shopping, playing in the park and of course, ice cream!

Home Improvements

During Craig's vacation this week we decided to work on some projects we have been wanting to accomplish around the house. We really enjoy doing home improvement projects together and decided it was time to tackle a few we had been talking about for a while.

Project #1: I have never been a fan of our kitchen cabinetry, but we don't really have 15 grand laying around to remodel our kitchen so we decided to add a finishing touch to the ones we already have.




Project #2: We have been wanting to replace the crown molding we had originally put in the game room with something a little more upscale. The original was not authentic crown, so we replaced it with the right stuff!



Project # 3 Finally, the downstairs bath needed a little sprucing up. This started with framing out the mirror which we have wanted to do since our ski trip to Beaver Creek in 2008. Then we decided to crown mold. Finally we decided it was time to freshen up the paint. I really love the color that was already in their, so I just added a fresh coat!




We are very excited with how these projects turned out, and look forward to doing a few more after we recoup from these!

Our Beloved Puppy Dog!

Today, we had to make the very difficult decision to put our dog to sleep. After finding out that she had lost over 9 pounds since her last check up in November, and listening to what our vet had to say about her ailing health, we decided it was in her best interest to let her go peacefully.

Craig and I were able to take her for one last hike in the canyon and then have the kids meet us at the dog park for one last jaunt with the other puppies. We knew we had made the right decision when she didn't want to have anything to do with any of the other dogs and wasn't very excited to venture into the stream.

While it is so extremely sad to say goodbye to our faithful companion, we know she is in a much better place enjoying a huge bowl of popcorn, running around without a leash and making others happy with her kind and gentle eyes.




We love you dear Aspen, and we will miss you always.

Happy Fourth

This year Craig's brother, Chris and his family were able to make a trip down and we spent some time enjoying their family.


Chris and his new daughter, Kinley. What a cutie!


Samantha, Kyle, Karson, Emaleigh and Kirra enjoying some fun on the trampoline!