Surprise Party for Emma!

Lillian will miss Emma's actual birthday while we go to Michigan this weekend.  So she planned a surprise, ice cream sundae party for Emma with a bunch of our neighbors and Mia and Zoey Jackson. It took Emma a few seconds to catch on that the party was for her!   

Golden Festivities

Somehow despite spending three late nights at St. Anne's working the Bazaar, we managed to squeeze in a whole lot of Buffalo Bill Day festivities!  

The kids loved the parade, the walk to and from the festivities and seeing Young King Arthur at the Miner's Alley Playhouse and of course, they loved getting a chance to act on stage.  Lillian ran into her friend Reagan from school.   We signed Joseph up for what may be his last year Mutton Bustin'.  They have fairly loose height and weight restrictions - so we're hoping to sneak him in one more time next summer!  He loved it, despite only holding on to the poor lamb for a few seconds.  And as usual, the adults had a great time watching (and laughing at) all the kids as they got thrown from a bucking sheep!

 

St. Anne's Bazaar

This was our first experience working the St. Anne's Bazaar and we had a great weekend!  Mike and I co-captained the Soda Booth with Jen & Steve Trujillo - what an amazing couple to job-share with; they're hard workers, our kids had a blast and we enjoyed getting to know them a bit more.  We spent a small fortune on games, bouncy houses and junk food (and we were all craving healthier food by the end of the weekend!) but we had a great time.  At the very end of the weekend - they announced the final "winner takes all" bingo game.  I was all out of dollars at this point - so my friend Lauren lent Joseph $1 to play...and wouldn't you know it...he won.  $137 cash - he was over the moon with excitement!  That night he spent $7 on baked goods for him and Lillian to share.  The next day he gave $10 to Lillian, used $20 to buy Pokemon cards, spent $10 on flowers to thank Lauren for loaning him $1 and put $90 into his savings account (which cost us $90 because Mike and I match what they deposit into savings!).

Annual Summer Trip to Lakeside Amusement Park

Soccer Camp at Sheperd of the Valley

A Mini Lerch - Hanou Reunion!

The whole Lerch Clan came to Colorado!  It was so nice of Gary & Renata to include us - because the Lerch's and the Hanou's can really fill a house when we get together!  Every group photo we took - we realized afterwards that someone was missing - hence the multiple, multiple photos. 

John & Candy Come to Visit

Another great visit with John & Candy!  We played "chicken" in the pool, saw the Head and the Heart at Red Rocks (their first Red Rocks experience!) and camped in Steamboat.  Mike was able to ride the Tour de Steamboat bike race again, they hiked the ski trails (which are so beautiful in the summer), Joseph made a few buddies at the KOA and Lillian reconnected with Neave.  It was nice to share Colorado's summer beauty with them!
And somehow, both Lillian and Joseph lost a tooth on the same night!  It was a double visit for the tooth fairy this weekend!