Mt. Bierstadt

We hiked our first 14er on Saturday.
Mt. Bierstadt
Elevation: 14,060
It was an adventure.
View was spectacular.
Can't wait for the next one.

First Day of School

Addison and Olivia are off to school!

They started school on Monday and they are loving it.
They are so excited about their new teachers,
new grade, the bus, friends and

all of the fun things they will be learning.

Although I miss them,
it will be fun to have some time
with our two little ones,
Ella and Ava.
After I dropped Olivia and Addison
off at the bus stop, Ella turned to me and said,
"Yes! Now I am in charge!"
She likes to be the BIG SISTER and
she definitely likes to be in charge.

Ella getting Ava ready for
a ride in her doll pram.
Ava loves it- laughs so hard.

Ella is a little M-O-M.
She is gentle and sweet with Ava.
They have a great time together.

Addison's 9th BIRTHDAY!

Addison had a birthday this week.
She is 9 years old!
She is such a sweetie! She was so excited to visit
the American Girl store to pick out her new doll!
She picked Julie Albright-
she loves her and loves to read her books.
So cute.
She was also very excited about her new butterfly garden
and earrings from her sweet grandparents and
a ticket to The Lion King musical from her sisters.
She is growing up!

Addison had so many cute ideas for her birthday party...
chocolate fudge cupcakes with suckers and handmade pinwheels.

She invited 5 of her good friends to celebrate at
Elitch Gardens. We had a blast.
They were so much fun.
H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S

Happy Birthday Addison- LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday Ava!

Sweet Ava turned 1 this week!

We celebrated with swimming and sweets (Ava's favorite).
We invited our good friends over for a
POOL PARTY!

Lots of cupcakes for 50 fabulous guests- we had so much fun.

Some of the party guests- great friends.Ava's chocolate cream "smash cake". She devoured it-loved it.

My very talented friend (Natalie) helped me build this
picnic table and beach chair for Ava.
She's a little small for the table (she'll grow into it).
She loves to climb into her chair, she thinks she is SO big.
Love this age-what a cutie.
Happy Birthday Ava!
We love you!

L--O--V--E
S U M M E R

Ballet Recital

Addison and Olivia had a ballet recital this weekend.
Their performance was in Boulder on Saturday afternoon- it was fantastic!
The girls both love being on stage- they did such a great job.
They have really enjoyed being in the same ballet classes this year.
They are best friends. D-A-R-L-I-N-G.

S-W-E-E-T-I-E-S

We were not allowed to take pictures during the performance or dress rehearsal.
I was able to take a picture of the final bow after the performance.
They are in the front row, far right.
Loved it.

Addison's Tennis Lessons- She's a Pro.

Memorial Day Weekend

School is out and it's time to play!

We kicked off summer vacation at
E-l-i-t-c-h G-a-r-d-e-n-s.
Brad surprised us with season passes!
Our family loves amusement parks.
It was a blast.
So excited for summer!

Addison, Ella and Olivia
-Loved it.

Sweet Baby Ava- LOVE HER!

Addie's favorite ride-

They just made it through a HUGE wave.
They were soaked :)

Monday was the Bolder Boulder 10K.
It was a really great race.
Can't wait to run it next year.

Ella, Ava, Addison and Olivia

Ava- 9 months

Ella- 4 years

Olivia- 6 years

Addison- 8 years

Our Sweeties.

We had a "vintage photo shoot" earlier this week.

Ava had a lot of fun shots...sweet baby.

Springtime

Spring is here and we are loving it.

The weather has been fabulous- so warm.

We love tulips and each year we look for tulip gardens.

Our favorite- the lovely tulip gardens in downtown Boulder.

Over 15,000 tulips adorn Pearl Street.

The colors are vibrant and beautiful.

We have been frequent visitors this year-

the flowers are s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g.

We attended Boulder's annual Tulip Festival.

It began with a Tulip Fairy parade.

Tulip Fairies led the kids down Pearl Street "waking the tulips for spring".

After the parade, the fairies gave special gifts to each of the participants.

It was a delight. Our girls had such a great time(especially Ella).

D-a-r-l-i-n-g!

Mother's Day weekend was so great.

Brad and I went biking in Boulder Canyon on Saturday(my request for Mother's Day).

It was f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c.

My girls gave me a new North Face jacket, running shoes and guitar lessons.

I am so excited about guitar lessons!

We ended the weekend with a few crazy photos on our iMac. haha

I adore being a mom. We have a lot of energy in our home. :)

Life couldn't be better.

My new favorite salad dressing recipe-tastes like Springtime. :)

*Olive Oil

*Agave Nectar

*Lemon Juice

*Ground Coriander

*Ground Cayenne Red Pepper

*Salt and Pepper

Put it on a bed of Kale and other favorite veggies....DELISH.

WORK WITH DAD

Addison and Olivia had an opportunity to go to work with
Brad this week (school project).
They were both able to miss a full day of school and
spend that time learning all about being a lawyer.
They have an amazing dad.
He worked very long hours throughout
the week to make this day possible.
The girls loved their day together- so did he.

First stop was the Jefferson County Courthouse.
They took a tour, looked inside the courtrooms
and became sheriff's deputies for the day.
They were fascinated.

They finished their day at Brad's office at Interlocken.
They felt very important acting as his "legal assistants" for a while.
The highlight of the day- the y-u-m-m-o hot chocolate
from the break room (they are still talking about it).
It was a great experience for them. Thanks Brad! So fun.

Ava- 8 months old

This little lady is the center
of attention at our house.

She is already 8 months old!
She is a sweetie- so cheerful-so easy.
We absolutely adore her!

Enough said.

BEFORE
(I need a new hiding spot for my scissors)

AFTER

Colorado Springs

This weekend we took a trip to Colorado Springs.

We spent the weekend hiking, swimming and exploring with the kiddos. The trip was fabulous-so sunny, relaxing and beautiful! Loved it.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings

Seven Falls
Our Favorite

Bolder Boulder

The Bolder Boulder is in less than 8 weeks!
Brad and I are really excited to run in this race!!
We will be running with 12 other couples.
It is going to be a blast!
The Bolder Boulder is a 10k race in Boulder, Colorado
with over 50,000 runners.
The race is lined with over 30 entertainers-
bands, circus acts, weddings, impersonators, dancers, etc.
It is a party. Can't wait.

We started training on Monday. :)
My good friend gave me a great idea for a
"power breakfast" before my morning run-
a breakfast smoothie loaded with fruits and veggies.
I absolutely LOVE this smoothie.
It keeps me going all morning and my family loves it too!
RECIPE
1 C Water
1 C Kale
1/2 of an apple
1/2 of a cucumber
1 ripe banana
1/4 C frozen blueberries
1/4 C frozen raspberries
D-E-L-I-S-H

Happy Birthday Ella!

Our sweet little Ella is four years old!

After attending Disney On Ice a few weeks ago,
Ella has been set on having a "royal celebration" with a lot of pink!
This weekend we celebrated with 10 of Ella's cute little friends.
They were darling!
I love planning princess parties-
with a family full of girls we have had our share.
So much fun.
Happy Birthday Ella!

Our sweet little princess requested a birthday cake with a "sparkly crown" on top.
She was so excited to finally take the crown off of the cake.
She has been wearing it day and night. What a sweetheart!

Our little darlings are growing up!
Life is so good.