4th of July in SD

Lucas called me Monday afternoon and asked if I wanted to leave the next morning for South Dakota...... ummmm, yes! Let's be spontaneous! I ran to the store to get a couple things for our trip then did a ton of laundry so we could pack. We left the next morning with Lucas's parents and his sister's family. We had a fun time on the road. It was sad to see all the burnt land from all the fires.

We finally got to the campground just outside of the town of Custer. Lucas and I slept in the tent with the kids.

Everyone else camped in style!

It was nice having the motor home there to cook our food, watch movies, and relax in the a/c.

The man who owns the campground is very nice. He always talked to us and offered to help us out in any way.

Our campground was right next to the Crazy Horse monument. It has been a work in progress for over 40 years. The man who started it has died and now others have taken over to complete it. At night they do a laser light show on the mountain. We walked up the hill in our campground and were able to see it.

Here is what it is supposed to look like when it is complete.

We had fun playing frisbee and just goofing off around the campground.

 

On the 4th of July we went to Mt Rushmore. It was jam packed with people! Because of  the fire ban, there were no fireworks, which was sad. It was still cool though.  They had people dressed up as different people from history like Abraham Lincoln and you could take a photo with them.  It was amazing how much the people looked like the real deal! It was interesting to look through the museum there and learn about how they made the sculptures.

We were walking on the "Presidential Trail" which is just a 1/2 mile loop that goes along the base of the mountain.  We were about 5 minutes into it when a ranger came by,

                ".....Everyone! Leave the area immediately and go back to the visitor's center!"........                 

                                                 What??......

We started heading back when another ranger informed us it was a false alarm.  They thought there was a fire 1 mile away, but it turns out it was just smoke from a train.  Good to know they are on top of it, though, in the event of a real fire!

In the "Sculptor's Studio" they have a model of the monument. It is made to scale and was used as the model for creating the monument.

The next day we went to the Jewel Cave, but their tours for the day were all full so we didn't actually get to see the cave.  We went to the Museum of Woodcarving and then to the town of Keystone to ride the alpine slide.  At the top of the mountain there were beautiful gardens and fun picture opportunities.

You can barely see Mt Rushmore in the background!

The weather was pretty great, but our last night a huge thunderstorm broke out and it poured for hours!

The morning we left to head back home we stopped at the Flinstones Campground.  It was kind of fun to look around!



 

Lucas got to take a turn driving the big beast motor home!

It was a fun trip, but it feels good to be home!

Little Sis is Gettin' Hitched!

I went to Utah in June to help Brooke shop for her wedding dress! She tried on many beautiful gowns. Here are some of them, but I did not include the one she chose. I will post that one after the big day!

 

 

San Antonio

This past weekend we went to San Antonio to watch my brother graduate from dental school. I am so proud of him and his great accomplishment! While we were in San Antonio we we able to go out and explore some of the sights. Wow, that heat combined with the humidity really drains the energy right out of you! I guess people who live there are used to it, but we certainly are not! We took many naps while we were there, and relaxed by the pool at the hotel.

Brandon received his hood and graduated Magna Cum Laude of his dental class. Way to go!

After graduation we went to dinner at Pappasito's to celebrate! This is one of my favorite restaurants in San Antonio!



Thanks for the bunny ears, Brooke!



We went to see some of the missions of San Antonio. They were actually pretty cool! They were built in the 1700s as a safe place for people to go to. They were largely occupied by Native Americans who were converted to the Catholic church by Spaniards. The natives were given food and refuge in exchange for conversion and labor. The natives are the ones who actually constructed the buildings for the Spaniards. The missions today are still used as active churches where people can attend worship services.

On our last day there we went downtown to the Alamo and the Riverwalk. I love the riverwalk! It is so beautiful. It was so great to share it with Lucas. We went on a boat tour along the river and ended up having the same tour guide that my family and I had when we were there 4 years ago.



Girls' Night Out

I guess it is time to write in our blog, when I signed in to write this, the whole format of blogger has changed from the last time. I think I am figuring it out, so here we go!

A few weeks ago I was invited to go out for a girls' night with my mother in law and sisters in law. We started our night by going to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. After lots of yummy food (and cheesecake!) we headed over to the Buell Theater to see "Wicked". I had never seen it before and was pretty excited. We got there 4 minutes before the curtain time and rushed to our excellent seats. The show was great! The storyline went a little different than I had expected, but I liked it! A BIG thank you to Cynthia Knobel for the awesome tickets!

After the show we had the opportunity to take a backstage tour! It was really cool to see everything that goes into putting on the show. We got to see (and hold) the blue "bubble dress" that Glinda wears at the opening of the show. Wow, that dress is heavy!! We were not allowed to take pictures backstage except for one thing.... they let us take a picture in front of the Oz head.

At the end of the tour they gave us each a program booklet that had been signed by both of the witches.

Spring in Colorado

This spring has been unusually warm. March is usually our snowiest month, but this year we had the driest, warmest march ever on record for Colorado! As much as I love snow, it has made things fun!

Lucas bought a bike and I fixed up my old bike from when I was about 10 (yes, I can use the same bike because I haven't grown!) We have had a lot of fun riding our bikes around the neighborhood and exploring. We also like to ride to the tennis courts and play a little. We are not very good at tennis, but we have fun with it!

We are attempting a vegetable garden this year. We got the indoor garden starter and are surprised by how fast they are growing. We need to get them into the ground, but you never know if you will get another freeze when you live in Colorado. Gardening is a learn as we go experience for us. This year we are attempting to grow tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, broccoli, snap peas, butternut squash, bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper. We will see how they turn out!

Easter was fun this year, especially because we didn't have to do a holiday marathon like we did on Christmas... my parents came to Lucas's parents' house and we all did Easter together! It was fun to visit with everyone, have a feast of yummy food, and watch the kids hunt for eggs.

I have been having fun with new sewing projects. I never knew how much I would like to sew. I think it is because I love to create! That is why I love to paint, take pictures, cook, and make things. There is just something about creating that I love. It is an accomplishment and you get to put your own touch on it to make it one of a kind.

Lucas has begun "project: remove the massive bushes that take over our back yard." It will be a long process, but we are anxious to have them gone and have more space back there.

Our Home

A couple people have requested that I post some pictures of our home, so here they are!
The pictures were all taken with my phone, which has no flash, so they aren't the best quality. You get the idea though!

DINING ROOM


 KITCHEN

 OFFICE



I love the window bench!

FAMILY ROOM

 POWDER ROOM

 UPSTAIRS BATHROOM

GUEST ROOM

There is a 3rd bedroom, but it is currently just being used for storage and will be our future baby room (when the time comes).


MASTER BEDROOM

MASTER BATH



Our Coffee Table

Lucas and I have been wanting a coffee table for our family room. We have searched the stores and online. The problem with the tables in the stores: we don't like any of them! The problem with the tables online: super expensive!! We decided to solve this little problem by building our own!

We started out by sketching out a design that we both liked. We went to Home Depot and got all the wood then took it over to Lucas's shop to put it all together.

I got to learn how to use some fun tools!

We stained it a dark chocolate brown and added some steel strips to the top.

We also added 2 drawers to store things like remotes.

On a side note...... I got these beautiful flowers from Lucas on my birthday! Daisies are my favorite, but the store didn't have any, so he decided sunflowers were kind of similar.