L' Arc de Triomphe

It is a beautiful memorial...

Lance wanted to climb to the top, so we did.

As the sun was setting...

Walking back to our hotel, looking down the Champs Elysees at dusk.

Summer is here; Part 3

We train 'em up young around here...

We also visited the Highlands Ranch annual carnival tonight, complete with the incredible (and expensive!) amusements for kids!
We ran into some friends of ours so Katie was able to ride the roller coaster with her friend, Jensen...they had a blast!
Earlier this morning we waited in line for 2 hours to experience "The Disney Train." Fun...but a 2-hour wait for a 30-minute walk-through was a bit long. The kids were troopers, however, and at the end a nice employee offered to take our picture at Ebeneezer Scrooge's Christmas table.
Will's famous line for the week..."one more bite, Pa." Whatever Pa was eating, Will perched himself on Pa's lap and would ask for one more bite...about 20 times. The only thing Pa offered him that he did not like, was cotton candy. This makes me wonder if he is truly my child? What kid refuses cotton candy?

Summer is here; Part 2.

A labor of love...Pa, Dad, and Mr. Ray dismantling their Rainbow play structure that they had outgrown and generously offered to our family. Our girls have BEGGED for a swing set and the answer from Dad has always been, "no." But you know, free is pretty hard to say no to. Our wonderful neighbors have single handedly kept Katie in clothes with some to pass on to other friends--we are continually blessed by their generosity and I am always amazed at the things they find to give our family! We did not tell the girls about the play set...so while they were at VBS last night the guys took it apart and mostly got it set up in our yard--we kept the blinds closed so the girls didn't see--and they finished it this morning before they woke up. I wish I had taken a picture of them when we called them to the window this morning with their eyes closed...had them count to three...and then pulled up the blinds right as they opened their eyes! It was magical, I actually captured it on video :)
Our yard prior to construction...this spot practically begged for a play structure!
The troops broke it in ALL day long, even while some minor changes and additions had to be made. I feel confident in saying that this will provide serious enjoyment all summer long; and for many years to come...
Thanks again, Ray, Michelle, Kendra & Regan. Thanks also to Dad and Pa for all of the hard work!

Pink is pretty!

The great room makeover(s) have commenced. We have dismantled, moved, rearranged, reassembled, painted, and prayed that this would go smoothly...so far so good! I have long desired for my girls to share a room, we just had to wait a bit for Syd to mature enough to handle a "sleepover" every night. So the yellow garden room is no longer just Katie's, it is both of theirs. And they love it. I love it, too. My parents graciously drove a Uhaul from Indiana to Colorado this past weekend with a truckload of my antiques from our family farm. These twin beds have been in our family for a LONG time. My cousin and I slept in them when we were still at home, my mom and her sister slept in them when they were younger, and before that they belonged to my Great grandmother. Pretty cool to pass them on down...
Since I had first formulated this idea 3 years ago, I began to collect miscellaneous bedding for two little girls. It feels pretty exciting to see it all come together and my mom and I have had a lot of fun fluffing and froofing it all...not to mention tucking them in at night is pretty precious!

Summer is here!

While no one was looking...little man helped himself to our dessert. Cute but the diaper to follow was just downright, quite possibly, the nastiest EVER. Yuck.
He actually looked a little blue after his binge session. But the smile sure was priceless!
Fast friends with Nana, and had no trouble showing her how to work his little boy toys!

A party in heaven for Sydney!

Happy belated Easter from our family! In typical Colorado fashion, it was about 70 degrees the day before Easter, and we awoke on Easter morning to snow on the ground (and in the air!) A good reminder of Him washing us "white as snow."
This past Saturday, May 16th, was a most important day for Miss Sydney. On our way to Katie's soccer tournament, running late no less, Syd announces that, "today I think I'd like to ask Jesus into my heart." Super!!!!!!!!!!! So we prayed at the Gates Soccer Complex, that Jesus would love Sydney forever, forgive her sins, never leave her, and give her eternal life. The angels were having a party for her in heaven! We celebrated with our very own "come to Jesus" cake, fresh from the Target bakery, lovingly picked out by big sister Katie.
Back to Easter. Lance was gone the week leading up to Easter, so one our super-fun afternoon activities was to dye and paint our very own Easter eggs! Everyone got in on the fun, even little man!
The final products. Remember the days when the only option was to buy the PAAS dye kits? They have so many COOL options for kids these days. We had marbled eggs & glitter eggs, and all of them got custom paint jobs.

There's no place like home!

I just had one of those incredible opportunities to take a last minute trip with Lance to London. Since things went so smoothly last year we decided that I could go for a full week. I was fine until Mother's Day, missing my kids so much! The girls did great and supposedly Will only asked for me a few times. :) Since I just got back last night, my system is all screwed up and I couldn't sleep past 5:30 this morning. Ugh. So, I am glad to be home and as soon as Lance gets home (he had to stay longer for work,) I will have access to the many fun pictures we took and can share some of the highlights with you. Probably not as historical as last year (I know you are so disappointed!) but we did see some pretty cool stuff. Thanks for your prayers...