A "Dashing" Warrior

A few weeks ago Jeff ran the Warrior Dash at Copper Mountain, a 5K run at 10,000 feet full of obstacles...this was the before picture.

After. Nuff said.

Ok, so a little disclaimer about the mud pics. Jeff beat us to the mud pit during the race and I missed the photo op. So, being the sweet wife that I am I made him trek through the mud again for the sake of our posterity, plus the boys got a huge kick out of watching their dad swim through a ridiculous hole full of mud. There was barbed wire above the pit so unless he wimped out, there was no way through except to swim below it. This was one of the first obstacles so he said the remainder of the race was spent keeping his shorts up...nice.

To end the race, he had a to leap over two piles of burning wood. There were several other obstacles he traversed during the run; hard to explain but he said if he lost his footing on some of them he could have been seriously hurt. Not too comforting for a wife to hear.

After the race, we had a chance to ride one of the highspeed lifts up the mountain. We hiked around for a little bit, and the boys had a blast jumping off the rocks and climbing on fallen trees. Incredible beauty up here. We absolutely love having Colorado as our home.

Just a little family picture at the top of the lift.

Kaden being silly with his dad on the way down.

The boys had a ball playing around on the bumper boats too. The boats had little squirt guns on them which made it a bit more interesting. Avrey wasn't too sure about it so luckily my boat didn't get too wet, but Trey and Jeff went to town on other boats.

Avrey saw the boys playing around in the creek and decided she had to get in too. She stepped right in without hesitation and started splashing her brothers which made it all the more fun.

While we were playing by the creek she decided to sit down in a little flower patch, pretty good moment for a picture. Wildflowers in Colorado are something to behold, no doubt about it.

The ultimate warrior!

Ok, so this picture obviously has nothing to do with the race, but Jeff snapped this picture of Avrey right after getting her out of the tub one Sunday morning. She was quietly looking at a book, and caught a darling little photo.

First Things First

We officially have a first grader! Trey was excited to get back to school but not so sure about going all day. We are a few weeks into it now and although he is still not loving being gone all day he is doing great and says he does enjoy 2 recesses and having lunch with his friends!

You can almost tell by the look on his face that he is not to sure about this. He also wouldn't smile showing his teeth because he had lost one top tooth and the other one kind of stuck out funny. Nevertheless a handsome young man!

Boots & Piggy Tails

One afternoon I was organizing some boxes when I came across Jeff's baby box. Inside we found these darling little cowboy boots that Jeff wore as a kid and Avrey fell in love with them!!

Her hair is also finally long enough for the worlds cutest little pig tails!

Got Groban?

A friend in our ward gave us tickets to a Josh Groban concert a few weeks ago. When we went we were not huge Josh Groban fans but after an amazing performance we have become "Grobanites"! Okay we are not that crazy, but it was a fun concert!

Camp Out

As one last hurrah before school started we decided to go camping. This was very last minute but we found a beautiful camp spot at Jones Pass near a little town called Empire.

Our spot was right next to a little waterfall and a great hill for the kids to climb up and play on.

We were sure to get right to work. Dad and Trey were in charge of putting up the tent.

Avrey watched over the goods while the tent was being set up!

Once the tent was set up Kaden and Avrey were so excited to blow up the air mattresses.

For dinner we enjoyed Jeff's wonderful dutch oven sweet chili and the sunset while eating s'mores! This was Kaden & Avrey's first time camping and as the sun went down Kaden kept saying he was ready to go home. He was a little nervous about sleeping outside but had a great time.

Everyone survived the night but woke up freezing. The kids didn't love the cold but once we got the fire going they had a great time!

Before we headed home we went for a short hike along the creek. It was such a beautiful place!

Worlds cutest daddy's girl!!

You know you have been on a great camp out when you walk away with 10 pounds of dirt on your body and you pass out the moment you get home! Can't wait to do it again!

Hike to Devils Head

A few weekends back we decided to take a little day hike up to Devils Head Fire Lookout. It happens to be the last manned fire lookout in CO.

The view from the top was amazing! You could see a hundred miles in every direction!

Right below the tower is a little meadow and a cabin where the ranger lives. The kids enjoyed a snack and climbing around on the huge rocks. It ended up being 3 miles round trip and these two little guys did the whole thing without being carried once.

Avrey enjoys being in the backpack for the most part, but every now and then she had to show us how grown up she is.