celebrating 17 at the lake

Bailee is a pretty simple girl ... not too hard to please. For her birthday she just wanted to go to a lake. She also really wanted to go to church so it was after noon before we headed to the lake. But before all that we served her breakfast in bed. She requested mini frittatas. We threw some mango in there too.

 On our way to Windsor Lake we took her to lunch I was shocked that she didn't choose Big City Burrito. She talks incessantly about trying that place and I thought for sure she would use this as the opportunity. She did have a burrito though!

 We spent the next several hours at the lake with way too many people for my liking.

Despite all the people we had a great day of relaxing and celebrating this girl!

# 17

 When it started to clear out a little we had our own little patch by the water

 Dinner was homemade Taquitos (3rd year in a row?) with chips and guacamole. Emmrey was put in charge of decorations for the deck and she did a mighty fine job.

 Bay opened a new swimsuit from Granpa Wayne and Gramma Cheryl. From her parents she got a shirt/new journal/summer PJ's/Little House season 7 and this awesome camp chair that is so compact! She will also be getting some new wheels once she test drives a bit more ... ;)

 Emmrey picked her out a huge pack of gum saying "you blow my heart"

 Kars got her this fruit fusion water bottle so she can flavor her water with fresh fruit. 

Right up her alley!

 These two were just as excited about seeing what was to come in the new season of Little House :)

 

We finished off the night with ice cream and Strawberry Shortcake which has become traditional for Bay. I did the baking but Mark helped with the presentation .... not bad eh?

Lots of happy wishes for this girl!!

I wonder all the time how we got so lucky. Bailee is filled with so.much.goodness! She isn't perfect but there is just something extra special about that little soul of hers:)

Happy 17th Bug!

Thoughts on Bailee's Birthday

The day that Bailee was born was a total whirlwind ...  chaos and uncertainty was all around us in that hospital. For the minute that I got to hold her on my chest {before they whisked her away to the NICU} I felt a calm that seemed so out of place given the circumstances. 

I just knew this sweet girl was supposed to be with me.

Like on her birthday, Bailee continues to have a calming effect. She continues to be slow and steady and she doesn't get caught up in the chaos and drama that surrounds her.

She is tough and doesn't complain (much) and I know she can achieve anything she sets her mind to.

 

I cannot even begin to express how proud I am of this girl. She is everything I could have dreamed of in a daughter and more. Love you the most Bug!

Random Recap

Life lately according to some random pics .......

We've been enjoying some beautiful rainbows after those afternoon rain showers we have begun to expect this time of year.

Kars has been working on her shot

Emm has been taking swim lessons. For the first time we did them at an outdoor pool. I don't think I can ever go back to stuffy indoor ... loved it! I was told by her teacher that she "repeatedly talked about her sister that swims on a swim team". She's so proud:)

 Eating as many meals as we can on the deck

Been seeing lots of these girls lately. They spent several days on the stairs until I could take it no longer.  

The girls all went to a summer reading event at the Library. Bailee and Karsyn went to volunteer and Emmrey went for the balloons and face painting!

Mark spent a week at Muddy Creek outside of Rawlins.

He was part of a project to restore three native species that included roundtail chub (pictured), bluehead sucker and flannelmouth sucker.

Rawlins is not a part of the state that is known for beauty so I was pleasantly surprised when he shared these photos with me. I guess there is beauty to be found anywhere if you look for it.

Electrofishing

One of the great things about Mark's job is that there are lots of opportunities for us to tag along and work with him. Whenever possible, he tries to take one of the girls out to do some field work. Last week he took Kars out with the Laramie crew to do some night Electrofishing. 

 They were out on Sloan Lake in Cheyenne from about 8 pm- midnight. One of the species they came across in their sampling was this Pumpkin Seed Sunfish. I think it's just the cutest little fish ever!

They also found this big boy. Carp isn't something to get very excited about ... but this one was giant!

Kars had a great time. She was tired the next morning but glad she went. I love that they get to see a little bit of what their dad does and spend quality time with him {and the crew}.

Father's Day 2016

With the girls just getting back from days of high adventure, Father's Day was kept pretty relaxed. I am sure Mark's choice would have been to go camping or at least spend the day in the mountains but we had obligations at church which meant it would be after noon before we could have got away.  So instead we treated him to lunch at Dickey's. He loves BBQ and quite frankly the rest of us are a little burned out. I think getting to go there for lunch made him pretty happy:)

We spent the afternoon relaxing at home. Mark got to nap and I even napped with him for a bit which rarely happens (I am not much of a napper unless I am sick). Later we had a picnic at our new Community Park.

 Of course Gorden came along for the festivities

 Emmrey wrote Mark the sweetest poem ever. She pretty much got it spot on .. ..  so insightful!

I could not imagine a better dad for these girls of ours. 

He is the best!

While the teens are away .....

Emmrey had her own fun while her sisters were away. She had her annual check up with the doctor. She likes Dr. Z because she is from Poland and has an accent and sometimes says things that are funny;) Afterward I took her to Graffito. She has been begging to go back to that place since we lived in Cheyenne. I decided it would be a good reward and possibly motivation for her to curb something she has been struggling with. Our goal was to make it to the end of the school year and she did it ... and didn't let me forget:)

She decided to paint a plate. Oh man .... this girl and decisions. She went back and forth and round and round about what she wanted to do. With a little help from the studio owner (which wasn't welcomed by Emmrey), myself and finally Mark (who came by because he was done with work for the day) she finally got it done.

Turned out pretty dang cute! She can't wait to pick it up and Pig Out.

 

The next day she got to go hang out at the office with dad. The girls love going to work with Mark! They worked in the morning and then went to Pole Mountain to fish some of the Beaver Ponds. This was the office for the afternoon.

I am told she was a pretty good little student. Of course she has a hard time focusing on fishing because she has so much to talk about.

She did have success

Caught herself some little brook trout

She had her parents all to herself for a few days. That makes this girl pretty happy ...although she really did miss her sisters.

Youth Conference and the 14er

After a week of relaxation the two teens headed off for Youth Conference.

 Emmrey and I dropped them off early in the morning and then we were off to her last day of swim lessons.  

They had three days full of high adventure! The first day they went river rafting in Idaho Springs. They did a half day trip on the Clear Creek just west of Denver. I had sent a camera in hopes that they would take some pictures for me. Unfortunately, they couldn't take any on the raft (for obvious reasons). I was hoping for a quick shot before they got on the raft, but didn't get that either. We will just have to settle for this one off the company website. I am sure it looked something like this. Just pretend you see the faces of Bailee and Karsyn there on that AVA raft. Nobody fell out, but Bailee did lose her paddle at one point. They both loved it and wished it had been a little wilder!

 The second day was spent hiking what is known as a 14er (meaning it is above 14,000 feet). This is a pretty big thing here in Colorado and there are 53 to choose from. They hiked Mount Bierstadt.

their motley crew

We weren't sure if they would actually make it to the top. Not because they aren't capable, but because we didn't know if there would still be too much snow.  They were thrilled to tell us that every single person in the group made it to the top.

 L-R: Sterling Holman, Kenton Allred, Will Daknis, Brentton Hardley, Kars, Bay, Isaac Flake, Riley Chadwick, Kate Stevens, Jarod Hoggan, Ty Mortensen, Joseph Martin, Bethnie Wall, Carrie Chadwick

It took them about 3 hours to summit. They told us about the "fake summit" that tricked you into thinking you were at the top. Karsyn said "it wasn't all that hard except for the last mile". I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have had such a positive attitude if she had been with us;) Bailee said "it was the most brutal hike she had ever done, but also the most rewarding". That is saying something because Bay has been our little hiker since she could walk ... for real! I know they are both so glad they did it. I am definitely impressed with both of them!

Nice panorama that someone took

Despite their mother, these girls are not much of a picture taker{unless it's on a phone, which they couldn't have on the trip}. Kars did take a few photos of them at the top of the peak, but that was it. Bailee ... nada!  Luckily some of the leaders took some candid shots around camp and sent them to me:)

 The last day they did a service project helping a family in town with their property that needed some sprucing. Honestly, I would have loved to see them do something more worthwhile in the community but I wasn't in charge and service is still service ... ... right? After seeing this photo, Bailee told me she appreciated that I "take another one just in case" ... ... HA:)

Pizza break on the porch.

I love that these two did this together. It has really been rewarding as a mom to see how they have bonded over these YW times together.