This 'n That

I had a bunch of pictures on my phone, so this will be a
 "this 'n that" post!  

Even though school has started, the reservoir is still very peaceful.  I think we might go there again on Friday when my GVA kids have a day off from school. 

 (And then I might need to go there by myself the following Tuesday, after they've had 4 days off in a row!)

Keelan got a job at Dairy Queen!  

Ice Cream Man

Uncle Taylor with Tessa at IKEA.

My beautiful China girl.  

Samuel and Dad playing catch in the back yard.  

(Our poor brown, dry yard.  It's starting to look better now.)

Me and my sweet little Tessa.  

Samuel's first Cold Stone ice cream.

Elsa hair at Target.

Last week Keelan and I got hit while waiting at a light. 

 Poor little green car.  :(

I thought that sticking-out piece was from the inside of the car, but it turns out it was a piece of the other guy's car!

But 4 days later, little green car is like new again!
 (The other guy had Geico.  They were seriously quick!)

Grandma and Grandpa Beck came to visit from Indiana.  

This was their first time meeting Samuel, and they had not seen Tessa since she was a newborn.

 Tessa turned ONE and Justin turned THIRTEEN!  

Stay tuned for another blog post!  :)

More First Days of School

I said I would post the rest of the First Day of School pictures, and then time got away!  But here they are.
(Well, Justin's is the same as Samuel's, haha.)

  Justin is in 7th grade this year, at Global Village Academy.  He is learning Spanish.  He loves his teachers and his classes, and tells me every single thing that happened every single day, in great detail.  He's doing great!

Keelan started school a couple of days after the other boys.  He is in 11th grade at Gateway High School.  He likes being in school with his friends, and especially enjoys band class, where he plays the trumpet.  He also has a free hour that he works as an assistant to the band director.  He's got his driver's permit, and we're working on completing his 50 road hours.

Caylie started school the next week.  She is repeating kindergarten, as was planned, at Global Village Academy.  We thought seriously about taking her out of Chinese immersion and just putting her in regular public school, so that she wouldn't be so overwhelmed, but at the last minute we decided to keep her at GVA.  This is the age when language is acquired easily, and if we take her out now, she wouldn't be able to test back in.  We just didn't want her to lose her Chinese and the opportunity to become fluent while it is still easily gained.  It is an important part of who she is.
(And she LOVES her school and teachers!)

The school year is off to a great start!

Idaho Springs - Echo Lake

Yesterday we took Samuel for his first trip to Idaho Springs and Echo Lake.  I wanted to do that before football season starts and Jim isn't available on Saturdays!  I was also worried about Keelan's schedule, but he was able to go, as were Brad, Brittany and Tessa.  The only one missing was Taylor, who works every single Saturday.  I was sad about that.

There was terrible traffic going out of the city, so what is usually an hour trip to Idaho Springs turned about to be 2 1/2 hours, ugh!  But we finally got there and had yummy pizza at Beau Jo's.  Then we did a little shopping at some of the cute shops.  I wasn't thinking of taking pictures, so the only ones I have are these.  Haha!

After that, we drove up the mountain to Echo lake.  It was a rather cloudy day, and I forgot to put a card into my good camera, so the pictures are cloudy phone pictures!
  If you want to see some much better pictures of Echo Lake, you can go to this post from October 2012!  We were also there in June 2013, when we took Caylie there for the first time.  (It was cloudy that day, too!)  I think the last time we were there was January 2014, which was a beautiful sunny and snowy day!

Samuel liked the lake and the ducks on it.  I'm really surprised he didn't end up in the water!

 Caylie was much more cautious.  

We hiked through the beautiful woods around the lake.

Tessa likes hiking, too!

Most of my family! 

Justin, Keelan, Samuel, Jim, Brittany and Tessa, Caylie, Brad. 

Again, sad that Taylor wasn't there.

Justin with his trusty Vietnam hat and walking stick.

 Jim and me with Samuel.  He got a bag of marbles at one of the shops in Idaho Springs.  I'm hoping we got home with all of them!

Keelan climbed up a steep hill to this rock and I climbed after him to get the picture.  But then since we were both up there, you can't tell that we had climbed up a steep hill, haha.
  (Take my word for it, mm'k?)

I'm sure this dead tree won't be standing the next time we're here.  It looks rather precarious.

After we finished our walk, we took some pictures by the lake.
Brad, Brittany, Tessa

 I've taken Keelan's picture in this cabin window before.
 This one looks rather senior-pictury, don't ya think?
 (But we've got a year before that happens!)

My beautiful Caylie.

Jim and me being photobombed. 

 And no, my husband cannot take a serious picture.

Me realizing we were being photobombed!  
And my husband still not taking a serious picture!

Tessa and Uncle Keelan

Cuties!

Justin in the cabin.

 Samuel, Brittany, Tessa, Justin, and Caylie by the lake. 

Most of my family again!  And again, I wish it had been sunny!

A guy who was standing there offered to take our photo.  

So I let him.

The drive home.  So thankful that God has allowed us to live in beautiful Colorado for 19 years.