colorado state fair

our friends the whittingtons had us join them for the colorado state fair. with 2 for 1 coupons & kids too young for tickets the whole evening ended up being crazy cheap. fun fun fun.

plus the girls got ice cream cones! which they did not know how to eat cleanly. 

fair food is always fun - i was shocked at how many things they'll fry... like fried poptarts, fried peanut butter cups, & friend captain crunch. haha awesome.

 there were a ton of friendly farm animals to check out. my turkey call really got the turkey to gobble back & forth with me. hidden talents, my friends.

 i love that austin gets in the cages with the kids. i makes me just a touch jittery. 

 the pony ride was everyone's favorite!!

 my brave cowgirls ;)

after the fair we had a very long & shady night in already sketchy pueblo when somehow my phone ended up on the street where we'd parked (i don't know how i do these things sometimes... ridic.) & we then followed the gps tracker to the parking lot of an ihop. 2 hours later, police called, & phone located in the exact vehicle; austin was extremely unwise & confronted the guy. i about had a heart attack but the guy gave us the phone no problem, though he was shocked that we found him, & we got ready for the hour + drive home. only problem? this was the state of the phone:

here's to my knight in shiny armor who thinks he's invincible!

elder hodgman's 21st

my little brother turned 21 today. i miss him. i was listening to the radio & some stupid rap song came on that i would never listen to & i realized i was singing along to the chorus. i only knew the words because michael has a horrid acceptance for this genre of music that i do not share. but it made me cry. i miss him.

flying horse neighborhood bbq

our neighborhood had yet another bbq get together right in the park. costco catered, there was a petting zoo, multiple bouncy houses, face painting (don't get me started. my kids have never had their faces painted so i waited in line for seriously an hour & finally left ticked at all the teenage kids cutting in line & no one listening. should have put an age limit up. grr.), snow cones, 3 legged races, hula contests, etc. 

 porcupine!

tortoise! see ellery making a tunnel for him to walk through? the animal guy thought that was the most entertaining thing he'd ever seen. :)

 nasty snake. chief spear headed that one...

bearded dragon!

 have i mentioned i like our neighborhood?

i've choked my last choke

long story short: been choking on my food for years & it has gotten progressively worse. finally had it checked out. they did a dilation of my throat that did not go routinely. it sucked. & hurt. but now i swallow!! without fear of dying!! how cute are my little nurses? my MIL was a huge help & stayed a day past my FIL just to help us out. sorry if that xray grosses anyone out. cuz it grosses me out.

now the girls play 'broken throat' & one makes some mechanical sounds with her hands over the other's neck & then they say "my throat's all fixed! yay!" & run off. it's odd.

feeling great now! yay!

pikes peak cog railway

i was so excited to finally go up pikes peak but was nervous about the drive. when the hills suggested taking the train, i was thrilled. it went slow enough & the windows are down the majority of the time so i didn't feel nauseous once. whoop whoop!

 every kid loves a good train ride :)

 the girls adore having their grandparents around.

 with an average 16% grade, we attempted to give the beans gum at the halfway house at 8,913 feet.

despite all 4 adults in the midst of explaining the concept of gum, they both swallowed it pretty promptly. :/ guess i should have been giving them gum before...

the views were unbelievable. it was incredible to be on the mountain after staring at it everyday for 6 months.

 as you reach the timber line, the scenery abruptly changes. it's pretty awesome.

...

 we were very prepared with coats & jackets for everyone but it didn't end up being as cold as we thought it would be.

 ...

 ...

 did you know america the beautiful was written about pikes peak? purple mountain majesties.

 at the top! 14,110 feet elevation!

ellery fell fast asleep just before we reached the summit & cossette literally could not walk straight at the top. haha i kept thinking she was just being goofy but she really couldn't do it. 

 the hills!

 top of the world :)

 ...

 goodbye peak! until next time!

the hills come to cedarville!

we were excited for brian & renée to come see our new house & check out co springs! we went to a bbq, delivered all of austin's childhood/mission boxes (yearbooks were so fun for me to go through!), austin & his parents went golfing at the club, we sang happy birthday to pop-pop with a candle in his cinammon roll, went to a late night movie in the park, & showed them our fun little house.  glad they could make the trip out-

grand junction, co

it's been exactly 5 years since austin & i have been to visit all our family in grand junction. so we made the trip worth it & really did it up right.

 the drive was beyond magnificent but i was siiiiiick winding through those mountain roads. blek.

we had tons to do & keep busy with. there were some impromptu additions & none of us knew it would turn in to this mini reunion of sorts. makes me wish we'd planned just a little more & really gotten the whole group together. :)

that first morning we went on a quick, easy hike with sam & becki & their cute bristol. my girlies sure remembered bristol & had so much fun with her all weekend.

okay now don't think i'm the worst mom ever but sam was showing ellery a cool cactus plant & cossette wanted to check it out & basically ran & fell into the spines. she had two good sized stickers in her hand & i may or may not have paused to get a picture of what was happening before removing it. i know, i know, whatiswrongwithme. i promise i consoled the poor thing after.

that first day we water gun attacked each car load as they showed up at my auntie camille's. no one was safe.

on saturday the boys all went golfing in the morning while another group hiked & another slept in. guess which one i was. then we got out a gigantic makeshift slip-n-slide out of painter's plastic & we all went to town! we were nice & let the kidlets go first...

before it all hit the fan with the adult relays. stephanie posted some choice vids on facebook. it was seriously a blast!

then off to aunt connie's for a swim & bbq. where a certain couple *cough* austin & me *cough* slaughtered the competition at the corn shucking contest. i do love my idaho man. he clinched it for us.

i love my family & enjoy spending time with my cousins as much as possible. my uncles & aunts open up their houses & feed us all & are awesome sports to all the chaos we bring. hopefully sometime soon-ish we can organize a great family reunion.

the highlight of the trip for me was seeing my grandma joycie & grandpa sam. they are about the most wonderful people you'll ever know & make every effort to be at as many events as possible. due to some health/mobility issues & us living across the country for a stint, this was their first time meeting our cossette. she adored them & ellery talked about gramvi's mommy half the ride home. :) i love them so so much.

hope we get out to GJ yearly now that we are fellow coloradans!!

annie amelia!!

on 8/10/12 we added our first scrumptious hill niece!! 

we heart you little annie amelia.

 we love her heaps & are trying to figure out how to see this sweet bundle asap.

big brother jack is ecstatic ;)

big kid helpers

washing daddy's car, "scrubbing" toilets, helping cook, cleaning/organizing the toy room by themselves, both kids potty trained! (been changing diapers for 3.5 years & 6 months of that with 2 in diapers. a lot have it much worse but i'm still excited/) , sweeping their lunch messes... i'm enjoying this big kid business :)

2 & 3 1/2

sometimes i like to just take my girls out & shoot pics of their cute little mugs.

so when one has a birthday i get a great excuse to go out...

& then of course i have to take sister shots...

& then have to dress up my 3 and a half year old in her tutu, cowgirl hat, & some borrowed boots...

but you can't tell me it's not kinda fun. ;)