Jake's 6th Birthday!!! (Plus 2 other new posts today!...Keep scrolling down)

Happy 6th Birthday, Big Man! (Ever showing off his 2 new "adult" teeth when he smiles!)
Jake needs 2 hands to show his age now! Woweee, that's old!

He got them all blown out on the 1st shot!

Boxing...yes, BOXING on his new Wii. (It's his favorite game as of right now!...a close 2nd: skiing!)

A future Golden Gloves Boxer like his Pop?

Jake and Tye rode in the very FRONT of the roller coaster with a new found friend! Mom and even Josslyn sat close by...right behind them!Tye of course, LOVED the cars.

At the amusement park Jake said time and time again, "This is the best day of my whole life!"

Josslyn drove daddy in the car! Too funny!

It was AMAZING to be at an amusement park with my kids...it was the most fun ever!

Everyone was all smiles, all day!

Even little Miss got to ride every single ride (some required an adult).

Jake took Joss on the Spinners since mom was a little dizzy after riding the Tilt-a-Whirrle with the birthday boy 5 times in a row!

We stopped a few times for some good old Carnival food...Funnel Cake, Chili Dogs, Nuggets and Fries. Yummmmmm!

Joss was such a trooper...she rode with strangers and on some seriously scary rides without ever shedding a single tear! After the Pirate Ship ride, daddy even threw up but not little Miss!!!

Jake was so sweet ti take his sis on the "baby rides"...he even admitted to enjoying them himself! :)

We went to the magic show and Jake got to go on stage to perform a trick with the magician! Both boys were totally into the show...aren't they getting big? And Josslyn of course, love the giant white rabbit at the end of the show!

One more time on the beloved cars!

Opening some more presents at home with Grammy Gail.

It's a Wii!

And a Transformer helmet thing.

Yikes...Jake loves the rather loud microphone on it!

And Joss got into the birthday spirit wearing the ribbons in her hair and singing "Happy Birthday" to Jake over and over throughout the day! It was surely a day for us ALL to remember forever.

My School

Here are a couple pictures of the school that I will begin teaching at in mid-August. I am SO excited to get back into the world of education. Jake, Tye and Josslyn will all be in school this year at least part-time so that will make the transition of mommy going back to work after 6 years, much easier on us all...well, especially ME! (My classroom is the wondow right above the "P" in the Platte Canyon High School sign.) The view coming up the stairs to my classroom...the Platte River runs right below. And nearly the entire East wall of the school is made up of these view windows.
The Canyon room, where students eat lunch is the most exquisit "cafeteria" I've ever seen!

With live plants, panoramic views and a couble sided fireplace!

Thankfully, the school seems to have much more than great asthetics! The principal is incredible and they seem to have the students' best interest always at heart! More details to come. And pix of my classroom once I get it finished.

The Ueckers Visit!!

It was fantastic to have my ol' pal Nicole around for a few days and the kids were in heaven with Sage. We hadn't seen one another for over a year but from the moment the Uecker family arrived, it was like we'd never been apart. WONDERFUL!

Even Dr. Uecker made time to kick back and relax! Here's some of the gang laying low in Breckenridge.

Awwww...how sweet, you two!

The future Mr. and Mrs. Tysen Haddad???

Look how sweetly he gives her a flower...and look at her reaction! All while hand in hand!

Playing by the river.

I miss you SOOOO much already, Nicole!

We're Back on the Blog!!!!

We're back online...after over a month of computer trouble, we finally got a new one but then didn't have a good program to compress pictures to be able to upload onto the blog! We've been SOOOO busy with all of our summer visitors and activities. Here's just a bit of what you've missed without my weekly blogging:
It snowed the last week in MAY!

We all LOVE the snow! A few months and we're back to snowboard season!

For now, we're enjoying weather in the 70s and 80s!

Jake graduated from Kindergarten!

Josslyn: Mrs.Santa (she calls herself)

Auntie Erin came to visit! It was heavenly!!!

We took the RV to a spot where we could snowboard in JUNE! (That's Jake...yes, you have to hike up to ride down!!)

The guys built a jump to take it to the next level...big surprise! (That's Nick!)

The kids at the top of the peak...13,500ft elevation!

I got a hair cut...and color...and an offer to teach next school year at a FANTASTIC high school, AND I ACCEPTED! Yeah. Exciting!!!

Jake and Daddy...riding together on the peak!

Joss and Mommy!

Our friend, Anthony took the kids and I off roading in his jeep! He even took off the doors so the kids could get wet and muddy! SOOOOO fun!

Some say we look alike now, with my new (actually my "real" color) hairdo! Score!

Enjoying their favorite morning drinks together in the RV!

Joss flashes a smile to get me to cut her favorite food.

This weekend, we camped at the lake: here's the view from the RV window! Beauty. (Breck, now 6 months old, jumped into the lake and swam for nearly 1 hr without hitting land!!! Crazy dog!)

Jake and Tye: Enjoying fireworks. Joss fell asleep in the RV and missed all the nighttime fun. Although, we went to a carnival in the afternoon...she won a blue ribbon for hoolahooping and the boys won TONs of ribbons for the many races they ran!

Sparkers! And Dave set off tons of great ground fireworks so our group had our own personal show after the town fireworks!

Family hikes have become a favorite pasttime in our household!

Our first canoe trip! Thanks for the canoe Charlotte and Mark!

Practicing paddling before we head out onto the lake!

Tye is SUCH an amazing boy!

Best friends (and enemies) braving the crawfish shore together!

The princess felt better sitting on the floor of the canoe instead of the seat!

Getting ready to set out!

What a 3-some! They are such angels.

The boys learned to ride 2 wheel bikes this spring, and tie their shoes, whistle, snap AND Jake lost a tooth!

Now they build jumps and pop wheelies. Tye is the risk taker...keep your eye on him! :)

We've been riding the quads lots and the boys have even gotten to ride a dirtbike.

A MOON in the forest! Little Josslyn is always losing her pants...those are 12mo old pants just for the record...also...she dresses herself so don't hold her wardrobe against me!

Mud Man!

A mud war!

3 kids who LOVE the mud!

Even the princess loves the mud!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

More camping!

Lots of fish have been caught this summer...

...by thrilled boys!

And we've had such amazing, lasting memories together.

I mean tons of yummy fish! Thank goodness our kids each anything!!

They found the "honeyhole!"

A family quad ride in Pike National Forest.

The kids are such troopers when we're camping, quadding, hiking, fishing, etc....Jake even carries Josslyn out of the water when she's had enough! And, Tye kills bugs for her (since she LOATHS all insects).

The water at this campsite was the prefect depth for the kids.

All smiles in the icecold water!