Delwyn's Birthday

Delwyn has always celebrated his birthday with Britta, and so he felt a little forlorn this year without her. He was very surprised when Dagny came in the house shouting, "Grandpa, it's your birthday!."

And she had a present for him!

Megan always thinks of the most original, unique gifts!! A ham bone and some lima beans! She made some soup one time and Delwyn absolutely loved it! She remembered that and gave him the ingredients to make it.

We are celebrating on Sunday and I made Delwyn a carrot cake, his favorite. The grandkids never want anything but ice cream for dessert. Silly girls don't know what they're missing! 

Silly Lincoln! He usually sits on the other side of the table from the girls. 

They didn't want to eat any cake, but they were very interested in helping Grandpa blow out candles.

You can't tell, but there are 5 candles on the cake. That's good because 59 might start the house on fire. Hope you made a good wish! With all this help, the candles all got blown out. Happy Birthday Delwyn and Grandpa! We love you!

Homecoming

Ryan asked Emma Blanchard to Homecoming with this giant sign at the bottom of the Castle Rock. She said "Yes!"

The group is meeting at the Perry's to exchanging flowers and take pictures. Emma did a fabulous job of getting the boutonniere pinned on. That can be tricky!

They look amazing!

A big group of kids! I'm glad Ryan has so many friends.

A lot of pictures because they are so cute and I couldn't pick which one I like best!

This boy is tall and handsome!

I'm a proud Mom!

These two girls are good friends and wanted a picture taken of them with their dates.

Having some fun with the photo shoot. 

Cool socks is now a thing for men and boys. Plain black is considered boring. Ryan is on the right looking at the picture straight on, bright orange with tacos!

These boys have started a band. Ryan is the drummer, Zack Atkinson sings, Moroni does guitar, and Abel Archuleta does bass. I have yet to hear them, but I bet they're pretty good!  They spend a lot of time practicing.

They wanted a serious picture, so here you go!

And then they started joking about a photo for an album cover and decided this was it!

These boys are having too much fun!

What a handsome bunch of guys!

Ryan, Zack Atkinson, Brendan Thorpe, Christian Townsend, Will VanLeuven,  Moroni, Tyler Olsen, and Abel Archuleta.

Emma's parents are hosting dinner at their house catered by Cafe Rio, then they're off to the dance! Have a fun night!

Homecoming Parade

Last year Douglas County High School brought back the homecoming parade after many years of not having one. It's been a long time because they didn't have one when my older kids were at DC. It was so much fun I wanted to go again this year. I pushed the kids in the stroller up to the Rec Center and we found a spot on the curb to watch. We could hear the band and the kids got excited even though we couldn't see anything yet. They were eagerly watching for a first glimpse of the parade.

The parade started at Castle Rock Elementary, so it was a bit of wait until we could see them coming.

The band was first.

They always sound so upbeat and cheerful, it makes you want to jive to the music.

I have a place in my heart for the percussion, and especially the drummers, even though Ryan isn't participating in band this year.

Dagny and Lincoln got excited about the horses from the FFA .

It's fun to see the elementary schools in this parade.  I bet they are excited to be a part of it.

The Mesa Middle School cheerleaders!

The homecoming theme was Greek, so there were lots of Gods, Godesses, and togas.

More future huskies! I bet the kids think it is fun to ride on a float and be in a parade.

And here's Ryan! He is really enjoying choir and I am glad is doing something musical.

Lots of school spirit going on here!

More Greek people.

The DC cheerleaders are the end of the parade. They were cheering and clapping to bring school spirit to all the spectators. It was a short parade, only lasting about 20 minutes, but we enjoyed every second. Go DC!

A September Hike

I've been wanting to hike a 14'er for a long time. Colorado has 54 mountain peaks that exceed 14,000 feet. That's more than any other state. The trails range from easier to very difficult. Most of the boys have hiked one or more as part of scouts.

Last summer at a swim meet, I found out that Angela Cowgill is a big hiker and has hiked several 14'ers with her son Brian, who is now on a mission in China. Her husband is on retired disability from PTSD as a policeman, so is he unable to hike. She has been going by herself since Brian is gone. I would love to go with her! I have had back issues all summer and have been going to physical therapy. I just had an x-ray and was diagnosed with moderate to severe arthritis in my lower back. I am seeing a specialist at the end of the month. I was really tempted to just take some pain pills and go do it, but decided I better not. What if I got part way up and then couldn't make it back down? I was very disappointed! I'll have to wait until next summer. The window for hiking is pretty small. The peaks are so high they get snow by the end of September, and I don't want to hike in the snow.

I told Angela if she went on any small hikes I would love to do that. So today we hiked Spruce Mountain Trail in Larkspur. It was about 5 miles and was so fun! This mountain reminds me of the Castle Rock.

The views were amazing and so pretty!

There are also a lot of rock formations.

Queen of the Mountain! It's beautiful up here!

My hiking buddy Angela.

We had fun crawling around the rocks. 

It was a great day! I love hiking and being out in nature. 

Claire Is Turning 7!

This cute girl is turning 7! Sherrie Chadderdon used to take Anna to get her nails done on her birthday and I thought it sounded like such a fun tradition! I wanted to do that too, and have been waiting and waiting to be able to do it. This is the year!

Claire picked a glittery purple at first. We had to wait a few minutes and she changed her mind to a glittery light pink. It's all about the glitter!

All done and drying!

Showing off her beautiful manicure! She was so excited to get her nails done in a salon! She sat still and was so patient! I think we've started a fun thing here.

Claire's birthday was on a Saturday this year. As soon as our nails were done, it was time for the party. Presents!! The best part!

At the Palmer reunion Denya and I were talking about how much Claire loved to be outside and Denya really wanted to get her a skip it for her birthday. It would be pretty hard to mail, so I got it for her and took it to the party. Claire is exited to try it out!

A microphone! I know she is going to love this!

A Shimmer and Shine doll!

Claire was pretty excited about this basket for her bike. It even lights up!

Claire had told me she wanted a Fingerling, so that's what we got for her. They are animal pets that cling to your fingers and respond to sound, motion, and touch. Her parents gave her one as well, so she'll have double the fun.

More presents!

Something big!

These girls love horses, so this is the perfect gift.

Making a wish,

and blowing out the candle!

Cupcakes are always tasty!

I was excited to see these party trumpets! Dagny has been talking about Claire's birthday all week and telling me needed to have party trumpets. Wal-Mart didn't have any and I didn't have a chance to look anywhere else.

Austin and Melissa had some, so all was good! They weren't the noisy kind, just the ones that blow out and then roll back up. Our ears were thankful.

I sure love these girl and I am so thankful they live close so we can share in the birthday fun. I am one lucky Grandma!

I wanted a picture of Claire and I with our nails. It took a little longer than I thought to get the manicures,and we had to head straight to the party, so I took a picture of our beautiful nails after we got back to their house.

Happy Birthday Claire! She loves to play outside, swim, ride her bike, and is a big help with Maddie. She writes great letters to Britta every Sunday and can read easy books. She loves candy and always wants a treat when she comes to Grandma house. We love you Claire!