1000 Words

 1000 Words

The Pool

 When we were in Vail, we spent a LOT of time in the pool!

It was glorious!

Catching Up

 I'm not sure where to start in order to catch up what has been going on in life... so I'm going to just share some info, and it might not be in chronological order.

With the advice of our realtor, Hubby and I made the decision to try to get our home on the market by June 15... I'm trying to remember the details... I think we made that decision just before Memorial day.  So we had about 3 weeks to try to prepare our house.

It has been CRAZY!

Hubby and I have been working like crazy, putting the kids to work as much as possible, hiring some middle schoolers a few times to help with the kids, and pack closets and cupboards.

We found a painter who agreed to paint the entire inside of the house before we listed... and most of the painting time coincided with our time away in Vail.

Our house is now officially for sale and we get to figure out the world of showings... praying that it goes under contract quickly and we don't have to prepare for showings too many times.

Tracey and Howard are playing softball (well, Howard is t-ball, and Tracey is coach-pitch) with practices and/or games two nights/week.  Tracey and Caroline are doing cheerleading, which practices two afternoons a week, and Tracey, Howard, Caroline, and Lee Lee are in two back-to-back sessions of swim classes at the local pool.

We have been running around like crazy.

So, with that said, I'll include a few pictures from our time in Vail -- the girls DESPERATELY wanted me to take them to the SPA.  We had to wait until Daddy and Grammie and Papa were available to watch Howard and the little boys, but then they were able to enjoy the ladies hot tub, the room for relaxing, and the fancy shower with 5 heads.  Then, I dried and curled their hair, and put some fancy products in their hair, and let them put on lipstick.  It was very special to enjoy time with them, just the girls.

1000 Words

 1000 Words

Welcome Summer!

 Summer started for us when we left the craziness of selling our house in Rifle... and arrived in VAIL for a long weekend of fun!

Within two hours of arrival, the kiddos made sure we were in the pool.

Platinum

 I haven't shared much of what's going on here because when I get in bed at night, I'm ready to go to sleep.  I pick a quick, cute picture to share, get it posted and hit the hay.

Tonight is the same... I'm not going to go into the details of ALL we have happening right now, but we're juggling a lot.

That said, I do plan to take at least a minute today to remember my big sis, Tracey Lee because today marks the 20 year anniversary of the day she went to heaven.

I looked it up, and the 20th anniversary name is China and the modern gift associated with it is platinum.

I'm glad my sis is in a place where material things do not matter and have no value... but I also like the idea of her getting something special - maybe a piece of platinum jewelry marking the completion of her 20th year in paradise.

I miss you, Trace.

Just Fun

 Words really fall short in describing how much fun we had in Vail last weekend.  It is my favorite place in the world, with my favorite people in the world and we just got to take a minute to breathe together, and laugh together, and press pause on life together for a few days.

I can't wait to go back, but until that time, I am going to think back on last weekend frequently.

As a mom, I always love my children, and I often tell them that they are my favorite people, and adventures with them are my favorite things to do... but I'm still the mom.  I am constantly worried, constantly watching, constantly planning, constantly anticipating.  I love adventures with my children, but they can be incredibly stressful depending on where we are and how many outside factors I am trying to mitigate.

Our time in Vail was just FUN.

It wasn't the busy season up there, so there were less people and with that, less worry.  The weather was cool, but beautiful, which means everyone stayed warm in a jacket or sweatshirt without the need for hats and mittens.  I still worried, I still had to anticipate needs, and I was still constantly watching, but there was enough comfort in the setting that I just got to relax and have FUN with my family instead of stress with my family.

Here are some pictures of our wonderful weekend getaway: