I LOVE MY SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My very best friend came to visit us all the way in CO Springs....THANK YOU SISTER!!! I never want the time to go so fast but it always seems to. Keila and I have our fun sister chats, catch up on gossip and just vent to each other. I could spend hours doing absolutely nothing and enjoy my time. Callan, her boyfriend came along also. He convinced us to play Laser Tag and we thought he was crazy until we actually played. Needless to say we loved it!

We also spent some time at Pueblo Reservoir, about an hour away from Colorado Springs. We were packed like sardines in Erik's Passat. Once we got there we were expecting a wonderful beach by the lake but again we were surprised with a dam leading to a river leading to a pond leading to the beach which was about the size of a 25 yard pool. We weren't going to let that get us down so we tanned and kicked the boys butt in swimmer =)

Then we went to the campsite and found out the amount of lumps were excessive in this area. I am pretty sure no one slept from either the uncomfortable ground or maybe the 95 degree weather. But still we were all smiling and having fun.

Ben and Erik playing some wiffle ball.

Keila and Callan then were graced with the wonderful Flea Market that my husband adores. If you weren't burnt already you were toast by now.

After all that we did some shopping and a few minutes of relaxing. It was worth every minute and I could never ask for a better sister. Love you Ke!

The Cutest Nephews in the Whole Wide World!!

Our wonderful family came to visit....All this business has put me behind on posting. We could not have been more excited to see them all! Ryan and Nick are growing like crazy. I swear every time we see Ryan he has about 25 more worlds/phrases to tell us. Such as "How do you like that Buddy." So funny! Nick is getting so big. He has surpassed Ryan at that age by quite a bit. We spent time shopping and just hanging out at the house. Here are a few fun things we did.

Ben, Matt and Ryan flew the airplane outside. Ryan was a big helper to Uncle Ben.

Nick and Cassie had some quality time after bath time. He was nice and cheery.

Our cute nephews. Life is so wonderful!

Quick Trip to Rapid

Our July Fourth was quite fun and very memorable. It was a super quick trip to Rapid but we got to see the family and spend time with our friends. We first went to Augostora for a nice picnic on the beach. Matt, Ben's brother, brought their jet ski and tube up so not only did we have fun but Ryan, our nephew did too. Jenny's (Erik, Ben's best friend, sister) wedding was beautiful and she had perfect weather. Here are a few of the quick but wonderful memories.

Eleven Miles of FUN times!

Ben and I love the outdoors...Truly every minute of it. Our favorite activity is going to different rivers and lakes. We had heard alot of Eleven Mile and decided to go on a day trip to the area.

Sounds simple right...Well not only did we take the longest and worst route possible we then found out you pay to go to the lake and then you pay to go to the river (Eleven Mile Canyon) that feeds the lake. Now if that is not obsurd I am not sure what else is. Either way, we enjoyed ourselves.

The little boat fit in the back of Ben's truck so all we had to do is throw it in the water. As we were fishing at the lake (and no Ben did not catch anything, haha) it began pouring. I actually had alot of fun, it just made us laugh even harder.

It finally stopped and that is when we went to the Canyon (and yes finally did catch something). It was a beautiful day none the less and we had tons of fun.

Theater Intrigue

How I love my husband! I am not sure I can say it enough especially watching him work physically and mentally. That motor in his head it always working.

We started about a week ago on painting the basement. At first, faux finish seemed the way to go, just to upgrade the walls a bit. That wouldn't horribly wrong and we went back to the color we love...green. The two places in our home that are green are the bedroom and now the theater. Most likely the best two places in the home. We are planning to stain today. We planned on going fishing but I think the wind would blow us into WY. Here are the most recent pictures of the basement. Ben is down there working right now so in about 30 seconds I will need to up date them again. =)

Wonderful Honey being a smart engineer!

You can see above the stained part how bad the faux finish was. The guy at Lowe's was way off!

Yep, me working hard. We ended up using this as our primer for the next green.

We got our french doors!

Look at all that wiring work. Plus the four outlets!

The green doesn't look quite right. It is a mossy green. I think it will look really nice. We bought our velvet curtains from Target and that will look really nice. I just cant even wait!!!

Guess what....bad news. Lowe's just called and said the carpet is back ordered and now wont be in until the 21st. What a huge bummer!!

Perennial and Annual Satisfaction!!

MY FLOWERS CAME BACK!!!!!!!!!

I know this seems just simple and foolish but Wow the satisfaction is wonderful!!! I had little to no knowledge about plants, bushes, trees, flowers, basically anything that grows outside and yet I still managed to have a few things come back this summer. I would be lying if I said everything lived but I am happy with majority. Here are a few pictures of my favorites.

Summer Fun...Finally!

Ben and I took a wonderful break from all the hussle and bussle of home improvements and enjoyed some beautiful weather this weekend. Erik, Ben's good friend from high school, came up from Fort Collins and toured around with us. You know Ben and his model airplanes. Denver hosts a Warbirds Over The Rockies where people from around CO come and show off there airplanes. They have model jet airplanes that look and even smell like the real thing. Ben said they range from $10,000-$15,000!!!!!! WOW, I already told him it is a know on building that. I guess they actually run on jet fuel....The things you learn! We also had some relaxing time dancing and sitting by the fire. What a nice break.

(Erik and I were bored and making fun of Ben on the phone while Ben was trying to wish his dad a Happy Father's Day)

Happy Birthday Ryan and Welcome Baby Nicholas

How amazing! Ryan is getting so big and baby Nick is so beautiful. They are both a little bundle of miracles. Uncle Ben and Aunt Cassie always love spending time with our nephews. Ryan celebrated his third birthday with lots of fun, including some cake and Mountain Dew. He was loving life. Like his mom says, birthdays only happen once a year. Here are some photos of our two trips to Rapid in May.

The trip was so much fun. We always love spending time with our families. We miss them every time we know we are going to go back to our home. If everyone would just move next door it would make it alot easier. We love you all so much!!!

Lighting!!

When you are looking at lighting you see all these wonderful, beautiful fixtures.....and then you see the price and your mouth drops to the floor. Ben and I shopped around (Lowe's and Home Depot, lol) and found some great deals on nice lighting. All the recessed lighting helps with the basement dungeon feel, as Ben and I call it.

The bathroom fixtures were all found at Lowe's and add so much light into a windowless bathroom.

The theater lighting was a splurge but fits so well we just couldn't pass it up.

Our Wonderful Basement...The Costs Never END!!!

This weekend was spent searching for the carpet and tile. I never realized the task this would. It started with simple and ended with complete confusion. We may have narrowed it down but coming to a consensus will be the hardest part. Here are a few pictures of the basement. I also add the carpet and tile choices. We'll keep you updated =)

As you can see, we have alot of samples! (Ben said we were going to use all of them to tile the bathroom...not quite!)

The paint is done, the doors are half way up and the casing/trim is just being started. My husband is so wonderful!