look who turned one!

My brother's sweet family is so great - and their little guy just celebrated his first year of life!

We couldn't be there to party with them, but I know they did it up right with other family and friends... oh yeah, and also a really cool photo shoot! Check out this cute little man:

http://www.sidneymorganblog.com/?p=5155

my soccer stars

Our soccer season is coming to an end next week, 

and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching these two play!

Hamp had good fun on his 7-9 year old team.

He had many great plays and one really spectacular goal.

What made me most proud was watching him grow as a team player - he passed the ball! - and a smart player - he knew when to kick it out of bounds! - and most of all, an empathetic player - he cheered on his other team members and even stopped to help an opposing team member when they were hurt!

His favorite part was playing goalie - just like his Uncles Taylor & Alec!

He said he would be a brick wall.

And he was...

... right up until the ball hit that brick wall right smack in the face!!!!!

about half a second after impact!

No black eye, no bloody nose, and a little less confidence in the goal - but he got right back in the game!

Then there was Sam on his 5-6 year old team.

He played hard, ran fast and always celebrated with lots of cartwheels!

What a fun way to spend evenings in September...
the boys loved playing, and we loved to cheer them on!

fall... so far

Gabe and I took a long hike yesterday.

We just needed to get out. There are these fantastic new trails just above town that we walk every morning... but I wanted to try to finally take the path to the very top of the mountain. The Autumn colors are starting to come out and the temps are starting to cool off just a bit. So we took advantage of a nice afternoon and spent it on the trail.

"you comin', Mom?"

The first couple of weeks of school and getting back into the routine have been quite an adjustment... I guess I didn't realize just how lazy our summer had gotten right there at the end! School wears the boys out anyway, but then there is soccer every night, play rehearsal, piano lesson, football games, open house, tumbling lesson, homework - and that's just the boys!

So it didn't come as much of a surprise when everyone in the house was sick this weekend (head cold). I think it all caught up with us - so we wisely used the couple of days to just rest.

Except, of course when Gabe and I snuck out for a hike!

at the top!

a day of firsts!

The boys had their first day of the new school year on Tuesday this week, after a long, lazy and fun-filled summer break! They were so ready to get back to school - and so excited to start a new grade! (Kinder and 3rd to be exact.) Their enthusiasm for school had them up bright and early - and dressed and ready for a nice first-day-of-school picture!

Once at school, we managed to take a second for a picture with the principal!!!

The day was apparently fine (although I don't ever get a whole lot of detail out of either of them!) but my favorite part was the afternoon of the first day of school...

the boys' enthusiasm rolled nicely into some quiet reading time for them both.

(and I didn't even have to ask twice!)

Then Sam had his first ever piano lesson!

He enjoyed it and got right to practicing when he got home...

And finally, later that evening Hamp had his first soccer game of the season!

He was so excited to be able to play goalie - and had a great game overall. 

So between school drop-off, school pick-up, piano lessons and soccer practice - it's going to be a busy fall! But we're all glad to be back in the routine and looking forward to lots of fun and hopefully a little success in all we do...

Ouray

We were so fortunate to spend the long holiday weekend before school started with great friends in a beautiful town! Ouray, Colorado is a gorgeous mountain town stuck in a little valley in the San Juan Mountain Range. We spent a weekend camping there last year, and fell in love!

This year our dear friends invited us to join them in their cabin - even better!

The boys had their friends to adventure with, a lake to fish in, and Gabe could come play, too!

We spent the better part of two mornings drinking coffee on the front porch - waiting for the moon to set over the mountains, watching wild turkeys wander into the yard only to be chased away merrily by the dog, and listening to the kids laugh and laugh as they built forts and hiked off into the woods! We even made it into town a bit to have lunch, shop a little, and spend a few hours in the hot springs pool!

What a great way to end the summer... now we're really ready for fall!