ski day 4

Another beautiful day at the mountain... but then again, what makes a great ski day even better?

FRIENDS!

They ride the lift with you...

(they would ski with you, if you slowed down long enough to let them!)

... and they play with you!
We had such a fun time skiing with all our friends - even the grown-ups got some fun ski time in, too! (not that there are any pictures of that...)

silliness

a little fun before bedtime!

Happy Wednesday!

SCUBA!

Well, mom & dad were off for a little of their own adventure again this past weekend... and it was great! J and I are now officially SCUBA certified!

We were so excited that there was a certification class being offered in Meeker - so last weekend we started all our instruction in the pool, and this weekend we finished up with four open-water dives. How crazy is it that we went to Midway, Utah in January in the middle of winter with several feet of snow on the ground and jumped into 92 degree water with nothing but a swimsuit and a tank of air!

Here we are outside the Crater before our first dive:

and here we are ready for some more underwater fun!

Consequently, Hamp and Sam also had a great weekend staying with their best friends all weekend, going swimming, snowmobiling, sledding, and playing! Fun for everyone around...

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Sweetness!

We celebrated all day - with gifts, friends, going out to lunch and lots of playtime! Sam helped me bake his cake (vanilla!) and blow up balloons... and all he really wanted for his birthday was for someone to sing "Happy Birthday" to him so he could blow out candles! His wish came true - and so did mine! I love my sweet, sweet Sam.

moose

I often marvel at how fortunate the boys are to have some of the adventures they do... and yesterday was one of the more unique experiences any of us has ever had!

We drove about an hour up into the mountains and watched as our friends with the Division of Wildlife released 6 moose into the National Forest. As I understand it, last year there were several moose relocated from Utah to our neck of the woods. What we got to see was the relocation of several more from another part of Colorado - and that is the end of the project. From here on out I suppose the hope is for the two groups to meet, form a nice happy Western Colorado moose family and thrive right here in our backyard...

There were lots of kids there - either children of DOW officers or their friends... Hamp was equally enthralled with the wild animals and the number of fellow 6-year olds to play with!
Sam was somewhat unsure of the whole event!


Three DOW trailers with moose back into the trailhead...

... and here is one of the bulls...

... and one of the cows...

... and a cow and her calf running off into there new home!

Happy Birthday, Hamp!

Oh my gosh, I love this dude.

He is so funny, and so fun-loving. He crawled into my bed this morning at 6am (as he does most every morning!) and in my half-asleep state I thought to whisper "Happy Birthday" and he said, "Mom.... I'm six!" and then curled up next to me and laid quietly for another half an hour until he couldn't stand it anymore and had to go watch cartoons! (he knew it wasn't a school day!) He was pretty excited all day - and had a great day playing with friends, opening gifts and celebrating with his family!

spongebob squarepants