Finish strong...

Pioneer's Medical Center Fundraiser dinner with friends!

The last 6 weeks have been a flurry of activity... wrapping up the school year with all kinds of events and fun dates with friends! Hamp & Sam have made me incredibly proud with their achievements this year. First, Sam had an excellent trombone performance at the end-of-year band concert. Then, both boys were honored at their respective awards assemblies... Sam received an English award for writing with compassion, and Hamp received an award for being a 3-sport athlete. Both boys were commended for having perfect attendance this year, too! In between all the recognition we shared some fun days... including a visit from the Easter bunny for a scavenger hunt (and subsequent candy sorting!), a day at Elitch Gardens in Denver for a band & choir music festival, and I even snuck away for a Mothers' Day morning paddle on the lake! But we all agree that the best way to get through the end of the school year is with a visit from Yaya! She made it to Meeker for a weekend and got to see Sam in Pippin, visit with Hamp and his friends, and even enjoy a Mothers' Day dinner together!



Perfect Attendance awards!!!

Easter egg hunt in the cold Colorado spring!

(all worth it when the Easter Bunny brings candy and dollars!)

my three sweet boys on Easter!

Mother's Day on the lake!

the face of fun.... Sam loved the rides!

the choir accompanist and band director enjoy the park, too!

the boys and their Yaya!!!

PIPPIN!

Last weekend Meeker HS put on a stunning production of the Tony award winning 1972 Broadway musical Pippin.

I know, I had only barely heard of it, too.... but turns out it's a spectacular show with a circus theme including fun stunts, exciting costumes and of course some great music.

Anyway, our dear friend is the director and knew Sam could not only add some fun acrobatics to the circus, but also asked him to play the part of Theo, a small boy in the show who befriends Pippin (the main character) and ends up joining the circus at the end of the show! He was perfect for the role and he absolutely LOVED being a part of the high school production.

Scroll through for photos that show a little of what the amazing set and costumes looked like... and if you need more, there is a 6 minute video compilation of Sam's performance!

JV baseball

And just like that.... baseball season is over.

It was so wonderful seeing Hamp don a Meeker Cowboy jersey (#12) this year... he played (mostly) outfield and (once!) 1st base for the Junior Varsity team and had a few good at-bats, too.

But most importantly, he spent the better part of ten weeks playing catch and hanging out in the dugout with some of his favorite people....

The team did not have a winning record this season.... but that didn't seem to dampen their spirits too much (at least for the freshmen!) I know they will look forward to several more years on the field together. I certainly will!!!

Spring in Meeker

This is what we woke up to on April 13th:


Not entirely unusual for mid-spring, but pretty crazy none-the-less.
It was exciting for a day and created only minor shovel work... weird to think that just a week earlier we were at the golf course for open house and some putting practice! (and a little sibling rivalry, or course)





By now it is mostly green grass and rain showers and daffodils are up!
It's also baseball everyday and windows open until dark...
Gotta love spring in Meeker!

Spring Break

This year, we broke from tradition slightly and instead of heading south for the Mexican beaches, we veered more to the southwest and rented a cool little cabana in Carlsbad just blocks from the California coast. This allowed us to visit Alec & co. in Murrieta and Mojo & Dado, who are enjoying their 3rd winter as SoCal snowbirds! The drive is long (14 hrs!) and unless you plan for side trips to Moab or Las Vegas, it's a straight, boring shot with miles and miles of interstate for Hamp to work on his driving stamina! But the trek is always totally worth it when we get to spend time with family and enjoy the warm and sunny Southern California climate....

While most of the days were spent digging & building sand castles.... 

... these 2 Colorado boys definitely found time to get in the ocean!
The Pacific was freezing, but it didn't stop them from catching a few waves.

It should be noted that we brought the favorite family member with us on this trip - and Gabe was a great beach buddy! Dogs weren't really allowed on the public beach though, so most of his time was spent walking the boardwalk and meeting people and making friends! He was a big hit all over town and I'm just glad he didn't have to stay back and be lonely.

It was a quick trip - there & back in only 6 days - but we soaked up as much quality family time as we did sunshine.

We loved the sand, the surf, the simplicity of being on vacation and of course - the west coast sunsets!

Winter fun

Another great season of playing in the snow is in the books!
We managed to squeeze in half a dozen ski days at Sunlight this winter - not too shabby given both boys' basketball schedules and my overall exhaustion level. While a couple of those days were just the three of us, the best part is always skiing with friends!

a whole gaggle of Meeker boys on the mountain!

My favorite part of ski days at Sunlight?
Blue skies, fresh groomers, and a bloody mary on the deck!



When we weren't hauling off to the ski mountain, we managed to get up into the forest and play in the snow. A seasonal standard is the Marvine trail that ends at the yurt, a community snow hut and perfect snow shoe destination! While taking the whole crew is always fun, sometimes we enjoyed a hike up with just the mommas & the dogs!

my favorite snow shoeing partner!

My favorite part of hiking up Marvine?
Blue skies, fresh tracks, and champagne in the snow!



As much as I truly love my winter fun in the snow....
I am really starting to look forward to warmer weather!