Sophie goes to School

Just after Labor Day, my "baby" started school! It is so weird having three kids in school! Sophie is going to Smarty Pants Preschool this year with Miss Jenn, (a.k.a. my sister Jenn). She is absolutely loving going to school. She goes two mornings a week.

Here she is on her very first day. She was so excited, I am surprised that she even stood still for any pictures. She was SO FUNNY that first morning. Tyler and I joked that only dogs could hear her talking, because she would get excited and start talking really fast in this REALLY high pitched voice. It was like she was on fast forward all morning.
She was SO excited to wear her new dress to school.

And she was even more excited about taking her new backpack to school with her!

And off she goes!! She doesn't need us anymore!

And here are her dear cousins, and classmates. Do you think they learn how to spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E in the three year-old class??

Party Like a Rock Star!

On August 30th our "little man" turned nine! In keeping with his love of all things Jonas, we threw him a Jonas Brothers birthday party.

Of course, a party for Hunter included a lot of sporting equipment!

The highlight of the party was Hunter's new golfclubs from his awesome parents! ;) He has been asking us for his own set of clubs since he had a golf unit in PE early this year. As you can see, he was pretty excited!

No rock star party would be complete without an electric guitar birthday cake. (I made it myself! I know you don't believe it, but it's true!)

We are very proud of the young man that Hunter is becoming. We, of course, have our struggles, but for the most part Hunter is a great kid. I feel very fortunate that he was my first, and I often tell him that I know that Heavenly Father sent him to us first for a very special reason. I know he is here to pave the way for his sisters, and I appreciate the example that he sets for them. Hunter is so bright, I know there are great things in store for him.

We've got talent!!

At least the kids do, that is! At the end of August our ward's primary sponsored a talent show for all of the primary age children. I was very proud that my kids both wanted to be a part of it!

Lily and cousin Tori performed the song "Popular" from the musical Wicked. In my totally unbiased opinion, they were spectacular! They sang and danced their little hearts out, and they did it all with smiles on their darling little faces.

Hunter opted to be a "Jonas Brother" again, this time performing "That's Just the Way We Roll". He jumped and sang and strummed his "guitar" like a rock star!

Hunter enjoyed his rock star status immensely. A lot of the little kids enjoyed the performance as well! I felt a tad guilty that his song resulted in small children running and jumping all over the gym with reckless abandon, but they sure had a good time. At least they didn't start a mosh pit! ;)

First Day of School

The end of August of course brought with it back to school time. This year, I actually wasn't really ready to send the kids back yet, but back they went.

Lily is a first grader this year. Her teacher's name is Carla Dougherty. Hunter had her for first grade also, and we absolutely love her! Lily was very tired the first few weeks. but she has adjusted well to being at school all day. She is also thrilled that she gets to go to P.E., music, and art this year.
Hunter is a fourth grader this year, and is in Karin Alfonson's class. I think she is going to be good for him, helping him get organized and keeping him challenged. Hunter is still an avid reader. He is looking forward playing imtermural sports this year, and has been selected to be a tutor in a program called "Reading Together".

Sophie handled the first day of school a little bit better than she did last year!

Lily and cousin Tori, who started kindergarten this year

We are looking forward to a great year!!

HKM Family Reunion

Aren't we a good lookin' group??

The weekend before school started, we gathered up the Monson Clan for a family reunion. Tyler's youngest brother Trent returned in July from a mission in Puerto Rico, so it was the first time in two years we were all together. We had SO MUCH FUN! We went to a Rockies game on Friday night all together in our matching shirts. (It was pretty funny. Some lady behind us asked if we were a day care center. RIGHT! On a Friday night! It totally cracked me up! Like three kids per family is SO many!)

Saturday morning, all of the adults got to go to a session at the temple together. (Except for my BIL Brian, who wasn't able to join us for the reunion.) What an awesome opportunity that was! It's like getting a little tiny glimpse of what it will be like when we are all together after this earthly life. We spent Saturday afternoon picnicing at the Aurora Reservoir. Saturday night was the highlight of the weekend, the family talent show. (I call it the family spectacle!!) I am hoping to get some pictures of that, but apparently I forgot how to use a camera that weekend, so this is it for now. (On that same note, if you are a Monson and are reading this, could you email me some pics from the reunion?)

On Sunday we all went to church together, and then had a family dinner, family home evening, and a presentation from Trent about his mission. It was a wonderful weekend that went by all too fast.

Adventure!!

In August, we got one more chance to ride to the mountains with Tyler. We visited the Glenwood Springs Adventure Park while we were there. We went there for the first time two summers ago, and the kids had been begging us to take them back. We stopped in Glenwood Springs for some ice cream and found some passes at the visitors center to ride the gondola to the Adventure Park for free. So, off we went and the kids got their wish!

Riding the Gondola is Sophie's absolute FAVORITE part!

The views once you get to the top are amazing

Lily took a turn on the bungee tramp, and she was FLYING!!

Lily and Hunter also went for a ride on the mechanical bull. Too funny!

We have sure grown to love summer in the mountains! We have found a lot of beautiful and fun places to spend time, in bigger cities and in tiny towns. If you ever need a mountain tour guide, just let us know!

A different kind of Summer

This year, we had a different kind of summer than we have ever had before. The kind where naptime is flexible, (if not nonexistant), there are no diapers or a diaper bag, and everyone can walk all by themselves. The kind of summer where you feel like doing something, and then you do it just because you can! It was so much fun to just load up and go, we ran ourselves ragged this year! It was great!

One of our favorite places to venture this summer was the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. (It's air conditioned!) There is so much to do there we can never get to it all in one day.

We especially enjoyed the new permanent exhibit "Expedition Health". If you haven't seen it yet, you should! My little scientists got to conduct their own experiment.

Hunter and Lily using their balance to "cross the river".

Another one of our adventures this summer took us to the Botanic Gardens. We were there on a free day, so it was a zoo! I had only been to the Botanic Gardens once for a wedding, so this was a treat for me too. We could have spent the entire day wandering the MANY different gardens.

The kids especially liked the Japanese Tea Garden.

We were there for the "Jurassic Gardens" exhibit

And of course, Lily was in a flower garden where she belonged. We took a lot of pictures of Lily with lilies.

Water lilies

Day lilies

Our day in the sunny gardens was enough to exhaust even my most stout hearted little adventurer!!

Casa Bonita

Ah, Casa Bonita. I hadn't been to Casa Bonita since I was a teenager, but on the last day the Monson reunion ended we met up at "North America's Largest Restaurant" for crappy food and lots of fun!

Here is Lil again, always muggin'

She really is smiling, I swear! It just looks like she is being tortured.

Look at that handsome face!

All kidding aside, we had a really good time. The kids had never been to the "Pretty House", and they couldn't have had more fun! The food was mediocre, the soapapillas were awesome, and the ambience couldn't be beat! Even Sophie ventured into Black Bart's Cave, (only once though!), and Lily got picked to help break the pinata. We watched the cliff divers and the mariachi band. If you haven't ventured to Casa Bonita yet, you really should try it. (Just once might do it!)

More Summer Fun!

The Monday following the fourth, we headed to the Estes Park to spend the afternoon at the Monson family reunion. On the way, we stopped in Boulder to wander the Pearl Street Mall. I haven't been there in a long time, and it was a lot of fun!

We found a spot with movie theatre seats to sit in at the candy store. What did we watch? Willie Wonka, of course! This candy shop was seriously the coolest. They had all kinds of candy that I haven't seen in years. I felt like a kid again! We came home with Cherry Mash, Idaho Spuds, strawberry Charleston Chew, Beeman's gum, and of course, a Wonka Bar.

Here we are at the YMCA in Estes Park with Nana and Papa Monson

And here we are with Aunt Tonya. I love that we are surrounded by beautiful scenery and we are standing on asphalt in front of a building and a car. No one over said I was a photographer!

Here is the reason for the reunion, and one of the coolest people you will ever meet. This is Tyler's ninety-five year-old Grandma Monson. She is "famous" for her silly glasses. Oh, and her maiden name is Campbell. Get it?

Fourth of July!

Well, I have finally blogged my way through June and into July. We had the good fortune of having Tyler's parents and sister Tonya join us for the weekend of the fourth this year. We also tried a new fourth of July celebration this year: soccer. All the Monsons got together and celebrated the fourth at Dick's Sporting Goods Park to watch the Colorado Rapids play the Chicago Fire.

My SIL Tonya knows one of the players on the Fire, so we were actually cheering for Chicago this time. (It felt SO weird to sit in the stands and not cheer for the Colorado team! I am a native and a sports fan you know!) There was a little festival with activities in the parking lot before the game. The kids got to make necklaces and get their faces painted, and they scored some flags and footballs and soccer balls. We love the free stuff!
At half time, there was a mascot soccer game that was pretty hilarious. A lot of the local mascots were in attendance, including mascots from CU, CSU, and the AFA. Also in the background you might be able to spot that world famous mascot - the moose from the Smiling Moose Deli.

Once the game was over, we donned our glowing jewelry and waited anxiously for the fireworks to begin.

And once they did begin, we waited some more. They were experiencing some technical difficulties with the fireworks and the music, and the show was pretty much a dud. However, we still had a lot of fun together. Plus, we got to go back to another Rapids game three weeks later, free of charge, and see the fireworks we were supposed to see the first time around.

All in all, a happy fourth of July!