Where to start...

I feel like I have completely let my blog go. I really need to get back on track. Our summer feels like it went by way to fast and time just got away from me. I think my life will start to slow down a bit. Oh wait... here comes Halloween, Ty's b-day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and so on and on and on....Life is just busy I guess.

Here is a brief re-cap of what has happened since my last post.

We all had our 6 mos. dental check up in August and Tyler had several cavities, I had 3 and Braden got away with none. It turns out they wanted to put Tyler completely out to have his teeth fixed. We scheduled his appointment for Oct. 6Th and I am so glad it is over. I had serious doubts about it and am just thankful it is done with. All he remembers is the doctor giving him a shot in the arm and the rest is history. My worry was that he would be afraid the dentist and never be able to go without having some fear set in. He was in the chair for about an hour and he had 3 fillings and one crown put on. He was so out of it when they came to get me and it lasted for about two hours after we left. It's times like these that really makes you realize how much you love your kiddos. He got his Daddy's teeth unfortunately....

In August we went to Yellow Stone for about 5 days and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We went with Braden's family and had a wonderful time. Braden and I hadn't been there in years and it was nice to go back and take our family.This is the crazy cat Man.. It was so strange, he was hanging out on a bench on a hike down to a waterfall. He tried to stick the cat on Tyler. Too funny....

In September we went to Capitol Reef for a weekend and again, had beautiful weather. We explored a slot canyon and took time to stop at the orchard and see some petroglyphs.

This past weekend I joined Braden for a work trip to Grand Junction and on our way home we stopped at Moab and took our buggy out for the first time. It was again good weather and we had a great time with friends. Tyler and Syd loved to play in all the red dirt and throw rocks. Tyler is at the age where he doesn't listen all that well and he loves to climb and get up close to all the cliff edges. Lets just say he gave me a heart attack a few times but all is well. Again, he is just like his father..

The Grand Junction History Museum.

This is our good friends who tipped over on Rocker Knocker. All they needed was a little help from Braden and a strap to pull them back on there wheels.

Syd is growing and changing so much. I just want her to stay little forever. I love the way she smiles and giggles now. She just makes my heart sing. Syd loves to be chased by her brother. Nothing makes me happier than to see my two children laughing and playing together. I cherish those moments as they often only come once in a great while. Usually Tyler is tormenting her in one way or another. I guess that is what a big brother is suppose to do right?

Tyler is back in preschool and is loving it. He doesn't cry any more when I drop him off and he is excited to go. He really likes his teacher and school friends. He is learning to identify letters and tells me of new things he learns all the time, often days after he was taught. It's funny to see his little brain work.

He is all boy and loves to shoot pretend guns and play pirates. He is always talking about boy stuff and loves to get into trouble. He loves his bike and has gotten so good at riding it. I love our evenings when he will snuggle with me on the couch. He loves to have his back scratched and be tickled. He gets that from his Mom...

Braden is heading to New York for work this next week. I so wish I could go with him but it just isn't in the cards. I am really looking forward to hearing about all the places he will visit and I will be eagerly waiting for his return.

I took a client with me to Vegas for the furniture market in September and it turned out to be a really good sale for me. Work is still terribly slow and I need all the business I can get. I am really looking forward to things picking up. I drove down and back by myself and it was a long, lonely drive but well worth it.

That is just a glimpse of what has been happening. I would have to say that it was a great summer!

Nothing Bundt Cake and the 24th of July!

As most of you know the 24Th of July just happens to fall on my birthday... ha ha. It has become a tradition in our circle every 24Th that all the kids from our neighborhood participate in a little circle parade. Now of course this is not just any parade.. It is something Tyler looks forward to all month. He clearly remembered the parade last year and was so excited to get to do it again this year!

We invited some good friends and family and I think everyone had a good time. Good food, good friends and good fun.

We celebrated my nieces and my birthday on the 26Th at my parents home and I was in charge of the cake. A while back while visiting one of my favorite stores "Costco" they were having a bunch of vendors out front doing little demo's.. Well, one of the vendors was "Nothing Bundt Cake". They offered me my free sample and I gladly excepted and took the tasty little morsel of chocolaty goodness out to my car.

OH MY GOODNESS, this was one of the best cakes I have ever tasted. I had to have more. Ever since that day I have wanted to try to duplicate this cake that tasted so yummy.

I typed into google "nothing bundt cake recipe" and wallah, there it was. My favorite recipe blog that I often visit and use already had a recipe and I didn't even know it.

So on Saturday I made not one but two cakes and they turned out great! It tasted just about the same, cream cheese frosting and all. I even tried to decorate it the same way they did.

It was a huge success at the party and I think this will be one recipe I will be using again and again.

Colorado!

On the last week of June and first week of July we headed to beautiful Colorado for a wonderful trip. We started our vacation in Mesa Verde National Park. We spent two days there and were able to see most of the Indian ruins. Both Tyler and Sydney did great. Sydney was a trooper in the carrier and Tyler hiked most of the time without complaining. The weather was great and we found a beautiful camp spot in the camp ground. We took our trailer out for the second time and loved it!
Next we headed into Silverton, Colorado. If you have never been to this area, it is beautiful and there is so much to see and do. Silverton is a very small old mining town and this was our third time there for the 4Th of July.
We were meeting up with friends later in the week and they had told us where our camp spot was. They said it was beautiful but a little tricky to get to...
They said there was a river crossing that we would have to pull our trailer through to get to our great spot. So with us being the first ones to our camp we had to do it alone.
We started down the dirt hill and as we got closer I asked Braden "are you sure we can do this"?
He said he was 80% sure we could make it..
WHAT??
So after about 30 minutes of me telling Braden where to drive, him getting wet up to his knees, digging a trench for our tires to fit in, stacking rocks to create a bridge of sorts... We finally made it. PHEW. "I will never do that again", he said.
Well we had to do it one more time to get the stink'n thing back out, but we were there. It was a great spot and we were well hidden in the trees.
Over the next few days we did several mountain passes with our Dodge and saw some neat old ghost towns, mills and cabins. We partook of the most amazing funnel cakes and watched the old town gun fight. We traveled to Telluride and Ouray which are also fun places to stay. We swam in the Quray hot springs and saw the Box Canyon waterfall! On the 3rd or friends finally made it to camp and we had a great time around the camp fire. On the 4Th we went into town to watch the parade and the fire-fighter water fight. After that we did another dirt road and then came back to eat and go watch the best fire works display ever! Sunday was the day we headed out.
With careful planning and some work on diverting the river we were able to get through the river in one shot! Thanks everyone for the help!.
It was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again.

Our camp spot in Mesa Verde.

Sydney and Braden on one of our many hikes.
Some of the cliff dwellings we saw.
One of two family photo's we took.
Tyler playing in the dirt..
There were lots of places we needed to climb ladders and Tyler was an expert by the end.

Tyler going into a Kiva.
Okay, so this is the river and I didn't get a shot with the trailer because there was to much going on at the time.
One of the many mountain passes. We saw lots of snow.

This is just one of the houses we went through.
This is an old mill.
Eating ice cream in Silverton.
Box Canyon Falls.Some of our fabulous friends.

Sydney and the dandy lion.
Playing in the snow.