~ My Husband Rocks! ~

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm sure most of you saw last week's MHR post, so you know about all of the crazy and exciting changes that are about to take place in our lives!

It has been so incredible to see God working, moving all the little pieces of our lives together to bring this about. It's humbling to know that he is always doing that, we just don't always take the time to recognize it.

One of the most amazing parts of this adventure is doing it with Austin. Growing and stretching our faith is absolutely phenomenal on an individual level, and the fact that we get to share the experience with our best friend and favorite person in the world is the most wonderful blessing I could have ever asked for!

For the latest on BBI, click here!


Also, in relation to this post, he is so cute and concerned about me. He thinks I'm kind of a baby when it comes to dealing with pain, and I don't disagree with him, but he said, "I hate it when you hurt!" :) It doesn't make me want to be in pain, but it makes me happy in spite of it :) (Note: I am not still in pain from the fall a week ago, just in case you were concerned.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am the only person who has the ability to add blogs to the MHR blogroll. If you are a MHR blogger, and have not been added to the blogroll, plase comment or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will gladly add you to our little group!!!

(if you would like to add the MHR Fridays button to your sidebar, use this code ).

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

As always, on Fridays Union 28 will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you Union 28!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!

I have turned klutziness into a new art form . . .

Well, it had been almost a year since the epic motorcycle-pipe burn )that ended up costing us a trip to the emergency room and 7 horse-antibiotics that cost over $20 per pill!!!) and nearly nine months since the last big spill I had taken (on New Year's Eve - pre-party!), so it was bound to happen sometime - and it did, in a BIG way!

As I've mentioned a few times, Austin and I have been riding our bikes several times a week, averaging about 50 miles or so per week. Two Fridays ago, on the 14th, we were nearing the end of our ride and messing around a little while riding side by side. Austin, who is very coordinated, reached over and jiggled my handlebars a bit. I, being not so coordinated, was unable to recover and ended up dragging the left side of my body down the concrete bike trail. (He felt soooooooooo bad, and you should have seen the skid mark he made trying to get stopped so he could come back and help me!) It wasn't too bad, I scraped up the palm of my left hand and my left knee, but we weren't too far from home (and it was getting dark) so we rode home and I got cleaned up.

The whole next week we rode our bikes as scheduled, with no ill-effects, and I was healing up rather nicely. Until Friday. We started out as usual, but it had rained pretty hard on Friday morning and portions of the trail that were more shaded hadn't dried out completely. We were about 3 miles into our 14ish mile ride when we came to an especially curvy portion of the trail. We were moving at quite a clip, and I apparently mis-calculated one of the curves because before I knew it the front tire of my bike had dropped off of the paved trail, stuck in a rut in the mud, and stopped. My body, however, did not stop, and I flew over my handlebars onto the pavement. Again. I was thankfully wearing my helmet, so no permanent damage was done, but I took the brunt of the fall on the palms of my hands and my left shoulder (I have no idea). Ripped open the previously healing wound on the left palm and tore a chunk out of the right.

So, I've decided that I must be regressing to my five-year-old self. You'd think that I'd be past the "falling-off-my-bike" stage in my life, but apparently not, lol! Thankfully nothing was seriously injured in either fall, save for my pride, but who needs that anyway?

You may now tease me mercilessly, lol!

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ Burden Bearers International

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know that after all this time of blogging together, you all may think that you know everything there is to know about me and Austin.

One thing that I have not ever shared on the blog, before today, is something that occupies a huge part of our hearts. For the last several years, Austin and I have been thinking and praying and dreaming about starting a ministry organization dedicated to coming alongside the body of Christ - wherever they may be - and shouldering their burdens in very practical ways.

Throughout our lives, while I was growing up in Colorado, and Austin was living in Iowa, both of our families were heavily involved in the church and lots of different forms of ministry. We were both very involved in our church youth groups, Austin was a member of his church's youth leadership team, I spent my summers volunteering at a church camp, and we were both blessed to be able to serve on more than a dozen short-term missions teams. Before we ever knew that the other person existed on the planet we both had the strong desire to be involved in ministry as our career.

We both ended up attending Emmaus Bible College and graduating with a One-Year Bible Certificate. During the time that we were dating, and since we have been married, we have had many opportunities to serve together as a couple. We were both on a team of students from our college that spent a month in France and Switzerland learning about how to reach out to people in a culture that is very different from that which we were used to - basically experiencing what missionaries would during their first few weeks in the field. Austin and I and our friend Doug travelled to Honduras and spent a week teaching English at a Christian school there. We were also part of a team from our church that traveled to New Orleans to help re-build a homeless shelter in one of the areas that was the hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, and Austin received valuable training in the form of Youth For Christ's Summer Institute.


It has been very exciting to see how God has used and is using the seemingly insignifigant details of our lives to move us into a place where this dream can become a reality. Everything from working together to re-construct our house, to the incredible experience and training Austin has received through his current job in assessing and restoring homes that have experienced catastrophic loss has shown us that we are uniquely equipped to minister to others in some very down-to-earth and practical ways.

Our vision is that we will be able to respond quickly to other ministries and organizations that need assistance with things that are outside of their immediate capabilities. It seems that the church as a whole is very good about recognizing the needs of those who minister to them directly, but we sometimes forget that there are hundreds of thousands of individuals who have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord in places we don't often think about. If the pastor of the local church has a leaky faucet, there are probably 8-10 plumbers in the congregation who can have him squared away in no time. It is far more difficult to just run to Kenya real quick to help the missionary family repair their leaky roof. Similarly, when a river overflows its banks in Iowa, there are hundreds of organizations set up to come rushing to assistance; however, a similarly devestating situation for a village in India doesn't always get the same amount of attention.

Another big part of what we want to be able to provide is the face-to-face relationships and encouragement that so many missionaries miss. Whether that be just spending time with the family and sharing in all their nitty-gritty, day-to-day "stuff," babysitting the kids so that mom and dad can have a special date night, repainting the living room, or cleaning the house. We want them to experience love and refreshement.

Just yesterday morning, Austin was talking to one of our good friends about the plethora of opportunities that just he and his immediate contacts can come up with for us! His name is Tim Cole, and he and his wife Angella serve with Youth for Christ's MCYM on a military base in Brussels, Belgium. He is in close communication with many of the Youth for Christ workers and other ministers throughout Europe. Yesterday he was specifically requesting that we come to Belguim to assist with some building projects next spring for which they need Austin's construction/contracting skills. Another need in that area is when they have a change of leadership or families go on furlough, unless they have someone to come in and run the youth ministries, all of the children of the military families there have no ministry activities. This is a huge need as these kids already feel isolated by the language and culture barriers they encounter - not to mention just the normal growing up stuff that all teens deal with. Since he was 13 years old, Austin has had a passion for youth ministry, his emphasis at Emmaus was in Youth Ministry, and as I mentioned before he has graduated from the Youth for Christ Summer Institute, so this is another area where we would love to serve. Austin and Tim have been talking and planning and dreaming about these possibilites for over two years, and it is thrilling to see it all coming to fruition! Between the people we know who are involved in ministry and the plethora of contacts our families have, these are just a couple of the many opportunites that we are excited to pursue. And we are confident that as more people find out about us, there will be many more who are interested in our services :)

Our earnest desire is to begin ministering as soon as possible in a full-time capacity. Participating in projects such as those suggested by Tim and other missionaries we are close to will give us a good deal of legitimacy once we begin the process of requesting a 501C3 from the IRS to become a not-for-profit organization. This documentation is crucial if we are to have any kind of long-term ministry ability as it will give us all of the benefits - to both us and our supporters - of being a recognized non-profit organization.

In the immediate future, we are hoping to be able to start heading out and building relationships with missionaries and organizations who are in need of what we have to offer. To that end we are perparing ourselves and our lives to be as mobile as possible. We are going to finish the house and put it on the market, sell off all of our extraneous "toys," etc.

We very much covet your prayers as we move forward in this incredible adventure! We would also welcome any suggestions of places/projects in which we may be involved. You can also donate to Burden Bearers International via PayPal by clicking on the button in the sidebar.

Our long-term needs will include a lot of legal/accounting assistance with the incorporation and not-for-profit procedures and paperwork. That process alone can cost several thousand dollars.

Of course, we'll keep you posted as the story progresses :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am the only person who has the ability to add blogs to the MHR blogroll. If you are a MHR blogger, and have not been added to the blogroll, plase comment or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will gladly add you to our little group!!!

(if you would like to add the MHR Fridays button to your sidebar, use this code ).

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

As always, on Fridays Union 28 will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you Union 28!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!

Praying for Our Husbands Book Study

Well, we've come to the end of our 31 Days of Praying for Our Husbands! If you missed it, or just want to go through it again, the original "Praying for Our Husbands" post has links to each day of the 31-day series. Click here or on the button below to read that post.



Also in that post I announced that following 31 Days of Praying for Our Husbands, we would be starting a blog "book study" of The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian, one chapter per week. That series will be starting up on Monday, August 31, so anyone who hadn't heard about it before now still has time to get a copy of the book.

I have never done a "book study" on the blog before, so I'll kind of be making it up as I go along. If you have any questions or suggestions now, or throughout the run of the series, please feel free to comment, or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com :)

I'm excited, hope you'll decide to read and pray along with me!

31 Days of Praying for Our Husbands ~ Day 31

~~~~~*~~~~~

Day 31
Pray that your husband will recognize the lies of the Enemy in his life. Pray that his attitudes and actions will be guided by the truth as he brings his thoughts into captivity to the Word of God.

John 8:44
For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

Praying for my hubby, and for you all!

Meaning of color and your Birthday

I got this as an e-mail forward, but it was pretty interesting. Don't look at the answers until you write down all of your responses!



This is fun so see what happens, but do not cheat...


Don't cheat, If you are honest, this tells the truth. It's pretty good.. Write your answers on a piece of paper, and NO cheating! The answers are at the bottom.


1. Which is your favorite color out of: red , black , blue , green , or yellow ?


2. Your first initial?


3. Your month of birth?


4. Which color do you like more, black or white?


5. Name of a person of the same sex as yours.


6. Your favorite number?


7. Do you like Flying or Driving more?


8. Do you like a lake or the ocean more?


9. Write down a wish (a realistic one).


When you're done, read the answers. (Don't cheat!)


~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~


Answers

1. If you choose:
Red - You are alert and your life is full of love...
Black - You are conservative and aggressive.
Green - Your soul is relaxed and you are laid back.
Blue- You are=2 0spontaneous and love kisses and affection from the ones you love.
Yellow - You are a very happy person and give good advice to those who are down..

2. If your initial is:
A-K You have a lot of love and friendships in your life.
L-R You try to enjoy your life to the maximum & your love life is soon to blossom.
S-Z You like to help others and your future love life looks very good..

3. If you were born in:
Jan-Mar: The year will go very well for you and you will discover that you fall in=2 0love with someone totally unexpected.
April-June: You will have a strong love relationship that will not last long but the memories will last forever.
July-Sep: You will have a great year and will experience a major life-changing experience for the good.
Oct-Dec: Your love life will not be great, but eventually you will find your soul mate.

4. If you chose:
Black: Your life will take on a different direction, it will seem hard at the time but will be the best thing for you, and you will be glad for the change.
White: You will have a friend who completely confides in you and would do anything for you, but you may not realize it.

5. This person is your best friend.

6 This is how many close friends you have in your lifetime.

7. If you chose:
Flying: You like adventure.
Driving: You are a laid back person

8. If you chose:
Lake : You are loyal to your friends and your lover and are very reserved..
Ocean: You are spontaneous and like to please people.

9. This wish will come true only if you send this to five people in one hour. Send it to ten people, and it will come true before your next birthday!

:)

31 Days of Praying for Our Husbands ~ Day 30

~~~~~*~~~~~

Day 30
Pray that your husband will serve God and others with pure motives. Pray that he will obey the Lord from his heart, and glorify Him in everything.

1 Corinthians 10:13
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

John 7:17-18
Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.

Colossians 3:23-24
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

Praying for my hubby, and for you all!


31 Days of Praying for Our Husbands
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16
Day 17
Day 18
Day 19
Day 20
Day 21
Day 22
Day 23
Day 24
Day 25
Day 26
Day 27
Day 28
Day 29

AMAZING Giveaway!!!

Ok. So I don't usually post about giveaways on this main page, but this one was too great! You may have noticed the new button at the top of my right sidebar. I got an e-mail this morning from Whooga boots alerting me to this great offer!
Here's the deal:

Click here or on the new button, and complete the two steps outlined on the page to be entered to win a FREE pair of Ugg boots!

The best part of the whole deal is not only do you get the chance to win a free pair, everyone who enters gets 15% off! (I could spend so much money on this website, o.m.w.!!!)

Check it out!!!

:)

Colorful Colorado!

Warning: This is a VERY, very long post! You have been warned, lol!

We just got back from spending a week in Colorado with my family, and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

Saturday we got to my parents' house, and because they were still at camp, we headed up there and got in on a fantastic breakfast buffet :) We got to see a lot of people that we had not seen in a LOOOOOOONG time - including the band The Ineloquent with whom we attended church when we were going to school in Dubuque, but a LOT more about them in a later post :)


We took our bikes so we wouldn't get out of
the habit of riding regularly
After we left, we were fealing rather adventurous, so we headed to a bike trail that was a 5 mile loop, but it was VERY mountain-y (Colorado, go figure), so we made it about a mile and a half before we turned around - proud that we had even made it that far - at that altitude!!!

Saturday evening, we had dinner at my parents' house with my mom's side of the family. It was great to see everybody - my mom's brother Larry, his wife Linda, and their three sons Jim, Matthew, & Steven. Jim's wife Katie and their three daughters Sadee, Jaydin & brand new baby Peyton.


Peyten Marie
My mom's parents, Mommer & Papa (who live with my parents), my sister Kindra, her boyfriend Arrin, and his daughter Lily.


Sadee & Lily
After the extended family left, my parents and sisters and Austin & I had a family photo shoot! We took a ton of fun group and family unit shots, so I think I am going to dedicate an entire post to them, but here are a couple super cute ones:

The Girls

L-R: Lily, Kelli, Kindra, Me, Mom :)

The Boys

L-R: Arrin, Dad, Austin

The Whole Fam!

L-R: Kelli, Arrin, Kindra, Dad (holding Lily), Mom, Austin, Me :)
Sunday morning (August 2) we went to church with my parents and Kelli. The service was amazing. I always love going to church there, their music is always fantastic, and the pastor's sermons are interesting and challenging!

Dad had made reservations for brunch at the Pantry Garden - an adorable little place in Green Mountain Falls.


The view from the restaurant
They have a gorgeous outdoor garden eating area and a to-die-for brunch buffet!

We ate next to this beautiful little stream

Dad, Me, & Kelli

Papa & Mommer

Mommer & Papa went with us, and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely!


We got back to the house and shortly thereafter, my Dad's sister Geri came up from the Springs and the six of us went to the Mountain Arts Festival that was happening in Woodland Park!


L-R: Me, Aunt Geri, Austin
We made it back to the house just in time to get ready to go back to Colorado Springs and head to Fargo's Pizza - one of our favorite places, and one that we try to hit every time we're in town! There we were joined by my Uncle Jay, Danielle, Andy & Angie and their 4 kiddos JM, AM, M & A. Uncle Jay is one of my dad's best friends who has been a part of our family since before I can remember - there are many pics of him in my baby book. Danielle started out as a college friend of my cousins Doug & Steve, she moved out to Colorado and led my youth group for several years - she's an amazing friend to me now, too! Andy is the leader of a student ministry with which I was heavily involved in high school, and we were both in the worship team for our church before I moved. He and Angie have been friends with my family since I was very young as well, and I babysat their children for many, many years! Seeing them all so grown up made me feel a little on the old-ish side :)


L-R: AM, M, A, JM (oh, and me, I'm in the back-ish)
On the way back to my parents' house we stopped to visit our friend Sherry, then we went home - by way of Manitou Springs and the Penny Arcade :)



Just goofin' around:

Kelli & me


me & my cute hubby

my adorable mom

Monday morning we got to sleep in a little, then ran some errands with my Dad. Mom had some things to iron out in the Springs, so Austin and I headed up to Keystone ahead of the fam. When we got there we hit the Summit County Rec Bike Trail (which ran really close to the condo we stayed at, and was AWESOME) to get the lay of the land.


Austin was a machine - even
at that altitude!
By the time we were done, Mom, Dad & Kelli were very close! They got in and finished unpacking the car and we decided to go out and explore the area.


They had gorgeous flowers everywhere


we had to walk through this tunnel to get
from the parking area to the shopping center

there was a goose doing some exploring, too! lol!

We ate supper at Dos Locos Mexican Restaurant and it was fantastic!

dinner

Kelli's such a cutie-pie!

dessert

We headed back to the condo and watched the movie Leap of Faith with Steve Martin (which we had missed most of the night before because we fell asleep, lol!) We were both pleasantly surprised with the movie, as Austin is NOT a Steve Martin fan, but it was surprisingly deep!

On Tuesday, we loaded our bikes along with Mom, Dad & Kelli's onto Mom & Dad's van and drove into Frisco. We parked our car in Frisco and then joined Mom, Dad & Kelli in the van to drive to the top of Vail Pass.


We all rode down the pass - which was absolutely gorgeous.

We stopped and ate our picnic lunch in Copper Mountain next to the river. The trail took us back into Frisco where Mom and Kelli and I waited (and shopped) while Dad and Austin took our car back up the pass to retrieve the van.

From there, we all headed back to the condo and Mom & Dad (who were exhausted) got some much-needed rest while Austin, Kelli and I went to the Silverthorne Rec Center and swam for a couple of hours!


We made it back to the condo in time to enjoy a great lasagna supper that my parents had prepared for us! We were all pretty beat, so we spent the evening in doing a puzzle and watching Madagascar - which is very funny for an animated flick (at least the parts I saw, I was pretty tired so I think I fell asleep about 30 minutes in ...)

One of Dad's birthday wishes was to rent a boat and go out onto Lake Dillon, so on Wednesday we did just that! The weather was great, we all got to relax and get some sun, Austin got to drive the boat, and the views were unbelieveable.

When we got back to the condo we decided it would be fun to ride our bikes into Keystone - it didn't hurt that we were heading to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to get ice cream :)!

After that delectableness we biked back to the condo and swapped out our bikes for the van then went to Silverthorne where we saw The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Very cute, a couple of scenes I could have done without, but the story line was sweet.

From the theater we went to the Blue Spruce Inn in Frisco for supper. They make a mean burger, and we ate in the saloon, so we were treated to the Wednesday evening live music!

Thursday was by far our most jam-packed day! We started out pretty early and Mom and Kelli dropped Dad, Austin and me off at the top of Glenwood Canyon with our bikes.


our support van team :)
They went ahead and dove into Glenwood while the three of us rode our bikes through the canyon and into town.


me, Dad & Austin

probably the most gorgeous ride - ever

God got downright artistic when
he created Colorado!

The last hill on that trail is pretty killer, so a dip in the Glenwood Hot Springs was more than called for :)


We had packed another picnic lunch, which we snarfed down as soon as we got situated on some of the complimentary loungers,


the fam relaxing
and we all thoroughly enjoyed the pools and the slides and the diving board and the sunshine.


Austin tore it up on the diving board

relaxing and reading in the sunshine was
more my speed :)

Dad had purchased and prepared a delectible salmon/chicken dinner for us at the condo. We had a lovely meal and then headed to the Lake Dillion Theatre for the revue A Grand Night for Singing,


which would have been great - except that the play was not actually being performed at the Lake Dillon Theatre. While it was being put on by the Lake Dillon Theatre Company, they were performing at the Pavillion at Keystone - about 1/2 mile from where we started, lol!


A Grand Night for Singing proved to be just that, in fact it had us all singing for most of the rest of the evening.

Dominoes was the name of the game when we got back "home," and Austin liked it so much he's decided that we need a set!

Dad's birthday was Friday, so he got to choose the schedule activites (not that any of us objected to them, lol). We got a nice, later, start that morning, and worked it out to ride our bikes into Dillon to have lunch at the Araphoe Cafe (a place where Hoss & I had also eaten while we were on our honeymoon <3).

We had parked the van there, so Mom and Kelli decided to drive back after we at, but Dad, Austin & I thought it would be great fun to bike back. I wouldn't jump right to fun in describing it. You see, the way from Keystone to Dillon is mostly downhill which means that the other way it's mostly UPhill :S lol! We made it, but we hurt.

After we had changed and showered, we decided that some shopping therapy was most definitely in order, so we all headed over to the Silverthorne Outlets, and we made out like felons! (That doesn't really make sense, because we paid for everything, so I don't think "felon" is the best description, but we did get a LOT of good deals).

All week, Dad had been planning his birthday supper, and he was very excited for us all to go to The Mint! This restaurant was so cool! You order at a "butcher's counter" and then you get to grill your own main course! And the meat was absolutely incredible! Very fun! Kindra, Arrin & Lily made it into town before we were done, so they came and sat at the restaurant with us - sampling some of the deliciousness. Afterwards we got frozen custard at GoodTimes for dessert(mmmm :D).


of course, Dad had to open his presents, too!
The whole gang went back to the condo and played some Whoonu and some more Dominoes (I was so tired that I literally fell asleep sitting at the table, but I managed to win both games! lol!)

Saturday morning we had to check out by 10, so we got up a little early, packed up, and headed to the Sunshine Cafe in Silverthorne for breakfast.

We asked our waitress for the location of a nice park because Dad had bought kites for everybody at the beginning of the week, and we hadn't had a chance to fly them yet. She recommended a park by Lake Dillon, so we all headed over there and had a grand old time flying kites!

and of course you HAVE to play on the playground,
since it's right there!

I forgot how much fun that particular activity is! And the breeze coming off the lake was great!

Kindra & Arrin had to get home after that, so we said our goodbyes to them in Dillon and the rest of us made our way to Westminster to have a birthday lunch with my dad's side of the family.

We all met at my Uncle Tom & Aunt Pam's house and had a WONDERFUL lunch (boy my family knows how to do food, can you tell?) of flank steak, grilled potato/onion packets, fruit salad, cranberry ice, rolls with homemade strawberry jam, angel food cake and homemade ice cream! We did presents for everyone who had had a birthday in the past quarter, so that included Austin, Danielle, Aunt Pam & Dad. It is always so fun to be with everyone and I'm so glad that we got to have a family get together with BOTH sides of the family on this trip!

After several tearful goodbyes, Austin and I started the drive home. It was a NOT uneventful drive, let me tell you! We nearly hit a deer, there was a lot of crazy construction, and we had to stop to get three new tires when we were a little over an hour away from home!

All in all it was a great trip! Thanks for putting up with my wordiness :)