Emerson's first day of first grade...already?!

Don't know how she went from being my tiny little peanut with the big beautiful blue eyes, a binky cemented to her mouth, and her gorgeous little bald head to being a big girl just starting first grade, too embarrassed to hold her dad's hand walking into school and even more embarrassed to kiss him good-bye. Really? As happy as I am for her to go back to school (had I mentioned it had been a looooooooooooong summer?), it is such a bittersweet day. She is growing up way too fast and is so independent and old! :-) I couldn't get over how big she looked sitting in her desk, as I peeked in when I was leaving (they wouldn't let us in the classrooms)...I almost cried! That being said, I am SO proud of her and SO excited for all that lies ahead of her this year. She is turning into an amazing and incredible little person, whom I am blessed to call my own. One thought kept going through my head today...just before she was born, a friend wrote a poem that she gave Drew and I as a gift. There was a line in there that said, "Time passes quickly, memories are made. From bottles to diapers, then on to first grade". Well first grade? Here we are...you better take care of my "baby". Love you sweet Emerson ReBecca!!

Copper Triangle

So proud of the hubster for completing his first major bike ride after starting riding just a few months ago. Last weekend, we were in Copper Mountain for the Copper Triangle. It is sponsored by the Davis Phinney Foundation and is about an 80 mile ride that starts and ends in Copper. The riders journey over three passes...Fremont, Tennessee, and Vail. It was tough, but thanks to the Fat Daddies (Drew's riding buddies) and the beautiful Colorado day, he enjoyed every minute of it. As I seem to say over and over, we are truly blessed to have some of the best friends in the world who are not only amazing people, but they enjoy the outdoors and Colorado as much as we do! Special thanks to the Hooeys, the Jonsens, and the Papis for all their hard work and generosity over the weekend!!

The Fat Daddies: James Keohane, Matt Jonsen, Mike Papi, Drew, Troy Hooey, Jack Hirt (Papi's Brother-in-Law).

Time with Gramma and Grampa Maynard

It has been such a fun couple of weeks! In between our mountain weekends, we were able to head over to Grand Junction and spend some time with my mom and dad. The girls were on cloud nine with Gramma around for such a long time, and I really enjoyed the time I was able to spend with not only my parents, but my Gramma Maynard, who will be 96 in a couple weeks. 96???!!!! Yep...she is pretty amazing. While in GJ the girls enjoyed the Science and Math Center, the Dinosaur Museum, manis and pedis with Gramma, Red Robin with Gramma and Grampa, playing in the hot tub...the list just goes on and on! After GJ, we hopped in the car and headed to Vail for a few days to hang out before we met up with Drew in Copper Mountain. Such beautiful weather (most days)! Thanks so much, Mom and Dad, for such a fun, fun week. We love you SO much!!

Above: The girls enjoying a pedicure and a manicure courtesy of Gramma Maynard. Adorable that they have kids pedi chairs!!

Vail with the Hooey Family

While Mara and I were in Cheyenne, our lovely husbands took the kids up to my parents' place in Vail for the night. Saturday morning after the concert, we drove from Cheyenne to Vail to enjoy the rest of the weekend with them. It was an amazing weekend...we are so blessed to have such incredible friends in our lives!!

Damiano girls and Hooey kiddos: Sutton, Mackenzie, Quincy, Emerson, Jack, and Luke.

Another "visit" with KC

Thanks to all the planning and organizing by my sister-in-law, Dana, I headed up to Cheyenne Frontier Days with her, her friend Kim, and my dear friend, Mara to see Kenny again this summer. We had such a good time, despite our seats not being very good and getting in trouble for standing up...I kept laughing (because I was so angry) at how funny it would be for the cops to arrest a stay at home mom of two kids who wasn't doing anything except dancing and enjoying the music. Grrrr... We ended up moving and had a blast. He played over two hours...and it the evening was made even better because Jake Owen opened for him. For those of you who may not remember, he is a family friend of Trisha (a good friend from college)and her family and he played at her rehearsal dinner. So great to see him doing so well...the ladies LOVE him! :-)

My dear, dear friend Mara...she even got all "country-fied" for me!! :-)