graduation and then some more fun

Copper finished his first training class (the puppy/beginning class) a couple of weeks ago. He is now well on his way to earning his Canine Good Citizen (but we still have a very long way to go). Isn't he so cute on graduation night? Sydney and Collin were so proud to have participated in some of these classes.

Pictured below: Ruger, the jack russell terrier and Copper posing with their proud owners. Daisy, Copper's black lab friend couldn't be there that night.

Copper even let us put a cap on him. Sydney was happy to wear the other one.

It was kind of sad but the same week he graduated, we took Copper in to be neutered. Poor guy! He looks so mad at us in this picture for making him wear the dreaded cone of shame. Truthfully he was pretty fine wearing it, despite bumping into doorways, walls, etc. for almost a whole week.

Having to relearn how to eat out of his bowl :-(

Fire

Two of our biggest fears living on the mountain: flood and fire. We've had our fair share with the first one. Thankfully fire hasn't gotten too close to us (yet). Last week a fire started on the mountain just a couple of miles from our house but you could see it pretty clearly. It got very close to some homes but since crews were on it very quickly, only one outbuilding was lost in the fire.

Some shots Jay and the kids took from the golf course parking lot.

Summer Rec. League Swimming Championships

Last Saturday was the summer rec. league championships for swimming. There were ten or so teams there and the place was packed, as you can see from the photos of warm-ups.

Sydney loves these meets. She has a competitive side to her but the real reason she loves going is to see all of her friends.
Here Sydney is finishing her 25 Yard Freestyle. Jay promised her she could go to Cold Stone afterwards if she beat any of her times and could get a scoop of ice cream for every time beaten. I don't know if she was just holding back on us, if she was excited by all the people there watching or if she is just starting to figure it out but she beat all three of her times, even winning one of her heats! We are pretty proud.

Her freestyle improved to 28.0 from 30.10, her backstroke to 29.92 from 34.80 and her breaststroke to 29.0 from 36.90.

*We just found out that Sydney not only won her heat in the 25 yard breast stroke but took 4th place overall. There were four heats with about 8 kids in each so she ended up beating out 30-32 other kids. The 4th place ribbon is pink so she is especially happy with it ;-)

Copper and the Bees

How do you teach a puppy to not try to eat bees? I keep thinking he will get stung and learn his lesson but that, to my knowledge, hasn't happened yet.

This is how we have been spending the last of our summer evenings before school starts (when we're not running kids around). As the sun begins setting and the sky darkens, we love sitting in the yard watching Copper try to catch bees, (wasps and hornets) in our sage bushes, or our little lizard friends in the rocks, or the huge dragonflies swooping around in the sky. I know, it sounds about as fun as watching paint dry but this dog just cracks us up!

This is Copper playing with a bee in the grass. It was a huge bumble bee.

Collin Turns 10!

I can't believe Collin is 10! That number just seems so BIG to me. Collin wanted to have a birthday party at the park so we planned baseball/Rockies/sports-themed activities and games.

Invitees: Ben, Dresden, Cameron, (Collin,) Caden, Gabe...

and family, of course.

Baby Strider

Baby Grady

Logan, Sydney and Chloe enjoying their dinner.

Jay orchestrating one of his games:

Jay demonstrating a version of the good ole dizzy bat relay race :-).

Collin having a go...

Sydney...

sports trivia contest...

opening presents...

My homemade cake. Collin had something much more grand and complicated in mind. Sometimes I wish I could crawl inside his head and see what he sees - it would be amazing, I'm sure. This was the best I could do, however. Sorry, Bud!

It was so hot that the icing on the cupcakes even started melting.

I don't know what Dresden was doing here or if it was just his reaction to my cake but I thought it was a pretty cute and funny face. Tayler seems to be wondering what he was thinking too.

Blowing out the sparkler candles.

We love you, Collin and are so proud of you! Hope you had a fun, memorable birthday and that this coming year is your best so far.

Basketball Camp

Collin really wanted to attend Matt Harpring's basketball camp this summer. He even paid for half of it himself. He did pretty well, learned a few things and even won the free-throw contest. Way to go, Collin!!!

Taekwondo

Collin just tested for his Sr. Brown belt. Next testing date he will test for his red belt and move into the advanced group. It seems like he is advancing pretty quickly (though it has been two years since he started). I understand the last three belts up to black will move a little slower.

It is fun to watch his tests now since he is doing more interesting forms.

sparring

nunchucks

breaking technique

receiving the trophy for earning all of his stripes

The Battle Between GOOD and EVIL...

What cousins do when they are bored...

Can you tell who is who? Hint: Collin wasn't in costume on this particular night.

lazy summer nights

Family Movie Night often ends this way...