Toasting 10 Years

Celebrating milestone anniversaries (like 10 years!) is cause to step back and reflect on where life has taken us and what's ahead in the years to come. There's no better way to toast 10 years than with a delicious dinner for just the two of us! We celebrated with a prix fixe dinner at the Margarita at Pine Creek, a fantastic discovery in the Colorado Springs culinary scene that serves "comfortably, contemporary cuisine." What a fabulous place to go for such a special occasion!

The Margarita at Pine Creek

Scott enjoyed his fancy rendition of strawberry shortcake.

Jami is always up for trying new flavors ... like chocolate beet cake! Delish!

10 years ago today...

Once upon a time...

two young'ns met in the spring of 1996.

They dated throughout college

And exchanged vows on a

beautiful summer day in Kansas.

Ten years ago today, they began to

dance their way through life

together as husband and wife.

Life has blessed them with many reasons to smile

And a few challenges to muddle through, too.

A decade later, the life they once dreamed of

Has come true as they live

Happily ever after.

Happy campers.

To wrap up the 4th of July holiday weekend, we decided to have a family campout in the backyard. The boys were ecstatic to sleep out in the tent, and they even brought along Curious George & Spiderman (stuffed versions) to join us. We all slept soundly beneath the light of the near-full-moon with the sounds of the neighborhood dogs barking to entertain us!

Good night, sleep tight!

Red, White & bLuau!

The 4th festivities continued later in the afternoon with a gathering of neighbors for the Red, White & bLuau! The original plan was to eat, drink & hula around outside, but the usual Colorado afternoon rainstorm rolled through and lingered a little longer than usual ... so we moved the party indoors. That certainly didn't put a damper on the fun as the kids played and the adults chatted while eating Hawaiian fare. We have some very entertaining neighbors who have all sorts of interesting skills, so the evening also included some juggling and magic. What fun! After the first round of entertainment, we moved on to some low-key fireworks. We could only find grounded fireworks ... nothing that flies up in the air. Therefore, we had to skip the dangerous stuff like Roman candles, bottle rockets, and parachute men, but sparklers, snakes, and smoke bombs were oh-so-thrilling and just perfect for our young crowd. The grand finale of the evening was standing in our driveway and on our neighbor's deck watching 2 different firework shows at the Air Force Academy and Palmer Lake. What a 4th of July to remember ... our first one here was a BLAST!

Cute neighbor kids. Luke with his buddies Jake & McKenna.

After the rainstorm passed, the kids didn't mind

jumping on the wet trampoline!

Leahys who luau.

Kat & Debbie ... neighbors and runner friends.

Who knew our street was full of such talented entertainers?!

Todd and his wife Melissa are juggling clubs, while James

juggles in the grass. Such a great memory from the evening!

These shirts come in adult and children sizes.

We own both.

The kids all lined up and ready to watch fireworks!

Ready, set, SPARKLE!

Melissa helps Gavin with his sparkler.

Small town. BIG PARADE!

Last year's 4th of July holiday took us to Omaha for a family reunion. So this year, we opted to stay home and check out all the 4th festivities offered in nearby Monument. We'd heard they were something to see ... and boy, these folks in small-town-Colorado sure know how to throw a patriotic party!

The day started off with a 4-mile fun run for Jami from Palmer Lake to Monument along the Santa Fe Trail. About 600 people joined in the fun of this 7,000 ft. elevation race ... thankfully, it was all downhill! Then the Leahy family ventured to downtown Monument for the first of the parades ... the kiddie parade! Children of all ages paraded through the town of Monument on their red-white-and-blue decorated scooters, bikes, trikes, skateboards, wagons, etc. Even a certain little red pedal car rode the route! The streets were lined with crowds of people cheering on the kiddos. Once the kiddie parade wrapped up, the main parade began. Having come from Kansas, we are used to parades, but this was ONE BIG PARADE! It lasted nearly 2 hours with antique cars, floats, fire trucks, politicians, alpacas, horses, marching bands, a unicyclist, and more. One could not watch this parade without feeling American pride at its very best as the community all gathered together to celebrate on this Independence Day.

We love a parade! In the kiddie parade,

Reid rode his old-school trike, and

Luke pedaled his red sportscar. Vrooom!

Cruising along the parade route

with purple mountains majesty in the background.

A patriotic float from the main parade.

The fam on the Fourth!

HenHouseWarming.

We've all been to a housewarming party ... but have you ever been to a henhousewarming? Neither had we!

Jami has a Junior League friend Alyssa who has started raising her own chickens. (She loves to bake, so that was the motivator behind getting the chickens so she could use fresh eggs in her culinary creations!) But one cannot have chickens without the proper accommodations, so her husband Tad set to work building a chicken coop ... and it is a deluxe model with electricity so they can have heat in the CO winters! Their 4 chickens -- Fiona, Millicent, Abigail & Amelia -- are living the life of luxury in their backyard thanks to Tad's handiwork and Alyssa's dream. We had a ball attending their henhousewarming and meeting "the girls."

All Things American.

Mom School took the boys on an American adventure this week in celebration of Independence Day. One highlight of the week was taking in the great American pasttime -- baseball -- with a trek to see our Skysox minor league team with our friends the Massey family. The boys enjoyed the game, the food, and watching the mascot Sox the Fox!

Take me out to the ballgame...

Hudson, Hunter, Luke & Scott

at the Skysox game!

Swing, batter!

Take me out to the ballgame ...

One of our favorite pasttimes this summer is playing wiffleball in the backyard. Our game has been taken up a notch now that we've got some bases (Luke bargained a sweet deal for 4 bases at a recent garage sale!) He has also moved on from hitting off the tee to hitting off a pitch. Check out the video below of our all-star slugger. Go, Luke!

Undy 5000.

For a while, we have been in search of a race to benefit colon cancer, a disease that both Jami's grandmother and mother have battled. There are races supporting so many worthwhile causes, but we could never find one to benefit this cause that's near and dear to our family. Until now...

And so begins the story of the Undy 5000. (Clever name, eh?) The Undy 5000 is a 5000 meter (5K) walk/run to raise awareness about colorectal cancer. Participants are encouraged to draw attention to their bottoms—and colorectal cancer—by participating in their underwear. Most people interpret this as wearing boxer shorts over their running shorts, and every participant receives a pair of boxers (instead of the usual race t-shirt.) This race is one of a series of 5 brand new races across the US being sponsored by the Colon Cancer Alliance.

This morning we loaded up the family and headed to Denver's City Park. This 1st time event had a fantastic start with nearly 1,000 participants ... such a GREAT turn-out for an inaugural event! The best part was the incredible spirit of people coming together to walk/jog/run in honor of loved ones and in the quest to raise awareness about colon cancer. As Jami ran (and Scott and the boys cheered her on), there were several emotional moments considering how this disease has impacted our family ... but also a feeling of hope that perhaps by raising awareness we can better face this disease with more preventive measures like early screening.

Jami & the boys before the race by the lake at City Park.

What a beautiful morning for a 5K!

Jami sported this "tattoo" as a tribute to running

the race for Mom & Grandma Ruby!

The Super Colon was a great educational tool

for explaining colon cancer to the boys. You could

walk through this exhibit (a large inflatable colon)

and learn about the various stages of disease.

Our Denver friends Joe, Mary Fran & Cullen ventured out

to the race, too. Such great fans to cheer on Jami! Thank you!!

Reid and Baby Cullen ... blue-eyed boys!

One more note: Since Jami's mom was diagnosed with colon cancer more than 10 years ago, we have seen her face cancer with such amazing courage. There are many lessons to be learned from loving a family member with cancer. Perhaps the greatest lesson we have taken from this journey is to enjoy each and every day of life ... the small moments and the big milestones. Cancer has shown us a path in life with some detours we didn't anticipate, but together we have found a perspective that graces our lives with even more meaning.

Splashfest.

Our summer days are heating up, so what better way to enjoy them than to get out and about and SPLASH! Today we were watching some neighbor kids, so we decided to have a splashfest. First, we hooked up the hose to the showerhead that runs over our play structure slide. (Yes, the previous owner had some brilliant plumbing ideas!) We moved the play pool to the bottom of the slide, so the kids had a ball "watersliding" and then making a splash landing in the pool at the bottom. Next up ... the slip-n-slide ... hilarious entertainment! Then we moved over to the neighbor's yard for time in their inflatable play pool and on their swingset. We wrapped up with popsicles and lots of laughs!

S is for Slip. Slide. Sprinkle. Soak.

Cooling off with a favorite summertime treat ... popsicles!

Full House.

Wellings & Leahys on a hiking expedition

to Palmer Lake Reservoir!

We love hosting friends and family who visit our beautiful state! Perhaps it's being able to share a glimpse of what's meaningful in our lives today with visiting loved ones who have added meaning to our lives along the way. It's the best of both worlds ... the past and present coming together.

This is certainly true with our most recent visitors. We met the Welling family when we moved to Arizona almost 10 years ago. Scott and Kenn started at the same time at Motorola as hardware engineers. Our decade-long friendship has been filled with so many fond memories of holidays and family dinners and game nights and laughs. It is such a joy to know their family and to share such good times with them.

And the good times continue with our favorite family of 9 (yes, this family earns the honor of being the biggest family we know ... with the most well-behaved, respectful, helpful children ever!) Kenn, Megan, Christian, Truman, Sydney, Abigail, Rebekah, Nate & Hazel are embarking on a journey across the country in their 15-passenger van, and Colorado Springs was the first destination in this adventure. We enjoyed 1 fun-filled day + 2 nights with them. Luke and Reid were thrilled to have so many kids around ... the fun was endless as they played light sabers, constructed Lego creations, played outdoor games, and more. We've never had such a full house ... 9 Wellings + 4 Leahys sets a record. As they say, "the more the merrier." Our most recent visitors definitely proved that to be true -- what a blast we had! Check out our adventures below...

The Welling kids camped out in our basement.

Luke & Reid loved having their buddy Nate around!

Scott with Reid on his back, Kenn, Hazel & Megan

climb the steep trail to the reservoir.

Sydney, Abby, Christian, Hazel, Truman,

Rebekah, Luke, Nate & Reid take a rest.

Parental picture.

Keeping cool with some backyard fun!

In the afternoon, the kids enjoyed a splashfest

with the slip-n-slide and playpool.

Luke goes for the knee-slide!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

An evening stop for a sweet treat!

We wrapped up the evening with a trip to the park.

These monkeys had fun hanging around!

Dad's Day.

What better way to celebrate Father's Day (and Summer Solstice!) than for a morning bike ride with our dearest dad in the beautiful summer Colorado weather! We loaded up and pedaled down the hill on our bikes to our neighborhood diner Second Cup for a delicious Father's Day breakfast. Good thing we fueled up for the ride back up the hill ... it can be a doozy! Luke has moved on from riding in the bike trailer to riding his own bike on our family treks, and he is a champ about riding around the neighborhood and braving the hills. What a fun Father's Day outing! We are so blessed by all that Scott brings to our family. He balances work, family, and fun with ease ... and always looks for learning opportunities to teach little lessons to the boys. What a dad!

Ready to ride ... the boys are suited up to go for a spin!

Luke & Scott riding down the Gleneagle hill.

(This view is one of our favorites in the neighborhood.

You can see snow covered Pikes Peak to the left

and the white structures in the distance right above Scott

in the photo are the buildings of the Air Force Academy.)

Dad and his boys!