September Recap

September began with a trip to the Colorado Springs Balloon Festival. During Labor Day weekend, hundreds of balloons launch from Memorial Park each morning. Then they come back in the evening for a "balloon glow." Not being morning people, we opted for the evening show this year. Maybe next year we'll make it downtown for a launch. 

The day after Labor Day, we welcomed the 51st class of the Focus Leadership Institute. (I can't believe I've been doing this for 10 years and 31 classes now.)

Josh spent most of September traveling on a video project for USAA (well, he was a subcontractor for the subcontractor for the contractor for the project for USAA. :)) He went to Washington, D.C., San Antonio and San Diego (pictured below)
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We also went to our first family USAFA football game with the local Institute alumni and fall students. 

August Recap

The garden is still producing...fresh flowers this time. 

I got inspired by this red checked tablecloth that I inherited from my Grandma Beam. Normally I wouldn't post so many pictures of the same subject, but oh, my! I'm smitten...

Love his signature crossed ankles in this one and the next...

Back to Ohio we went, and this time we DROVE. Partially so we could see Grandma Keffer again as we passed through Greenville, and partially just to see if we could do it. Our kids were TROOPERS. They did so great on the drive. Seriously, we borrowed a DVD player for the car and never had to use it. I was so encouraged that we can get out and travel with these little ones and actually enjoy it.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the drive was not perfect. Lorien threw up three times on the way through St. Louis, and the neighborhood where we stopped to clean up the mess was, shall we say, a bit ghetto. Fastest puke clean-up in the history of road trips. Also, on the way home, we had a double meltdown in the back seat just as we were crossing from Kansas to Colorado. I suppose you can't blame them after the neverending drive through Kansas.)  

Ohio highlights: 

Christy, Nathan and Macrae came down from Michigan to visit, and Dad Beam rolled out the red carpet...er, the slip-n-slide. 

Christy and Macrae on the slip-n-slide

Mommy and Lorien. She liked the slide better this time than she did last summer. 

Josiah and Grandpa

Josiah turned 11 months old on August 14 and needed some farmer boy photos...

Macrae is a pretty big tractor fan too. 

Mmmmm....love this place.

The official reason for traveling to Ohio a second time: to celebrate Steve's graduation from Full Sail University AND his 24th birthday. Congratulations, Steve!

Lorien's 3rd Birthday

The other very important thing that happened in July was Lorien turning three. Words to describe our girl at THREE: articulate, observant and compassionate. She loves to jump, loves to sing, loves books, and is pretty uninterested in eating and potty training. She is an awfully good big sister and she brings us joy every day!

To celebrate, we had a Veggie Tales Party with family and friends: 

July Recap

In July, we traveled to the Midwest. Lots of folks had a loving hand in bringing Josh's Grandma Keffer from Greenville, Ill., to Indianapolis so that she could meet Josiah for the first time. Uncle Richard and Aunt Judy made the drive, and Uncle Jim and Aunt Marti hosted all of us. 

Mini Family Reunion

Great Grandma Keffer with Lorien and Josiah

Three (out of four) generations

The next day was July 4th, so we headed for downtown Indy, where Doug and Chad and their boys were renting a condo for the summer. We started our Independence Day celebration with a trip to the zoo — our kids' first. I hope I never forget the look on Lorien's face when we entered the first exhibit: the aquarium. She was enthralled! The other thing I won't quickly forget is the heat. It was beastly hot.

Hot, fat baby

Daddy and Lorien at the zoo

India baby: Ezra couldn't care less about the heat!

Effalumps!

From the condo, it was a short walk to view the fireworks. It was probably the latest our kids have ever stayed up and they did great!

Josiah with his cousins, Ezra and Cedric. They are 2 months younger than him. Josiah may have been guilty of squashing Cedric's nose right before this picture was taken. 

Both of the kids loved the fireworks and weren't scared. 

We headed back to Ohio to spend more time with family and friends. One special visit was with my good friend Lori. We got to meet her new little guy, Micah. Boy have they been waiting a long time for this baby!

Elli, Micah, Lorien and Josiah. Can you tell from this photo that Josiah out-eats his sister at most meals?

What's a trip to Ohio without a visit to Young's Dairy?

Feeding the goats

A tractor-tire tunnel

Back home in Colorado... The garden is producing!

Holy zucchini, Batman!

It makes me so happy that our kids like each other so much. 

Family Photo

Josiah turned 10 months old...

And our annual Institute alumni reunion brought some old friends back to visit. 

Lorien with her buddy Mindy