We took a quick trip through the mountains to Grand Junction this weekend.  

The colors were spectacular,

Still green with pops of bright yellow and orangey yellow everywhere.  

I even spotted some bright lavender flowers along side the road 

that paired spectacularly with the yellows.  

In Grand Junction we met up with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandpa and dad took the kids to Cabelas

and Grandma and mom checked out the local quilt stores.  

(One of the stores my mom remembered 

from when they lived in the area 29 (+) something odd years ago.)

After a wonderful Outback dinner

the kids took a dip in the hotel swimming pool.  

It was a quick trip but a wonderful reminder of what is important:

Small moments

Taking in pops of color

Uninterrupted family time

A perfect way to usher fall into the rocky mountains!  

Become who you are

(even if it is really really hard, it is so worth it!)  

WAHOOOO!!!

Bill had a follow up with his doctor this week.

Everything is healing nicely

and he doesn't need the boot any more.

HOORAY!!

He still can't run on it. 

(for 6 more weeks)

but he can bike and swim. 

I am super excited to be able to pair socks again.

(He wore a long black sock with the boot and 

a regular sock with his shoe.)

He is super excited to be able to wear 2 of the same shoes again
Not to have to limp 4 blocks from the parking lot to his office
and to feel somewhat normal again.

Signs of Fall

The high today was 64 degrees

Perfect to put these:

Into These.

Perfect for homemade chicken noodle soup simmering on the stove

 and PERFECT for homemade bread baking in the oven.

First Day of Middle School

Today was the first day of middle school.

I don't know if I was more excited or Grant. ;-)

Billie has a great fashion sense.

She has picked out some really cute clothes for this school year.

We are still wearing some pants and shorts from last year.

I told her we need to save the rest of her school clothes budget for her next growth spurt.

(We did the "no heat headband curls" and I love the way it turned out.

I embedded the link below for the tutorial.

She showered yesterday morning and

then sported a "70's roller blade babe" all day

and slept in it last night.

Her hair was still curly when she got home from school.)

Grant has the fashion sense of a 7th grade boy.

Pick it up off the floor and smell it to see how smelly it is.

Camo pants are a staple in his closet.

It matches everything. :-)

******

On a side note and basically for my memory:

*Car pool fiasco: I ended up doing two drop offs.

The boys and then driving back to get the girls.

Got home

*burned mine and James pancakes

*the strawberry syrup exploded in the microwave

*my shin fought the dishwasher door

and the dishwasher door won

leaving a nice big scratch

and one hell of a bruise

*opened a can of soup while putting together

a crockpot dinner and sliced my pinkie finger

all of that between 8 and 12.

*Billie forgot which door i was picking her up at

so 25 minutes after school was over we finally connected

and were on our way home.

I think I'll sit on the couch the rest of the day and read a book.

;-)

End of the summer....

First things first, the VERDICT is in:

NO SURGERY

but this will be our view for the next 6 weeks

while we are best friends with the boot

*****

My tomato plants:

They are producing slowly

Perfect amount to eat on a salad

or to slice and eat alone for a snack

I got some sort of pest on one of my 4 plants.

It pretty much killed half of it before I noticed

(even though I water them daily).

*****

Last weekend we hit up a Food Truck Gathering.

It was fab and fun and just a tad warm out.

Some of us had biscuits,

some of us had tacos

and some of us had the most delish cupcakes

*****

This "ugly bug" had a mock day today.

Nothing like practicing for 6th grade.

But who ever came up with it was

PURE GENIUS!

All of our little butterfly's are gone.

And we even have a new BFF

(her 5th grade BFF moved to another school)

Traditional Front Door Picture.

We'll have another photo shoot Monday

when the Granster joins her at school.

*****

Summer has been great but

I am ready for winter.

but I love my fireplace,

my double ovens,

my scarfs,

my boots

and

school time.

Tuesday night 8/2/2011...League Softball game in the rain.

Bill came home with a "pulled" calf muscle.

He iced it and elevated it for 2 evenings.

Last night...8/10/2011

Tonight....8/11/2011

Another Angle tonight

The preferred foot apparel by Orthopedic Specialists....

MRI...tomorrow to determine if his calf muscle is more than 50% torn.