September 2026

 

Final meal before colonoscopy 

September officially went, and it was a really great month filled with so many adventures.

It started at the very beginning of September, when it was Labor Day weekend. We were excited because we had some really good friends stop by and visit on their way to moving. Gwen and Talmitch Kite were really great friends who lived in Denver for about a year, and they were able to stop by overnight, have dinner with us, and hang out with us on their way to Utah. It was very exciting because they are also expecting their first baby. It was so great to see them, and they loved Kingston. That was what kicked off September.

After that, the family and I spent 4 days in beautiful Steamboat Springs. We've lived in Colorado for 16 years, and we finally made the 3-hour drive to stay for 3 nights. We got into this amazing little Airbnb that was super dog-friendly. This was also the first time we took Kingston to an Airbnb and to a very different place, and it was really fun.

We got there on Friday night and had dinner at a really great place, I believe it's called the Creekside, which was right next to this roaring river. It was beautiful, and we very quickly saw a lot of wildlife. Literally, while we were eating, there were two raccoons in the actual restaurant because it's an outdoor place. We saw moose and three bears, and it was really quite incredible.

The next day, we hit the farmers market, which was so fun, and we went and saw our neighbor's gallery, Tim Zandee's. His gallery was absolutely amazing, and I just can't believe he's our neighbor. We then spent the rest of the time doing hikes in Steamboat Springs, getting to know cute little restaurants and the downtown area. Sydney and I did a shorter hike, but London, Tyson, and Kingston did a 5-mile hike to the top of a fall, which they loved.

Our Airbnb was really, really cute. We had two bedrooms, and the interesting thing is that these mountain towns don't have AC, so you just have the windows open at night, which was very cool. After we made the trip, we came home.

The next big thing was prepping for Tyson's colonoscopy, which was thankfully really successful. We also celebrated Broomfield Days, which is always one of our fun things to do. We hosted the Relief Society Young Women for a s'more night at our house. The big thing was also that we had Sydney's very first homecoming. She went with a fun group of girls, and it was really fun to get her ready and take pictures. Although she was not a fan of taking pictures, she had a really great time. 

August 2026 + a Trip to Estes Park

 

Getting Braces Again!

August was really fun. We had some major key things:

• Soaking up the end of summer, which was really great.
• We were able to have girls' camp, go on walks, and go to pool parties.
• The girls and Tyson spent a full day at adventure camp for girls' camp this year, which was really fun.
• We went to pool parties.
• Sydney was able to go see one of her very first concerts, the Crane Wives, which is kind of an indie band. We went to Fort Collins to do that.
• Sydney was also able to get her braces on again, which she was really excited for.
• We had some back-to-school things, lots of shopping, and got our backpacks ready.
• Right before school started, I was able to plan a couples' trip for me and Tyson up to Estes Park, so Sydney and London were able to spend 2 days at the Blakelys.
• Estes Park was so fun. We hadn't been there in a good 16 years, and we totally underestimated it. I feel like the last time we went, we had no idea what we were doing, and we were literally there for a few hours. This time, Estes Park really blew us away. It was adorable.
• We were able to really take our first trip into Rocky Mountain National Park. We went on 4 hikes, visited all over the park, and saw amazing wildlife. We were super surprised and so glad that we gave Estes Park a really big shot.
• I'm also really glad that we didn't take the girls, because it's always hard to be exploring a new place and wondering if your kids will like it. It was really fun to just have us be super chill.
• We stayed at a really great Holiday Inn, had a really great breakfast, and did the hot tub every night. We also did s'mores.
• The funny thing is that there were also 3 weddings happening at that place that weekend, so we were constantly talking to people who were flying in from all over, from Texas, New York, the Carolinas, and a lot of East Coast people who were also getting to know us.
• The girls successfully started school, which was a really big deal because Sydney is starting high school and also early morning seminary. London also successfully did 360, in a really sweet full circle, since she was really helped by 360 when she was in 6th grade, and that was really fun.