Shelby's SpongeBob Birthday

Shelby had a huge crowd at her 8th birthday party. The theme was SpongeBob with pizza and cake for everyone. She had at least 15 school friends on hand to help her celebrate as well as several adults. The gift table was loaded and she made quite a hefty haul, from DVD's to clothes to Polly Pocket to a portable DVD player. Jamie was excited but overwhelmed by the noise of all of those children. He started out sitting with Shelby but it wasn't very long before he wanted his daddy. After everyone cleared out, we went back to Shelby's house and watched her sort through her loot. By that point, she was in a birthday fog and oblivious to the rest of us but we did have fun with her bunny, Snuggles. All in all, a good day for the birthday girl.

Shelby's birthday

Brooks family

Today is Shelby's 8th birthday and we will be going to Red River this afternoon to celebrate with pizza and cake. It is so hard to believe that she is eight years old! Jamie is so excited, he's been talking about her birthday since they were here over Labor Day. Jamie and I wrapped Shelby's gifts today and Jamie told me how he was going to unwrap lots of presents and blow out the candles. I tried to explain that Shelby gets to do those things today because it's her birthday and that he'll get to do those things when it's his birthday. We'll see if my words made any impression. Nevertheless, he has it in his mind that we're all going to hide and say "Surprise!" when Shelby walks in the room and he thinks that's pretty cool. I think he has a book about a surprise birthday party for Thomas (the Tank Engine) so that must be where he got that idea.

We finally got the Explorer back yesterday. YAY!!! I'm so happy to have my stick shift back. Nothing against automatic transmissions but I have ALWAYS driven a stick and I have missed it. Our poor Explorer has over 200,000 miles and there have been a couple of times that we thought it couldn't be resurrected but, it seems to keep hanging in there. We had to replace the water pump over the summer (much better than the blown head gasket that the local Ford dealer diagnosed) and this time we had to replace the clutch...again. This is the second clutch since February and at least the seventh one in the 10 years we've owned the car. I love my stick shift but this clutch has given us major grief. We are lucky, though, that the mechanic we've used since living in Alamosa now is the Auto Shop instructor for Alamosa High School. We get the same quality work that he's always provided but now we only have to pay for parts (he can't charge labor). What a deal! To his credit, this is only the second clutch that he's put in.

Jamie with Bill & Marianne

Riding bareback at the Y Ranch

Jamie and Shelby

Sharing silly grins and lots of laughs!

A boy & his tricycle

Jamie has figured out how pedals work and really LOVES riding his tricycle!

Pueblo Zoo

Tiffany and I took a day trip to Pueblo to take the kids to the Pueblo Zoo. It is a small zoo but it was the perfect size for these guys and not crowded at all...we practically had the whole place to ourselves. We took along our all-terrain wagon and the kids had fun riding in it and taking turns pulling it.

this little guy was so cute!

Ashely, Jamie, Jessica

They also had a little museum/discovery center that we went to after we were finished with the animal exhibits. Jessica had fun doing some of the hands on experiments but Ashley & Jamie were totally enthralled with the mirrors. They could have played (and laughed) all day!

my little J-Bear!

Swimming Lessons

We did two weeks of swimming lessons this summer. It was an introductory class for kids who were three years old and younger. The teachers were Crystal and Tiffany and the class started out with six kids but by the last three days, we were the only ones left. Jamie has always liked the water but wasn't too thrilled about getting his face wet. In this class, Jamie learned to do front floats, back floats, blow bubbles and to "bob" underwater. Jamie seemed to get braver everyday and was willing to try all of the new techniques, although he didn't like doing back floats. He especially liked doing "bobs" and jumping in off of the side of the pool. This was a fun way for the three of us to go swimming everyday for two weeks and Jamie developed more confidence about being in the water. All indications are that he will love the water and become a great swimmer.

Vacation Bible School

Alamosa Christian Reformed Church (June 6-10)

Jamie went with his friends, Spencer and Ashley, to the Vacation Bible School held at the Alamosa Christian Reformed Church. Julie participates in a Women's Bible Study at this church and was asked to help teach the kindergarten class with Michelle. The VBS theme was "Prayer Safari" and we learned the Lord's Prayer. We also learned some cool new songs. Jamie had fun in Mrs. Sinclair's class playing with the kids and doing fun craft projects. Julie enjoyed her small, but enthusiastic, group of kindergartners.

Trinity Lutheran Church (June 13-17)

Jamie started out this week of Vacation Bible School with only his friend, Ashley. He found that he had other friends there (Hunter, Danielle and Aaron) but he really missed Spencer. So, we made some phone calls and Spencer started coming on Wednesday. The theme for this week was also safari related and they followed the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Some of their cool craft projects included making soap, decorating their VBS T-shirt and decorating a safari hat. Jamie's teacher was Mrs. Gaunt and he really enjoyed himself, even knowing that mom was not across the hall in another class. Everyday we asked him what he learned that day and his response was, "learned about God". When we questioned further, he say, "and Jesus". We figure that those are good things to learn about when you're three years old and going to Vacation Bible School. On Friday, the parents were invited to a program and hot dog lunch.

Arts & Crafts

Day Out With Thomas

We spent Father's Day in Durango with Thomas. We met up with the Holland's so Jamie was able to share his Thomas enthusiasm with his friend, Ryan. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our 30 minute train ride on Thomas that went along the Animas River (the same rail that they use for the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge) and back. Once we were back at the station, the fun was just beginning. We watched Thomas videos, listened to the Conductor read a Thomas storybook and sing Thomas songs, played with the Thomas train sets, got our Thomas tattoos, took our turn in the petting zoo and met up with Sir Topham Hatt. We stayed and played all day and waited until the steam engine trains returned from their day trip to Silverton. We ended our time in Durango with a visit to Cold Stone for ice cream. It was a great way to celebrate Father's Day!

The Circus Came to Town

The Al Kaly Shrine Circus came to Monte Vista. Jamie has watched different videos that had circus stories (Dumbo & Thomas The Tank Engine) so he was excited to go to his first circus. It didn't start until 8:00p.m. (What were they thinking?) and it was outdoors. Translation: it was very cold and very late by the time it was over. Jamie was a trooper, though, and stayed awake for the entire show. We splurged and bought cotton candy but couldn't bring ourselves to spend money on the silly inflatable toys and glow light toys. Jamie didn't seem too disappointed. It was a small circus but they did have lions and tigers, camels, horses, elephants, acrobats, a tight-rope walker and a BMX stunt rider. It was too dark to take many photos but Jamie enjoyed the show.

Summerfest on the Rio

The 1st weekend in June can only mean one thing...SUMMERFEST!

Cole Park is THE place to be on the first weekend in June. It is the unofficial kick-off to summer in Alamosa. Summerfest on the Rio (formerly known as The Sunshine Festival) is an arts and crafts fair/carnival and the entire town comes out to eat, shop, listen to live bands, socialize and just hang out. Everyone goes to Summerfest, even people who have moved away from Alamosa come back every year for this big event. This year the weather was perfect! We spent a few hours at the park on Saturday and again on Sunday. The highlight for Jamie was, of course, the train. He rode it twice on Saturday and once on Sunday. On Sunday, Jamie visited the children's booth where we watched a magician/balloon artist. He made a fun dinosaur hat out of balloons that Jamie wore all day. (We convinced him to take it off to ride the train, fearing that it might blow away.) We snacked on yummy kettle corn and ate enormous crepe wraps for lunch.