Let's Get This Party Started!

Every year when the Greeley Stampede rolls around, a party-like atmosphere is evident around the Simmons house.  The kids look so forward to all of the entertainment, carnival rides & food.  It really is a 10 day party! We were blessed to have Nancy Solesbee (Spencer's Mom), his sister Sara and her two kids, Trent & Emi, spend at least a part of the festivities with us.  Sad that their trip was such a short one- they fly home today, but we certainly packed a lot into their time with us! 
Friday night we saw Justin Moore in concert.  Not the best one I have seen.  More entertaining than his performance was the one by Brad, Curt and Carrie, all having indulged in a little too much beer!  No doubt, that was due to the extreme weather conditions of the weekend.  We had 100* temperatures all weekend.  On a more serious note, the fire continues to burn west of Ft Collins (now 83,000 acres lost with 45% containment) and we were notified that our friends lost their home in the Glacier View subdivision on Saturday.  We certainly hold them in our thoughts and prayers, as well as all of the brave and exhausted firefighters.
Saturday was a scortcher!  We took the kids to the carnival when it opened at 11:00 and the temperatures were already pushing the 100 degree mark! That didn't stop them from having a great time.

Grandpa, Gabi & Emi

Nana & Emi

We all went to the pool afterwards for a couple of hours to cool off!  Saturday night was the Luke Bryan concert, which was by far the best concert we've seen here in recent years.  He was an awesome entertainer and kept the sold-out crowd dancin'!

Wendy Fields, Carrie, Sara & Amie



Heather came to babysit for their date night!

Date night 2

Hey, you can almost see Luke!

Sunday arrived early (or so it seemed with the late nights Friday and Saturday).  Grandpa took the boys, Elijah and Rory to the Demolition Derby, with plans to stay just a short while, due to the heat.  The boys had other plans, and were having such a good time that they stayed close to the end!  When they got home, we had a great meal of Cajun Boil (shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn on the cob, mushrooms, peppers etc. along with another crockpot full of mac- n- cheese, and a yummy coconut/banana concoction made by Meredith.  The kids played outside on the waterslide until they were all freezing.  (That took time in this heat!)

At the end of the evening Sara got out her scissors for mass haircuts!  Nothing like vacationing and bringing your work with you!  The lineup included, Sophie, Emma, Gabi, Elijah, Carrie & Amie!  Elijah was so thrilled with his haircut, although it took some prompting for him to do it.  He didn't want it cut by some "random person with scissors", and was happy to learn Sara was a professional! 

Oh, baby, where does the time go?

Wow, this has been such a busy week!  Having the Frost kids for some of it (until their parents came back from their trip to Paradise), made it a little crazy.  Did I mention the fact that they were playing in a couple of cardboard boxes (their boats) which led to pouring water on my kitchen (hardwood) floor....? Slip & slide in Grandma's kitchen, anyone?  Anyway, they were definitely ready and excited by the time Carrie & Spencer came home!
The highlight of the week had to be Grayson's jungle themed birthday party. Aunt Heather supplied a scrumptious and cute cake. Lots of friends, lots of fun!

The new water slide

Yesterday was Father's Day and the men started the day off with a little golfing/beer drinking (which was vital on a 95degree morning!).  We ladies made a dinner while they were  having fun with a crockpot full of pulled pork (ok, true confessions, I had help before Chef Brad left for the course), cheesy potatoes & oven baked corn (what's a Sunday without a Pinterest idea?) supplied by Carrie, a gorgeous fruit compote by Amie and of course, that to-die-for dessert, by Meredith (peach cobbler).   Sadly, it was so smokey outside(from the now only 20% contained fire) that the kids couldn't be out at all, thus the noise (OMG) and the mess (OMG).  Praying for the firefighters to get this devastating thing under control soon.  So many homes lost.  On a happier note, I did get my summer mantle switched out yesterday before the "Thundering Herd" arrived!

Oh yeah, and did I forget to note that our water heater went out in the middle of the afternoon?  Luckily, we have some pretty Handy Dads who made a trip to Home Depot and got the problem solved!

Scary times....

This past week has been an incredible one.  First, we have had the pleasure of taking care of Gabi and Corbin while their parents were vacationing at St Thomas.  May I just suggest that anyone thinking about starting a family at age 56 reevaluate!  We 62 year olds are too old/tired to parent! Anyway, they have been with us since Tuesday night and will stay their last night tomorrow (Tuesday) with us.  We've had a few challenges, beginning with my thinking that the two of them were sweetly laying in my bed watching a show, when the reality was they were decorating my bathroom with shaving cream and cutting one anothers hair!  OMG...  So glad that Carrie had Gabi's hair cut at James" before she left.....

We had a tremendous thunderstorm Friday night with lots of damage to crops and property surrounding us.  We didn't know whether or not to go to the basement or just sleep through it.  Lots of hail damage.  The next morning I got pictures via

cellphone from the Virgin Islands...yeah, somewhat comparable to St Thomas!!!!!
(I should have sent them pictures of their broken tree..)
On Saturday, Amie, Meredith and I and the kids went to Bittersweet Pool for a few hours. Holy moly! 98degrees!  We noticed a fire starting at the base of the foothills that morning and by the time we got home from swimming, it had grown considerably.  At the moment I am writing this, it has destroyed 42,000 acres of land, including over 100 structures and 1 life.  Very sad and little hope of containing it very soon.
Every morning the sunrise has looked something like this.

After a hot day at the pool, we took the kids to see Madagascar 3.  They were very good and at the end of the movie, Gabi said, "Now that's what I call a movie!"

 Grayson is walking really well now and is quite busy.  At the pool, he was determined to get pizza out of the box under a lounge chair.  He will be a year old by this time next week- so hard to believe!

Grandma Simmons is anxious to get moved in with us, so we are attempting to get our house ready for that.  Not just a one day job..... She seems SO much happier with Doug gone. 
Had a wonderful dinner yesterday of hamburgers, cabbage & cauliflower salad, fruit salad and homemade mac & cheese,
(a Pinterest recipe  that I found and made TWICE over the weekend) and some yummy chocolate bars.
I am tired!

June....Already?

What happened to last weeks post?  Ok, there wasn't one because we spent the entire weekend (Memorial Day) driving back and forth to Denver to play bridge.  Played with some people from Loveland, who are very nice, but not the best players.

Anyway, it was a nice little get away....People ask what those tournaments are like, so I snapped a picture on my phone of a peek into the room we were playing in. 
While we were "bridging", the Frosts and the Simmons went to Jellystone Park (in Estes Park) camping.  The Simmons had a cabin and even baby Grayson did great, however, the Frosts in their tent were a little chilled...Spencer didn't find Gabi's princess sleeping bag to be the warmest....The really had a great time and the kids loved the dirt, the smores and hotdogs!

This week was CRAZY.  Yep, that's the word for it.  On Thursday, Brad took his Mom to the Dr. as she was feeling horrible.
She was diagnosed with acute bronchitis and given meds.  At the same time, his brother ( this is where the word for the week comes in) was admitted to the hospital with chest pain/panic attack.  As of today, he is still there, hopefully getting a diagnosis of incompetence.  We (the whole family) is hopeful.  We had everyone over for dinner yesterday and discussed with his Mom that she needs to move in with us. Currently we plan to move her in with us in about a month.
We'll see if she can break free of Doug's manipulative ways until then.
Had a fabulous dinner yesterday, figuring it cost about $25/person.... Got a nice brisket @Sam's, and added Brad's hashbrown casserole.  I found a recipe on Pinterest that I HAD to try. Had about a zillion ingredients, and took a really long time to chop/slice/dice all of it to create a yummy Asian salad. Had that along with fresh fruit and then Meredith's dessert, a strawberry/whipped cream/chocolate gannache concoction that ROCKED!  Afterwards, we discussed what we plan to do with Doug/Grandma....We'll see if any of it really works out. 

Rory was give Tasha's Uncle Calvins' 1960 red Thunderbird this weekend (the car was being stored at the grandparents house.  They were recently admitted to a care facility, so the car was towed to Curt's house).  Oh, my gosh, was Rory excited!

We are getting ready to celebrate Grayson's first birthday.  I'm still stunned that the year is nearly over.  He is walking now, and OH so cute. Looking forward to the party and the pictures! 
We have our week's work cut out for us as Carrie and Spencer leave for the Virgin Islands and are leaving us with the kids!
Pray for us!!!!!