So little time, so little money, but boxes 0' plenty

So by now you are all probably aware that we are attempting the neighborhoods biggest garage sale by sorting through all the Simmons junk.  Sadly, it has not been sorted since the house was first occupied about 15 years ago!  For the past 2 weeks, there have been truckloads of stuff taken to the dump or the ARC or disposed of at the weekly trash pick up.  Luckily for me, my family has really rallied and we have spent our Sunday at the Simmons going through stuff. (I can't imagine anyone collecting more STUFF than we have!)
This morning, I was thinking about that game we women sometimes play at bridal or baby showers, where you have to memorize all the stuff on the tray or table by a quick look, then write it down.  Whoever gets the most answers wins (some lame something).  This game would be challenging anywhere in my current mess!  Let's see... the coffee table....1. an antique deviled egg platter 2. a crock pot magazine 3. a package of emery boards 4. a light cord with 3 bulbs attached 5. some leftover fringe from some long ago project 6. a package of photos marked "Grandma Simmons 80th birthday" (that would be Brad's Grandma, now gone for over 40 years) 7. a CD of the best rock-n-roll of 1965-1969 8. 2 reference books for pottery and depression glass, 9. a really old copy of "Rip Van Winkle" 10. a package of cords for some electronic device 11. a sharpie 12. a game I bought ages ago to teach bridge, 13. a stack of coasters 14. a can of Pledge 15. a book mark 16. some packing tape 17. a bundt pan 18. 2 pens 19. a plastic bag with unknown contents and 20. a plate rack.  WOO HOO!!!!! I got them all!!!!!  Winner, winner, taco dinner!  Yes, following yesterday's sorting, we went to Carrie and Spencer's for Sunday dinner.

 Corbin grabbed my camera to take these fine shots!  The kids ran around outside and upstairs, while we (pooped) adults barely moved from the dinner table!  Glad Corbin was in the picture taking mood, or there would've been fewer!  I did get to see his window well full of toads! (FYI, the big one is named Toby)

Emma and Elijah spent the afternoon with Corbin and Gabi so that the parents could help me. Emma braided Gabi's hair so she could have it "curly" for today.  Hmmm. Don't know how that turned out.  Amie had taken Sophie and Grayson to the Arts Picnic earlier in the day and got their faces painted.

 

 Meanwhile, the others were upstairs being goofy.

After dinner, the consensus was that we needed ice cream to go along with the dessert that Meredith brought, so Gabi and Sophie escorted Grandpa to the grocery store (after arguing with Spencer about the need to purchase duct tape on a Sunday night).  Of course, the girls had an agenda (Gabi had cash in her pocket and was determined to buy some duct tape, use unknown).  They finally got back with the icecream, along with duct tape, some balloons and pencils.

 Meanwhile, Corbin was shooting everyone in their "pantry" (his word for booty) with his nerf gun!
We finally departed for home when Carrie let me know that Gramma's "depends" weren't holding their own, so to speak....Yeah, yeah we will all be old someday.....
In other weekend news, Carrie and Amie went with Kristi and Wendi to Cheyenne to see Tim McGraw in concert.  Brad and I attended co-worker, Brandi's, 40th birthday party and enjoyed a beautiful summer evening outside visiting with friends.

And now, here it is MONDAY......

Life without the Stampede (we are managing)

So we finished another Stampede season and we did it well, never missing a single day except for the 4th (we gave our Martina McBride tickets to Miss Carly) when we had a houseful for the day.  We set up the water slide and the kids cooled off before we had dinner (burgers and hotdogs on the grill, chips and dip,potato salad, pasta salad, baked beans and of course, Meredith's yummy dessert - blueberry cheesecake).  We were joined this year by Kristi and her boys, Kaden and Korbin as well as Susan and Tony.

 After dinner, we had a big card game (Shark Boots), teaching the .

newcomers how to play along with a pre-dinner game of Apples to Apples.  The three big kids did their usual thing....texting and being teenagers!and enjoying getting their pictures taken!  

Finally, it was dark enough to begin the favorite (especially with the boys) fireworks display.

 
 (No one was injured during the filming of this tradition)
The final night was a concert by Big and Rich, which we were all fairly unimpressed with (maybe because it was the end....) and followed by the Demolition Derby on Sunday. (and the golf cart ride!)

Now that it's behind us, we're off and running (?) again.  Some of us are anyway...my foot was actually broken (I've been limping around since before we were in California) and I now have a darling boot to wear (black goes with everything).  Good news from Brad's MRI showing no new growth. Hooray!  Amie ran a half marathon over the weekend over trails (yikes), Carrie had her second round of oral surgery with a very painful weekend,  and we were able to see Corbin's team (3V3 soccer) play Saturday and Sunday in Aurora.  We took Sophie with us the first day and the girls enjoyed their time together.

Although they didn't place in the tournament, they did very well, winning several matches!
And now it's Monday again..............................

Stampeding....Part 1

 So the Stampede is here, in full force!  Every year we look forward to it's onset, and every year, we are glad when it's over.  It all began a week ago with the first dinner (Woo, hoo...Papa John's Pizza) and Brad and I were the only attendees from the family.  Friday night was a different experience, though.  The Bunkhouse was packed with concert goers looking forward to seeing Jake Owens.  A yummy steak

 

dinner was provided by the Boot Grill and we were joined by Kristi, Wendi and Jessie.  Personally, I thought the dinner was the best part of the evening!  Saturday was a crazy, busy day starting with Corbin's soccer tournament.  He played 4 games and was pretty exhausted after the last one....defended with a couple of balls to his head!

 During a break between games, Gabi and I went to part of the annual Garden Tour and she really enjoyedit, especially the fairy garden at one of the homes.

Saturday night was a rock concert, so we gave our tickets away and everyone regrouped!  Sunday morning, Brad played golf with Jeff and then when he got home (and after a long conversation with Gramma and I while he was gone) we headed to Ft. Collins to check on the status of Doug, whom Gramma had not heard from for several weeks. We went to a Starbucks so that they could visit (another"first" (Starbucks) for Gramma!).And of course, in the way of every meeting they have, he had his hand in her purse!
Sunday night was the Billy Currington concert.  Carrie and Amie and I took Gabi, Sophie and Corbin to their first concert!

It was too bad that it was a work day the next day, as we had to leave early, but the kids did enjoy it.
Monday was the "Pink" rodeo.  Good to have Kelly join us for dinner while her son, Skyler spent time with Emma, Elijah and Rory at the Carnival.

 

With plenty of Dramamine on board, the rides were a success!  Did I mention Carnival food?

 

 Good thing it's only once a year!  Grayson (as well as the other kids) really enjoyed the rodeo (his first) and sat (?????Wow!!!!) on Amie's lap for the entire performance.  Tuesday night was the younger kids time for rides, and again, Grayon aka Mr. Fearless, thought he was a six year old, wanting to do everything the others did.

Scariest moment?  Grayson riding the big ferris wheel with Corbin, Curt, Sophie and Gabi.  We onlookers were holding our breaths!

  Happy July 4th!  More "Stampeded" stories to follow!