BYU Game & Elk Bugling

 This week was FULL. 

List view: Painting boys' room, moving furniture, jury duty for Michael on Wednesday (which took a surprising amount of hours), Boulder for BYU fireside with Westin Friday night, Boulder for all of us for the BYU GAME Saturday night, Estes Park for elk bugling Sunday night, two rooms carpet replaced on Wednesday, next two replaced tomorrow. 

Lots of painting, and audio books, and moving things around, and going through things. 

I loved this weekend so much. Our big things were my date with Westin Friday to go to the football fireside where we loved hearing Jimmer speak. Then we went out for Mexican food after and I just love being Westin's mom. Saturday was a lot of squeezing in paint layers and walks and workouts so that we were ready to leave for the big game that night! We're so happy when we see BYU is coming close to us. Westin lives for going to football games and really we all love it so much. Then Sunday we packed dinner and went to Estes Park to hear the elk bugling. It's honestly magical to see herds of elk and hear them calling to each other in the fall. I always think back to our first visit to Estes Park for Michael's reunion in 2017 and how I was blown away by how beautiful it was but never even expected we'd permanently live close by.

I'm feeling antsy to just have everyone sleeping in their own beds again and put everything away -- right now we have four boys sharing the one room in our basement and furniture and stuff everywhere while we reorganize and redo rooms. It makes me so tired but I also love getting permanent things done -- walls stay painted. Dishes never stay clean :)

The last view of our basement room before I convert that corner of it to be my gym. 
I didn't want to do this when we first finished our basement because it's our main room down there,
but the more I consistently workout at home the more I'm ready to dedicate a space to it, even if I don't have a room for that. 

Goodbye old carpet...

Hello new!
Finally the step that initiated all these projects :)

Picking a blue for part of the big boys' room.

I LOVE walking with Asher so much.

Sticky notes are my professional planning tool for placing battens :)

Bathroom is done! Closet doorway is gone.

Cabinet in across from vanity.

Shower and tub view is my favorite view.

The light above the tub makes me really happy. I just love that view!

Storage around the corner.

Hidden toilet :)

My project book this week that I did not expect to love as much as I did.
This was beautifully, beautifully written.

We're so tiiiiiiired.
But I am going to paint this room this weekend before carpet happens (we did two rooms at once with a few days between so that we would have places to put furniture).

I woke up early to get a layer down so that I'd have time to do the second layer before we leave for the BYU game.

Blue and white layers up, switching the colored/white part.

Feeling so free leaving project world behind and heading the BYU GAME!

Everyone was so nice on the shuttle, 
lots of nice CU fans.

Oh it's just so fun to go to a game in person.

Scenes from cute preschool. He loves his teacher.

On Sunday we were tired but we really wanted to get to Estes Park and hear the elk bugling in Rocky Mountain National Park. We loved it last year so much and late September is just the time to do it. I'm so glad we went! We packed roasted turkey pesto sandwiches and cookies and milk and we ate with the Baileys. This is one of my favorite traditions.

Fulllll room, ready for carpet in the other rooms tomorrow.

Projects, Eco Week, and Quickest Utah Trip

We have started project mode in the boys rooms this week before we change carpet upstairs. All of this is dominos from our bathroom remodel -- all I started doing was prepping to change the carpet. Then I realized we would probably change the floor plan of our closet when we redid our bathroom eventually, so we should do that before doing carpet. Then the thought of the boys bedrooms being totally empty before carpet just meant I should redo those walls and make their rooms feel more finished. So my whole summer and early fall has been filled with upstairs projects whenever I can fit a little in. For sure our slowest moving house changes -- we've lived with half-done rooms for a long time and haven't slept in our own bedroom since late April! :) But Asher likes helping and loves a good paint store run.

Westin has been looking forward to Eco Week since he started elementary school -- the annual 5th grade trip up the canyon for two nights. He seemed so big just heading off on an adventure like that! No parents go, and it was pretty fun to see how excited he was to have a solo adventure with his friends. He has some good buddies. I can't believe this kid is heading to middle school next year.

Westin came home Friday, and I left with the boys first thing Saturday morning to do a quick 48 hours in Utah. We wanted to hear Jaren speak in church and see him set apart as a missionary. I'm going to miss that kid so much! I just love that oldest nephew of mine. The trip was smooth and quick, and I decided to take the longer way home along I-70 (added 2 hours) to see some pretty fall colors and go through the temple open house in Grand Junction. I love showing my kids the temple. The drive was rainy all through the last half and isn't as mindless as the I-80 across Wyoming, but we made it home and felt happy we went.

Added to the album in my phone called "signs of little boys."
I particularly like that the t-rex area is separate from the crocodile area.

Asher and I have been doing a lot of paint store trips now that I've started redoing the boys rooms before we switch out carpet.
He likes to pick a few colors each time, and treats them like they're Pokemon cards.
"How much damage does this one do?"
Haha errands are so much better with three-year-olds.

He was just back there being cool and I didn't know until I checked my blind spot.

I told Michael it was funny that I was stressing about redoing these rooms before carpet gets changed since I never spill paint. Right then he pulled a baseboard off the wall, fell backward, and knocked over an entire can. Right as the words had just left my mouth. Haha so now we feel justified.

Westin is all ready for Eco Week! Two nights away with all the 5th graders at the CSU camp.
He's really been looking forward to this. When I first learned 5th graders do this in Fort Collins I thought it sounded so crazy. Then you get a 5th grader and it doesn't seem so crazy... they're big and cute and ready and sweet.

High energy bus loading!

A rainy walk home with this cute guy.

Stage one of Camden and Asher's room!
painted their window grids black, their trim white, the bottom of the wall green.
This is... not going to go as quickly as I'd hoped :)

All the dandelion fuzzies on our walks. I love that he always wants me to blow them and then "throw them in the grass when you're done!"

Starting some trim!

Pause on projects for a 48-hour Utah road trip. 

Michael and his buddies watching the last four minutes of the BYU game like this when Ryan's TV stopped working. I love this picture so much :)

Slept with Asher for two nights at Ali's house. Loved it.
Who am I?
My sleep could just never afford this with the other three.

My biggest nephew with my littlest guy.

I love Jaren so much. 
I'm really going to miss him!
I just admire and love him and I'm so grateful for him.

The Miner grandkids.

It was a quick trip but I'm glad my boys got to say goodbye to Jaren and see his farewell.

Took the longer drive home so we could see the Grand Junction temple open house.
Thank you, Chick-Fil-A, for making solo road trip stops a little easier.

The open house was such a good stop. No lines on a Monday and so happy to be inside with my kids.

Their favorite part was probably the golf cart ride from the parking lot.

Annnnnd we're out.

I LOVED the fall colors on our drive from Utah to Grand Junction. But Grand Junction to Fort Collins was some slipper rain and low visibility for most of the way. The I-80 and the I-70 each have their pros and cons... I'm grateful I can drive to Utah and it's still not nothing.

Fire Tower Birthday Weekend

 This week felt so full of happy. In list form -- trivia night with Gregorys and Behunins, volunteering in Camden's class, Asher getting braver at preschool dropoffs, Colby Dimond's 40th birthday party at the arcade, a happy presidency meeting at the park, a book club about Invisible Women at Jamie's house, and then a fire tower weekend.

A few months ago Michael reserved a Wyoming fire tower that the recreation department owns now for an overnight stay. It's as random as it sounds! We packed up our food and a bag for the night, and drove up to what felt like the middle of no where. The fire tower had a bucket and pulley system to pull your things up. Inside was just one room with a mini kitchen and table, two twin beds, and a little cabinet with puzzles and things. We had pesto pasta and Oreos and milk, and then watched a storm come in. Seeing lightning was so fun! There were signs in there that the safest thing to do during a storm is to stay in the tower. The only downside of sleeping in a fire tower as the only girl in our family is everyone else had a much easier time peeing and I had to have a journey :) But that's just the way this life is going to be haha.

We drove home Saturday morning and stopped in Laramie to tour the old jail. Random but interesting, especially all the info about Butch Cassidy.

Sunday -- 37! I had a great birthday with my cute boys. I really am so grateful to be growing up as a family with them. Sunday birthdays are sweet. I just basically felt like I had a license to be lazy all day but the good kind -- lots of family calls and a walk to the playground with the boys and delicious food thanks to Michael. I am really blessed, and birthdays remind me of that a little extra.

Ready for school!
I can't get over his fox backpack.
All four boys have worn it and I need it to fit him forever.

Preschool lunches are so cute.

Vanity mirrors and lights are in!
I love these built in medicine cabinets so much.
We lost some space with this bathroom remodel but I think it's going to feel like more space just from better organization.

This little one keeps climbing into our bed in the mornings and it's my very favorite time of day.

My mood board for the baby/toddler room turning into big boy shared room.
I think this is going to be so fun to create. And take me a long time.

Samples! I really love seeing things come together in my mind and then in my hands.

Train spotted!
Grant and Asher could ask for nothing more.

Light installed!
This view makes me so happy.
This remodel has been a long journey :)

My fire tower bed mate!

Asher is ready to snuggle up next to daddy all night.
We had two twin beds (one for me and Camden, one for daddy and Asher) and two of our camping mattresses for Westin and Bennett.
These adventures won't always work when bodies get bigger around here, but we're making it work for now!

Asher joined Camden and me in the morning and it was so sweet.
Pretty surreal morning views and cutest crew to have them with.

Home for the night.
This was so random.

A little Wyoming exploring on our way home.

The best birthday present: My .25 prescription. Glasses!!!
I've wanted them my entire life. They do not feel any different than my naked eyes haha.

Birthday chats with my mom and sister.
Haha I just loved this call.

A peach dessert on my September birthday??
Peaches have never lasted this long,
felt like a birthday miracle. Michael made me peach sensation and I was feeling pretty lucky.

I have good reason to believe 37 is going to be really, really great.