Beutler Family Adventures: August 2024

Blacker Family Reunion 2024 - Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Our adventures this year included floating the river, riding side-by-sides, and boating at the lake. Lots of cousin time, games, and yummy food.

We found one of the natural hot springs flowing into the river and had to stop and play.

I think the helmets probably weighed as much as they did, but the littles loved riding the Razor.

Benson had to have an adult-size helmet because of his big head, but his poor little neck couldn't hold it up! He was literally a real-life bobble head! I had to hold his head up the whole ride.😝

Bryan motor-boated around lots of the kids on a paddle board in the swimming area of the lake beach. There were so many of them on it that it barely stayed afloat. They had so much! Even when Benson fell off, he came out of the water laughing and loved every minute of it.

Of course the kids dug the obligatory giant hole on shore and made a muddy pit to play it. So much fun.

Michael and Samantha's Wedding - August 24, 2024

Congratulations to Michael and Samantha! They had a western style wedding, complete with cowboy hats, vests, jeans, and cowboy boots. Benson loved being able to get his own cowboy boots.

The kids had a blast on the dance floor at the reception.

We spent one of the mornings riding the train through the Salt Lake area with Kaela and her kids. Public transit is a foreign concept to our suburban gang.

We did the children's museum with the cousins while we were in Salt Lake too.

While in Utah we took our kids to do an Alpine Slide as well. The levers on the sleds were tough to push down, so some of us went a little slower than we would have liked, but it was lots of fun.

Jennifer's parents, Joop and Colette, came for a visit from the Netherlands as well (they were in Colorado for about a month - apparently they get more vacation time there than we do here). We went to the top of Pike's peak with them and were super lucky to see a whole herd of mountain goats running down the side of the mountain, as well as quite a few marmots.

The view from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is also pretty spectacular!

Birthday celebrations for Dave and Mom! Happy Birthday!

Dave and I tried a new Korean BBQ place for his birthday date. It was fun to grill your food at your table.

Russ and Katie invited us to go boating with them on Lake Pueblo in their new boat. The kids had a blast with their cousins! Benson was a little unsure about the whole swimming in the middle of the lake thing, but loved being on the boat.

Back to school for everyone (including me!). Cole started 8th grade at Challenger Middle School, Lexi went into 6th grade, Clara into 4th grade, and Macy into 1st grade at The Classical Academy just down the street from our new house. I also started a job as a paraprofessional at TCA in 1st grade. We felt strongly that Lexi and Clara needed to be at that school for whatever reason the Lord saw fit, and they had been on the waitlist for a couple years without getting in. The only way to get them in was for me to get a job there and then they got staff priority. I work half time, but it's a big change for everyone. Benson is still at home with Jennifer.

The girls were having fun with Jennifer and Ivona in the gymnastics room.

Dave and I went to the opening concert at the new outdoor amphitheater in town. One Republic was amazing! We sat at this cool firepit area had our own private space.

This is Rosie the tortoise. We were gifted her by one of Dave's coworkers. She liked to wander through the tall grass on our hillside so we would take her out there for "walks" occasionally. She also liked to burrow in the hillside, and unfortunately we couldn't find her after one of her adventures. Hopefully she is happy being free...