While the boys are away....the girls will play!!!

This past weekend was the opening season for deer hunting. Every year around this time Ryan along with his Dad and Brothers pack up to spend the weekend in the mountains doing some male bonding or "Hunting" as they like to call it. So while the boys are away......the girls will play! Although it wasn't an entire weekend with NO boys because Blake is still not old enough to go hunting just yet, I was able to send him off after his soccer game on Saturday with his Papa (My dad) to go see Thomas at the RailRoad Station in Golden! While Papa and Blake checked out trains Brooklyn, Jenny, Kelli and I had a whole afternoon doing what us girls do best...SHOPPING! We grabbed some lunch to fuel us for our shopping extravaganza and then spent the entire day at the park meadows mall, after shopping we were so exhausted that we stopped to have dinner and then went and got pedicures! We even got Brooklyn her first pedicure! Okay so it wasn't exactly a pedicure but she did get her toe nails polished! She did so good too...I was afraid she was going to polk at her toes or wiggle them, but she sat there silenty with no movement and just watched as they coated her toe nails with pretty in pink polish (Brooklyn picked the color out when we went to Ulta earlier in the day) Needless to say her little toes were adorable, and she was so well behaved as I sat there relaxing getting my much needed pedicure!
Even though we didn't do anything too wild and crazy...it was nice getting to spend some time alone with my daughter! I'm looking forward to the hunting seasons to come when Blake gets to go and spend some quality bonding time with his dad, and Brooklyn and I get to spend some quality bonding time just us girls!

Summer Fun

It's been said all good things must come to an end, so with that saying comes the end of summer. It's felt like an extremely fast season this year, in fact it hardly felt like we had a summer at all... I guess our regular hectic day to day schedules and the uncooperative weather didn't help the cause!!! Although we didn't get to do as much as we had set out to do...we still had a really fun & busy summer!
Some of the activities we did included but are not limited to a visit to the Denver Zoo, the Downtown Aquarium, Water World, Broomfield Bay, Great Plains & H2O'Brien water parks, Camping, Concert at City Park, Arapahoe County Fair, Cherry Creek Reservoir, Watching Ryan play softball, and Blake play soccer and of course we had some fun evenings just hanging out with our friends/family!

So with one chapter ending another begins! Looking forward to what Fall has to bring, and hoping it sticks around a little longer than summer did, because I am sure not looking forward to winter!

Arapahoe County Fair

Yesterday afternoon Ryan, the kids and I went to the Arapahoe County Fair. Blake was so excited kept saying he wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel, so the first thing we did was get on the Ferris Wheel! Blake was excited at first but when it got to getting on the ride he got a little nervous and scared! Brooklyn did good, however she got a little spooked once the ride actually started! After the Ferris Wheel ride we headed over to the tractor pulls to see my dad and brother do their pulls, it started to rain so they postponed the pulls for a little bit so we headed back over to the rides! Brooklyn loved the carousel, as the carousel came to a stop she would begin to pout, and then when we took her off the pony she threw a fit, screamming to the top of her lungs, needless to say we had to do the carousel 3 times! Other than the Ferris Wheel and the Carousel there wasn't much else Brooklyn could ride since she was so little, but that didn't stop Blake! He had a blast...didn't want to leave, but Ryan had to work so we left the Fair around 8:30pm. We had a great time, and hope to check out a few more local fairs!!!


Brooklyn on the Carousel

Daddy & Brooklyn at the County Fair


Crazy Blake


Papa Tractor Pulling

Shawn in line next for the Pull

4th of July

"The Crew"

This past weekend we celebrated the 4th of July camping with some of our bestest friends up in Sterling. The trip was originally planned for Memorial Day weekend but because of the bad weather it got postponed to 4th of July weekend. We all met up Friday Morning at the Flying J and then hit the road together. It was Jen, Ken, Dalacie, Mandy, Silver, David, Alina, Kelli, Richard, DJ, Leona, Ryan, Blake, Brooklyn and myself! We arrived sometime in the afternoon...the weather when we got there was hot and nice, it looked like it was going to rain, but luckily enough the storm passed us up...and we set up camp and then headed over to the lake to enjoy some boating! After boating we headed to town for dinner at Pizza Hut...I know Pizza hut on a camping trip...but it was really the best pizza any of us had ever had!!! After Pizza we went back to camp and roasted marsh mellows...for smores, (I've never seen anyone eat so many smores before but Silver sure can pack em down!) Saturday we woke up pretty early ate yummy breakfast burritos that Mandy and Silver made and then headed back down to the lake for more boating... Ryan and I put the Jet ski in the water and right after Ryan dropped me in the water....the Jet ski died...I was stuck...but luckily for me, Jen was just putting the boat in the water so I hooked on to her and she pulled me until Ken got back with the truck...Ken put me back on the trailer, and then him and Ryan looked at the Jet ski...turned out we needed new spark plugs, so Ryan and I ran to town to get them, when we got back it was time for lunch, so we had sandwiches and then put the jet ski back in the water to see how it would run after changing the spark plugs...the Jet ski worked like new...glad it was a cheap fix!!! The clouds moved back in after lunch, bringing with it some rain and wind so we decided to hang out at camp...Jen & Ken made delicious Steak Kabobs and potatoes, while we showered and changed. After dinner we headed to town to watch the firework show at the local Walmart...it was a pretty good show for a small town! After the show we stopped at Walmart to get breakfast for the morning...we had heard Sunday was going to be the best weather for the weekend. We came back to camp after the firework display and ate more smores...then headed off to bed. Sunday we woke up, and the lake was beautiful...not a ripple in sight..we all headed to the water for one last spin on the lake! We had a great time camping...Blake absolutely loved it...didn't want to go home, and Brooklyn well lets just say she's like her mama...she'll learn to like it over time!!!

June Birthday's

I guess you could say that June is a pretty busy month for us for Birthdays! First we celebrated Leona's Birthday with Dinner at Chili's followed by a night of drinking and dancing at Lodo's Downtown!


Me & Leona


The Gang @ Chili's

Leona & her brother Johnny


Leona and her man DJ

Then the following weekend we celebrated Kenny's Birthday with a BBQ at Kelli's house. We had tons of fun celebrating both birthdays...Happy Birthday Leona and Kenny!

Ken's 2 favorite people....his wife and his sister in law me!!!

Ken and his family

Playing crack the egg

Ken & His mom

Brooklyn giving Kenny a bday kiss

Fathers Day

So this year I decided I really wanted to go all out for Ryan for Fathers Day...he's such a great dad to our two kids, and he is always putting himself aside for our family.... I had bought Rockies Tickets for Fathers Day, to show Ryan how much we appreciated him! My plan was to catch lunch and then head over to the game....well the day didn't quite pan out as I had planned, I ended up waking up Sunday Morning at 6:00am with the chills, and had a fever of 101.4....I felt so bad, but all I wanted to do was sleep...I napped until about 11:30, and then forced myself out of bed to join Ryan and the kids for the Rockies game....needless to say I wasn't much fun, I was burning up, so I took Brooklyn and sat by the consession stands while Ryan and Blake watched the game....I couldn't stand it anymore so at the top of the 7th inning, we left.... we came home slept for a little while and then went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse...I felt so bad for ruining Ryan's fathers day especially since I had planned to make it extra nice for him this year... but him being the great husband and father he is....said he had a great day being with his family!



Ryan and Brooklyn at the Rockies Game on Fathers Day



Ryan and the kids outside Rockies Stadium for Fathers Day


Ryan with the present the kids and I got him for Fathers Day

Blake's Birthday Weekend!

Blake's 4th Birthday Party at Pump it Up

This past weekend we celebrated Blake's birthday... we really spoiled him! His weekend started on Friday June 12th (his actual Birthday) Ryan and I took Blake along with my sister Jenny and her niece Dalacie to Water World. I was nervous the weather wouldn't hold out for us, but it ended up being a beautiful morning/afternoon! We took Blake on a few water slides with tunnels and thru a fun house, he floated in the lazy river and played in the wave pool, he had a blast! We left Water world around 3:30 picked Brooklyn up from daycare then got ready for dinner at Rosies Diner (Blake's favorite restaurant to go to for his birthday) after dinner we came home to give him his birthday present from Ryan, Brooklyn, Jen, Ken, Papa, M0, Chris and myself...we all chipped in to buy Blake a trampoline...he was so excited, he wanted Ryan to put it up right then! Saturday we had lunch with Ryan's cousin Bill & Shelagh and their 2 kids then headed over to Pump it Up for Blake's Birthday Party! He loved Pump it Up, and what made his birthday even more special was his little crush from school showed up to his party...Blake and Brinn (His school crush) were inseperable! Blake had one of the best birthdays yet, It will be hard to top it, but I wouldn't want anything less for my sweet son!

Daddy, Blake & Mommy at Water World


Blake with all of his friends at Pump it Up


Blake at Water World


Blake jumping on his new trampoline (he doesn't look excited at all...smirk)

Reflection of the last 4 years.....

Today we celebrated Blake's 4th birthday... I sit back and wonder where all that time has gone? It doesn't seem possible that out sweet & charming baby boy is turning 4... I guess he's really not a baby anymore, he's our young man now!!! The past year Blake has grown up so much he has learned and accomplished so many things, he became a big brother, he started pre school, he played soccer and t-ball, he can recite his home phone number & the pledge of alligence as well as spell his own name and that's just to name a few! I can hardly beleive that next year he will start kindergarten! We are so proud of him, and the little man that he is turning out to be!

Happy Birthday to our precious son, the center of our universe, our pride & joy, we love you so much our little boy!!!


Blake Ryan Burke
June 12, 2005 @ 9:52am
8lbs, 8oz 21 1/2 inches long


Blake's 1st Birthday
June 12, 2006


Blake's 2nd Birthday
June 12, 2007


Blake's 3rd Birthday
June 12, 2008


Blake's 4th Birthday
June 12, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend we celebrated Memorial Day... we had made big plans to go camping up in Sterling with a group of friends, but after checking the weather forecast to find that it was Raining and a high of 60 we decided to postpone the camping trip until July and hang around town! Although we were really looking forward to camping we still had a good time! We started the weekend off with Blake's last soccer game for the spring season! Ryan and I were really looking forward to this, the season was a bust to begin with because of all of the cancelled games due to the weather, so we were happy it was finally over! The parents really like the way Ryan coached the team as did the children! One of the little girls on the team "Amanda" went up to Ryan and said "your the best Coach" and she gave him a hug, a lot of the parents asked if he was going to coach summer season, but Ryan had to regretfully tell them no as Blake will be participating in T-Ball for the summer season. After the soccer game Ryan and I had 4 BBQ's to go to..so needless to say we were pretty busy and filling up on delicious food everywhere! We first went to my co worker Gregg's BBQ, we had a lot of fun there and really enjoyed ourselves but had to cut out after spending 2 hours there so we could head to my co worker Chris's house... we got there pretty late but stayed long enough to have a braut and some home made beer! After Chris's house we headed over to Mandy's house and hung out with all of our friends, we watched the Nuggets play and munched on yummy food...and then we ended the evening at Ryan's buddy/partners house to watch the UFC fights (actually for Ryan to watch the fights and for me to eat the delicious fruit cookie Jamie made) Thanks Jamie...it was awesome!


2009 YMCA Spring Soccer Team


Blake kicking the ball


Kelli & Blake

Sunday we met up with my Cousin Lindsay and her family who happen to be in town for a Graduation party! I hadn't seen my cousin in at least 2 to 3 years so it was really nice catching up with her and watching the kids play together! I wish the weather had been nicer so we could have done something fun while they were in town, but it rained so it squashed any plans we had for the outdoors... so instead we met up with them for lunch then had them over to our house so the kids could play and we could visit...we happened to get in a ball pit fight, that was crazy but it was pretty fun! I was sad to see them go, but they had more family to visit on their short trip to Colorado!


The Sloneneckers


Sophia, Lindsay, Candee, Jenny and Me


Me & Lindsay with our 1 year olds


"Cousins" Lindsay and Me


Breanna and Blake (2nd Cousins) they made an instant friendship


Sophia and Brooklyn driving around! (2nd cousins)


Sophia and Brooklyn hugging (2nd Cousins)

On Monday Memorial Day we had made plans to hang out at Cherry Creek and do the whole boating thing since we had to cancel our camping trip, but wouldn't you know it...it was cold and rainy... Kelli still put her boat in the water and DJ, Richard and Kenny all got a chance to wakeboard before the storm completely moved in forcing them off the water! Ryan, Jenny, Dalacie, the Kids and I...had fun on the beach building a sand castle...so I guess it wasn't a complete bust! After getting rained out at the lake we went to lunch at Subway then came home for a nice afternoon nap listening to the rain fall, and got caught up on some house work!


Jen & I helping the kids build a Sand Castle


Ryan packing sand for our castle


Blake & Dalacie working together to build a creek around the castle


Blake Filling the Creek


Brooklyn's 1st Sand Castle


Blake & his Sand Castle


Dalacie