So much of my blog is centered around taking steps to make a better tomorrow. In an attempt to do that I can sometimes forget to live in the moment. That’s why, every now and then, it’s good to take a step back and live life a day at a time. That way you can truly appreciate all that you have instead of focusing on what you don’t have. That’s exactly where I’ve been and what I have been doing lately…

Last weekend we had the pleasure of having my brother-in-law Bryce and my niece Neve come for a visit. Last year Bryce brought Ruby with him  (aka Roosky Littlemoney) but this year it was Ruby’s little sister’s turn for a trip out to Colorado!

Since they are only a few months apart in age, Penelope was especially happy to have her cousin come for a visit!

As soon as we picked them up from the airport the first thing we did was head to downtown Denver for a cuppa of joe from The Market.. along with some goodies for the girls.

We spent the rest of the weekend playing outside and eating popsicles. It was a blast!

There were a few particularly hot days that were spent at the museum and a nearby park…

This required refreshments in the form of ice cream and iced coffee, of course. We found an awesome coffee shop in downtown Littleton. Bryce loved it so much we frequented it three times in a 24 hour time span. It was bordering on obsessive, but we just couldn’t help ourselves!

During the afternoons while the girls napped Bryce, Bridget and I would watch season 4 of Downton Abbey. I was too busy finishing up my grad degree during the winter to stay on track and I had been dying to watch it. Brent tried to crash our Downton Abbey party but got banned when he made fun of us for laughing too hard at semi funny one liners. When he’s particularly bratty we call him “Thomas”, which ironically is his middle name, so he doesn’t know that we’re actually insulting him. Then we laugh our snobby inside joke laugh, which I think would technically make us “O’Brians” but he doesn’t know who O’Brian is so it’s okay.

  Once the girls woke up they required mani/pedi’s. They had very specific nail color choices… with sparkles of course.

Look at those hand models!

There was also a lot of running round naked (not pictured) and jumping on the trampoline. The days were filled with lots of squeals and laughter followed shortly by lots of “mine!” and tears. It was everything we hoped it would be.

The weekend flew by and we were all sad to see them go but Penelope was especially sad. For the first few days after they had left she would wake up every morning looking for her Nevey. (She still talks to her imaginary friend Neve in the backseat of the car.) Ruby, however, was super excited to have her little sister back when the trip was over. We’ll see them again shortly when we meet up for a family reunion at the end of summer. I can’t wait to see all of them!

After Bryce and Neve left I decided it was time to get back into the swing of summer. I had been thrown off since the surgery and was ready to get back to my dog days groove. So for the past week I have spent a lot of time outside cleaning up my garden and catching up on maintenance.

 I was sad to see that one of my pumpkin plants had died while I was recuperating from surgery. It’s such a bummer because it had the biggest pumpkin on it 😦

But the rest of my stuff is coming in quite nicely if I do say so myself! I think I can officially call myself a gardener.

Penelope’s favorite plant is the “pickle plant” aka fresh dill. She’d sit there and sniff that sucker all day if I let her which makes sense because she is as equally obsessed with actual pickles.

Bridget loves the raspberry bush by our front door and is so happy to see that the fruit is ripening before her two week trip to St. Louis. (She was afraid that she would miss them.) It’s seriously like having a candy jar by your doorstep. You wouldn’t believe how sweet the raspberries are!

I was super excited about my first ripe tomato. I think it was the color that made me so giddy. Isn’t it pretty?!

Other than the lovely things that have been growing there have been some other magical things going on in the good old back yard as well. One morning I woke up to find two unexpected guests. We’ll call them dasher and Dancer. I’m pretty sure they were just as interested in my garden as I am…

And on the super lucky mornings we see hot air balloons!

The warmer the weather gets the lower they fly, which is awesome because it always looks like they might land right in our yard.

In my attempt to get back into my summer groove I’ve gone back to blowing drying my hair via bike rides and spending my afternoons at the pool with my sweet girls. I haven’t been able to establish a workout routine yet but it’s the first thing on my to do list, that and eating healthier.

This summer definitely took an unexpected turn. I could easily spend my summer wallowing over what I’ve lost but that would be a disservice to myself and my family. I have so much to be thankful for. I felt like I just needed to take a little time to gain some perspective in order to truly appreciate it all… but now I’m back 😉