Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

This year we celebrated the Mid-Autumn moon festival (Chusok in South Korea and Tet Trung Thu in Vietnam) by walking around our neighborhood with brightly lit lanterns gazing at the moon and sharing some non-traditional "mooncakes" with our beloved friends, the Kensoras.  The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month and is a gathering of family and friends to celebrate the harvesting of crops, giving thanks for the harvest and prayers for a good future. 

Hayden read the girls a traditional Vietnamese tale out of our Children of the Dragon book.

 

Ready to start the walk.

 

 

Rian and Jessie sharing a tea cookie with Jasmine.

 

 

Sarah and Hayden.

Cathy and I. 

Moon worship!!

 

Grandma's Birthday and Estes Park

Happy 65th Birthday Grandma!!  We celebrated grandma's birthday with dinner and her favorite cake from Whole Foods- the triple berry cake. It was a nice, quiet evening and the girls enjoyed helping Grandma blow out her candles after making her wish. 
  

 

That same weekend we took a drive up to Estes Park like we do every year in the Fall.  Boy was it CHILLY.  The sun was shining but there was a very strong wind so we weren't able to stop and hike and get some good pictures of the kids like we normally do.  Here we are during a brief moment braving the winds and cold to pretend we were having fun in nature!

The drive was pretty and the aspen trees were just starting to get their golden glow.  

What happens in Vegas.....

Jessie, Grandma and I flew out to Las Vegas for Jamie and Frankie's wedding.  Hayden and Rian were bummed that they couldn't come along as they had just started the school year and couldn't miss.  Jessie had been talking about the trip for months and was very excited to have the honor of being Jamie's flower girl.

At Caesar's Palace on the way to the Rehearsal.  Even though this was terribly blurry, I had to add it- where does a five year old learn how to stand with her hands on her hips while wearing high heels like that? 

Jessie and Josie (the Matron-of-Honor)

 

Jess, Josie and Grandma.

 

Jessie insisted I take a picture of Jamie's high heels- ooh lala.

 

Sharing stories about "owies". 

What Beautiful Girls!!

 

Rehearsal Dinner was at a great italian restaurant in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace.  Everyone had a good time visiting and walking around the casino.  The next day, we had time to walk around with Aunt Jody before it was time to get ready for the wedding.  We headed over to The Bellagio to see their Fall displays- we were not disappointed!

 

 

Jessie's best buddy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our excursions on the Vegas Strip, we headed back to the hotel to get dressed for the wedding.  Jessie was very excited about her pretty dress, and Josie curled her hair for her.  Before we knew it, it was time to go.

 

I didn't get any pictures of the wedding on my camera because I was taking pictures for Jody using hers, but here is one Jamie shared with us. The wedding was beautiful. Jamie and Frankie looked gorgeous, the garden setting was amazing, and the weather was perfect. Congrats to them both!!!

 

Rian turns 7 before our very eyes!!

Rian's birthday celebration at school- everyone sang to her (including Ms. Hall) and then Rian passed out popsicles for her treat.

Rian had been wanting this Fur Real puppy that you could "really take for a walk" for a year and was thrilled to finally own it.

Birthdays (and holidays in general) tend to be a little anxiety-producing at our house!

Joan came over to help celebrate (Arlen was out of town) and gave her a really neat purse to color, money and an outfit.

Enjoying the possiblities of her gift.

Tye-dye birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Boo Bear!

 

Rian spent an afternoon with her BFF Jasmine and we went out for gelato, to the park, and then back to our house for a playdate.

Of course, Hayden needed Sarah to come along too!

Jasmine gave Rian a matching Hello Kitty shirt and they had a lot of fun dressing like twins.

Instead of having a kid party, Rian wanted to spend the weekend at a hotel with just our family.  We stayed at the Denver Grand Hyatt and had fun swimming, eating out, and walking around 16th St. Mall downtown.

The girls, of course, just wanted to play "hotel" while at the hotel.  Some things never get old!

Jessie starts back at preschool

Jessie's preschool didn't start back up until after Labor Day, so we had a few weeks to "ourselves" while Hayden and Rian were at school all day.  Daddy also took Jess back to Illinois to visit Grandma and Grandpa Thomas for four days and they had a blast together.  (though they ate way too many donuts, hot dogs, and Chinese food- and not nearly enough fruits and vegetables!). Jessie loved being the only child for a bit and really enjoyed playing with all of Grandma's foster kittens every day, as well as going to the apple orchard and Pearl St. park- where dad and I had played as children. 

Jessie's first day back at Paddington Preschool.

Gem Lake

We decided to head up to Rocky Mountain National Park to enjoy a hike in the mountains before the weather turned cool for Fall. It was the perfect day to hike to Gem Lake, and Hayden had been wanting to take us on this hike for awhile (she and a friend had gone the year before).  We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into....

The sign said it was 1.7 miles to the lake, and even though 3.4 miles was a long hike for the kids,  we all felt up to the task.

Everyone's energy and spirits were high and we were enjoying the fresh mountain air.

 

 

Everyone took a turn hanging from a tree.

Because in our family, everything is a competition.

And no one will be left out. 

About half way up, the girls started getting tired.  We couldn't blame them, as the hike was 1.7 miles STRAIGHT up the mountain, with the entire trail being made up of huge boulders and loose rocks.  But nobody wanted to give up.

The views along the way were amazing.

 

The last half mile up to the top was a killer- everyone's leg muscles were burning to the point of exhaustion and Jessie was scaling rocks with every step that were chest high. Several other hikers we passed along the way kept telling us to keep going, that we were almost there- only we weren't.

 

Nobody was willing to give up- except for me Mike and I- and we did finally make it to the top.  It wasn't quite as spectacular as we had envisioned, but it definitely was pretty.

 

Taking a break before the long climb down.

 

The only way we were able to bribe Rian and Jessie to walk on their own two feet the whole way down was a promise to go to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory on our way out of Estes.  Trust me, it was the best $16 worth of gummy bears we've ever spent!