BOOKS!

Lately Maximus has been all about books. He has books in 3 different places in his room, on a shelf in our room, in the basement, in the livingroom, even in the car. Our televisions aren't on and I rarely let him sit and watch it during the day, and I've found that he is consumed by books! The kid reads constantly! In this picture, I found him at 4 in the afternoon, just crashed out on our bed. He was there for an hour!

Our Neighborhood

This morning Maximus and I (and Googoo too) went for a little hike in the woods. In our own neighborhood! I love living here.

Visit From Val

My friend Valerie visited us last week. I met her 5 years ago, when I hired her at Hilton. I remember how fun it was to interview her. We laughed the whole time! Since meeting her, spent a lot of time together. She is the one who dragged me to the bar the night that I met Jesse! She's responsible for us meeting and hey, even little Maximus! After she got married, she moved to England with her British husband. In the last few months, he was transferred to Dubai, where they currently live. She came back to the states to see her family and friends. Her family lives in Denver, so we were able to spend a few days together at our house. WHAT FUN. I introduced her to a few of my friends here and they loved her! I think my friends like her more than they like me! Hahaha! She has got to be one of the warmest and funny people I know. Jesse and I laughed with her the entire time.


Jesse and Valerie with their insanely LARGE toes. Freaks.


Earlier in the day, Maximus called both Valerie and myself "mommy", so here is our little polygamist family! (Kidding to those who don't get it)

We went and toured some old cabins in Frisco. They've been restored and are actually really cool to see. We are both a couple of kitchen china freaks! We saw this old set and died. Look how adorable it is! We were in heaven.


During her visit, there would be times where we were walking around and we would stop to hug and tell each other how happy we were to see each other. I love her. She's such a strong, intelligent and kind gal. And totally crazy. Maximus calls her "super cool Balawie".

Handsome

Firecracker 50 and a Visit From Grandma Vicki and Papa Sherwood

Over the 4th of July, Jesse's parents and his brother and fiance visited us. It's been over a year since his parents saw Maximus, so it was enjoyable to catch up and have fun for six days. On July 4th, Jesse had his biggest race yet- The Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge, CO. 50 miles in the mountains with over 9,000 of climbing. The route was changed because there was still 4 feet of snow in some spots of the race, so it ended up being 54 miles total. It's funny, because we never thought we'd be endurance athletes. Notice how clean and pretty his bike is in the picture above.

Jesse before taking off for the start line. He was so nervous!

Look how cool our team kits (kits are cycling uniforms) from the shop are. "Powered by Beefies" is from Maximus. He calls his legs his "beefies" and that's what powers the team. Makes me smile as his mom.

Maximus and I were going to hang out for the 6 hours it would take him to race. Jesse's parents met up with us later that morning.

How they have the race set up, is the racers lead the 4th of July parade down Main Street. The racers don't start off sprinting, they are lead by someone keeping them slow, so everyone could wave and cheer. After Main Street, they killed it and started racing.

The parade itself was so fun! It was very traditional, with horses and fire trucks and all that. Maximus had lots of fun standing at the line watching.

Here's Maximus and Papa Sherwood walking around in Breckenridge. Isn't it sickeningly beautiful?! Seriously, all the views we have here are epic!

Here's a shot of the finish line. It was a huge race. The announcer was really good too. The crowd was amazing. Man, Jesse's mom can whistle. And I thought I was a good cheer leader! His parents had never been to a race, so seeing their son cross the finish line was emotional. It's a huge accomplishment!

I like this picture because it shows how casual all these races are. It's all about families, little and dogs kids running around, people just chilling out and having a good time.

...and after 6 hours, we saw Jesse come down the mountain switchbacks. He crossed the finish line and when he races, I give him time before approaching him. He's so exhausted and need a few minutes to well, not die. After a bit, he came over and sat. Look at my love. He's covered in dirt from his head to his toes and utterly beat. He didn't say too much.

Here's what a really expensive bike looks like after you take it to hell and back. We later learned that his legs cramped at mile 25, leaving him to do the rest in pain. My legs cramp on my long runs, but they cramp at the last mile. I will never complain about the pain after knowing what Jesse went through. What a machine.

Group shot after he could smile.

Jesse's dad loves to fish. He took Maximus to the pond and fished a bit. Hey, I even caught a fishing pole! And it's nice! Thanks to Maximus, we ate fish last night!