Meet the Brahmas!

 Meet the Brahmas is the kickoff  for the school year at Mac. They have a BBQ dinner with pep rally and announce all the teams. Hard to see, but Jake was there for golf. It was probably 110 degrees and 99% humidity...but it's always fun to see the kids get so excited and happy to be a part of the team!!

First Day of School!!

Here we go 6th, 8th and 10th grade!!! Back down to only 2 schools and NO early morning athletics practices....life is looking good. Praying they all have a good school year!!

Birthday Boys.....

 We had a belated birthday dinner for Jake and Brian...and 2 days early for Joshua. Shirley had a cake made with baby pictures of all 3 boys. So cute!

And this guy is officially 11 now. He had to go to school on his birthday, but it was still a happy day for him!! He got the snow cone maker he has been wanting and we had dinner at Alamo Cafe to celebrate. He brings so much fun to our family!! We are so proud of him and can't wait to see what God has planned for him!

Cousin Camp 2019!

 Cousin Camp #11 was a memorable one!!! Colorado was so beautiful and we did so many fun things. The house was amazing and the weather was picture perfect!!! 

There is always a good amount of fighting and arguing, but all the laughs and memories more than make up for it!!!  

And on the way back to Texas, we got to stop in Roswell, NM for one night...which brought lots of laughs and fun pictures!!! 

Colorado Part 5....

 Our last full day we did a long hike. Mike wanted to try out all of his gear! And we were hoping to see a bear (which didn't happen!!!!). Brad and Lucy stayed back, but the rest of us took a 5 mile hike. It was full of mosquitoes, some rain and lots of beautiful scenery!!

 

 We finally got to a stopping point at a beautiful creek and had some lunch. Of course...it started to rain. But Mike was totally in his element!!! He got to use his water filtration system, little burner for warming water and had Mountain House meals (and long spoons) for everyone. We huddled under trees for awhile and waited for the rain to stop and hiked back out. No bears or moose, but we did have a great time!!!

Colorado Part 4....

We got to celebrate another one of Jake's birthday on the road!!! Hard to believe he is 16!!! Time flies. Of course we had donuts for breakfast!!! And cake at dinner!!! 

We are so proud of the man he is growing up to be and can't wait to see what the future brings!!! 

 We spent almost one whole day at Purgatory doing all their summer activities. They had an alpine slide, mountain coaster, zip line, high ropes and a ski lift to the top. The kids spent almost the whole time on the slide and coaster. 

Jake and Joshua riding the lift to the top for the alpine slide.

 

 Grant and Joshua racing against Jake. 

   

 Sophia, Lucy and Mary did the zip line!

Colorado Part 3....

 The second full day we headed out to Silverton and Ouray. In Silverton we took a tour of 100 Year Old Mine. It was pretty interesting but we didn't get many pictures. The kids spent a lot of time panning for gold before the tour started.

 

After Silverton....we did the worlds scariest mountain drive to Ouray. About 20 white knuckling miles hanging off the side of a mountain. I couldn't even look!!!!

But once we got there, it was the cutest little town. It's called "the Switzerland of Colorado" because it's so pretty nestled in the mountains. We went to the hot springs and swam for awhile. They had 3 pools that were spring fed. And 2 pools that were city water. The kids loved a water obstacle course and had a bunch of races against each other.

 

It really was a beautiful setting!!!! 

 

Colorado Part 2....

 The house we stayed at was amazing. It was perfect for our 2 families!!! Lots of room and incredible views!!! It's called Eagle's Nest for a good reason!

The first afternoon we decided to take a short hike close by the house. We did about 3 miles total and the scenery was beautiful!!! The only wildlife we saw was a beaver but we kept hoping for a bear or moose!! 

The next morning we headed out for White Water Rafting!!! We were all so excited (some of us were a bit nervous). We were booked on the 4 hour family adventure. We had the best guide for our boat. There was a lot of calm water before we got to the "water park" which had some class 3 and a few class 4 rapids. 

The kids took turns "riding the bull" (sitting on the very front of the boat).

We all look pretty good!!! So focused on our rowing!

 About half way through we had a break for snacks and water. And then they let the kids jump off this rock into the 55 degree water!!! They had so much fun they all did it a second time. There were 4 boats total in our group. 

 We're a pretty cute crew!!! It was so much fun and the kids had a blast. I think it was the perfect mix of rapids, calm water and fun!!!

 Afterwards we were SO hungry and very tired!!!!