Thank the Lord for Picture Memories

Oh man everyone, I really, really, REALLY need school to start right now.  There is just no time.....no time for blogging or cleaning....or sleeping. Alas....school is coming......this too shall pass right?

I am neck deep in IRONMAN training that is quickly ramping up as well as working to get through lots of editing from the past month which just leaves enough time to entertain my 2 very BIG little girls and attempt to sleep.  Whew.  

I have been anxious to get all of the pictures from our  Colorado trip up on here and am so excited to finally be doing it!  I am eternally grateful for my love of photography and for technology that allows me to take pics anywhere at anytime.

It had been 6 months since the girls had last seen Memaw and Papa.  They were SO excited to get to Denver and loved every moment on the airplane.  Mom showed up in the terminal and the girls were ecstatic!

The girls jumped right back into all of the things that they love most about Memaw and Papa's house.  horseback riding, feeding doggies treats, playing on the porch and attempting to swim in the pond!

My poor little Arizona girls were so desperately wanting to swim and it was so cold.  Oy it was cold. They stood on the bank of that pond just confused.  Why was it so cold?  Lily did brave a 5 foot turn around one day, but that was about it. 

In true Eckel fashion there was music.  We had some neighbors over one evening and Mom brought out the keyboard and guitar.  The girls had a blast rocking out.

And eating Smores.......

Over the first weekend I went up to Boulder for the race that was cancelled and took my girlfriend and running soul mate Sarah.  It was such a great girls weekend and I am so glad she was with me.

Back at the ranch I got to use my telephoto lens and capture some wonderful inhabitants of my parent's property.  This little family of ducks has been hanging around their pond for a while.  Mom discovered their nest before they were born and has followed them ever since.  Oh little ducks are so cute.

And this guy......can you believe it?  Mom and Dad have several owls who reside in the tall trees around their property.  This guy is the "baby" or Fledgling.  They are super hard to catch and very elusive.  I finally caught him and he refused to look at me.  I tried whistling, rustling and clicking to no avail...then I hooted at him.  One "whoo, whoo," and he looked right at me.  Equal parts scary and amazing.  What a beautiful creature.

In between animals and nature we took the kids on a fantastic horseback ride and, I didn't get much pictures, but I do have a story to tell.

We got all saddled up and lead the two girlies up the road to a big outcropping.  The girls are all about rock climbing and they couldn't wait to hop off and explore.  Right after taking this picture below, My Mom, who was on the rock above us yells out, "Oh wow, guys.....there is a bear!"

No kidding

Thank heavens it was a baby, and the Momma was nowhere around and that it was several hundred yards away because we had our hands full trying to get control of the situation before any dogs or horses saw the little guy.  Poor Lily was beside herself and I am convinced that it will be an experience she will never forget.  Evie was not really sure what to think, but was happy to be back on her horse.  I so wish that I would have been able to get a picture of the bear, but alas.....I had to mother :)

We visited friends........

And I trained.......

The girls got to visit Miss Becky (who did my hair all through college and my wedding) and get their nails painted.....

Then we made the long, long, LONG drive from Colorado to Pinetop AZ.......it was so long.

And got reconnected with my other half....HALLELUJIAH!  Oh......and I trained some more.

Pinetop was such a fun time.  We had a family reunion and I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to reconnect.

I had an open water swim to get done and so we went and explored the Show Low Lake.  It was my first solo open water swim and I think the entrance was the best.  This is my tribe......they get me.

My cousin Derek and his girls came up and they spent some time at the lake too.  My strong Lily was ready and willing to do whatever Derek had in mind.  She just might be a cheerleader some day.

I was insanely busy photographing my cousin's wedding, but the end of our time up in the mountains was wonderful.  The trip was a perfect break in our Summer and I am thankful for the pictures that help keep the memories fresh.

Here are all of the cousins together.  Can you believe it?  Look at all these kids!

Snip it....Snip it Good.

So I know that I wrote about their hair "cuts" in my blog a bit a go, but I just have to give this little experience some personal attention.  After all, one day I sure hope these girls read this blog and get to relive first hand some of their best moments (and laugh about it!).

I suppose every girl has to do it......or at least most have to do it at least one time, but you are never really prepared for it when it happens.  

I came home from a 3.5 hour bike ride a couple of weeks ago to have my husband say, "So....something happened while you were gone." When he told me I really thought it was quite funny.  I never was angry about it just annoyed. I have been asking to trim the girls hair for months. They have both been adamant, "NO Mommy, I want hair like Rapunzel."  As in....tears if I push the issue.

Seriously?  

I told the cutting culprit that I would pay to have her and her sister's hair fixed one time. Thinking I had the upper hand I threatened that if they chose to cut their hair again I would shave their head.  So cute.  My fiesty 6 year old boldly replied, "That's okay Mommy....you shave your head!"  Touche child.  Check and mate.

Evie was kind of along for the ride from start to finish.  She did none of the cutting, but had to go through the most dramatic change.  So many inches had to be cut off and its still a little uneven because I refused to have the little girl with the bowl cut.  

Evie popped off the chair a year older and Lily had this amazing grown up layered look.  I guess that's one way to get older quicker........lets not do it again K girls?