Welcome to our World

Dear Rocky Mountain National Park, I love you. I have since the very first visit. You are beautiful & refreshing. Your campgrounds are perfect for me. We can always find the right trail to hike. Kaelah & Danny loved being able to play with snow in June while Michelle was relaxed enough to sleep through the whole thing. Being able to ride the shuttle bus to & from the snow were the children's favorite part. This visit you were especially good to us. This was our first time camping with all 3 of our children & you made it memorable. Thank you for allowing us to see so much wildlife! My favorites were being so close to a coyote & when a marmot dashed right in front of Kaelah. Thanks again, Sarah

Our joy of a boy turned 2 (over a month ago)! We had a great time inviting his little guy friends to the park to celebrate. He had a soccer theme b/c we noticed those paper products were on sale at Hobby Lobby the night of our hit-n-run a few months ago. Danny was totally fine with it... until he saw Cars 2 stuff at Target later. I felt like such a bad mom for not asking him what kind of party he wanted for his 2nd birthday. Kaelah couldn't have cared less at that age! Yet all turned out well b/c there was plenty of cake (Daddy is great at those) & he got a Strider bike! He is in love with anything that has wheels & he has been wanting a bike really badly. He would stare & follow around any boy on a bike when we went to parks to play. In January I made a goal of selling enough at the consignment store to pay for one (since they sell new Striders there too) & the day I walked in I had exactly enough! All I had to do was pay for the taxes. I was quite pleas...

My 15-month-old knows the clean-up song from Barney. Not b/c she watches Barney, but b/c we have ample opportunity to sing it around here. Below, helping mommy clean up the stick-style sunscreen Danny drew all over the fireplace with. Isn't she so sweet? Here's a picture from a day when my dad volunteered to help clean up the house. There were loads & loads of children's laundry to put away, so we dumped all the baskets on Kaelah's twin bed. Almost 20 minutes of laughter followed as the 3 children tossed clothes to Gpa & he tossed them back. They got put away eventually, so I'm grateful my dad could have such a great memory with the children. Happy times! One day I couldn't find Kaelah & Danny. Here's what my son looks like after his big sister has done his hair & make-up. I think her hair & make-up turned out better. (:

June 1st marked the end of Kaelah's first year of preschool. Granted she only attended one morning a week, the good that came from it was huge. I'm quite excited for her to begin going 2 mornings a week next fall so she can enjoy the structure, the planning, the environment, her friends, & a very patient, quiet, calm, fun adult more than once a week. Dan suggested we send her all 3 mornings & send Danny 1 morning, but b/c Kaelah still seemed unsure at the celebrations & Danny would only be 2-years-old I decided to just sign Kaelah up for 2 days. However, whenever I loose my temper, I think Dan was right. Can you tell by the picture below that Stacie loves children & they love her? After the closing ceremony, we just stayed a played for a while. Here's Kaelah pushing a doll buggy around. Waldorf school teachers sure do know how to pick great toys. Below Kaelah is showing me how to play kitchen at school. "Like this...." Danny was just g...

Once in a while there are those days you feel like you're a great mom. I feel like that when Lisa is around. She does such a great job it is easy to just follow her lead and go with the greatness. And her son, Ethan, is such a good little guy that Kaelah seemed to do the same thing... just followed his lead & had a great old time. On May 24th we felt like super moms for taking our children to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for the morning & lunch and then next door to the Zoo for the afternoon. We had a terrific day! Astro Tots! The boys measuring up to a dinosaur. Being a penguin in a cave. My, my the kangaroos were a hoppin'! I love how little ones point their fingers at the zoo. I am going to miss this girl being 14-months-old. (Have you noticed the musical stroller game going on?) I liked her reflection in this photo. I spy with my little eye a baby orangutang! Before leaving Lisa gave them an idea to have a dance party to the music playing at...

We weren't going to make a big deal out of Mother's Day this year b/c it fell during the same week as my parents' birthdays. But my mom had bought new outfits for the children to wear to church & I just had to get a good photo. Being the insanely optimistic person that I am at times, I decided to take my little ones to JC Penny for pictures to then give to my mom, mother-in-law, & Dan's grandma for Mother's Day presents. Here are the 3 digital photos we bought followed by the scan of the free 8x10. All I have to say is, I will seriously re-think ever trying that again. Nothing wrong with JC Penny, they just are not our friend, Valerie R. (; Poor Danny woke up sick that day but I didn't cancel. What a nice boy to still try to smile for us! Michelle decided to play peek-a-boo, which enabled us to take the sibling photo we had given up on earlier. I was delighted when Kaelah came home from church with a Mother's Day card her Sunbeam teacher helpe...

Here's the web album Dan made from the pictures taken on our camera from the ward Young Women Camp fundraiser on May 14. (Just click on that picture of Kaelah drinking lemonade at the potluck dinner.) You can credit Maddy B. as photographer for most of them. The Young Women did great, the food was good, & people really enjoyed the items & service they won at the silent auction. I have to say, I'm very grateful we only have to do this once a year... and that Margaret S. took the lead on this one! I love being able to work with the teenage girls in our congregation but at times I seriously wonder why the bishop put me in as the president! P.S. Our Danny cracked a lot of people up by continually walking to the 5 gal. Igloo cooler & refilling his lemonade cup. He thinks he's so grown up.