Welcome to our World

We wanted to start inviting friends over who helped us move, which evolved into the idea of also decorating Halloween cookies.  We had a blast!  I certainly have to find more excuses to have these three families over again.  After we've thanked the other 18 families on the list.  How about next Halloween, Marcee, Stacey, and Maryann? True friends even do your dishes for you when you're thanking them for previous help.  And they all brought something to contribute to the party.  I guess I'll just always be in their debt.  (:  Thanks for the laughs and help, ya'all!

We play with neighbors.  This is actually something to get used to.  Before, we had one set of neighbors to play with.  Now there are lots and a much safer street and a pocket park in the back.  Lots of play time. Eat solid food.  She started to whine every time she saw us eating and loves loves loves baby food.  Her favorite is apple sauce, as recommended by Dr. R. when she had diarrhea.  We mix the applesauce with everything to help it go down.  We also mix in oatmeal cereal.  aka. cardboard.  lol. Danny can write his name now!  This is a super big deal! He is also on a soccer team for the first time and is quite good.  He gets pretty frustrated, though, because often he feels like he's playing 5 against 1 because some of his team members go the wrong way. Danny has the cutest cheering section ever. After one of Danny's soccer games, Grandpa had her walking around.  She now seems to think she ...

On Sunday, September 22nd, I found myself in the mother's lounge feeding the baby and wrote the following.  After Relief Society I asked what I had missed in the announcements, and Jana told me she and encouraged everyone to write a journal entry about the flood.  Check!  Even though I wasn't in the room, at least I was on the same wave length. I feel like I have to mention something about the flood. Kaelah got an entire week off of school and it went by so fast. Basic story: it rained and it rained and it rained and then rained some more. Soon even major streets were closed and we realized both our old ward and our current ward were getting hit HARD by either the St. Vrain River or Left Hand Creek. Facebook was our portal for information as friends and organizations updated statuses and posted pictures and videos. Incredible. When I saw our old sub development got the evac notice, I called Donna and the Whipple family prepared to stay with us. At bedtime we...

On the day our membership ran out, my mom helped me take the children back to the Butterfly Pavilion one more time for a while.  We lucked out with the addition of new tanks in the aquarium area and meeting this character.  Even the baby liked him.  And with 4 children, we have the perfect number to take this picture twice: We were so so so happy to have Aunt Shelley & Uncle Brett's family in Colorado for a weekend.  This is my favorite memory from the trip.  While we were taking a walk to show her cousins Kaelah's school, Brett taught the kids the right way to hold a gardner snake.  Our family is really wishing they could live here!  (Kaelah and Ali are so cute together with their pink glasses too.) And look who thinks she can drink water out of a glass.  Well, actually, she can.  This baby is quite impressive.

We spent an afternoon back in the old neighborhood.  One good thing about renting to friends is when you have a play date at their house, you might get to see your neighbors too.  It was quite a little reunion.  We picnicked on the front grass so it was impromptu and wonderful.  And what a relief for Kaelah to know she could still be friends with Serena even though we moved to a new house. Playing with Darrell's pop. Hugs and happy tears from Marshon. The kids loved playing on the trampoline, but the insurance company said no, so they've had to take it down.  ): We still get to see friends when Dan plays softball with members of the LHC ward.  The E. family makes for great babysitters.  I don't think I could manage going to the games without them. The annual stake family carnival is a great place to see people too.  I loved this one of Natalie & Natalie.  Isn't M patient with N? And don't forget the pool!  ...

Kaelah's first day of kindergarten.  That look on her face before school kills me b/c I can tell she's nervous.  Luckily we had a picnic at the park afterwards with Teny that was super fun. Danny's first Rapids game. Natalie's first trip to Rocky Mountain National Park (as a family break from unpacking in August). Danny's first time seeing a movie in the theater:  Planes.  I got to take Kaelah, Danny, & Teny while Marcee babysat M & N.  It was awesome. Still lots of sights like this for us to wake up to. These two blue eyed cuties have fun together.  Danny was so pleased to match his baby sister for church. Having a picnic on the patio with a surprise visitor.  We feel so blessed to live around nice and friendly families. Michelle has become a pro at playing peek-a-boo with Natalie and they both absolutely love it!

So, if you really want to mess up your children, do this:  the week before your oldest child begins kindergarten, move to a new house, begin attending church in a different building, and make sure you have a baby too little for anyone else to take care of.  My poor dears all cried over the move.  I was asked several times if we could just go back to the old house after the initial excitement wore off.  Luckily some play dates with old friends seemed to convince them that we could still live here. Around the time we moved, I enacted a smiley/frowny face system for behavior and told the children they could pick out something from the Disney Store with the money they had earned.  In September my 4-year-old went into debt for the first time... and big time.  This guy owed us 40 smiley faces for this awesome Peter Pan costume.  He has always been helpful, but he sure got a kick out of volunteering to do house work to pay off his debt.  I must say, t...