HE IS ONE!

Andrew is now 1! This year has gone by so fast. I was sitting here talking to Lynda about Andrew's birth and then as the time was approaching of his actual delivery, Andrew was passed out in my arms. Not only did we have a busy day, but it went pretty late.

We have had a few celebrations for Andrew's birthday. The first celebration was last Monday, September 25th. We enjoyed a cookie cake and gifts with Mimi, Grampie, Aunt Traci, Uncle Les, Aunt Kristen, Morgan, Jack, Marve and Sandie (family friends). Andrew loved the icing on the cookie cake and screamed when I finally told him that was enough.

Joshua helped blow the candle out!

He could not get enough of the icing!

The next celebration was today, on his birthday. We hiked down into Breckenridge, ate lunch at Buba Gumps, played on the playground, enjoyed the art festival, then came home to nap, and went back out to have dinner at Kenosha Steakhouse and dessert at Coldstone. Mimi and Grampie were a part of the celebration again. We will have another celebration to include my family, since our plans changed on Wednesday that we would still be in CO this weekend. What a lucky guy to have so many parties.

"This sand feels weird."

"Oh my goodness! Why has mom been hiding this from me?"
Happy Birthday Andrew! We love you and are blessed to have you in our lives.

ANIMALS

Colorado has a tremendous amount of wildlife...hawks, squirrels, chipmunks, black bears, moose, deer, beavers, brooke trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, elk, the list can go on. A couple of years ago Jeff and I saw a black bear at the bottom of peak 10. We were driving down from Jeff's parent's house and I said, "That dog looks weird." Jeff said, "That is not a dog, that's a bear!" It was running down the road into the parking lot of some condos. The bear was trying to get to the dumpster. At that point we also saw this kid on his skateboard. The kid jumped off his skateboard and started walking fast in the opposite direction of the bear. Jeff and I tried to follow the bear...thinking the bear would run from us, away from the kid on his skateboard. Crazy! We just thought it was a random experience. However, today we were told that black bears have been seen the past two weeks up by the houses on peak 10, which is where Jeff's parent's house is. I went down stairs to get Andrew's pajamas and on the way back up saw a bear behind the house. I ran to get my camera while Dave, Lynda, and Joshua went out onto the back patio to see what the bear was doing. The bear was digging in the trash can that the neighbor left out...a BIG no no to leave your trash can out! A bit more frightening now that a bear has actually been seen less than a house away. Joshua and Andrew will NOT be going out on their own.

The bear is in front of the trash can...he is the size of the trash can.

The bear went up to the neighbors house...noone was home!

On a lighter animal note. The chipmunks are so friendly here. They come right up to you...Joshua nearly fell off the rock he was eating his lunch on as a chipmunck jumped right up next to him.

One of the chipmunks trying to get into the fishing vest...they also climbed into Andrews backpack that we carry him in, climbed into Dave's backpack that the food was in, and just all around us.

ST. MARY'S GLACIER

Jeff, Joshua, Andrew, Dave, Lynda, and myself went on a hike to St. Mary's Glacier. It was a short, but steep hike up a heavily rocky climb. The drive to the hike was long, but the scenary was just beautiful hiking up and at the top. We had lunch with some chipmunks, fished (the boys) and caught nothing, walked around parts of the lake, and then went home.
Quote from Joshua, "All this casting and fishing and pooping gives me a great idea...lunch!"
Story behind the quote: We went on a hike down to the creek to throw rocks in a few days before the glacier hike. On the way back Joshua had to go poop. I told him that I had some wipes and he could go in the woods. He did not want to. On the way back up he was singing, "I can hold it! I can hold it! I can hold it!" under his breath. About two minutes into singing he could not hold it any longer. So, he and I hiked off the trail and he went poop...Ugh! It was not easy. With all this in mind I made sure he went before we left for the glacier hike and asked if he needed to go once we got there (a port-a-potty was near by). He said he did not have to go. So, after casting his pole for a while and fishing for a while he had to go poop. Oh boy! I had to take him to find another spot to go poop. I took my wipes and off we went. This time was easier. I found a rock he could sit back over and the whole process was better. We got back to the fishing spot, he made his comment, and then ate his lunch. Boys!
Back to the hike...recommend it, but be sure to bring $5 for parking.

Joshua casting his pole...Grampie got him the pole and he was practicing all last week casting.

Jeff and Joshua fishing.

The boys looking at the glacier.

Hiking back down since Joshua wanted in the backpack.

HAPPY 40TH!

Most of you know that Jeff, the boys, and I are in Breckenridge, CO right now. We drove up to CO for two reasons. The first, to celebrate Jeff's parents 40th wedding anniversary. The second, to have our first family vacation since Christmas...we were in CO then too.
The actual anniversary day was August 10th. However, we could not all make it to CO until the end of August. Dave always said that he wanted to take all of us to CA to celebrate their 40th. Since that was not going to work with three little babies we all decided to go to CO. The plan was to just go to dinner for their 40th. What they did not know is that we actually planned a SURPRISE party that a number of their family and friends attended.
Kristen, Les, Jeff, and I worked very hard for the past 9 months to make this surprise work. Guess what? We pulled it off! They were completely surprised and had a wonderful day. I say day because surprises started Saturday morning and did not end until the party ended that night. Joshua delivered the invitation to Grampie and Mimi Saturday morning. They began asking questions then...Joshua did not release any information he knew! Then Lynda's sister, Pam from CA, surprised them...it was the best! Pam had to leave early Sunday, so we wanted her to get as much visiting time in as possible.
People came from all over, CA, FL, KS, TX, and CO. Dave never stopped asking questions about who all was going to be there? He pretty much guessed everyone, but that did not make the surprise of seeing everyone less enjoyable.
We catered chicken and beef fajitas, black beans, and rice. We had so much food! Everyone enjoyed the food, but we received even more compliments about the cake, see picture below. Everything was very tastey!
We found their wedding album and had two pictures framed, one of them after their ceremony and the other of them next to their wedding cake. Then we had pictures copied of them when they were younger spread throughout. Jeff, Traci, and I were very sneaky with all of this...thank goodness they have been out of town a lot this year!
We are very pleased at how everything turned out. Not sure if I want to do this again anytime soon...I planned 2 surprise parties this year and it was very exhausting. However, you get this high knowing how much the recipients of the party appreciate the hard work.


Kristen had a replica of their wedding cake made (smaller scale)...did you know they do not put swans on wedding cakes anymore? We had these made out of icing. The floral centerpiece was made by a friend.

First taste of the cake...HAPPY TIMES!

Dave and Lynda, thank you for giving us such a perfect example of marriage. We look forward to seeing many more years of your marriage and growing in our own. We love you!

TAKE A WALK

Andrew and I went for a walk on Monday, to the post office. The post office is 1.8 miles from our home. According to Google Maps it takes 37 minutes to walk. However, it only took Andrew and I 29 minutes to walk, in the rain and with stopping at crosswalks. All together, we were gone for an hour and five minutes (had to buy stamps). I killed two birds with one stone here...exercise (walking is one of the most efficient ways to metabolize body fat) and ran an errand. Not only that, we also saved on carbon emissions that would have been released by using my car (the post office is 2.7 miles away if we had taken a car) and saved on fuel, although small.
Go green and walk! Not only is walking good for you and the environment. It is a good form of exercise for your children to start with.

BAB WITH MARY

My friend Mary wanted to be the first to take Joshua to Build-A-Bear. Well, we both had busy summers and Joshua ended up getting invited to a Build-A-Bear birthday party before we had a chance to get together...Mary did get to take him his second time.
Joshua was pretty shy, indecisive, and is now sleeping with his gift from Mary. Thanks Mary for a great time and your generous gift!
The story is in the pictures below...

The Panda Bear won out right away, until...

He saw the Pink Bear with white hearts. Funny if you know Joshua...he loves anything pink, all accessories, bags, and high heel shoes.

Mary did her best to talk him out of the Pink Bear..."What about a Crocodile, a Puppy...

a Bear...", until he decided on...

The Monkey.

He "bathed" the monkey, which he loves this step.


Then he got to pick an outfit, Dallas Star (hockey). Perfect! "Wait, what about a golfer? I think I want a golfer."

So Mary takes off the hockey outfit and puts on the golfer outfit. "Wait, what about a basketball player? I want a basketball player."

So Mary takes off the golf outfit and puts on the basketball outfit. "No, I think I want the hockey player. No, the basketball player. No, the golfer. No what about something else?" Mary was wise and said he had those three options only...he finally decided on the....

Hockey Player.
Now Joshua has a bear, Diego (he named), baseball player and a monkey, Diego (he named again), hockey player.

LOVE IT!

I am asked all the time, "Do you love being at home? Do you love being a mom?". I don't always answer enthusiastically...it depends on the day some times if I am really being honest. However, I do LOVE IT! I LOVE being a mom. I feel blessed to be able to stay at home with them. In fact, I am already so sad that Joshua is going to leave me to go to school in September. I am proud of and happy for him, but he is old enough to talk to me, play games with me, help me with various chores and enjoys it, and he is my first baby...I will miss him for those 10 hours a week he is gone.
Andrew is the one that brought this entry about today. He looks at me as if I can do no wrong. He wants me around and is pure in his eyes about his love for me. I was getting him out of the bath tonight, he was trying to climb out (his new hobby, climbing) and was saying what sounded like "Out!", when I scooped him up and he just leaned into me and gave me a kiss. I mean seriously. Who cannot love those moments. I LOVE IT!
Thank you God for providing me this opportunity. I pray that I will not fail to teach the boys your love for us. Let my eyes show my love for you as my boys show their love for me.