Colorado Trip: Part One

After missing our boy for 2 1/2 weeks, we finally headed to Colorado for our own visit.  Initially we were more eager to see Logan than anyone else.  In fact, Jim was so eager that he talked me into driving overnight just so we could arrive sooner.  Our family felt so incomplete without Logan.

We arrived on Labor Day weekend, so we were able to attend the balloon glow.  Fun fun.

The kids immediately fell in love with Josh's girlfriend, Melissa.

Josh couldn't wait to see Annie in particular.

Logan turned eight while we were on our trip, so we had a family party for him that evening.

Sometime in the last few years it has become a tradition to play 'Heavy, Heavy, Hangover' for all family parties.

I made Logan an ugly, but delicious, cake.  Cake failures have to happen every so often, right?

I'm not sure what day this was, but we thoroughly exhausted Abby during our fun.

We also threw my mom a bridal shower.  Sarah hosted it at her house and provided the yummy food, and Melissa brought these gourmet cupcakes...mmm!  I was in charge of decorations and games (so I would have to do all the talking as Sarah informed me...LOL).

No visit would be complete if I didn't go shopping with my mom at least once.  We found several treasures at Goodwill including a bunch of tutus for Abby.

Sarah took my older three kids to visit Dave at the fire station one day.  They think it's so neat that their uncle is a fireman!

Logan's Special Trip

Logan had a great time during his visit to Colorado.  I'm pretty sure he was completely spoiled by my family there.  :)  My mom sent me a few pictures while he was there.

She took him to the natural history museum in Denver one day. 

Another day she took him to 'Uncle Wilbur's Fountain'.

I'm not sure where these last two pictures were, but I'm going to guess they were at Helen Hunt Falls.

End of August

These pictures were taken because Annie wanted to show Logan what she looked like for church one Sunday while he was in Colorado.  They sure missed each other.

One afternoon I walked by our big bookshelf to see a fantastic representation of my kids' daily activities, and it totally amused me.  They spend most of their time reading, playing with Legos, and running around outside.  The random tennis shoe really completed the picture.

Abby has really shown a lot of development lately.  She's mimicking all sorts of things and has developed a strong opinion about how she wants her life to run.

She is also fitting right into our book loving family.  When I peek through her door crack in the mornings, I can see her looking at books while she waits for someone to get her.

The kids are really enjoying the use of our new table and bench set.  It's pretty much in constant use between Legos, school activities, and family games.

Abby is still a very snuggly baby.

It seems that Abby knows when her hair is clean.  Generally, she puts her bowl on her head ONLY right after a bath.

I found a couple of pictures I missed from my unexpected trip to Colorado in July.  At the county fair, my sister, brother-in-law, brother's girlfriend, and I paid to try out this bubble activity.  It was harder than it looked!  We had so much fun, though.  I'm in pink.

Abby's 1 Year Pictures

To this point, I've have nice pictures taken of my babies when they were about a year old, usually in conjunction with family pictures.  That was my intent with Abby, but we've constantly had something to prevent it.  So I decided I had better take some pictures with my own camera before she was too much older.

She has become a real pill about pictures, and I also decided to do this in the few minutes we had before church.  So, it wasn't as successful as I'd hoped.

She was terrified of my makeshift backdrop (AKA a sheet), so I was lucky to get any smiles on it.

This is the best inside shot.

This one is my favorite outdoor shot.

 

 

I wish this one hadn't come out blurry.

She was done at this point, and there was nothing I could do about it.  :)

Kids Say

One evening, Annie informed us that she had named her freckles.  The most prominent one on her nose is 'Rose' and the rest are 'Annie'.

Annie, "Did you know that great grandma watches tv just to yell at Obama?"

Alex asked me to plug in his night light one evening, but he had special instructions, "But don't put your finger behind it (meaning on the prongs) or it will hurt you!"  Apparently, he was speaking from experience.

As I was putting Alex to bed, "I want to read, but I can't read very good."  Me, feeling surprised and excited, "Do you want me to teach you to read the words?"  Alex, "NO!!!  My night light isn't very bright to see.  Can I turn on the light?"  He just wanted to see his pictures better.

Annie describing a piece of dirt on the floor, "I either saw a mouse being born or a mouse dropping."

Alex, "There is a spider in the bathroom!  It was a killer one!"  Upon inspection, we discovered that the spider was a house fly.

Annie to me, "You really look pregnant with that dress on.  Maybe they make that kind of dress to make people look pregnant."

Alex didn't want an extra chore so I told him he needed to make good choices.  His response, "But my choices just aren't coming out!"  Pause.  "My choices are stuck I mean!"

Annie, "Mom, we match because of our freckles."

Logan when we were high on a mountain, "I can tell the world is round up here!"

Logan at the wolf exhibit in the zoo, "The wolves are looking for food."  Annie, "Hi wolves!  WE'RE food!"