Fugitive

Our family decided that the weather was to nice to miss out on a family outing so being the history and museum buffs we are, we packed ourselves up and drove up to Wyoming for the Butch Cassidy festival. For those who may not be familiar with who he is he was a very well known bank and train robber.

We went to the prison where he served 18 months. I always find it interesting to walk the halls of places such as this filled with history. My minds starts spinning, getting lost in what it must have been like back in those days. It also turned out to be educational for the kids too. They got to learn about how candlesticks and brooms are made. They also had a bunch of different tractors, balloon animals in the "general store" and a small petting zoo area

I can't complain when everybody has a good time and learns something.

I'm back!

I am a little behind on blogging lately. Since August my plate has gotten very full and it has taken some time to find a balance in it all. I was working some side jobs that had strange and inconsistent hours, teaching Lilly's co-op, a new calling at church teaching the 4 year olds, and then the everyday responsibilities that somehow have seemed quite a bit more challenging lately. But as the new year approaches, I am feeling like I want to recommit to blogging for our family who lives away from us and for our kids someday in the future to be able to look back and read all about all of our adventures. So cheers to the upcoming new year and here's to consistent updates about our family and what we've been up to. I might even throw in some project and cooking/baking as I have been trying to try expand myself in those areas.

Broken

We always try to protect our kids from the dangers of the world to avoid seeing them get a scratch or bump or better yet a broken bone, but sometimes the weirdest things can happen and you just can't prevent it. Such it the case with Lilly's broken bone. A tantrum is what caused it and as silly as it sounds, it can happen. The doctor will back up. Her leg got caught in a sheet and dislocated (think of  an L shape) and the twist fractured her little leg.

 After 2 doctors and an x-ray tech looked at her x-ray they found the fracture right below the knee. A temp splint was put on until we could get into the Orthopedic surgeon could be seen on Monday or Tuesday. I was a pretty emotional momma. My sister thought it was weird that I was crying but when I looked at my baby who was now broken, it broke my heart.

There was some chatter of maybe needing surgery because of the location but she ended up being able to avoid that. Just a full leg cast that went up to her mid thigh for 4 weeks and a shorter cast for 2 more. The first week and a half she wasn't able to walk at all. The cast was pretty heavy and she was a little nervous. Thanks to our amazing friends and family who helped her get through that rough time. Being couch ridden for so long as a tot is tough.

After a week and a half she started to crawl and after 2 she was walking and by 3 she was running like she didn't even have one on. She is a tough little cookie and we are so proud of how well she handled starting her summer with a broken leg. 

 

She wasn't very happy and didn't make a peep. She just sat quietly.

 

 Her couch spread. Lots of things to keep her busy.

 Getting her shorter cast on. She was a little excited and very chatty. She asked a ton of questions and was laughing the whole time.

Pink of course so it will match all of her outfits.

Construction Zone

At the end of May Kyle turned 2! I can hardly believe that he's only 2!!! He keep up with his sister and all of her friends so well sometimes I forget, he's only 2! 2 amazing fun filled years with this cute little guy. He keeps us guessing and keeps us laughing. He is always asking questions and not your typical why questions but more of how, and how come. He has been 100% potty trained since March and it has been great. He initiated it and he must have been completely  ready because he jumped into it with no hesitation and 6 months later he is still doing great. We have an accident here or there but not to many and usually when he is having so much fun he forgets to stop and go.

He is so much like his dad, stubborn, but so loving. Thoughtful and smart. He's outgoing, energetic, a goof ball, and a problem solver. If there is something he wants but can't reach he'll rig something up to get it, he only ask for help when he really needs it. His vocabulary is increasing with each passing day and his words are becoming clearer and clearer. He can sing his ABC's and count to 10. And he loves to play with his little people bus and his little people barn. He also loves anything with wheels, trucks, cars, bikes, and construction vehicles.
This year for his birthday I thought it would be fun to do a construction themed birthday party and invite all of those that are close to us to celebrate with us. I spent several weeks gathering and coming up with ideas and i have to say I had a lot of fun putting it all together. Even though the weather forecast was crummy (which is unusual for here) we had a great time and thanks to my awesome friend who saved the day with letting us use her house as our rain back up location, it was a very special day for our favorite little guy.

  

  

Sisters

Since coming back home to Colorado we have felt so much more at home and have gotten right back into our old routines. One thing we really missed though was my sister and brother in law. Elizabeth and Chad became a big part of ours and the kids lives when we were in Washington and to leave them was really hard. I think we all shed a lot of tears. Ever since we have been trying to plan for when we'll be able to see each other next.

In May an opportunity presented itself and they ended up coming out to visit for 5 days. We had so much fun and the kids especially were very excited to see auntie and uncs again. I felt bad because we are definitely lacking in space, but we did what we could to make them feel comfortable. it was great to have them here with us and the kids loved waking up to them every morning.

I had so many things I wanted to do with them but time and kids and energy interfered with my list. We did a few things, but nothing near what I had planned. Elizabeth is 7 months pregnant ( or at least she was at the time of the trip) and so I tried to be mindful of how tired and sore one can become when in such a state. I know the kids alone wore her out, so we tried to add in plenty of calm time.

We used 2 of the days to take trips into the city. One to the zoo and one to the butterfly pavilion. The Butterfly pavilion was at Lilly's request, she said she really wanted to take them there. Both of them were hesitant at first, because really how fun can a room of butterflies be and how do you describe such a place to someone, but once we got there and they saw how neat it really is, I think they had a change of heart and were glad that Lilly brought them.

The zoo is a must on every trip of Chad's. I think it is on his bucket list to visit every zoo. How can you say no to the zoo? We love the zoo and if we lived a little closer we would probably go more often. We left a little later in the day than we wanted to, but we were able to stay until they closed and so we missed out on a big crowd for once which was nice. It was perfect timing to because being spring all of the animal have had their babies. There were baby rams, baby goslings, baby giraffes, baby bunnies, and probably a few more I am forgetting.

We had a great time with them and can't wait for them to come back. Hopefully next time we will be in a bigger place and they will have their sweet new baby girl with them.

Children's Day

I'm not sure how I overlooked it but I forgot to post about Children's day. It happened at the end of April so as you can see I am a bit behind on the sharing of said fun day. Children's day happens every year and there are events in most towns in Colorado. Some towns have better events than others and it is growing each year. They are even now pushing to make it more widespread and taking it national. I suppose it could be a few years though before enough people get on board to consider it a national day.

This year we decided to jump one town over and see what Loveland had going on. It was very similar to the touch a truck that we went to last year in Marysville. The kids were able to see garbage trucks, firetrucks, construction vehicles, police cars, etc. and they were able to climb inside and see what it was like to sit in the drivers seat.

Kyle loves cars and trucks and anything construction right now so for him this was equivalent to a toy store. He had a big grin plastered on his face the whole time. The kids got goodie bags from the fire and police department with stickers and pencils and a color book. 

I enjoyed getting out with the kids and it was fun to see them with their eyes and ears open ready to learn and see new things. We try to keep our eyes open for opportunities such as these to help our kids see and experience new and different things.

 Both kids thought that this guys was very funny... from a distance. Anytime he came near them closer than he was in this picture above and the kids ran for cover between my legs. 

 The Chick-fil-a cow hula hooping was one of the kids favorite things. 

Family pictures 2012

As a celebration of this next chapter we are beginning to embark on we decided to get some new family pictures done. I have an awesome friend who does photography as a hobby and she helped us out. She did a great job and it was a really fun time, laid back and no pressure. Just how we like it. We really got some great shots and I am so very happy with them all! I am having a hard time choosing my favorites to frame so for now I will post my top 12 favorites!

(I created this collage using picasa)