We had a great week in Colorado! It was a fun adventure and the boys did great for the 20 hour car ride. Next time we want to bring Kevin along though. We sure missed him and Ethan talked to him everyday. He would often say “talk to daddy” and we’d pick up the phone can give him a call. Kevin got lots of school work done while we were gone so that’s good.

While we were there, Ryan and Heidi took us on a 3.6 mile hike in Estes Park. Ethan hiked a little over a mile down the mountain… he loved it. Lucas loved riding on my back and Noah hiked the whole thing! He did great and earned his first Rocky Mountain National Park patch! Good job Noah!

We also went to the Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming. We watched an air show in the morning and then hit the Rodeo in the afternoon.

The kids had lots of fun just playing around the house. Ethan fell in love with Noah’s tricycle and learned how to stay clear of Noah’s “hugs” All in all, we had a great visit and we look forward to being together again at Christmas.

Love you guys and miss you already!

Categories: Family, New Photos, Vacation
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I’ve been meaning to post Lucas’ story for a number of days but our life has not settled down since the little guy decided to come bounding into this world on Sunday, December 17th!

Kevin and I had been pretty busy around the house trying to get everything ready not only for Lucas but for Christmas. We had been saying all along how we wanted this baby to be a 2006 baby (for tax purposes and health deductible reasons). But we weren’t quite expecting 3 weeks early.

I woke up Sunday morning with a few small contractions not really thinking much of it b/c I kinda forgot what they felt like. I starting getting ready like normal and when the time came to go to church I thought maybe we should just stay home and see where things go. I called my parents to make sure they were home so if we had to drop Ethan off they’d be there. We usually go to their house on Sunday’s anyway for dinner so we said we’d plan to come around noon for lunch and that way they could help with Ethan if things got pretty crazy. We packed our bags, got the car seat ready and decided to make a stop at Walmart to pick out an outfit for the baby to come home in. While in Walmart I had a few more strong contractions … we then figured this was the real thing but still thought we had plenty of time.

We got to my parents house and my mom was just getting off the phone. She then told me the horrible news that my grandfather was in the hospital and going down hill fast. Wow… what mixed emotions! How could I concentrate on having this kid when my heart and my head were with my grandpa. After that, contractions starting coming faster and stronger. I sat down to try to eat something before we left for the hospital and my water broke! Ahhhh! Kevin and my mom helped me up to make our way to the car…. i made it to the back door and couldn’t go any further. When my next contraction came I felt like I had to push. Kevin’s face was priceless… “No, you can’t push here!” My dad then decided to call 911 since I couldn’t move and I really felt this baby was going to come in my parent’s laundry room! It seemed like FOREVER for the ambulance to come but when they finally came I was relived to be on my way. They wouldn’t let Kevin ride in the back with me so I was with 3 strange men telling me they didn’t want to deliver this baby. When they found out I was 3 weeks early they decided to take me to the nearest hospital instead of the hospital I was supposed to go to. Fine with me, I didn’t want them to deliver my baby either! It took everything within me to stay calm and relaxed during the 10 min. ride to the hospital (which seemed like forever). But we made it and once we got there, 9 mins. later at 2:09 PM, after 3 pushes, baby Lucas was born! Whew… just in time! What a whirlwind! It took us quite a while to process the whole thing. And still, when i think about it, I can’t believe how quick everything happened.

As for my grandfather, he passed away on Thursday in his sleep but before he died he was able to see some pictures of Lucas and was so proud to have another grandson. Grandpa was a wonderful man and he will be greatly missed!

Here are a few pictures of the little guy. I will post more pictures as I get the time so please be patient.

Categories: Family, Lucas, New Photos
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We had a great time trick or treating this year!  It was Ethan’s first time going out to get candy and he did great!  I wasn’t exactly sure how he would do cuz he can get a bit apprehensive of new things at times but he held out better than the older kids we went with!  Toward the end of our loop around the neighborhood he was really getting the hang of walking up to a house and getting something in return.  He was energized and ready to go for a second round just as all the other kids were tired and worn out.  What a fun night!  Check out the pictures in our latest album:

Categories: Ethan, New Photos
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This years camping trip was … well, let’s just say colder and wetter than what we had anticipated! Each year we try to take a fall camping trip with 2 other couples from church, it’s a fun time to hang out and catch the last bit of somewhat endouring outside weather for the year… well, not this year!!! The forcast said rain for all of Friday night and all day Saturday, but Sunday was supposed to be great! But who believes weather reports anyway??? … Kevin!

After much discussion on whether we should go or not, we decided to go… but only b/c a friend of ours so graciously offered us the use of their camper.

Believe it or not the weather report was dead on! The rain started to fall at 2:00 AM and didn’t really stop till Saturday night. Our friends who toughed it out in their tents woke up the next morning pretty soggy. So needless to say we cooked most of our meals in the camper instead of over the open fire. but we did get to hang out and had many laughs and were even able to play a few games. And don’t forget the memories!

Since we had the camper, we were the only ones that stayed till Sunday and once again the weather report rang true… Sunday was a beautiful day!!!

Check out our Camping Album Below:

Categories: Family, New Photos
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I’m finally posting pictures of our new driveway and sidewalk! We got our new drive the weekend of Labor Day and it was quite a process! Two days to tear up the old cement, dig up the beast of a tree stump that caused the driveway to crumble, a weekend in between and one day to pour the cement.

Ethan loved all the action in our front yard. He would stand at the window and watch the big truck and backhoe tear up the driveway and yard. The workers enjoyed “showing off” for him too.

One of the guys (your typical, stereotype construction worker) decided to take a short cut and not help break up a larger piece of concrete to put in the backhoe to then transport to the dump truck… instead he decided he would use his own weight to balance it on the bucket while the driver of the backhoe would lift it to the dumptruck. They were successful in their endeavor until the guy was making his way down when the driver moved a gear and, “crunch”, his hand got smashed in the gears of the bucket! I was, of course, out taking pictures when it all happened and, ugh…. all I could think was “oh my gosh… it just cut off his hand!” Needless to say they all left and took him to the hospital, and the guy was back working in 3 hours! He ended up only breaking a finger. Such excitement!

Besides the “finger” incedent, everything was going great and on schedule until they started in on the stump. We were told in the beginning that they could pull out this monsterous tree stump no problem and that they would do it for no charge. We knew cottonwood trees were known for their massive root systems so we made sure it was ok with them to do it… they said ‘no problem’… boy were they kicking themselves when they started in on the whole process. It set them back a whole day just to get the stump out! At one point they had dug a trench all the way around the stump about 5-6′ deep and it wouldn’t even budge!!! They finally managed to pry it loose but not without a lot of frustration!

The pictures should tell the rest of the story… check out the album by clicking on the picture below.

Categories: House, New Photos
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My childs pants are too big!!! What to do?! He is such a little tike his pants won’t stay on without major pinning and even then sometimes that doesn’t even help! hehe. 12 month pants are too short so he looks like he’s wearing capris (not so cool for a boy) and 18 month pants are just huge on him! Mind you, he’s 19 months. Ah the dilemas of a child and his mother.

I had to do a little altering to get them to stay up.

Categories: Ethan, General, New Photos
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It’s been a while since I’ve posted some pictures…. so here ya go!

Categories: Ethan, General, New Photos
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