December/January Recap!

It's been ages since I updated - I don't really have an excuse. I suppose for the most part, our lives are pretty routine and there's not a ton to share!  But, the more I think about it? December was a bit crazy! So, here's a photo recap of our last two months!!

DECEMBER 2012

My sister was the Queen of her Madrigal Dinners at Wayne State! I got to ride up with my parents to watch the dinner, and it was a lot of fun! (I even got in a few of the photos!!)

Three days later? I drove up with my parents again to see her Senior Honors Colloquium. (See, I know big words!! More importantly? People in Wayne Nebraska know big words!)

 

Then? A few more days later? My dad, Skyler and I drove up to help her move out of her dorm. (Yep - are you keeping track of our time on the road? There will be a tally! I promise.) 

Then we drove back to Wayne (2 days later) for her Graduation! (CONGRATS KID SISTER!!)

 

Total driving time (from Lincoln to Wayne in December) approx 30 hours! 

Total driving time total in December (up until now?) 35 hours! 

But, we're not done! See, Skyler and I drove back to Colorado! Where we got home just in time for a big snow storm, where a tree fell on our house! 

And then, Ryan got home and we turned around to head BACK to Nebraska for Christmas!

Total Drive time now? (December 21?) 55 hours! BUT WAIT!! We have a trip to Iowa, a trip back to Lincoln and a trip back to Colorado still to come!! (Are you tired of my car yet? I am!!)

So, I mentioned Iowa? We spent 2 days with Ryan's sister and her kids! (Which was an absolute blast, and now I understand how horrible it was for my parents to drag Kate and I away from our family on trips to Chicago!)

Then back to Lincoln where we did the whole Christmas thing - which included this awesome cake ball tree!! (Drive time now? 62 hours.)

Then, we had Katie's birthday! (Geez, she's 23... that's like... old!)

Then back to Colorado - Drive time total? 73 hours. Yep - more than 3 full days in the car. THREE FULL DAYS!! (Ok, that's not a huge deal - I did drive a truck. So, it was actually enjoyable. But wow... just now totalling that up? EEEK!)

JANUARY 2013

After a quiet NYE at home (where I was asleep before Midnight - thank you very much!) Ryan hit the road and life returned to normal in Colorado!!

There were trips to the Children's Museum

And the Nature Center

And the Children's Museum Again

And some bike riding and picnics at the park

And of course we stayed busy at home...
We baked

And made silly Finger Puppets

We crocheted - Ok, I crocheted... while Skyler slept.

We played Dress Up

A lot of dress up...

We went for walks (when it snowed again!)

And we colored. A lot. (Because it's our favorite thing to do!)

I think you're caught up on our life now!! (Hopefully my next few entries aren't as photo heavy!!)

August Recap

We had a really great (BUSY) month of August!

It started out with Ryan being home, and included a Campaign Rally with President Obama, A trip to Nebraska, Lots of time at the Splash Park, Football Practice  and the State Fair!

I've put together a quick collage of some of our favorite photos from the month to share with you guys! (Grandparents - if you want the full size image of any of them - or more - just let me know! I've got them all on my computer!)

 

Click the collage to see it bigger!

What Have We Been Up To?

We've had a very busy two weeks!! I can't believe it's already July 14, but we've stayed so busy that it's just flown by! I thought I'd do a quick update with some photos of what we've been up to lately.

Skyler had her first Swimming Lesson at Pueblo County High School!   As expected, she loves the water and is just as fearless in water as on land! She's getting pretty good at the doggy paddle!

 

We had a pretty spectacular 4th of July! We started out at the Wet Parade in Pueblo West, which is basically just a city-wide Water Fight! And we came home soaking wet and ready for naps! After we refreshed, we headed down to the River Walk where we spent a good amount of time (2 hours!!) playing the fountains and then walked around a bit while we waited for the fireworks! 

 

We've spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen! Skyler helped make Pretzels - which were absolutely delicous!! (More info can be found on my 101 in 1001 blog - including the recipe!) 

 

For the first time since the Waldo Canyon Fire, we took a trip to Garden of the Gods! We met up with my good friend "Merica" (Erica, but Skyler prefers her version!) and hiked around the park snapping lots of photos. There are a few places from the park you can see the burn area, which is incredibly sad. But the park is just as beautiful as always.

 

We've made a few trips to the local splash parks! We've had a lot of 100*+ days, so we've had to find ways to stay cool! Luckily, the splash parks are a great way to kill a few hours!

We spent a morning in Beulah at Pueblo Mountain Park with Skyler's good friends (Mable, Avani and Abigail - in order pictured below from left to right) and went for a Preschool Nature Hike, then had a picnic and some good time playing at the park! 

 As you can tell, we've had a busy two weeks!! It's been a lot of fun and we've been keeping cool - despite the insanely hot weather here in Southern Colorado! Hopefully the second half of July is as full of adventures!

Sunshine and Summertime!

One of Skyler's favorite thing in the world is to spend time with her cousin Jacob! (She talks about him constantly for WEEKS after we have a visit with him, she tells all her friends about him. It's adorable!)

So when Kevin invited us over for a BBQ, we jumped at the chance!

She's going through a phase, where she's slightly shy for the first few minutes she's around anyone. Miraculously, that phase disappeared with Jacob! She was excited from the moment we pulled up to their house! (I hadn't told her where we were going, only that I had a surprise.)

We quickly moved to the backyard where the kids jumped right into the pool! (Despite the fact that it was the first day in AGES where the sky wasn't full of sun all day so it wasn't exactly hot out! And the water? BRRR!)

After awhile in the pool we had ribs for dinner! Then the kids ran around some more! (Because that's what summer evenings are for!)

All in all, it was a great evening! (And Skyler fell asleep on the ride home!)

I'm a bad Blogger!

I haven't updated in AGES - (But to be fair? I haven't really taken any photos in ages either...) So I thought I'd give a quick update/rundown of what we've been up to!

We've had a lot of playdates lately! (Skyler had a lot of fun playing "Dress Up" with her friend Taylor! They were the cutest princesses.)

On a trip to the Children's museum, Skyler had her face painted like a Kitty. (Which resulted in her crawling around and meowing for 3 days after!)

And me? I've been reading and writing!

The Forgotten Fingers

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with Joe and his boys (Nathan and Taylor)! We went out to lunch, hung out at the park and then the boys came and played at our house for most of the evening. It's always fun to get together with Joe, and the kids get along so well! 

However, while we were at the park we had something happen that surprisingly has never really happened before. (With exception to the first time everyone met Skyler when she was a little baby!) 

Skyler and Taylor were running around playing. All of a sudden, he grabbed her left hand and started to study it. He was very curious about why it looked different. He asked where her fingers were, and then continued to hold her hand.

I know this will happen many more times in Skyler's life. And I am preparing myself for the days when kids are more than just curious. But for today, it was just a moment. 30 seconds later, the kids were playing. The fingers forgotten. 

Butterflies!!

Last weekend, after the big surprise, we took all the kids to the zoo!!

We were also joined by a long time friend of Aunt Melissa's and her 4 kids! While our group was large, we still had a lot of fun! And I think all the kids enjoyed it! (At least Skyler did - she took a 2 1/2 hour nap afterward!!)

One of the favorite stops along the trail at the zoo was the Butterfly Pavilion! At some point during our stay, all of the kids caught at least one butterfly!

 Even Grandma and Grandpa had a great time!

SURPRISE!!!!

For the last few weeks I've been conspiring with Ryan's Sister and Brother for a surprise party for their parents! We sneaked their wedding album to make copies for decorations, as well as to create a replica of their wedding cake. I called them Friday night (from my parents house a few blocks away) to let them know I'd made it home all right.

Then Saturday afternoon, Kevin and Jacob took Grandma and Grandpa Mini-Golfing, while Skyler and I met Melissa and her family at the house to decorate and set up!

 Finally, it was time! All the boys hid behind the counter (Skyler and Dianna were held, so they'd stay happy and quiet for the big surprise!) 

As they walked in, we all jumped out!!

But there was one thing we hadn't planned for...

Grandma had gone to check the mail! We'd only got Grandpa... So quickly, the boys scurried back to hide again!

3... 2... 1...

SURPRISE!!!!!

After the initial shock? Everyone was thrilled and it was a great time! We had dinner, and then the kids ran around in the backyard having a ton of fun! We even managed a family picture, with ALL the grandkids!!

To see all the photos from this adventure - HERE is the album!  (Be warned, lots of giggles and cake are involved. But no animals were hurt in the capturing of these photos... No little boys either. I promise. )