Summer Utah Trip

A week after Kristina and Reagan came to stay, we drove out to Utah so we could see everyone. We stayed for a week, and were able to spend time with both of our families. We spent the first half of our trip with Craig's parents and family in Payson, then stayed the second half of the trip with Kreg and Anna.

At the Grotto. One of the only pictures we have as a whole family!

Crossing the one of the many bridges to the grotto. This is one of our favorite hikes when we go to Payson. I think we've been up there 5 times? ha, we love it!

I can't ever get a clear picture of these two, but they are so cute and so happy!

Eli and Oli playing "catch" with a car at the splash pad.

Taking a rest at on the hike that we took up the canyon.

My boys. :))

 After every trip to Utah, we inevitably have the same conversation that often starts with, "Why aren't we living in Utah, both of our families are there! When we're here, we love it and have so much fun!" Maybe someday...

Kristina and Reagan came to visit!

This summer had been so much fun, so there is lots to catch up on! In July Kristina and Reagan came to visit and it was so nice to have them here. Usually when we come visit in Utah, she is coming and going to work or running different errands that need to be done.(She's one busy lady!) So it was fun to have her come play with us since it gave up time to catch up and talk(a lot!).

They both look a little wild in this picture, but this is what these two did for the entire trip here...played! and got into things...and drooled...and talked and talked...and smiled. Reagan is one happy, happy little boy! It's a stark contrast to my serious Owen man.

 Of course, last time we went to Evergreen lake we brought bathing suits. Ha, there's just something about a chuck-full diaper full of river water that just does it for me. So stinkin' cute.

My favorite part about having visitors is taking them to some of our favorite places. So of course we took them to the giant slides and downtown!

 Kristina was so sweet to treat us to the Railroad museum, and lucky for us they were doing a dinosaur exhibit/promotional day as well...some of Eli's favorite things! It was fun to go somewhere new with them too! The only bummer was that the whole time Eli just wanted to go back to the gift shop to play with the little train table they had set up there. Oh well. We still saw some really cool trains and road on one too(which Eli loved.)

I can't tell you how many times we tried to get a picture of all of them together, without any success. Oh well. Here is one of some of my favorite guys!

Accidents happen, right??!

On Sunday while we were rushing around trying to get ready for church, we had a little...incident. We had just finished bathing the boys and while I was dressing Eli, Craig was cleaning the tub and bathroom while simultaneously trying to keep an eye on Owen. Have I already mentioned how Owen is into everything? Well, he is. Stairs, cupboards(see picture below), toilet brushes, paper, picture frames...you name it. Anything but his toys. So as Craig was cleaning the bathroom, Owen decided that he wanted to play in the bath water on the ground in his Sunday clothes. Craig wasn't going to have that because he wasn't about to redress him(the boy is SO hard to dress!), so he set Owen back in the boys' bedroom and continued cleaning as I continued helping Eli get ready. Not even a minute later we heard a huge scream. The kind of scream that made my stomach drop and got my adrenaline pumping. At first I thought Owen had wandered to the stairs and fallen down them. Then I realized that I had unplugged the iron and left it on the floor to cool. It had fallen on top of his little hand and he wasn't happy about it. The whole top layer of skin was gone and Craig and I, through tears in each of our eyes tried to comfort Owie as best we could. We rinsed it under cold water, put a big glob of ointment on the burn and wrapped it so he would stop touching it. We figured there wasn't much more than we had already done to help him and since it was a Sunday our pediatrician's office was closed so we decided to just go to church and take him to the E.R if he got too fussy. He is one tough little guy. No one would have known that something happened to him if his little hand wasn't wrapped because he was just his happy little self! The burn is pretty superficial, but we decided to call the doctor anyways just so he could have it on record that 1. we went in and 2. if it gets infected that he didn't chastise us for not bringing him in sooner. The doctor was really surprised that Owen was acting as happy as he was because he said that the burn looked pretty painful. He prescribed Lora-tab(which surprised me, just because Owen seemed like the burn really hasn't been bothering him until we change the dressings) for pain management for dressing changes and told us to wash with soap and water and just apply Vaseline.

This picture doesn't do the burn justice, but it was the best I could get. Hopefully Owen will look back at this and say something like, "Wow, I can't believe that this tiny little scar came from such a sick wound...thanks for making sure my scar wasn't too bad!" Thankfully he's a boy and one day it will be cool to compare scars and horror stories.

 I know accidents happen and we're bound to have a million more happen, but it stinks knowing that there was something that we could've done differently. Lesson learned? Mother's of one be warned...once you have two it gets much harder to watch them both simultaneously!

p.s. The whole time I was writing this post, and trying to figure out what to write for its title, the song "burn, baby burn" kept running through my head. Thankfully my better judgment won out... Although I'm not sure if mentioning what I was thinking is any better...

Evergreen lake

Yesterday we took a day trip to a little lake up in Evergreen, CO. It's a little town about 40 minutes away. Craig suggested that we go up and walk around the lake and maybe rent a paddle boat. Lucky for us, I found a deal on livingsocial that gave us more time on a boat for a great deal! We got there early and walked around the lake so that the weather could warm up. Like any other hike with Eli, we took a few detours to load up his dump truck, throw rocks, and wade in the river.

 After our walk around the lake(which took quite a bit of time) we had a little picnic lunch then we were ready to go! We decided that a canoe would be the easiest boat to get so that Owen could sit at the bottom or crawl around a little. The space was great and Eli was so excited to ride in the boat. We had the boat rented for an hour, but only lasted for about a 1/2 an hour because it started POURING rain. At first it was fun...then it got really, really cold. Even so, Craig and I couldn't help but laugh. Eli was singing songs about rain, and Owen was screaming. I may or may not have started panicking when I saw lightning in the distance....So we quickly(as quickly as we could) paddled back to shore. By the time we got back, we were SOAKED.

Notice the sunny sky?

4th of July 2013

Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE baking, so I made red, white and blue cookies, which turned out looking like Eli made them. BUT they were tasty and it was fun to have Erin as my right-hand baker for the day.  In the evening of the 3rd, we had our neighbors over for a little barbeque and fireworks in the front yard so we could go to a big show on the 4th.

Eli was happy holding the sparkler, until we lit it on fire. Then he screamed. He wasn't a big fan of the personal fireworks.

 Every year, our ward hosts a 4th of July breakfast and bike parade for the kids. Eli was in his element here! One of the guys in our ward lead the parade on stilts with a giant flag in hand. The kids LOVED it. Before the official "start" of the parade, Eli kept talking to all the kids around him and saying things like, "Oh it's a race!"..."I'm gonna go super fast!'..."Come on guys, let's race!"

Eli wasn't the only one who treated the parade like a race. haha.

 We spent the rest of the day swimming, cleaning out the garage, relaxing, and then went to the park to meet up with friends. At the park we had pizza, played on the playground, watched a helicopter land, and visited with friends. The fireworks were AMAZING! Eli wasn't sure about them at first, but once he realized that they weren't going to "get him" he was just fine. Owie LOVED them too.

Happy Independence Day to you and yours! This year I am especially grateful for the men and women that so faithfully serve and sacrifice for my freedoms, so that my family and I are safe. God Bless the USA!

NINE?!

June 14th marked nine months. NINE months?! Our Owen is getting so old and so big and so...not a baby anymore. It's exciting and sad at the same time. With Eli I was just so excited for every stage to come: "I can't wait until he can feed himself"..."I can't wait until he can crawl, talk, walk!". But with Owen it's a little different. I find myself constantly thinking, "SLOW DOWN!"and trying my best to savor every little thing that he does.

At 9 months:

Weight:21lbs .5oz(71%)

Height:30inches(97%....yes. more than half my height.)

Head:18.66inches(97%)

In the last little while I feel like he has changed so much. He is VERY mobile so when he gets focused on something nothing can get in his way. He is starting to get into anything and everything. His favorite room is the bathroom and his toy of choice is Eli's Lighting McQueen training toilet. He seems to have some sixth sense that lets him know when that bathroom door is open because it's not open often and when it is, he's in there!

  

Since Owen has become more mobile and more social, Eli is starting to pay more attention to him. They will play "hide and seek" around the living room. Owen will crawl after Eli, Eli will run, pause, wait for Owen to catch up, they both will squeal, repeat. It is the cutest thing. They usually will play until Owen gets distracted by a toy or worn out from working so hard to keep up! 

This past month, Owen decided that he no longer wants anything to do with a pacifier. I'm still not sure if I should be excited about it because I don't have to deal with weaning him off it later, or upset because using a pacifier used to be a quick, quiet fix if he was upset or restless... especially in church! Doesn't matter how I feel about it, he's done.

 And food. He loves his food. He's become very opinionated about what he eats and how he eats it. For example, if he's given peas or carrots, he screams until he swallows them or is given a piece of fruit to help them go down easier. He has yet to figure out that he can just spit food out when he doesn't like it...His fine motor skills have gotten a lot better in the last little while too. His movements aren't so random anymore. If he sees a piece of food that he likes, he will pick it up. This morning when Craig was feeding him yogurt, Owen wanted to take over. When Craig gave in, Owen had a hay day!

Summer is officially here!

Oh my, I just love summer.
The smells: sunscreen, chlorine, freshly mowed grass, and barbeques.
The sounds: kids squealing and splashing in the water, Eli singing "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" every time we walk outside, and concerts in the park.
The sights: beach towels out on porches  to dry, leaves on the trees, water in the pool, people on their porches, kids EVERYWHERE.
I am SO HAPPY summer is here!

My mom came to visit us earlier this month! Craig was out of town on a high adventure campout with the 14-16yr old boys from church so I begged asked my mom to come out to Colorado to be with the boys and me. She came on Wed. June 12 and left late on Tues. June 18. I taught swim lessons in the mornings so she stayed home with the boys and played cars, held basketball tournaments, read books, and had yummy snacks while I was gone(which was just an hour and a half or so).  when I would get home, we'd eat then the boys would nap. It was so nice having her here because she would just step up and change a diaper, empty the dishwasher, or cook without saying a word. It was SO nice.  After Craig got home from the campout we went to Dan and Stacy's to eat and visit. Then Monday we went to downton Golden and ate at a local Pizzeria(so yummy!), walked on the trail by the river and played at the park. It was a busy week with me teaching swim lessons, but I'm glad that the boys were able to have the time with her that they did. It was so fun to talk to her and hear her advice and ask her questions. I love when my family is all together, but I also love the quiet moments that I get with each person(maybe that's why I'm so excited that people are coming to visit this summer one at a time. :)) Eli is still asking about Grandma and when she's coming to back to play. I didn't really take my camera around much when she was here, but I did get them playing games on the computer(which Eli LOVED, of course). Thanks for coming to visit!

Eli playing in the river and at the playground at Bellview Park. Of course I forgot to take a picture of him and Grandma on the cute train that they have there...oh well.

With warmer weather, Craig has been riding his bike to work everyday. Wednesday was Colorado's official bike to work day. There were little breakfast stations and t-shirts that they gave out in different stations in the Denver metro area. Since he bikes everyday anyway, might as well get a goofy sweet shirt!

Lucky

When Craig and I were first dating and he was living with his cousins and their kids, on of the things that attracted me to him the most was the fact that he could play for hours with their little girls. Piggy back rides, hide and seek, peek-a-boo...the works. I could tell then that someday he'd make a great dad. Of course, at the time I didn't realize he'd be the dad of my kids, but lucky for me that he is! For Father's day, I sat down with Eli and asked a few questions. here's what I got...

ALL ABOUT MY DADDY

June 2013

By Eli, 2 ½ years old

My Daddy’s name is Craig

He is 1, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10! feet and 4 ­­inches tall.

He weighs lots of pounds.

His hair color is brown.

His eyes are white.

I’m not sure what my daddy does at work.

He likes to go to the TOY store, and he likes to go work.

His favorite drink is juice, and water and all those things.

His favorite food is pizza.

For fun he likes to go to work.

I love it when my daddy plays with me and plays cars or somethin’.

My favorite thing about my daddy is he likes to work.

(Even our two-year old notices your hard work ethic.)

Happy Father's Day! Thanks for being ours!

Chalk Festival

One of my favorite parts about being close to a big city is having lots to do! This past weekend we went downtown to the chalk festival. On the train we always meet the most interesting people, and this weekend was no different. Denver was hosting a Comicon event at the convention center so we saw lots of people dressed up as super heroes, action figures, and super women. It's so fun being surrounded by so much variety! I just wish I would have taken pictures of some of the people we saw...but I didn't. So here are pictures from the chalk festival.

We talked to the artist of this piece and she said that she had already spent 14 hours(!!!!) on this, and still planned on a few more hours the next day to finish it. She was happy that our huge stroller provided a buffer to keep people at a distance so she could take picture of her progress. Ha, Glad we could help.

It was so interesting to see what people came up with. Some pieces were serious, some where goofy, but all in all, I just can't believe what they were able to create...on a road...with CHALK!