And We're Off!

Just a few more hours before we are FINALLY off on our summer vacation!! Usually we travel a lot in the summers but this year we decided to go more low key and stick around town. It has been a very fun summer with lots of pool days, zoo trips, park days, etc. but I'm ready to get outta here. We're headed up to Canada for 2 weeks. I'm sooooo excited. We're staying at my parents the first week and then heading up to British Columbia to their cabin for the 2nd week. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post while I'm there, we'll just have to see what the computer situation is like, but I'll take lots of pictures and let ya know how it goes when we get back!! Happy Summer!!!

Have you ever felt like this?

I took the kids to the zoo today and normally don't take my camera cause you only need so many pictures of Elephants, Giraffes, Lions and Monkeys (if ya know what I mean), but today I had my camera in my purse and had to take this picture! Right now there are three cute little bear cubs that are only a few months old and the kids love them so we went to see what they were up to. The minute I saw the mother I knew I had to take this shot! I thought it was hilarious because from the look on the mom's face any mother knows EXACTLY how she feels! She looks TOTALLY WORKED!!! (click on the picture so you get a close up of the mom) The cubs are really rambunctious and are always wrestling around! Today I think she had had it! She sat like that for the whole time we were in the area which was about 20 minutes. She must have been thinking to herself the same thing I sometimes think "Maybe if I ignore them, and pretend they are not there, they'll go away!" Sorry if the shot is too graphic for you but I had to post it because I think all of us mommies can DEFINATELY relate!!

"Itty Bitty" Ice Cream Cone

Today on our way home from the zoo we stopped at a famous little ice cream parlor in Denver called Bonnie Brae Ice Cream! Since we moved here we've heard great things about it and decided to stop in to see for ourselves! I waited outside with Logan while my friend took all the kids in to order their cones. I had her order one for Logan and I to share too! When she brought it out Logan wanted to have NOTHING to do with sharing! So the sucker mom that I am to this little guy, I went in to buy him his own...I don't know if it's so much that I'm a sucker or if its that I didn't want to give away my cone, never to get it back! :-) Anyway, when I went in to order they showed me their "Itty Bitty" Ice Cream Cone. It's the perfect size for a little man like Logan! He was in HEAVEN!! The pictures below are the first look, and lick of his very first "itty bitty" ice cream cone!!

My Baby Boy

I just wanted to post some pictures of my Baby Boy!! I can't believe he is almost 2. He is starting to talk a TON and it seems like just yesturday I was fat, pregnant and counting down the seconds till he was born. Now we're approaching the 2 year mark and time has flown by!!

Logan is seriously the happiest kid around! I worry that he could be kidnapped in broad daylight and no one would know because within seconds he and his captore would be best pals and Logan wouldn't put up even a tiny fuss! He recently figured out that waving and "hi" go together so he is very into doing that to anyone who is within earshot! Going to the Grocery Store is almost embarassing as he shouts across the produce section "hi" and waves to the closest shopper! Anyway, I'm so blessed to have such a sweet baby (90% of the time :-). Enjoy the pics!

Early in the summer we learned that our light haired, fair skinned boy is REALLY REALLY light haired and fair skinned. In summers past our other kids (who also had fair skin as babies) could play outside at the park and if we forgot to put sunscreen on you'd never know it. They didn't ever burn...well, we forgot to do the sunsreen thing this particular day and Logan got FRIED!! We felt soooooo bad! The horrible thing is we didn't even realize he was burned. We came home from baseball games, put him down for a nap, got a babysitter and headed out on an afternoon date to Water World (when you come visit we'll take you there. It's an AWESOME water park). When we got home Logan came running out to greet us and it looked like he had a red mask on. His face was BRIGHT red with only white circles around his eyes!! Poor little guy! He didn't even complain or act like it hurt!! Thankfully by the next morning it wasn't so red so no one at church reported us to child services for negligence!

After the sunburn incident we've resorted to swimming in the bathtub instead of the pool! Just kidding. We are now ridiculous about putting on the sunscreen.

Just thought I'd throw this one in cause I think it makes him look so sweet and innocent. Don't be fooled! There is plenty of scheming behind those eye..."Hmmmmmm, after she takes my picture, I'll go give her a big hug and GRAB the camera out her hands and run off. She'll never expect it!"....

Like Father Like Son (but maybe a little better :-)

Since Ryan and Nicole don't have a blog I decided to post this picture they sent me. It is of their oldest son Justin. He is 8 1/2 and the jock of all jocks. He plays sports ALL year long and I mean ALL year long!! Starting in August he plays Football (with pads). It is the most intense league I've ever seen for kids with all the parents and siblings decked out in team colors, a full cheer squad for each team in the league, parents running up and down the field yelling and cheering for their kids!! It is crazy!! Then after Football season is Basketball season. A little less intense but still.... a sport! Then comes baseball and when the regular season ends the "All Star" season begins and goes through the summer until football starts!! Again, crazy!! And even more crazy is that Justin LOVES it and so does Ryan. Ryan is a coach of some sort for each team Justin plays on and they both LOVE it, CRAVE it, LIVE for it!! Growing up Ryan LOVED sports and was good at each one he played! Well like father like son, Justin loves and is good at every sport too... personally though, I think he is probably better than Ryan was...sorry Ry!! Anyway, if you'll notice in the picture Justin is completely decked out! Sunglasses even!! SOOOOOOOOO Ryan!! When he participates in any sport he has every piece of equipment needed (or not) to play. He looks pretty cool too! Apparently he has passed that gene on to Justin!! Doesn't he look cool? Last night when we talked to Adam's parents they told us that they had dinner with Ryan, Nicole and their kids. They played a fun question game with them and someone asked the question "if you didn't live in Southern California, and could live anywhere in the world where would it be?" Justin's answer was "In Colorado, so I could be by my cousins!!". I totally started crying when I heard that. Spencer and Justin (and all our kids for that matter) spent the first 5 years of their lives living only an hour away from eachother. These cousins sure do miss eachother. It breaks my heart to hear them talk about it!! With the distance between us we keep in touch through email, visits and phone calls! Since we're not there to tell him, we'll do a post to let him know!! Good Job Justin!! Congratulations on being an All Star!! We are sooooo proud of you! WE LOVE YOU!

"You Don't Ride Much Do You?"

Those of you who know me well know that I don't like rude people!! Especially rude people who I don't even know! Today my friend Neeley and I had a classic rude person enounter...usually I will confront the rude perpetrator but today all I could do was laugh. Here is what happened. Neeley and I were out on an early morning Mountain Bike ride on the trail that is close to my house. There has been a ton of rain lately so we haven't been on the trail in about 2 weeks and it was in pretty rough condition. We held our own though and I felt pretty strong as I rode up the hills, down the hills, and over the bumps, rocks, tree stumps, etc. Neeley hasn't ridden at all this year and since I'm usually the last one up the hill when I ride with the other girls, I was feeling pretty confident being the one who was waiting instead of the one trying to keep up! Anyway, we finished our ride and as we were heading back down the trail to the main road we saw these people waving their arms and yelling at us to stop just before we crossed a little bridge. We did as the asked as they frantically told us not to cross the bridge because there was a coiled rattlesnake, about a foot off the trail on the other side. Both of us thought, what's it gonna do, time our ride across the bridge and jump up and bite us as we pass? Seriously... So after a few minutes the people decided to turn around and go home. We decided to check it out oursleves. We walked a little way out to see where they said the snake was. It was no where in site so we decided to get on our bikes and cross. As a side not, I recently bought new "clipless" pedals and shoes. The kind where I clip my shoes onto the pedals and am attached to my bike. They are a little tricky to get used to but I haven't had any crashes or bails up to this point... back to the story... so we decide we are going to cross the bridge. I put my foot onto the pedal, clipped in, and as I threw my other leg over the bike, I lost my balance and totally bailed into a bush...yes that's right I was going 0 mph. I couldn't stop laughing but I felt so stupid, especially when Neeley asks, pointing behind me as I'm getting up and back on my bike "should we tell this guy about the snake?" Oh great, what guy? I turn around and here comes a big bellied 50 something year old man walking his dog. We told him about the snake so he decides to go infront of us and check it out. As he passes us he asks "You don't ride much do you?". Uhhhhh, what did you say? I gave him a courtesy laugh and asked "why, did you see me fall?" His response "yeah and I also saw you riding (here's the kicker) UP hill?" again, uhhhhhhhh what?? To those of you who don't ride, other than going fast (which today I was going faster than I ever have before) going UP a little dirt trail doesn't involve much skill, so how can you tell if we are experienced riders by watching us go UP hill? Maybe if he watched us going downhill, but come on! So at this point I'm a little irratated and embarrassed and thinking to myself, "did he just insult us?" So I cross the bridge--all thoughts of the rattler behind me--and say to the guy as I pass "In my defense, these shoes and pedals are new, I'm just getting used to them" and I ride off. There...I told him!So Neeley and I speed past the guy, go around a corner (he can still see us), and up a small incline (he can still see us) where the trail has been washed out. We have to find our own path and as I am roughing the terrain I come to a big crevace. There is nowhere to go so I slam on my brakes, the left a little harder than the right, and over I go. Yep, I did a header right over the handle bars. And, the rude guy who insulted my riding could still see me. I was dieing!!! I gave him a friendly wave, laughing hysterically, along with Neeley, and got back onto my bike. So, with my pride a little wounded I rode the rest of the trail without incident but concluded that maybe the guy wasn't so rude. Maybe he was just honest, giving me a little reality check, ya know humbling me.... cause in reality, the truth is that nope.... I don't ride much!!!

Marcie

This weekend I had a surprise visit. My Best Friend from High School, Marcie Livingstone (now Marcie Curtis) and her 3 cute little girls stopped by for a visit. Marcie and her husband recently moved to Atlanta,GA. They have been visiting friends and family in Utah for the past 6 weeks and were on their way home. Marcie's husband Brackon had to fly home for work so Marcie and the girls are making the long cross country trek home. Their first overnight stop was Denver (Marcie's sister, Honey, lives not too far from me) and she called! It was soooo much fun to catch up! (I even set her up with her own blog so she will start blogging. I don't know if she has done anything with it yet but I'll let you know once she is up and running). We haven't seen each other very much in the past 16 years but we have kept in touch through letters, email and phone calls! Whenever we see eachother we just pick up right where we left off.

1992
Marcie was a huge answer to my prayers those many years ago. We met in grade 9 Seminary. We went to the same High School and although we got along great at Seminary we hung out with a different group of friends at school. I was going through a hard time because I had gone to a High School that was not the designated HS for where I lived. My closest friends were 1 or 2 years older than me and with the combo of different schools and different ages we drifted apart. Thankfully I was involved in sports at school and new lots of people from that but what I really wanted was a friend, who shared my same values and beliefs. I decided to pray about it. My expectation of how my prayers would be answered were that a new family would move into our ward or our school with a daughter my age. To my surprise, the answer to my prayer was right in front of me. One night in spring of my grade ten year, Marcie called. She had her dad's cute convertable for the night and wondered if I wanted to go to dinner and hang out. We had a blast and from that day forward were inseparable. Through the years she has always been an amazing friend! We have lived in different Provinces or States since 1991 but have remained the truest friends!! Love Ya Tons Girl!!
2006
Marcie and her cute girls! Kennedy (almost 11-this month), Morgan (7) and Emery (5)

Raining Like SHHHHHTINK!!!

Oh my Gosh!! Enough is enough!! Adam and I have had the worst luck with rain and vacations this year!! Most of you know that we took the kids to Hawaii for Spring Break this year and it rained, no it poured, torential downpours 98% of the time we were there!! Still had fun, but kind of a bummer!! So, this weekend Adam and I went up to Vail to Celebrate our 11 year anniversary. It has been raining here since July 2nd but we were optimistic for the weekend away! We left Friday afternoon, golfed at a beautiful Golf Course (where I found my future vacation home (see below). As we walked off the the 18th green it started to pour!!! We were both soaked by the time we got back to the clubhouse, and we were in a golf cart!! TONS of water!! We were feeling pretty lucky though, because we made it through 18 with no rain...so that was Friday. Saturday we drove out to another beautiful golf course about 10 miles from Vail. It rained almost the entire morning. We finished the 18 holes and since we were already soaked thought, why stop now? So off we went again, to golf another round in soaking wet weather!! Despite the crazy rainy weather, we had soooooo much fun!! Adam played great and I just played! :-) I am getting better though!! - It was nice to have a little getaway and be together. I can't believe we've been married 11 years!! It has gone by so quickly and yet, in some ways it seems like we got married forever ago!!


What a shot!! Both the golf and the picture!! So Beautiful!

This home is overlooking the 6th green at this golf course and has a magestic mountain background behind it. It is available if anyone is looking!!!


This home is next to the one above and overlooks the 6th green and the 7th tee. Both homes are so beautiful I just can't decided which one I want!:-) If these homes were close to a lake (or better yet, on a lake) I would be tempted to beg, steel and borrow so I could buy one!! They are just gorgeous!!

Pirates Anyone??

I think my husband may be the absolute Coolest dad in the World (at least for this week). Thursday afternoon about 5:30 Spencer calls Adam at work. The conversation goes like this
Spencer- Dad, can you take me to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 tonight?
Adam- Spence, I'd love to but it doesn't come out until tomorrow.
Spencer-I know, but there are theaters that are showing it tonight at Midnight -since midnight is really tomorrow they are allowed to.
Adam- That sounds cool. Go ask mom.
(Great, pull me into this)
So to make a long story short, We bought the tickets online and Adam took Spencer and Annie to see the 12:15 showing of Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest. We put the kids to bed at 7:00, Adam went to bed at 8:00 and then I woke them up at 11:30. I thought that never in a million years would they be able to stay awake through the entire 2 1/2 hour movie. I was wrong!! They came home at 3:30 in the morning completely pumped up! The show had been playing in 12 theaters and every one was completely SOLD OUT! The patrons you ask?? ALL TEENAGERS except my little 8 and 6 year children!! Crazy, Crazy!!! But what a night! They had a BLAST and LOVED every second of the movie. They can't wait for the third Pirates to come out next Memorial Day! They said next time its my turn to take them to the MIDNIGHT show!!! Ahhhhhh!!

Struck By Lightening

I know I have been posting alot the past week or so but we've been abnormally busy with fun activities and today was no different. The kids and I went to the Denver Temple and watched them put the new Angel Moroni on top. The old Moroni had been struck by lightening so many times that it was time for new one to go up! We pulled up to the Temple and the old one was gone. It was very strange to see the temple with no Angel on it! The Temple President, Pres. Marsh was out on the lawn and told the kids a bunch of little facts about the statue. He said that Moroni is just over 7 feet tall and he has a lightening rod drilled into his head. The birds like to sit on his head and scratch the gold off with their feet. It was fun to hear them recap to me what the Pres. had taught them.




After the President spoke to the kids the workers carried Moroni out so we could see how big he really is. I was hoping they would hold him up straight but this picture was the only shot I could get. Doesn't really show how big he really is!




Next, Moroni was hooked up to the crane and they hoisted him up to the top. He hung there for about 30 minutes and then had to come back down. He didn't fit!! For those of you who have ever wondered how they get him to stay on the temple, he doesn't balance on the ball he's standing on (I knew that obviously wasn't the case, but I did wonder how he stayed up there so steady). There is a metal pole about as tall as he is that comes out the bottom of the ball. There is a hole in the top of the spire and they feed a cable which is attached to the pole down the spire and then the pole goes into the spire too. They attach the cable somehow and he fits. Anyway, the pole was to wide so they had to shave it to make in narrow enough to fit. Moroni went back up and after about 2 hours he finally stood firm.






The kids were so good and thought it was a pretty cool thing to watch! We took a lunch with us and sat on the lawn right in front of the temple to watch!















Just getting ready to detach the Cable. Moroni is here to stay. Hopefully there is no lightening in those clouds coming up behind!

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays-I think I say that about every holiday- but really I LOVE the 4th. It's a day where everyone is happy. Family, friends, picnics, barbeques, fireworks! It's a day to be with the people you love--having fun, enjoying the great country we live in! Yesturday was just that for us! After spending the morning together working in the yard and in the house, everyone happy and helping, we had some friends over for a HUGE YUMMY barbeque! Lots of food, lots of laughter and lots of fun!! We then headed over to the park to watch the local fireworks, but due to MORE rain (we have seen more rain in the last week than we've had all year) the fireworks were cancelled! BUMMER!! So Adam, the kids and I came home and watched the BOSTON POPS fireworks on tv--not quite the same as being there--but fireworks non the less! The kids crashed hard! and will be excited when I tell them that the fireworks have been reschuled for tonight. Our fun 4th festivities are still going...

I am so proud of my little FLAG BROWNIE dessert. A few years ago my sister Julie made this dessert. I thought it was so cute and finally made it myself this year. I ran out of time so didn't get the paper stars on but you get the idea!

The Christofferson Family (in our Traditional Old Navy Flag Shirts)

The Jensens
The New Garfields (Noah and Twink)

More Pics from The 4th...

The FairchildsThe Cooper-Leavitts
The Petrys
The Reeds
The Wattersons

The Future of Golf

Yesturday afternoon Spencer, Annie, Adam and I took to the Golf Course for a fun round of 18! Despite a little rain delay, we had a GREAT time and find it hard to believe that our children are old enough to Golf with us on a "real" Golf Course!
Much to Adam's liking all 4 of the kids are picking up the game and LOVING it!! They beg us to take them to the driving range or the course all the time! We are quite the picture of what NOT to do when we all go to the local range here. Annie and G talking loud, Logan sqealing to get out of his stroller so he can walk up to other golfers and say hello! Truely quite hilarious! After our last evening at the range we decided that the "family" activity may need to be post poned a few years until Logan is a little older.



Anyway, being as it is, the kids still are learning to play and are getting quite good at it! Yesturday, Spencer had his first chip in from 20 yards from the hole! He threw his hands in the air, dropped his club and had a look of pure joy on his face. He didn't know but behind him there were some people out on their balcony watching. They all started to cheer and clap, so Spencer turned and tipped his hat to them. Totally cute!!-- a vision of his future????




Annie is also starting to pick up the game and getting better all the time. The thing she was most excited about yesturday was wearing her new golf shoes - yes she does take after her mother! She has a natural little swing and Adam has hopes of her playing at BYU on a Golf Scholarship. Ironically after talking about the possibility, we ran into the commissioner of the WAC while waiting in the rain shelter. He said that for girls to get scholarships they need to be scoring in the 80's. Well, now we have something to "shoot" for!


Adam is still LIVING for Golf and goes out whenever he has the time! After a brief flirtation scoring in the 70's earlier this season, he is back to the mid 80's and never feels like he is as good as he should be. I think he secretly dreams of being on the tour (much like Garett secretly dreams of being Harry Potter, Spiderman and Superman). But, his love for the game will always keep the dream alive.

And then there is me.... Honestly, I LOVE this game! It took me years of therapy to admit that, but when guys come off from a round of 18 and can't wait to get out there for another and their wives don't understand it, I have to say, I get it! I have been taking lessons this year and am now hitting the ball straight 75% of the time, the distance is a different story. My score is actually a true score, not a pick up the ball and give myself a 7 score, but an actual tally of how many times my club hits it! If I could only experience the joys of a consistent two putt (and occasionally a one putt) my score will start to show how much fun I'm having with my honey out on the course.