This week was the 20 week ultrasound and it's a girl! We're pretty excited. We'll start things off with a boy and girl. Not too shabby. Guess we don't have to worry about not having any girls :) The ultrasound went great...everything looked good, all measurements were right and the due date is the same (May 6, 2010). We'll see if she comes on her due date as Blake did. We can't wait. We were excited to have Abby's grandparents and cousin in town for the ultrasound and to visit with this last week. We had a lot of fun and it's always nice to visit with family. We're glad they came.
It's been a busy few weeks leading up to Christmas...we've been shopping, getting our tree, putting lights up and chasing Blake around. It's been a lot of fun, but the holidays seem to be coming up very quickly and will probably be over before we know it. Blake is excited and thinks the Christmas tree is a lot of fun. He keeps pulling ornaments off of it and trying to crawl behind it. But otherwise hasn't got into too much trouble with it.
We have had the chance to go to a Christmas parade in Boulder a few weeks back. That was cold but fun. We had a cold streak there for a few weeks but since have warmed up again and it's been really nice the last week or so. We've been going to the various Christmas parties for this time of the year and those have been a lot of fun. I've never been a big fan of white elephant gift exchanges (just seems like 'here have my junk and you can have mine'), but this year they seemed a little better than usual. Hard to believe Christmas is less than a week away now, but I think we're ready. Blake is excited to see Grammy and Grampy and Rachel the week after Christmas and so are we.
We've been thinking the last week or so about the year as we wrote the Christmas letter and as the year comes to an end and it has made us think about the blessings that we have in each other as family and how God provides. It has been a crazy year in many ways, but overall good. We have had the opportunity to go on some adventures this year and have learned a lot as parents (still have a long way to go). We really value our friendships and although we miss seeing our family we really enjoy the times we have got to spend with them this year and hopefully all the more next year.
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
November
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| From 2009-11-07 |
Guess i have a little catching up to do...just realized i hadn't posted to the blog in a few weeks. Well, we have been pretty busy these last few weeks getting ready for the Christmas season already. Seems like it gets earlier every year, but that's alright. When the snow falls a few times and they start playing Christmas music and serving the Christmas drinks at Starbucks you start getting excited for Christmas. Just the same, it is still a ways off so we're trying not to jump the gun too early.
Blake is keeping us busy and is good entertainment. He likes to run and tackle us if we're sitting on the floor now, so that's fun. Only problem is he thinks it is fun to charge at you head first and his head is harder than ours. He is also dancing, climbing and running everywhere. It's fun but keeps you moving :) He'd really like to be able to do some talking because he wants to say something sometimes, but just can't get it out. We did some sign language with him, but he really just doesn't like to do it. Every once in a while he'll do something, but most of the time he just points and shrieks....unless there are doughnuts involved...then he's very willing to use sign language. So, either more doughnuts or forget the sign language...well that's kind of a no-brainer....doughnuts of course :) j/k
We just got the second storm of the season this weekend...about a foot. I think it is going to be pretty snowy this year. Two storms that have been pretty substantial in November...not normal. We may just be making up for the lack of snow last year...i think we had one substantial storm (more than a foot) last year. Guess we'll see.
We're getting pretty excited for baby #2 coming in the spring. Still a ways off at this point, so not much other than a thought right now, but excting nonetheless. Seems to be in the water again right now b/c a lot of our friends are having kids too.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Fall
You know fall has arrived when you drive down the street and see pumpkins smashed all over the place, we're starting to wonder when we are going to get the first substantial snow and the boat goes into storage for the season. Just the other day we were out for a walk and the smell of fall was in the air and leaves were everywhere...pretty sweet. We're never too sure about the change of seasons when they first start because it seems like we just got used to the season and it changes, but then you get all the great colors of fall and the first snow is always exciting.
Last weekend we went out to the pumpkin patch with Blake and wandered through the fields of pumpkins, ran around on the hay bails and checked out the farm animals. Blake thought it was pretty awesome. It was pretty fun...i don't think i've been to a big pumpkin patch quite this large before...it was fun (even it it did take us like 30 minutes to get out of there because the pumpkin patch traffic was so crazy...dang).
We spent a nice day downtown at REI and walking around the park down there. It was a beautiful day...people were swimming in the river down there. Blake would have liked to and probably would have if we had let him :)
We have Blake already for Halloween...and he went to a costume birthday party for his buddies first birthday a few weeks ago. Only problem is he is growing so fast we're not sure he'll fit in the costume by Halloween, but at least he had a chance to wear it. He also got a couple treats from grammy for Halloween and was pretty excited about what he found in the box.
Last weekend we went out to the pumpkin patch with Blake and wandered through the fields of pumpkins, ran around on the hay bails and checked out the farm animals. Blake thought it was pretty awesome. It was pretty fun...i don't think i've been to a big pumpkin patch quite this large before...it was fun (even it it did take us like 30 minutes to get out of there because the pumpkin patch traffic was so crazy...dang).
We spent a nice day downtown at REI and walking around the park down there. It was a beautiful day...people were swimming in the river down there. Blake would have liked to and probably would have if we had let him :)
We have Blake already for Halloween...and he went to a costume birthday party for his buddies first birthday a few weeks ago. Only problem is he is growing so fast we're not sure he'll fit in the costume by Halloween, but at least he had a chance to wear it. He also got a couple treats from grammy for Halloween and was pretty excited about what he found in the box.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Lake Powell
Over this last weekend we were able to squeeze in a quick trip to Lake Powell with a few of the neighbors on our block. They had been talking to us about going out there since last summer, but our schedules hadn't worked until now. It's a pretty cool place. It's like being in a river in the grand canyon (which i suppose it is...just not quite to Grand Canyon). We met up with some of Abby's cousins there and it was Blake's first camping trip. So, we tackled his first camping trip in a place we hadn't been before...probably not a good idea in most cases, but it worked out well. We made our way down the river about 10 miles on Saturday to Annie's Canyon where we spent lunch in a cove of giant rocks. It's hard to imagine the size of them without seeing it, but it's pretty impressive. We met up with the neighbors on our way back...they came a little after us with some friends of there's.
Camping went good. Blake did great actually. We put him in dirty clothes and let him run around at the campsite. He thought it was pretty awesome. He would site down and just play in the dirt, then he would run around and try to eat rocks...good times.
Sunday we went and explored a canyon about 10 miles up the river where there's a hike known as the slot. Basically you boat in as far as you can, then you anchor down and hike the rest of the way and the canyon gets narrower and narrower the further you go. Pretty soon it is only like 4 feet wide and straight up for at least 50 feet. Pretty cool.
We got in some good end of the season wakeboarding and feel like we had a good end to the season. I think we're ready for the next season to start. Time to shut it down for the season and get ready for the next.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Blake turns 1!
Wow, one year already...seems like this last year has just flown by. It's been a ton of fun with the little guy. It's been really cool to see him learn things and grow. Abby did a great job of getting his birthday plans together and it went off without a hitch. We had his great grandparents, a few of the grandparents, an aunt and a couple cousins that came out from Utah and California and then a handful of friends from around here....a few being like 40. Crazy. It was a good time though, we did a surfer themed party and had the kids take pictures on the surfboard in front of a beach scene. It was a good time.
Blake thoroughly enjoyed his birthday cake and made a huge mess eating it. Pretty fun to watch. Presents must be big on the 1st birthday, it looked like Christmas....he did just fine....only problem is he didn't really understand the opening gifts part. One of the best gifts Blake got was a rocking chair that Grampy made for him. It's just his size and has the Broncos logo on it. Only 1 and already has his team.
It was a really fun weekend with all the family and friends. Monday Abby, Blake, Tony and me made it out to the lake for a couple hours in the afternoon. It was a little cloudy/hazy from the smoke for the CA wildfires, so it wasn't REALLY hot, but there was nobody at the lake. It was a great day. It tied for second best day of the summer. Glassy and warm water. Would have tied for best day of the summer if the sun had been out. Pretty fun.
Well, now we're into September and getting ready to wind down for the summer. Blake is running around and we can hardly keep up. We're looking forward to seeing what he learns next.
At dinner a few nights ago he was getting a kick out of us slapping sugar packets on the table. You have to watch this video it'll make you smile...
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Family Reunion - Redfish Lake, ID
Well, we're a little slow getting around to blogging, but we've had a busy week back at home. Our trip with family was a lot of fun. It's a bit of a drive from Denver (~14 hours), but Blake did real well considering. We headed out on Wednesday night to get to Salt Lake so that I could head up with a few of the guys (grandpa, Jason, Tony) to do a little backpacking in the Sawtooth mountains for a few days before the rest of the family came up. We got up there to the Sawtooth Lodge on Thursday night. It was a neat little place although we had bad directions getting there that resulted in about a 35 mile stretch taking us 1.5 hours. Bummer. It worked out though and we got there, just a little later than planned. When we arrived it turned out the place is fully run by a generator (b/c it is so remote) and the generator was busted. So, that meant no electricity, which also meant nothing that required electricity was working either (water pumps that run the water). Well, other than that it was a fun little place and it was an experience.
We headed out early the next morning (9 am...early is relative...out guide hoped to leave earlier :-) ) and we rode horses up to the Baren Lakes (~10 miles). We got in that afternoon and got camp setup. We were the only ones staying at the lake. It was a pretty beautiful view and the fishing was great. A lot of little fish, but a lot of them to catch and they would bite almost every cast. It was pretty fun. We had a nice time relaxing, eating Mountain House (freeze-dried food), fishing and had a couple nice campfires. When we headed out on Sunday, 3 of us (Jasen, Jason and Tony) hiked out toward Redfish lake where we caught a boat ferrie across the lake to the Lodge while grandpa headed out with the gear and the guide on horses back to the truck to bring it around to the lodge. It was a beautiful hike out over mountain peaks, past mountain lakes, along creeks and rivers through forests. Pretty amazing country. Definitely some great hiking.
We all met up at Redfish Lodge Sunday evening and got all settled in. At the lodge there are a bunch of cabins and then a few different camping areas. Most of the family stayed in cabins while a few of the family did camping. It was all very nice. The views, wildlife and lake closeby gave us a lot to check out, explore and enjoy. There were ~35 of us total with most of the family being on our side, but also a handful of people from grandpa's brother's side. It was fun to see everyone and a lot of people that we hadn't seen in a long time.
One thing i've learned as we've ventured out on some of these family trips/vacations/reunions is that these guys like to do things. It makes for a fun time. Monday was the one day we were kind of on our own to do whatever we wanted to. We just kind of took it easy that day going on a bike ride with Blake and checking the place out some since i had never been there before.
Tuesday we headed out with everybody to do some river kayaking. We all got in boats and floated down 8 miles of river. We stopped at some hot springs that came into the river and sat in those for a little while. The babies couldn't come with us in the boats (probably was a good idea anyway) and met up with us during our break at the hot springs. We finished up the kayaking ride and headed back to the lodge to hang out, fish and relax.
Wednesday was riding horses day. While most everyone went and had a great time, i stayed back with Blake this time (i had rode the horses up to backpacking). The consensus was that it was a fun time, the views were great and the horses behaved...most of the time...except for when Jason tried to pass Jacob and freaked him out :-) We had a big all-family bbq that night and got everyone together. It was fun to eat good food, relax and talk with everyone.
Thursday was white-water rafting day. We headed out with most everyone...i think 26 or so total. So there were 4 boats of us and 1 boat with another family. This was a lot of fun. Uncle Dave got everyone rialed up with the water canon, soaking us all...the rapids were good, but not TOO intense and the guides were good. After lunch things got a little crazy as we all were ready for revenege after being soaked. We had one point where our boat the boat with the soakers on it pulled up next to each other and Abby and I went in...Abby went for the water canon and i went for Uncle Dave. He and I ended up in the water and Abby accidently pushed the guide in while trying to get the canon...so she ended up in too. It was all in good fun and we had fun although the water was freezing...probably around 55 degrees. We all got back in the boats and everything settled down until our boat got comandered by Tony and Jason who flew onto the boat to get a water canon and accidently knocked two of the grandparents (from the other side of the family) into the water. Everybody got back in the boat fine and it was no problem, but things kind of settled down after that. It was a lot of fun. The rafting guides said we were definitely the wildest bunch of the summer (referring to the whole family)...they enjoyed the excitement. Everyone had a good time, no one got hurt and it made for some good memories.
We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and then getting packed up to head out. We had to leave thursday night to get back friday as there were things we had to take care of before the 1st. Overall it was a really great time and we all really enjoyed it. Blake behaved himself, got a lot of practice walking and had plenty of attention.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
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