2007

Well, here we are in 2007. This year I will have my 10 year high school reunion (I can say that because I'm planning it! : )), Christopher will enter his Terrible Twos (unless we're very lucky), our marriage will turn 5 years old, and I'm sure many other things will happen we have no way of knowing right now.

We spent the last two weeks of 2006 mostly at home and with my family at my parents' home. The roads are still horrible from the two storms we had. Side roads still have snow and ice, and major roads are clear and mostly dry, but have new potholes. Most of my Christmas presents were things to improve my home and wardrobe, and I'm THRILLED, as I almost never buy clothes for myself and have been desperately wanting to decorate the house, but haven't quite had the means. I also got an ipod nano from my cousin Lori, another thing I would never buy myself but am sure I will use and am very grateful for.

The past 6 months Joel has gotten 2 promotions and 4 raises. We're excited to see them settle in and to start saving money and get out of debt. He's not crazy about his current hours, but we're adjusting so we can spend as much time together as possible.

I hope everyone had great holidays and has something to look forward to in this new year. Take Care and keep in touch!

It's 2007!

Christopher as a pirate for Halloween (he even says "arrgh"! : ))
playing basketball in his room (yeah, he stands on the bed, but he'll grow!)
Christmas morning. He was overwhelmed after about 2 presents, but he had fun.
Christopher and I at my parents, Dec 30th. Little Audrey is in the high chair.
my sisters and I at my parents', also Dec 30th.

This is the whole family (with the exception, of course, of Steven who is in Brazil for at least another year), at Lori's wedding, 11/25/06. l to r: My sister Jaime (18), sister Denise (25), my parents, Gary & Terri, brother Mitchell (15), sister Shauna (23), Christopher (17 months), Myself, and hubby Joel is in the back.

Snowed in!!

Well, it's almost Christmas, and we've been snowed in for 2 1/2 days. My dad just finally came to shovel out my car, but I still haven't attempted to drive. We've accumulated over 2 feet of snow since the storm started Wednesday. People are stuck here who don't want to be here and others can't get here. Denver International Airport was closed for 2 full days. It's a little crazy : )

Christopher and I have been getting a little stir-crazy. Joel came home from work early Wednesday and stayed home yesterday, but they had to open the bank this morning. We've gotten a lot of cleaning done and I colored my own hair : ). We have yet to even start our Christmas shopping, and I'm sure everyone in the metro area is at least behind, so the next couple of days should be fun : ).

December was very busy for our family business, as usual. Christopher has spent a lot of time with baby-sitters. I got called as the Beehive Advisor at church just at the beginning of December and am enjoying getting reacquainted with the Young Women Program. Joel got a promotion and, therefore, transfer almost 2 months ago and tho he doesn't love the hours, seems to be doing well there.

Last month our big project was my cousin Lori's wedding. She got married out here the weekend after Thanksgiving, so we had around 40 people for Thanksgiving and then put on a wedding. Hopefully I'll be posting pictures of that soon.

We hope everyone is happy, healthy and having a great holiday season!

no more baseball

Well, baseball season is over which means I am looking for a job. Joel is up for a promotion so I'm waiting to see what happens with that. I would really like to be able to go back to the Rockies next year, but we'll see. I would also really like to get going building a hair clientele. I just have to make sure I can pay for care for Christopher and still make money.

The end of the season was sad, because the Rox had started off so well and then plummeted after the All-Star Break; but still fun because I love most of the people there. They had an end-of-the-season party for employees and their families last Sunday. It was fun because they let us down on the field. I had only been on the outfield before, but they were letting the kids run the bases, so we took C down. He scampered off the grass (he still hates it) and hung out around 1st base most of the time, so we decided he's a firstbaseman. He was mostly just playing with the dirt (it's a lot harder than I thought it would be, like big gravel. I feel bad for all of the infielders who dive for catches on that stuff!), but then he ate a little bit. Most mom's would probably be disgusted, but I just thought "Cool, my son has a piece of a major league ballpark in him". I guess I'm a little weird.

We're settling into the new house and we love it. I'm already looking forward to redecorating and doing some projects, but it's going to be a little bit before we have money for that.

I'll post some pics soon!

1st birthdays, 1st time homebuyers

Well, as you can see from the pictures, we had Christopher's 1st birthday party. I can't believe it's been a year! We had a Blue's Clues party, Jaime's friend Meggie did a great job with the cake. We had it at my parents and Rick& Kathy(my uncle and aunt), Jenny (my cousin), Carol (my cousin), her two boys, Eilio & Kyrelle, Lorae (close family friend), her 2 kids Lily and Jo-Jo, Joel's parents, Joel's Nana, and of course my family were all there. When we wanted C to blow out the candle (I thought he might at least try because he blows on food to cool it down), or dig into the cake; instead he grabbed the flame of the candle, but wasn't really hurt. Just a little scared of the cake after that! He got a bunch of presents, so we have tons of toys around the house, but that's ok, because we're about to have much more space for that kind of stuff. More about that later.....

We had a nice visit with Joel's parents, who were here from Florida; and his Nana, who came for a couple of days from Utah. Christopher got used to a LOT of Grandparent lovin' really quickly! I think we'll be undoing that for a while : )

So, we are entering into buying our first home. We are actually doing a lease option for a year, so we're not quite buying yet, but we're pretty sure this is the place where we're going to live for a few years. We can get at least 2 more kids in there. It's a condominium a little south of where we live now. We're buying it from a couple in our ward, and they've done some great things to it. Hardwood floors, custom cabinets, new appliances, etc. We didn't expect to be moving so soon, but the opportunity arose, so here we go! We're very excited, and a little stressed, but I think it will be great.

I think that's it for now. As always, we hope everyone is doing well!

Recent Pictures!

This is when he stood on his own for the first time, It was turned right-side up, I swear!








Riding Lightning McQueen, a birthday present, and eating the little car phone that came with it.







Look, I do exist! (I just don't like to be photographed : )) Shauna made his "I love Kelly Clarkson" shirt. Surprise.







Right after this is when he grabbed the flame of the candle! Ouch!




Yay for presents!