August is CRAZY!!

So, we did go to Florida (C and I with Denise and Jaime), and I now remember why I don't go there in the summer. It's fine if you live there (or so I remember), because you'd never actually go out and do the tourist stuff during the hottest part of the year, but we had to, and it was.....well.....let's just say I can't remember the last time I dripped sweat. If you look on Facebook at the pictures Jaime posted, you will see it does NOT agree with me! : ) But we had fun and got to see some old friends and family we don't see very often (tho not everyone I really wanted to see : ( ). We did Disney twice thanks to my AWESOME friend Trish, who even got to come hang out with us the second day which was great! I still love that place. We spent a lot of time with my in-laws and got to see the cousins quite a bit too. I'll post a picture or two (in which I don't look like a drowned rat!) soon.

The plane rides weren't so fun, and I'm glad that from now on, tho it will be more expensive; C will have his own seat. On the way out he threw up on me, which was not ideal but could have been MUCH worse. And on the way back he kept kicking the chair in front of us. It's a good thing he's cute, because that lady was TICKED until she looked back at him, and then she played with him. But all in all he's a great kid and for having extremely irregular naps and running around so much, he was great.

Once we got back from Florida, we had a week before Joel's parents came out, in part, for C's 2nd birthday. More on that later. I went back to work, Joel started his latest promotion (Joel, by the way, did a great job cleaning the house while I was gone. I think I fell in love with him all over again!), and we tried to be normal for a week. Then his parents got here, and we tried to spend as much time with them as possible. They came to a couple of games, we went to the Denver Art Museum, and Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak (well, the side of it). Saturday the 28th was Christopher's 2nd birthday. We all went to the game and they (Coors Field GR staff), sang to him and my family joined us and I think the Rox even won : ). Sunday we had an actual party at my parents with my family, Joel's parents, and Lorae and the kids. Christopher has a bunch of new toys and clothes and books and he is loving it! I'm terrified for this week when we celebrate Jo-Jo's birthday and have to tell C he doesn't get to blow out the candles or unwrap the presents!

So, now we have a 2 year old. His favorites words are "No" and "mine," but he's also eager to do things by himself, and I swear his speech and knowledge grow by leaps and bounds every day.

August really is crazy. Just this week we had Joel's parents in town (they're currently visiting family in Utah and then will be back for 2 days before they leave), I went to the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert with Shauna and Denise Tuesday, Thursday (last night), 7 of us went to see the Broadway-Bound spanking new Little Mermaid musical (C saw a movie with my Dad, "PaPa"), I'm planning a baby shower, and during all of this we're trying to buy our home! Not to mention Local Affairs is about to swing into full gear, I have almost 2 months of games left, and in our family I think August has the most birthdays and anniversaries of any month!! It should be fun, but I'm going to have to stay on my toes and just thinking about all of it makes me very tired!

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves as summer winds down. Take care and keep in touch!!

Movin into July......

Ok, here we go, trying to do this more often......

The past couple of weeks have stayed very busy for us. We got some good news. Joel got a promotion that, to us, was pretty sudden. We knew it might be coming up sometime this year, but not quite so soon. They almost announced it in a meeting before they told Joel! So anyway, he is going to be supervisor of his branch. It's exciting, but at the same time a little limiting because this is actually as far as he can go in the company without a degree. But we'll see what happens.

I had a crazy first week of July at work. We had the Mets in town, and fireworks the 3rd and 4th. Both were sellouts and the 3rd was fairly uneventful, but the 4th was crazy. The Rox swept the Mets, so that was fun, but when the command center is so busy, the game gets a little lost to us : (.

So, I have one more series and then Christopher and I are off to Orlando! I am very excited, although a little worried about the heat and humidity. I don't think I've been down there this time of year since I moved back!

Well, someone just woke up from his nap, so we must go cut Grammy's hair : )

More pictures.....

From top to bottom (and left to right): Christopher with the Rice kids in my parents yard, they were playing in the sprinkler; C at that same father/daughter campout, at Lake Wellington, near the campfire with a stick; Joel trying to show him to aim a little higher with the bat; Shauna showing him the glowing thing; another pic of me, Shauna, C and Jaime rafting at Lake Wellington.

Pictures, early summer 2007

Told you he follows through and lifts his back leg, didn't I? : )

He Loves T-ball!



Haircut, it took me forever to do it and I cut myself very badly, but he was mostly good : ) My mom wouldn't let me just use the clippers again.

Both pictures below are from Lake Wellington when we went on the Father-daughter campout with my Dad and Shauna and Jaime. He loved rafting : )

Summer 2007

Well, I have been quite the slacker. And not just where this blog is concerned! I wanted to post some new pictures and realized I seriously haven't taken any in quite a while! I got a little down about it when we lost just about all of the pictures we've taken since Christopher was born due to a computer (actually 2, since we had a backup on Shauna's external drive that also crashed) crashing. But I definitely need to suck it up and start again! So, I just begged my family for their recent pics of Christopher and hopefully I'll have some soon.

We have been REALLY busy, especially since summer started. Baseball season is in full swing, and the Rockies have had an extremely up and down season so far (currently, sadly, in the down stage!). They had a horrible April, then had their longest winning streak in 8 years or so, took 2 out of 3 from the Red Sox and came home to sweep thr Yankees, and are currently on a road-trip with a 7 game losing streak with a couple of heart-breaking late losses! My job with them is also a little more stressful this year, but I still love the people I work with and think it's nice to get paid to watch baseball : )

We also have some summer events going on. We just did a friend's wedding and have had a couple of summer picnics. Tammy is starting to schedule a lot more, so that should keep us busy and help the income a little : ) Otherwise, for me, there are just a lot of summer plans, Christopher and I will leave in just over a week for Orlando with my sisters Denise and Jaime. We'll spend a week there (July 10-17th), and see lots of friends and family. And when we come back we'll have a short break before Joel's parents come to town and we have tickets to events and plays.

Joel is still working away at 1stBank and steadily moving up. We've adapted to his different schedule and keep Christopher up a little later. It actually works pretty well because when I get home from games so late, I like to sleep in, and for the most part, Christopher does too, since he stays up. We do get some weird looks when we have him out late though : ) Joel also finally got released from Primary and now holds callings in the Elders Quorum and as assistant ward clerk over membership. I'm the Beehive advisor and am having a great time working with the youth of the church again.

Christopher talks a blue streak and LOVES baseball, tho he has a great appreciation for most types of balls : ) He apparently has been observing the game more than we thought, as he follows through on both his throwing and swinging. He even lifts his back leg at the end of his throw and steps into his swing! He has a favorite bedtime story; "Miss Moo Goes to the Zoo", he loves it because of all of the animals. He recognizes most animals and can make all of their noises. He loves his aunts and uncles and Papa and Grammy. I'm sure he'll have a great time with Joel's parents this trip and start to remember them more too. He's learning so fast right now! It's a lot of fun.

When I get pictures I will make another post including some of them.

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.