Halloween

I know, I know. Every single kid gets dressed up for All Hallow's Eve, but I swear. Our kids do things that nobody elses kids have ever done.

K seemed to be a little resistant at the beginning regarding going around to all the houses, but once he figured out that the people inside the houses gave him candy, he start trying to open the doors before we had even rung the doorbell! He was rearing to go. Luckily for his sugar high, he "donated" all of his candy to Snow White.

We also got a ton of snow a few days before that. Over 20" measured on our table out back, and that was legitamate, without going to the drifts. M & K spent a lot of time out in the snow "helping" mom shovel the snow.

M has also been working on becoming a photographer like her Auntie JJ and G-G Lee. She will take the camera around the house, arranging different objects and take pictures. It is great to stand back and watch as she takes the shot, looks at the digital screen and says, "Oh that is so cute!" She is also working on her self portrait, which usually ends up looking very stoic.

Horses and the Black Hole

Over the past weekend, the kids and we went our separate ways. M & K went down to Sugar City with the Grandparents, while we headed off to Utah with J & R to do some canyoneering. They stopped and saw the giraffe's in Colorado Springs. It seem pretty cool that they are at the same level as the giraffe's faces, so they got up close and personal. Then on down to visit my mom's cousin Carol's ranch. They really enjoyed the horses, and next door, they got to pet miniature pony's! Pretty cool. But, the highlight that came out of Maya's mouth first, was the fact that Grandpa and Tia Heidi took naps in the car! I

always thought the youngest ones should be taking a nap!

Debbie and I headed West to the beautiful canyons of Utah. We spent a night on Lake Powell, and did two pretty cool canyons. White Canyon was our favorite, with the majority of our time swimming through the "Black Hole". This was a section of the canyon about 3 feet wide, full of water, and who knows how deep, because we couldn't touch the bottom. The water was frigid at 49 degrees, but our wetsuits kept us warm. We would drop into the "swimmer" and do the breaststroke around one corner, around another, and then another. Didn't see another person on the whole day. Then to Moab and Corona Arch on Sunday, staying warm out of the water. The pictures just don't do it justice.

The only bummer about the trip was losing my Rollerblades. Since we only had one car, we had to devise a shuttle to get to the starting trail head from the ending TH. So, I dropped the other 3 off, drove the the finish, donned my blades, and went the 2.5 miles on the road to the start. Stashed the blades in an apparently very conspicuous place, but figured, "Hey, we haven't seen but 3 cars in the last hour on the road, and no one is at the TH, so I won't have to completely hide the blades from site. My mistake. We got done, went to get the Rollerblades and they were gone. Curses upon those that steal things!

Also, I wanted to give a "shout out" to J.T. and Mimi, for their dedication in keeping our parents apprised of when we update our blog. Thanks ladies!

Playsets and snakes

After many hours of screws and bolts, we have a playset erected in our backyard. Thanks to both sets of grandparents for all of your help in putting the set together and ensuring that it is was square and plum! It is amazing to see the size difference in the "playset" we used to have for them (the little slide in the front) and the new playset with swings, slide, and rockwall.




At some point, I think we are going to have to start working on K's level of fear of what could be hazardous to his health. It feels like if we turn our back on him, he is immediately trying to do something that is dangerous, albiet very very exciting in his eyes. Turn away and he is testing the carbon monoxide detector. Look left, and on the right he has decided to walk off the front steps as if there were no steps. Take a sharp object away from him, and he becomes enraged with the unjustness, and turns red screaming, and looks for something to grab and throw. "What is this little squeaky thing? I wonder if it will fit in my mouth." ............. or, "...why not pick a small snake up by the head? Look at it wiggle! What a fun new toy!" That is the last time we let Bruce anywhere near our kids! Next thing we know, he will have them flying in the sky in a paraglider.

Anyway, K really did like the snake. He was completely unafraid, and would try and pick it back up after others had put it down for it to go on it's merry way. Luckily there was no physical damage to either K or the snake.

Birthday fun

We all really enjoyed celebrating M's 4th birthday. She got to have a party with horses and friends before her b-day, then we celebrated with her on her actual b-day, and then the familia the next weekend. When was the last time you got to celebrate your b-day 3 times? Probably when you turned 4.

As you can see, M really enjoyed Snow White (which ended up getting traded out for Sleeping Beauty once SW was punctured).

Working on the easel and her new computer board are a lot of fun. K also enjoys trying to help out while working on the computer.

Personally, I think he has a lot more fun with plain boxes, but I just can't tell. Why can't we have this much fun with something so simple?

I have already started the next post, so look soon for another update that includes snakes and the completion of the playset.

Oh! I almost forgot! I was personally very excited when we were able to watch Lance Armstrong win the Leadville 100 about a month ago. I aspire to attempt it for the first time next year, and only hope to finish.

Moving Once, Moving Twice

After 10 years of living on Lewis Court, we are finally moving into some large digs. We close on our house tomorrow, and then move into our new house on Old Stone in the Ranch at the end of August. We are very excited and can't wait to move in. We are tripling our current house size, so we may not know what to do with the extra space, and there is a chance we will get lost at some point in the first week. The back yard is giganto size. I think Maya ran in one direction for about 15 minutes before she had to turn around!

We will be trying to have some sort of shindig once we move in, maybe in October. Stay tuned.

You're selling WHAT?

We have decided to sell our house and move south (finally). We have been talking about it for 5 years, and finally we are biting the bullet. So, while we were on vacation in the Virgin Islands, our house went on the market, and it sold 2 days later. Now as long as the inspection and appraisal go through, we will be moving south to Littleton or HR sometime in early August. Exciting and scary at the same time! We love our little house, but my commute was just too long, and we wanted to move before the kids get into school.

I'll post some pics of our vacation later.

April and May 2009, Doggie Rescue!

Once again it has been a long time between posts. I keep saying that we will do better and then........ 4 years later we finally post again. Thanks for sticking in there (if you are)!

One day, Maya decided to "fix-up" Grandpa Ron's Chihuahua. Who knew that 20 Dora Band-aid's later and the dog would feel all better. And then, who knew that those band-aids would not come off of the dog's fur.

Another fun thing we have been doing lately is going on hikes. Too bad the stroller is not big enough for us, as it seems the kids enjoy the pushing just as much as the riding.

We almost had our first trip to the ER with Keillor. As I was playing the guitar one day, Keillor was mesmermized with the strings and noise. As he moved from the strings to the head of the guitar, he decided to faceplant right into the nuts on the head of the guitar. It opened a 1/4" gash immediately, and I tried to stop it from bleeding. It didn't stop. As I was wondering what to do next, Debbie came back from her run. Did I mention that she wasn't at the house when he hit his head? Well, we called the doctor, and ended up having a friend who is a Physician Assistant come over and clean it and tape it up. A minor accident, but we were glad it wasn't his eye!

Here he is enjoying the view from the dishwasher.

And look at the chocolate from his B-day in May! He seems to like the chocolate, but for about 5 minutes it seemed that he was not enjoying it. It looked like it was stuck to the top of his mouth, and he couldn't get it off. What did we do? We just laughed.

Dance Party USA

Apparently Keillor really likes the Black Eyed Peas (I think it's the "Philly", but he can't say it yet). We had a dance party that he and Maya (and a little of myself) enjoyed for about 4 minutes. I never realized how tired you can get from just dancing!


We finally got our big snow at the very end of March. 14 inches one day, followed by 4 the next. It is a good thing that we did, as things were dry and the flowers were starting to think that it was time to bloom. Silly flowers! Spring is for snow! We also got to enjoy the making of Lisa the Snow woman. We used a little food coloring to spice up the outfit, but it was great being out in the snow. Maya also really enjoyed making snow angels. I think this is the one picture of K smiling while in the bear suit. K didn't enjoy the suit quite as much as we enjoyed taking pictures of him in it.

Utah March 21

Well, we left the kids and headed off to Utah for some Canyoneering. What fun we had. An easy day hiking up and down Ding and Dang canyon, and then a fun day dropping into Music Canyon into the Muddy Creek. Boy was that fun. A little rope work, down climbing, and singing in the Music Box area where your voice bounced around. Then wading through low 40 degree water, with our legs looking as if they were sunburned, but it was just that they were freezing cold. My favorite part of the trip? Coming around the corner and seeing 6 wild horses in the road. What beautiful animals they were!

It is still 2009?

Well it has been awhile and we have no good excuses. We are so glad that you all love the blog so much to wait and wait and wait. I (Ryan) still love volunteering once a month at Maya's preschool. The teachers wonder what is wrong with me since I am spending my "day off" at school, but where else do I get to pretend I am the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk?

One of the big things as of late was Maya's "Big Show" at her dance class. Maya loved showing us her hula and rainbow steps (video to come). She was quite good and if we can brag a bit, she did really well...she even has her "dance face" on as displayed in the picture below.

Showing her balance on the beam.Right now she is loving her swimming classes. She will soon be holding her breath longer than we can!

Maya went to a friend's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's and Debbie says she never needs to go there again....(Maya calls it "Chunk E. Cheese's" and we don't have the heart to correct her).

We updated our only bathroom (with a shower/tub) with new tile and vanity and toilet, so the kiddo's didn't have a bath for awhile. Maya decided that the kitchen sink was the preferable way to get clean. (There was a picture, but Debbie made me delete it....... In case she wants to run for president someday...However, if she ever gets married, we'll at least have a copy to show her future husband.)

Keillor has become quite innovative in his ability to get to things that he need not get to. "Keillor, outlets are not for babies........... Keillor, extension cords are not for babies...... Keillor, diaper boxes are not for..... ahhhh, who cares, you are just cute!"

Not sure what happened here...His sister was at school so he did this all by himself.

Here is Maya lining up the caps to her 1,600 markers.

Keillor is close to walking, but sometimes he likes to try and eat his shoes, and other times, heck, getting a free ride in the swing isn't bad either!

Snowshoeing: Ryan's pulling the sled...and it's incredible that they can actually sleep in there. It does not look comfortable!

We will try and update more as we go forward, as most of you bloggers are showing us up!