A Pirate and His One Man Crew!!

Both kiddos were Pirates this year. If you ask Will he will gladly tell you he was the "Pirate Captain" And Ivy was his assistant. The kiddos loved it all...trick or treating, witch's brew, jack o lantern pizza, and ghost pie were just a few of the highlights. Oh how I love this time of year!

Here we are ready to trick or treat. And yes we still had TONS of snow! (Hence the snow boots on all of us)
One last day to bust out the Halloween shirts. Will insisted the bunny be in the picture with him.

Ivy got the concept of holding the bag she just never quite understood that you had to give it to someone in order to get some candy!

What a little duo!!

The Little Things...

Wow what a week. Marcus Will and I were cursed with the nasty flu bug. Ivy, the lucky one, managed to stay healthy! And to make matters worse Marcus and I were sick on the same day. We can almost laugh about the day now. But at the time it was pure torture. I realized after that day it is the little things in life that I constantly take for granted. Like feeling good, being able to take care of my kids and play with them everyday. I am sure you are all avid readers of NieNie dialogues (if not you HAVE to check out her blog) and saw her on Oprah. One thing that caught my attention was when her little boy asked her to pick her up after the bath and she couldn't. I have never really thought about what a blessing it is to be able to hold and love and snuggle my kids, but after hearing her talk I will never take that for granted again. So here it is Saturday and we are all feeling much better and as my kids sat together and drank their milk (Ok honestly they only sat together while I took the pic, but it was cute while it lasted) before bed I realized how its the Little Things in Life that make me so happy.

Thomas!

Thomas came to Denver this past weekend! We just couldn't miss the chance to go and meet him. Apparently the rest of the Denver popultaion felt the exact same way! I had no idea it was such a popular event. Regardless of the crowds, and a crazy 15 month old, we had a great time. I could just see the excitement on Will's face. I thought to myself, "Going to Thomas for Will is kind of like someone giving me 1000.00 gift certificate to Nordstroms!" So obviously I am very glad we decided to go. Watching his excitement the whole day was priceless!

Riding the train

Oh Ivy this picture explains her personality perfectly. She can NEVER sit still!

The binky...Our only saving grace for getting her to sit still on the train ride. I think she might have it til she is 5!

Sir Topham Hatt

Preschool

Today was Will's first day of preschool! He was sooo excited. He's been wearing his backpack anxiously awaiting his first day for about a week now. I've been so excited for him to go, but as I drove away and watched him wave goodbye I got a little bit teary eyed! Maybe its just that this is the first of many times to come in which he won't need me. Ivy watched him go and I think she must have been thinking, "3 whole hours without this dude bugging me, this is GREAT."

The backpack~cause you know every preschooler needs one!!

So I pick him up and this is how our conversation goes

Mom: So Will how was your first day?

Will: Well we didn't get to play very much and Miss Jen made us write our names. I don't know how to do that. I'm only 3!!

Mom: So do you want to go back?

Will: If Miss Jen lets us play and doesn't give us raisins for a snack. Who likes those anyways?

So an eventful first day for my little 3 year old. We look forward to many more preschool memories!

Just a Few...

My friend Alli took some more great pics of Ivy. I could have posted them all but I picked just a few of my fav's!

She snapped a quick shot of Will to see if the lighting was right and it actually turned out pretty cute!!

Lake Powell

Lake Powell~Truly the best vacation ever! I remember when I was a teenager my parents would ask where I wanted to go for vacation in the summer and I would always say Lake Powell.

Now here I am almost 30 years old and if you ask me where my number one vacation spot is I would honestly say Lake Powell!! What makes it so fun you ask?? Maybe its the 7 am ski runs on perfect water (yes I am old school and still ski) the rest of the fam has some mad wakeboard skills but I just haven't transitioned over. Maybe because I don't want everyone to look better than me. Maybe its the beautiful setting, the daily ice cream runs, boat rides up antelope canyon, cliff jumping (well ok this one I am always pressured into doing), or maybe its the fact that our little family of five has now become a big family of 17 and there is nothing I would rather do than spend time with all of them. So thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip (and for paying for it too!!) Same time same place next year!!

Oh and thanks to Nana Jane and Papa Bob for letting Ivy hang at their house for the entire week. While I missed my little girl like crazy, she just isn't quite old enough yet to truly enjoy the 110 degree Lake Powell experience.

We drove half way to Lake Powell and stayed the night at my parents place in St. Geroge. A great way to break up the drive and let the kids get some of their energy out.

Will's first time on the beach at Lake Powell. I think he is enjoying it!

So here is the cliff I was pressured into jumping off of. I wasn't going to do it until my older sister decided too. I couldn't let her show me up. That is the crazy clan up there ( Marcus, my neice Sara and my nephew Brendan) they would have gladly jumped off of something twice that size but my mom said ABSOLUTELY not!
Oh these two. Only a month apart. I think they have a little bit of a "love/hate" relationship. They are quite the duo and kept us all laughing during the trip

Will's fav parts of the trip, driving the boat and wave runners, riding the tube, playing on the beach and best of all having his 10 cousins (whom he refers to as my friends) there with him.
Wait who is that? Oh I know I just had to brag. 28 years old and I can still ski. Now we will see if I can still do that when I am 38!!

Will and cousin Sara

My darling neices!

More pics to come soon if I can figure out how to get them off of a dang walgreens CD. Best ones are of my hubby getting some serious air on the wakeboard. Seriously he is a mad man. He doesn't even care how hard he crashes just how high he jumps. And yes he did have some nasty crashes!

Happy July

Fireworks

BBQ's

Friends

Warm Weather

Swimming

Cousins

Lake Powell

We are LOVING July!!