I have been so lazy busy lately that I just haven’t had energy time to update since September. So, I am trying to update before the year ends…. Look for more updates soon, but for now, you can read these that I just did!
1. Bowled Over
2. Camping Out
We recently got together with some wonderful friends. My dear friend, Amy, and I have known each other since we were 4 years old. We were in the same children’s class at Community Bible Study (CBS) here in Littleton, and we ended up being in the same kindergarten class. Even though I moved away in the middle of 1st grade, Amy and I have kept in touch through the years. She has her hands full with three children, ages 3 and under, and her husband is recently deployed to Iraq. So while her hubby is away, she came back to Colorado to live with her parents. We have loved getting together and the kids have a blast together. Kaylynn is almost 4, and Emily is only a few weeks older than Grant. Then there’s sweet Andrew (not pictured), who will be 1 in February.
This summer, Amy emailed me to tell me that her friend from college, Callie, was moving to the Denver area. Callie has a little boy just Grant’s age. They are a week apart and are inseparable! It’s so fun to watch Grant and Carter play together!! And we are so blessed by our friends, both old and new!!
The last weekend of September, Rocky Mountain National Park had a free admission day. We thought the fall color might be just right to go take some family pictures. It wasn’t quite peak color, but it was gorgeous, nonetheless.
We tried one more on the rock, and just before the camera clicked, Grant stood up and wrapped his arms around my neck. So it looks like it’s just John and me…
This next one was towards the end, and Grant had had enough. He was done taking pictures and wanted to go home.
So we opted for one more no-fail family photo. I think it was a success, don’t you?
What do you get when you mix a plastic file box, felt, styrofoam spheres, sponges and a little craft glue?
A car wash…and one very happy boy!
We have wanted to take Grant camping for a long time. We finally took him on his first camping trip at the end of September. It was a little cold, as you’ll see in the pictures. We met John’s parents at the campground. They have an enclosed trailer, and we set up a tent on the tent pad. We enjoyed grilling out, the campfire, and homemade “pies” for dessert. We planned to stay the weekend, but our trip got cut short when I started having signs of an impending miscarriage. So, even with the sad ending, it was still great to see Grant have so much fun. We’ll definitely be taking him again when the weather warms up!
We took Grant bowling for the first time in September. His cousin, Ryan, joined us. The boys had a blast and did pretty well! I’m pretty sure they both scored more than I usually do. Of course, I might do better if I had a ramp and bumpers…
Lately, Grant has taken a liking to wearing socks on his feet AND his hands. One day, he decided to wear nothing but his diaper, socks, and his blanket as a cape. Cutest superhero I’ve ever seen.
July was busy on the front end with lots of travel and busy on the back end with lots of visitors. We were so blessed to have our dear friends Sam and Stacy come up from Texas to see us. Sam is one of John’s best friends from college and happened to marry one of my friends from junior high and high school. Stacy and I had lost touch over the years, so imagine our surprise when we met up for double date years ago! They have a beautiful little girl, Isabel, who entertained Grant to no end. They had a great time together.
While they were here, we went on a hike to Maxwell Falls. John, Grant and I did this hike when we first moved here last August and wanted Sam & Stacy to see it. We took a picnic lunch and the kids had the best time throwing rocks into the river. Cheap entertainment, no?
We also took the kids to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. It was a lot of fun and it had great exhibits. Probably my favorite is the giraffes…the exhibit is built so the people are standing at eye-level with the giraffes. Again, we packed a lunch and roamed around.
The day Sam & Stacy left is the same day my college friends, Kyla and Coleen, came into town. Coleen was only able to stay one night, as she went onto a family rafting trip, but Kyla stayed for a few days. While she was here, my cousin, Nick, came into town and stayed one night with us in between his visits to other friends.
We have been so blessed to be able to do so much and see so many friends and family during July. To anyone else thinking of coming to Colorado, let us know! We’d love to see you too!
John had to go home from Philadelphia on Sunday. After we dropped him off at the airport, we met up with my mom’s brother, Rick, who took us on a tour of downtown Philadelphia. I had seen a lot of the sites before, but it was fun to see them with kids. And Conner and Aubyn really enjoyed it – history and all. Grant just loved being outside.
Our first stop was the Pennsylvania Hospital. It is the very first hospital in the United States and is still used today.
Then we walked through Washington Square Park. It is one of five areas that were set aside as parks by the original city planners. Washington Square Park is actually a burial ground for thousands of George Washington’s soldiers.
After walking through the park, we went to Independence Hall.
We had tickets for the guided tour. Even though I had been there before and been on the tour, it is still amazing to me to be in the very room our country was founded. They still have a lot of originals. The painting in the below picture is the SAME picture that our founding fathers put up to replace the royal crest that was hanging in the court room. This was an act of treason.
This is the room where the Constitution was drafted and signed. The chair at the front of the room is THE chair that George Washington sat in.
A few other pictures from Independence Hall…
We also saw the Liberty Bell…
…went on a tour of the city in a horse-drawn carriage…
…and stopped to play at Franklin Park (another one of the five parks in the city). They had an amazing sand sculpture, a carousel, and a playground for the kids to play.
After playing at the park for a bit, we walked back through the city to get to our restaurant for dinner. Along the way, we saw a red carpet rolled out for a special event. I made my sister walk down it while I yelled to her like the paparazzi. I love her expression in the picture. Grant also got to “walk” the red carpet.
For dinner, we ate at the City Tavern. The original burned down years ago, but it has since been rebuilt (obviously). Our founding fathers would gather at the restaurant (the original one – again, obviously) when they weren’t busy creating a new government.
By the end of the day, we were exhausted (especially Grant – no nap!) but we had an amazing time. I would definitely recommend Philadelphia as a travel destination. My pictures just don’t do it justice.
Two days after we got home from Ouray, we got on a plane and headed for Philadelphia. My dad’s parents were having their 60th wedding anniversary and we were also having a memorial service for my mom’s mother, who passed away March 31. The trip started off rather, well, exciting, as we almost missed our flight. We set the alarm for 4:15 am and planned to leave the house at 5:00 in order to get to the airport by 6:00. But John woke up with a start at 5:40 am. We quickly threw on some clothes, plucked Grant out of his bed, and sped (and I mean sped!) to the airport. The normally hour-long trip took us 30 minutes. We didn’t have time to park in the economy lot, so we parked in the garage, grabbed our bags and Grant’s carseat and ran to the ticket counter. We checked our bags and prayed we would make it through security on time. Thankfully, we did. We ran to our gate just as they were starting the Group B boarding. Not only did we make it, but our luggage made it on time as well. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if we had missed the flight, but it would have made things more difficult since we were meeting my sister and her family along with my parents. We were supposed to all land within an hour of each other (which took a lot of planning as my parents were coming from California, we were coming from Denver, and my sister was coming from Amarillo). But everything turned out fine.
After our ordeal getting there, we went to my Uncle Rick’s house for dinner…famous Philly Cheesesteaks! YUM!
The following day, we went to my dad’s cousin’s pool and let the kids play. They had a great time and wore themselves out!
That night was my grandparents’ anniversary celebration. It was great to have the whole family together – a mini-reunion!
A few days later was Sunday and my grandmother wanted all of us to go to church with them. They were being honored and wanted us all there. After church, we went back to their house for a nice brunch before we had to take John to the airport.
My sister, Jennifer & her husband, Heath
John, Grant, Me, & our niece, Aubyn
Our nephew Conner, with 2nd cousins Devon & Madison
Stay tuned for pictures from part two of our trip…a tour of downtown Philadelphia.
