Our Weekend

What a busy, fun weekend!

Friday, the boys and I were BUSY! We mowed and weeded the back yard, painted the powder room, and cleaned the house. MaeMae arrived right before bedtime for a weekend visit!

Saturday, we went shopping ... clothes for Daddy, plants for MaeMae, a mattress for the loft daybed and then hurried home for a cookout before naps. That evening we headed down to Colo. Springs for cousin Rebekah's 3rd Birthday Party. It was fun to be able to celebrate with her and the family. That's a definate perk of living back in CO.

We picked up Braden's new train table from Pa & Ma's house (what a flea market bargain ... only $15 ... thanks Uncle Dan for spotting it!). Pa and Ma followed us home and the adults had a relaxing evening of milkshakes and popcorn.

Sunday, we went to the Zoo for Father's Day. The weather was amazing! We enjoyed seeing all the animals and celebrating the special guys in our lives. The zoo was awesome and BIG! It will take many more trips before we feel we've seen and enjoyed it all. It was some great family fun! We made it until around 2:00ish and then headed home before the boys had a melt down. Dylon was the first to crash in the car and Braden was out before we got home. It was such a fun time. Another BBQ with burgers and chicken wrapped up the day. The grandparents all headed home, the boys were tucked into bed, and I have a few minutes to reflex with joy on the weekend.

Last room ...

I cleaned and organized the last room today (I'm not counting the basement or garage as a room!). This means that all the boxes are officially gone! YAAA!!! I don't know who is more excited, me or my little boys. We have missed having playtimes and fun together. Organizing a new home is alot of work and I'm excited to be almost done and have time to just be a mommy again! It makes me think of a cross-stitch poem that used to hang in our hallway growing up:

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep -

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep!"

How true that is! Seems like just yesterday these two little boys were entering the world and our home. I am so thankful for them and the joy that they bring.

As promised, here is a picture of Braden's elbow after his fall. He still hasn't wanted to get back on, so it might take some encouragement from Daddy one evening. He'll do almost anything for his Dad-de!

And here's Dylon taking a morning nap. He hasn't done that for a couple months. However, today he was grouchy and naughty and ended up in his crib because I didn't know what else to do with him. Guess it was a good choice because he went right to sleep. I haven't seen him sleeping sideways in the crib before - he looks so big and yet so little all at the same time to me.

Well, it's off the shower for me. Time to get cleaned up while the boys are fast asleep for their naps. We are heading out this evening to look at a dog. Yes, a DOG! What home with little boys is complete without one!? :) I found a labradoodle on craigslist so we are going to check it out. We'll see what happens ... ?!

Ouchies and Old Friends

Braden got a battle scar today. While playing outside this morning, he tipped over on his new bike and scraped his elbow up pretty good on the sidewalk. Thanks to his helmet (he's such an obedient boy and never rides without it!), no other injuries. He was quite the tough boy and let me clean it off and put bandaids on. He took the bandaids off after lunch and hasn't complained at all. He did have to use the boo-boo bunny and his ice pack bear a few times this evening though. And he was very quick to show it to Daddy and our dinner guests. He wouldn't get back on the bike this morning, so tomorrow we'll have to give it another go. And I guess Mommy better take a picture of this ouchie too!

Tonight we had our first dinner guests (other than family). It's nice when the world becomes a little smaller and you run into old friends. We were sitting in church (the second one we visited on Sunday) and noticed a couple in front of us. The girl seemed so familiar, but we couldn't place her. Then she made this expression and we knew ... it was Allison, a girl that we knew from the camp where we met. Actually, we knew her whole family. We talked with her and her husband, Tony, after service and discovered that her dad and brother were also in town. A dinner offer turned into a get together tonight. We had a great time reconnecting with them and reminiscing about our days at scholarship camp. Braden was excited to have "friends" here and loved showing off many of his toys. Dylon was just excited because everyone else was excited! It was so good to have friends here and it made our house feel so much more like a home. Thanks friends for filling our home with laughter and joy tonight!

And a few pictures for those of you that can't wait to see these cute boys of ours! :)

June 2: Dylon loves pushing trucks around ... "uck!" as he calls them.

He also loves his animals. Woofie and Fido are 2 of his favorites.

June 4: 2 Brothers, 1 Cookie each --- such different results.

June 7: Braden made these ears at church. He loves to wear them around & Mommy likes to remind him to listen with them!

June 10: These two guys were excited to watch TV in their playroom today; and hats were a requirement!

June 13: Snuggles for Daddy

And that's all for now! Time to head to bed so I have energy for these two precious bundles of energy tomorrow!

Braden's NEW Bike

My baby is growing up too fast for this Mommy! Today we, actually he, bought a new bike. We had saved some of Braden's birthday money from December. We found an almost new 12" bike on craigslist and went to check it out this morning. It was a perfect fit! And in excellent shape ... no scrapes on the paint and the tires still had the little "hairs" on them. He was so happy! He could hardly wait for naptime to be over so he could go outside. Unfortuantely for the little guy it was raining (for the 8th day in a row) when he woke up. A few tears were shed and thankfully the weather cleared for an after dinner ride. It was a short one because black clouds were closing in again. He was one proud boy riding his bike. He needs some work figuring out the brakes and turning corners, but he had strong legs riding back up the hill.

Little brother couldn't wait to climb on the "discarded" trike and follow in big-brother's footsteps. Dylon ended up pushing his bike more than riding, but he had alot of fun too.

Here's a picture of Braden on his new bike:

Dylon loves to say "cheese" and wants his picture taken whenever the camera is out:

This was a couple days ago when the boys were riding bikes:

Dylon loves the planes that fly over head -- "Pane!". He can spot them before we can.

Churches and Tornados

What a day! We got up this morning and went to 2 different churches again. The first (Eastern Hills) was one that we attended last week. We really enjoyed the worship and the pastor is a great teacher. We are a little uncertain about how BIG the church is though. The second (Colorado Community Church) wasn't quite as big. This pastor too is a phenomenal speaker. The church is very multi-cultural; different for us but we enjoyed it. The worship is full of energy and "soul". We will probably visit here again too. There are a few others churches we'd still like to check out, but we are excited for the ones we have visited so far and how God is leading us.

This afternoon, while eating lunch on the deck, we watched a storm front roll in over the mountains. As the rain began to fall, Chad wisely watched for updates on TV and online. When the sirens sounded, we weren't surprised. We were discussing if we should wake the boys from naps and go to the basement. We looked out back -- nothing serious. We went to the front door and .... VERY SERIOUS! A funnel cloud was swirling about 2-3 miles south of our house. It was dropped down and much too close for our comfort. I ran upstairs to get the boys while Chad locked the door and gathered the radio and blankets. We snuggled in downstairs and waited. The boys were startled to be so quickly awakened and not thrilled to be in the basement just sitting still. We sang some songs and prayed for protection. The rain fell, the hail came, and the tornado moved to the south -- away from our house. We found out later that it touched down and caused damage at the mall about 10 miles south. How thankful we are for God's protection and the distance between us and the tornado. Braden had so many questions about why we were downstairs and why it was raining so much. The only way I could think of to explain it to him was to compare the clouds to his dancing (he loves to spin in circles). We said that the clouds were playing and dancing so we had to stay downstairs until they were done in case they crashed into anything. He thought that was pretty funny.
Here's a link to the news story:
http://cbs4denver.com/weatherupdates/weather.tornado.funnel.2.1035133.html

This is the hail that was on our deck after the storm passed. The hail was pea to marble sized.

Hopefully this will be our last weather adventure for awhile. I'm very thankful that Chad was home during this. I've never seen a tornado so up close and personal. It would be fine if this was my last time too!


A few other pictures from today:

Dylon decided that he needed to shave with Daddy before church. He is such a little copycat.



Dylon was talking to MaeMae on the phone in the car.

Braden got a special treat tonight (vanilla shake) after dinner. He ate like such a big boy ... no coaxing, bribing, warnings ... just a BIG boy eating his dinner all gone! I love it when that happens.

-------------------------------

We just watched the evening news and found out that the tornado was on the ground for over 30 minutes, did serious damage to the mall and other stores (10 miles south), produced baseball sized hail (about 3 miles south) -- and yet NO one was seriously injured! We are SO thankful that God protected our family and our home!!!

10 years!

Chad and I celebrated 10 years of marriage this weekend! Wow, I can't believe it's been that long. I am so blessed to have such an incredible guy as my husband.

The boys spent Friday night with the grandparents in Colo. Springs. Chad and I enjoyed having a night to ourselves! :) We went to the White Chocolate Grill for Dinner on Friday night. It was delicious! We actually shared two meals (that would never have happened 10 years ago!) Prime rib (of course), Crab cakes, Mashed potatoes, and Glazed carrots. Yummy!
This morning we slept in (nice, except for the barking neighbors dog). Then we enjoyed a nice breakfast, followed by a couples massage. Afterwards, Chad suprised me with some shopping time. I love it when he helps me pick out new clothes. (See, told you I was married to a great guy!)

Tonight we drove down to Monument to attend a graduation open house for Ben York. I had the privelege of babysitting him as a baby and little boy. Now he has graudated from high school and soon will be starting at the Air Force Academy as a cadet. He's grown up to be a great young man that I hope my boys can aspire to be like. We also enjoyed dinner with Pa and Ma before heading home.

Overall, it was a fabulous weekend! It was so nice to have time to celebrate and relax with my husband after the past 6 months apart.

Brief Look at Jericho House

Well, many of you have been asking for pictures on info on the new house. We have almost all the boxes unpacked and are working to find a place for everything. Still no pictures on the walls, but that should come this week. We are starting to feel more settled and lvoe being all together again!

Here's a few pictures ... look past the messes! More to follow soon!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Last weekend

We spent last weekend in Colorado Springs with Pa and Ma. Chad had to work down there on Friday, so the boys and I went along. We had a great weekend together.
Friday night we ate dinner at the Airplane Restaurant (pictures to come later). Saturday we had a fantastic time at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.
The weather was great and we enjoyed the time together with family.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Saturday night we helped Chad's boss's daughter celebrate her 11th birthday with a casual BBQ. Braden and Dylon were intrigued by the water balloons.

Sunday, we started our church search. We actually attended 2 different church services. The first was a nice church, but not for us. The second, we liked and will be going back to again. We are anxious to find a church to call home again.