3 awesome visits in 30 days

We were SO lucky to have 3 visits from loved ones within 30 days.  In early January our pal Natalie Taysom from AZ visited us for a week, a few days later my sister Lisa and her girls Suzy and Anika came for an extended weekend, and then in early February Jed's parents came to play.  We had the best time with all of them!  There's so much to do here in Denver. (hint hint: come and see us!)

We did lots of hiking.  One of our favorites: Green Mountain. Ed and I took the boys up to Lookout Mountain for some hiking and to visit the Lookout Mountain Nature Center and Buffalo Bill's grave. With took two trips to the Butterfly Pavilion with Jed's parents and Lisa.  The kids (and Ed) loved it! Lincoln checking out a nearby butterfly. Right when I was taking a photo, a butterfly landed on my lens! We love the Denver Children's Museum.  It's the best I've ever visited. Hiking near Red Rocks ampitheater with Lisa and girls. Being from AZ, Natalie is not used to snow.  We had a nice snowstorm and I think she enjoyed it more than the boys! Lincoln was bundled up like Ralphie, and he was not too happy. The Denver Zoo with Nat.

Ahh.... the simple joys of making a snow angel, especially for an adult who's never played in snow!

little goose

is ups hiring?

So when we were visiting the Lookout Mountain Nature center, while enjoying lunch outside with friends, a UPS truck pulled up to the curb.  Before I knew it, I looked over at my toddler climbing inside the cab, so proud of himself!  

more of my little lover boy

I couldn't resist posting this of my little affectionate guy.

little lover boy

Our little Link is such a sweet boy!  He's 21 months now and though not talking much, he sure understands a lot.  He's good at following instructions and cleaning up his toys.  He knows his place in the family.  He will kneel, press his little hands together, and squint his eyes during prayers.  He is quite independent but also fiercely attached to Dad, Isaac, and me.  He adores animals and will squeal in delight whenever he spots one--be it the real-life doggy Finnegan across the street or a tiny image of one in a book.  He is lastly a little lover boy--and exceedingly attached to stuffed animals.  Hm.  That reminds me just a tad of someone I know.

(Noteworthy here is that these are some of the very few photos of me from my childhood.  And in almost every one I am grasping a beloved stuff animal. :)

animal sounds

no 7-year itch here

Happy anniversary, Jeddy!  Seven unbelievably groovy years--and two dynamite little rugrats--into this marriage thing.  Wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else but here.  With you.

merry rogers christmas

We had a joyful holiday! The boys got to sit on Santa's lap at our ward Christmas party.  Lincoln wasn't too keen on the old man! On Christmas morning, even though he had no idea what was going on, Lincoln ran straight to his toy from Santa--squealing with delight--and played with it for an hour. (Secretly, I think Daddy was just as enthralled with Isaac's gift--Optimus Prime the Transformer--as his son.  That's what he got from Santa when he was a boy!)

nutty nativity

I'm not sure why I felt so strongly about reenacting the Nativity on Christmas Eve.  Maybe because we were away from family, who would also be doing it.  We were frightfully under-casted, (is that a word?), but I still insisted.  Maybe it was because, for once in my life, I could be Mary. (uh oh, childhood complexes arising to haunt me??) 

Sweet shepherd Hovering angel Mommy: Mary (default), Lincoln: Joseph/shepherd/sheep, Isaac: angel/wiseman, and Jed is narrator/donkey.  Baby Jesus was graciously played by Leopard.

gifts received

You will all be terribly jealous.  Of my incredibly talented sister-in-law, Bekah, who sketched and watercolored these amazing paintings of my boys.  I can't get over how exquisitely she captured the essence of them!  (Of course, my scanner doesn't do justice to the actual thing.)  And I'm so blessed to have her artwork adorn my home.  Now here's crossing our fingers the kids get the artistic gift from Jed's side of the family!  

gifts given

So I expended a lot of creative energy this year, trying to come up with homemade gifts.  If you are female you will most likely get jewelry from me--not very original, I'm afraid.  But Isaac and Lincoln made some paintings for Grandmas and the like.

And I had a lot of fun making some little finger puppets for my niece, Avery, and nephew, Blake, along with a nursery rhyme book.  Here are a few.

 

here's to 5

We can't even remember what it was ever like having a 4-year-old running around our place, now that we are graced with the presence of a precocious 5-year-old.  "Five-year-olds dress themselves, Mom."  But of course.  "Five-year-olds can chew gum, Mom."  You don't say?  The goal was to make his day, the 23rd, as special as possible (though grateful we had already celebrated with party and presents a few months ago).  But no matter how hard we tried to make it a Christmas-free day, it was awfully hard.  We did manage to turn off the holiday music, visit a Dinosaur Museum, eat out at Panda Express, (Isaac's choice) then gorge on cake.  At day's end when I asked what his favorite part of the day was, he chimed, "I love being five."  Not to go back to 4 ever, ever again. :) 

Homemade superhero birthday hats.  What, can't you tell that's Spider-man perched precariously on Ikey's head? Great-Grandma Smith's famous hot water sponge cake with brown sugar frosting.  Num. (So technically, thanks to generous Omas, he did have one present to open, which was allowable).

We love our little--ahem--BIG Ike-bug!  Happy five!