Colorado - Day 2: Winter Park

My parents arrived the day after we did and decided to go to Winter Park because of all the different activities for everyone to enjoy. What a blast. The guys all rented mountain bikes and went off to tame the mountain. I'm sure they would have done this all day. Sorry guys, no pictures.

Our first activity was the Alpine Slide. I did this when I was younger at Big Bear, but it had been a while. Since I had both girls with me, I had Katelyn on my lap and Kelsey was on her own. The first time down I put her between myself and Jessica. They let quite a large gap in between us and I had to fly down the mountain to try and catch her. I could see her but wasn't able to catch up with her until she was at the bottom. And that was on the slow track.

The ride up. She was all smiles the whole day.

After one time down she was a pro. I went ahead of her to get some pics and I didn't have to wait long. They had to be a little far away because I was stopped and she was racing down.

This time I raced down to get a different view. She's pulling away fast.

(We didn't notice the height requirement until after she'd been down the mountain a few times by herself. And by that time there was no going down with anyone.)

Our next stop was the Leaps and Bounds Bungee. Katelyn wasn't tall enough so she hung out with me and grandma while the others did it.

Katelyn found a nice little dog while waiting for the others. She was getting kissed all over and loving it.

Kelsey standing by wondering, "What did I just get myself into?"

Just warming up.

Look how high she got. Quite pleased with herself, might I add.

Micaela just after flipping around.

Alyson trying a flip but didn't make it all the way around.

Jessica didn't attempt any flips either. Maybe next time.

We then met up with the guys and had lunch, which was fabulous by the way. Then it was off to the human maze, which was a lot of fun. If you made it through in under 9 minutes you got a prize and got entered into the grand prize drawing for a bike. Kelsey and I got lost a few times but eventually made it out. Rob was his normal competitive self and was the first one done. I think Dave was trying to beat him but no such luck.

Then it was on. Since he didn't beat him at that, they went for the climbing wall with 3 degree of difficulties. (We don't know who was in the middle)

Rob took the easy one cause they decided Dave had the reach going for him. Dave had him in the beginning but it didn't take long for Rob to pass him. And then it was smooth sailing the rest of the way up.

But that wasn't good enough. So they switched sides.

But no such luck again for Dave. He was too tired and in the end he tried to reach for the top and missed and so handed another victory to Rob.

Yep, there was still snow on the top of the mountain. Just enough for Kelsey to think she was playing in the snow. And just looking at these pictures, Kelsey said, "I forgot to throw snowballs at Rob. I guess we have to go back." Yeah, I wish we could go back too, honey. (Sorry for the pacifier in the picture, she was supposed to be sleeping on the ski lift, and we forgot to pull it out)

Our Colorado Trip - Day 1 Colorado Springs

The long awaited pictures and events of our trip to Colorado. It was just beautiful the entire time we were there. We had such a great time, even with the days filled with things to see and do. I have Colorado envy because it wasn't above 90 degrees while we were there and it was green. I don't realize how much I miss the green until we are in a place with trees and grass and wildflowers everywhere you looked. It was absolutely amazing and I just hope that my brother and his wife stay there for awhile so we can come and invade when we need to get away!! Anyway, on with the trip.

The flight was fairly uneventful, with the exception of the bathroom break for Kelsey. We were back waiting when I could feel the plane slowly start its decent, and then going through the clouds it got really bumpy. Kelsey had a panic-stricken look on her face and the conversation went like this.

K: "Are we going to crash?"

M: (Stiffling a laugh) "Into what, we're up in the sky?"

K: "A mountain."

She was hilarious but very serious about the mountain.

Our first morning at Rob & Jess's house. It's decorated so cute, but the girls' favorite thing to do was play out on the balcony in the hammock. They were both so excited to be able to play outside all day long without having to come in because it was too hot.

First stop, Garden of the Gods. This was simply amazing and beautiful. The bus ride was short enough the girls didn't get too bored at looking at "rocks."

This is closest I hope either of my girls ever come to a buffalo. There's a story behind that but for another time, maybe.

So many animal statues, perfect for photo ops!!

Next stop: Pike's Peak. It's the 2nd most visited mountain in North America and we had to drive to the top of it.

The looks on their faces are like, "Really, are you serious? We're going to drive up to the top just to drive back down?" Love it. Who says family vacations are about the kids?!

Notice the road? That's how it was the whole way, switchbacks straight up!! But it was so beautiful.

The view from the top. Those tracks are for a train that takes you straight to the top. The girls may have enjoyed that a little bit more than the car. Oh well.

We did it. We were there. Now let's go home.

Finger lickin' good

If Dave knew the girls were doing this, he would have had a fit. Lucky for him, he was on the couch and the girls were quiet. And thoroughly enjoyed themselves!!

More pool fun

Kelsey loves to be thrown in the pool and the higher the better. She can now swim the length of our pool without help and doesn't want anyone around her either. We're looking into a swim team for her.

And of course Katelyn has to do it too!!

Swim time with dad

Katelyn is doing so well with her swimming lessongs and she's becoming quite the little fish who doesn't want to get out of the water.

Here she is jumping off the step and swimming to the wall.

She thinks she's so big

We put Katelyn in the pool without her ring and now she thinks she's as big as Kelsey that she won't wear it anymore.

Dave's not holding her, she's actually swimming to grab the wall. I'm so impressed with them and how quick they are to pick up on everything in the pool. Thanks so much Kaylene.

Sharing a ...

... bed? A few weekends ago, Dave went fishing up in Beaver, UT with the rest of the sales crew, leaving me and the girls home. When they went to bed, I heard laughing and giggling and went up to find Katelyn in Kelsey's bed. I put her back in her own bed and told her if I heard any more noises I was going to move her out of the room. Well, when I went to check on them before going to bed, this is what I found.

I couldn't help but laugh because I never heard her get out of bed. They are just too precious when they're sleeping. She has now made it a regular occurance to climb in Kelsey's bed so the plan is to move Kelsey to the top in the near future and Katelyn to the bottom. But then she'll just try to get up to the top to be with her sister.

Busy Bees

Kelsey and her friend signed up for Busy Bees again this year. They did it last year during the summer and just loved it so we gave it a go for a second time. It's not as structured as preschool, but they do some learning papers at the beginning and then the rest of time is creative play, arts and crafts and cooking. She is loving it again, but poor Katelyn gets so worried about leaving Kelsey there. She just loves her sister.

Kelsey and her friends in her class before the first day. Katelyn wanted to go so bad and had to be in the picture with her big sister.

Peter Piper Pizza

A few weeks ago, the girls and I went to Peter Piper Pizza with some friends and got to make little mini pizzas. Everyone had a great time and lots of worn out kids by the end.

Getting a tour of the dishwashing room before making pizzas.


Kelsey decided to have ham on her pizza and did it all by herself.


Katelyn wanted pepperoni, but one touch of the stuff and she refused to touch it again. So I had to do it for her. Maybe next time.

Watching them go into the oven.

Don't they look good? They tasted really good, surprisingly enough!! Thanks for the invite

Bubble fun

The best $5 every spent. I found this at the store and figured I'd give it a try. The girls could hardly wait to get home and give it a whirl. And it works like a charm if I must say so myself. We got a bubble machine for Katelyn's birthday last year and were very disappointed when it didn't work very well at all. Little did we know that we should have gotten her a bubble gun in the first place.

She was just at Kelsey's level to eat the bubbles and she did not like the taste at all.

I love that she holds it like a real gun!!

Miniature Golf

Dave's brother Mark and his family came up for the weekend and we all went miniature golfing. This was the girls first time trying it out and it looks like they both take after Dave with their skills. We all had a great time.

Look at that perfect shot!!

Lining up for the putt. Once she got this close, she usually just picked up the ball and put it in the hole, so on the few occasions when she didn't we gave her less points per hole!!

Kelsey had a hard time holding the club just right, but once she got the hang of it she was on a roll!
Look at that concentration!!

At the 18th hole where you give the ball back, Katelyn was quite upset when she realized she didn't get to keep the ball. For the next week she told everyone, "Ball, gone." So then we had to go into a whole explanation about what she was talking out. Gotta love her!!

Gymnastics Showcase

Kelsey had a gymnastics program a few weeks ago and although we weren't allowed to take any pictures during the performance, we could at the end when we picked them up on the stage. Dave picked up some flowers for her and as soon as we handed them to her, she just lit up!! She did so great and did everything she practiced. We're so proud of her and love her more everyday.

And we're off

Today we are on our way to beautiful Colorado for a week. We are all so very excited for our trip and will be back to blogging as quick as we can get all the pictures organized. And hopefully we'll enjoy some cooler weather while we are there as well. See you all when we get back!!

Happy Father's Day...

...and another year under his belt. Now that I think about it, I never actually asked him if he had a good day, but he seemed to enjoy himself alright. We have made it a tradition for as long as I can remember that we boycott Mother's Day, Father's Day and Valentine's Day. We just don't do anything for those because it's not right that flower shops all over the world raise their prices astronomically for these days. And it doesn't help that he says "they're just made up holidays anyway." For any of you who don't know Dave, he's more of a "just because" kind of guy. So he comes home with flowers a few times a month (to replace the dead ones) for me and the girls. It's amazing to watch the girls faces light up when he comes home, but even more so when he hands them the bouquets he picked out especially for them!! So other than getting out of the mundane chores for the day and choosing what he wants for dinner, there's not a whole lot of hoop-la that gets sent his way.

The day started out with me making crepes for everyone. Many of you probably don't know but I am not the one to make breakfast for us on the weekends. I have 2 things I make, crepes and German pancakes. If I attempt any of the normal favorites, it gets ugly fast. Dave has greatly taken on the responsibility because if it was left up to me, we'd just have nothing, or cereal!! And we're not big cereal eaters.

Since we don't have church until 1 we opted to put in the movie, Enchanted, that we rented the night before. We'd taken all the reviews we heard about the movie with a grain of salt and threw caution to the wind. Although Patrick Dempsey is in it, we will all agree with LaNae on this one - it was "painful" I think were her exact words. I guess it's bad when Kelsey keeps asking "Is this a long movie?"

Next we had lunch and Kelsey kept asking if she could give dad his presents and I think she thought I was going to pull some present out of my hat. But lucky for her she made a footprint poem at school for him and gave him that to hold him over. She gave him her card and that seemed to satisfy her for the time being. We also had a new tie for him that the girls picked out that she was able to give him before going off to church.

At church Kelsey went up to the front and got to sing to her daddy too. This is her first year in primary so she's a little shy about it all, but since Mother's Day she's a pro and knew what to do the second time around. She was also supposed to say the 6th Article of Faith in primary but due to some other conflicts later in the day that is postponed until next week.

After sacrament meeting it was off to Dave's brother's ward. They are taking 2 wards and making a 3rd and Adam was called to be in the bishopric of the new ward created. With their dad out of the country in the UAE launching missiles, Dave was the one to ordain him a high priest. He said he was pretty nervous, but I knew he'd do just fine. I am so thankful for him that he was able to ordain him and that we were there to support Adam and his family at this time. We then headed over to his in-laws house for dinner, which was so good. There's something about food tasting better when someone else has made it, I think. The girls had a great time playing with their cousin Vance and hanging out with their family.

When we got home, I have the best husband because he gave the girls baths, even though Katelyn fell apart, even on Father's Day, especially because I usually do get a break on Mother's Day from my everyday life. Then he finally got his father's day cards from me and the girls so I think all-in-all, it was a pretty good day. A huge hug and kiss go out to you. Happy Father's Day

The loves of my life

Sidebar: He took Friday off and went fishing Friday and Saturday with the sales crew at APCO and had a great time so he was able to get in some male bonding time, along with his sister Kaylene.

The age you act

[x] You know how to make a pot of coffee
[x] You keep track of dates using a calendar
[x] You own a credit card
[x] You know how to change the oil in a car
[x] You've done your own laundry
[x] You vote in every election
[x] You can cook for yourself
[ ] You think politics are exciting
TOTAL SO FAR: 7

[ ] You show up for school late sometimes
[x]You always carry a pen in your bag/purse
[x]You've never gotten a detention
[ ] You have forgotten your own birthday at least once
[x]You like to take walks by yourself
[x]You know what credibility means, without looking it up
[x] You drink caffeine at least once a week
TOTAL SO FAR: 12

[x] You know how to do the dishes
[x] You can count to 10 in another language
[x] When you say you're going to do something you do it
[x] You can mow the lawn
[ ] You remember to water the plants
[x] You study when you have to
[x] You remember to feed your pets
TOTAL SO FAR: 18

[x] You can spell experience, without looking it up
[x] You clean up your own mess
[ ] The people at Starbucks know you by name
[ ] Your favorite kind of food is take out
[ ] The first thing you do when you wake up is get caffeine
[x]You can go to the store without getting something you don't need
[x] You understand political jokes the first time they are said
[x] You can type pretty quick
TOTAL SO FAR: 23

[x] You have realized that the weather forecast changes every hour
[ ] Your only friends are from your place of employment
[ ] You have been to a Tupperware party
[ ] You have realized that no one will take you seriously unless you are over the age of 25 and have a job
[ ] You have more bills than you can pay
[x] You have been to the beach
[x] You use the internet every day you have the chance
[x] You have been outside of the united states
[x] You can read a book and actually finish it...
TOTAL: 28

"The age I act is...28"

More bumps and bruises

So a couple weeks ago after finishing their baths, Katelyn ran full speed into the corner of the bathroom door and cut her lip. She bit it on the outside as well as the inside of her lip. It was gushing blood and I thought she'd lost a couple teeth, but after seeing that they were all still intact her lip turned purple and remained that way for about a week.

Then last week she fell out of her bed in the middle of the night. She immediately calmed down and went back to sleep but in the morning we woke up to this:

It's hard to tell, but she cut her eye and it was all red and puffy in the morning. I felt so bad for just throwing her back in bed. But what do you do when it's dark and she's not complaining and goes right back to sleep?!

Sorry for the blurriness but she just wouldn't hold still.