Goodbye to the house that built me

Well, my childhood home has been sold. As of yesterday. It was time for Daddy to have a change. I'm happy for him and it really was time but it's still a little sad. I don't know if you remember this post, but I took some pictures last Christmas and did a little slide show about "the house that built me".

You can see it HERE.

I remember the day we moved into the house. I was only 5 years old but I do still remember some of the details.

I remember... thinking about how big the back yard was and how much fun we were going to have playing out there.

I remember not having a lot of furniture and my brother and I sleeping on mattresses at first.

I remember when our new stove was delivered...

I remember the new washer and dryer (Maytag/golden) were installed.

I remember looking out different windows to see different views.

Mostly I remember being so excited...

So many firsts... and lasts happened in that house.

Mom's been gone 11 years now. So hard to believe. I couldn't help but wonder "What would she be thinking right now".  She loved our home. It was her safe haven. She didn't get out a lot and she loved being a homemaker. Looking back I think she would have liked to travel more but she loved her family and home.

My friends always like spending time at our house because it felt like home to them.

I'll never forget.............  all the places to hide when playing hide and seek, the way the front storm door fogged up when mom had something good cooking on the stove, the way the fresh grass smelled in the summer when dad mowed the lawn and sitting on the front porch and talking so many times.

Dad said he was okay with everything until he saw our handprints in the driveway. I was pretty little when the concrete was poured for our driveway and we put our hand prints in the cement.

So many memories... but life goes on and we always have the memories in our heart.

Goodbye to the house that built me and thank you for everything.

More Summer Recap..

We also did some visiting....

We went to Kansas in June.. before the record 100 degree temperatures set in.

We got to visit my sister Julie who was visiting from Phoenix. We had not been together since the boys were babies or toddlers! Isn't that crazy??

Anyway we had a nice visit and it was so nice to get together after all these years.

I sure love you Big Sis! 

and of course the boys had to climb Grandma Susie's tree which is kind of a tradition now.. and doesn't make me nervous in the least, just so you know

"Look Mom! No hands"

Outdoor Ed

A couple of weeks ago Connor went on his 6th grade "Outdoor Ed" trip. It was a 2 1/2 day trip to the mountains, with his classmates. I really hadn't thought much about it in previous days. We went over the list of what he'd need, hiking boots, warm clothes..etc. We purchased a few items we didn't have, everything was on track. I've been a little preoccupied and hadn't really thought about how I "felt" about him going. He was looking forward to it but was cautiously excited. I think he wasn't quite sure what to expect. The good news was he was going to Estes Park which is one of his favorite places and he's been there many times. I drove him to the school that morning with a large duffel bag, a backpack and a sack lunch. As we were driving he mentioned that his stomach didn't feel so good. I'm sure it was a little bit of anxiety. I didn't tell him but I was having some butterflies myself. Suddenly it hit me that I'm sending him off away from home for the first time ever. I'm leaving him in the hands of basically strangers. I got butterflies and horrifyingly enough, felt like I was going to cry. I knew he would think I was crazy if he saw tears in my eyes so I told myself to "get it together, you are being so silly!"

Anyway I dropped him off with a sea of other 12 yr olds and drove away. Intermittently over the next couple of days I would say things like "I wonder if Con is ok?" or "I wonder what Connor's doing.". I kept looking at the clock. Mark would just say "He's fine, stop worrying." When it was time for him to come home I drove to the place the buses were dropping them off. I was so excited... and a little early :-)

Well the buses finally came and I was eagerly waiting as the kids started filing off the first bus. Some of them looked pretty tired and sunburned. I wondered to myself how Connor had fared. I waited until the last one came off the bus and Connor wasn't one of them. I then moved down as the second bus pulled up and kids started unloading, again no Connor. Finally the third bus, I'm watching each one get off and reunite with their families, still no Connor. Then suddenly there he was, right in front of me with all his gear. He said "Hey Mom What's up?" and turned to walk to the car. He actually looked really good, not quite as haggard as some of the others. So we walked to the car and headed for home. As we were walking I thought to myself how our kids have no idea the emotions we go through as they are learning to spread their wings. Not only is it a learning experience for them, preparing them to grow up and be independent. It is a learning process for me as a mom learning to let go a little at a time for some day they will fly away. And that's the way it's supposed to be. I was still so happy to have him home, back in my little nest for now anyway, I felt complete again.

Right before I dropped him off I snapped this quick picture from the front seat of the car.

One of Connor's friends took this picture


A shelter Connor and his group made

Grandpa's Birthday...

We forgot to get candles so we scraped together what we had, 6 singles, a 4 and a 1.
Yes, he's 65!





Connor created this little video using a tripod and a remote control. Dad is opening a gift from Tamara, Mike and Lila. It's a door knocker that says "Peepa's house". Very cute!

A trip to Evergreen

While our family from Houston was here we decided to take a trip to Evergreen. We did some hiking around on a big rock and the kids really enjoyed it! Here are a few pictures.

Happy New Year and part 2 of Christmas 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Whirlwind

WOW! The past couple of weeks have flown by! I have so many pictures I want to share that I'm going to have to pace myself. Grandma Susie and (Great) Grandma Dot arrived from Wichita on the 20th and Monica and her family arrived on the 23rd. They arrived from Houston, Tx. We had been hoping for a white Christmas and we got it! We did some sledding in the front yard and on the sledding hill the day they arrived...

Here are some pictures from the 23rd. I will try to post Christmas pictures soon!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Nestle giveaway.. who doesn't love chocolate?

Check out this great Nestle giveaway over at Sittingonanoak All you have to do is leave a comment to enter the giveaway. Also Terra has a great fudge recipe on her post!

On a side note... I hope you are all doing well this holiday season. Yesterday was Connor's last day of school so he is officially on break. Alex has one more day. I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks to relax, enjoy christmas with family and friends and of course eat too much! I'm trying to pace myself but I know when grandma arrives with her yummy treats (hopefully some of her famous fudge). I won't be able to contain myself... Let the sugar buzz begin!!

We are also looking forward to Monica, James and the kids to arrive. We haven't seen them in over 2 years so we are very excited. Alex is so anxious to see his cousins he can hardly stand it!! Every morning he asks me "how many days til my cousins get here??". They live in Houston so we were really hoping to give them a white Christmas... There is a little snow in the forecast on the 23rd, lets hope we get enough for the kids to sled and have a good snowball fight!

My shopping is almost completed. I have lots of wrapping to do but it's one of my favorite things to do and I like to do it with Susie (My MIL). She is the best wrapper I know. Her packages are always beautiful. I'm looking forward to sitting up a big table, grabbing a glass of wine and wrapping and rapping :-) away!

I hope you all are enjoying the holidays. What are you up to and what are your holiday plans??

A Wonderful Weekend....

We had a great weekend visiting with Tamara and Lila! They are visiting from Houston. I took some pictures of the boys playing with Lila. She is only 1 yr old but you wouldn't know it. She can get around like nobodys business! It is so nice to have them here. We miss you Mike!

Celebrating Tamara's birthday

Bloggy blahs... and birthday pictures

I guess I've had a little case of the bloggy blahs...... just haven't been in the mood to blog. I don't know why and I hope I get inspired again. I use to use the early mornings to write posts and visit my favorite blogs but now that I have a middle schooler my day starts much earlier so that hasn't been working... unless I want to get up at 5:00 am and I don't think that will happen anytime soon... Also between both boys in football and homework..etc. It's keeping us very busy.

I did have a birthday last week on Tuesday. We decided to wait until the weekend to celebrate since we had football practice in the evening. I still had a nice day. Mark and I went to lunch and then I just relaxed most of the day until the kids got home from school. We headed off to football practice but got a call on the way that it was cancelled due to wet fields!! We made a u-turn and went out for dinner. We weren't planning on birthday cake until the weekend when Grandpa (DAD) could join us but Mark surprised us with the cutest cupcakes!

Then on Sunday we had a nice lunch with Dad and came home and enjoyed ice cream cake!



Mark even had Skylar and Max sign a card!!

Sunday after lunch.........

More of Mike, Tamara and Lila's visit

Caitlyn and Aunt Tam just hanging out

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

Tamara and Becky with the picture Becky did of Lila... (notice their dog Rusty in the flower)

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

Pee Paw and Lila (notice the Broncos jersey Connor had to get for Lila)

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

Two weeks of summer fun...

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. I think last year when Caitlyn came to visit for 3 wks we called it Turbo Summer! Well that fits this year too. Although I don't think I took as many pictures. I was enjoying each moment.

I'm going to post a little at a time to really savor each and every moment.

One of the highlights was watching our little neice Lila playing in our little wading pool (actually bought it for the puppies but don't tell anyone.) Lila has such an adventurous spirit! I didn't know her daddy as a child but I did know her momma and I can tell you she could have got some of it from her. Even though she is the spittin' image of her Daddy! (Tam, I do see you too.)

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

From Summer fun with Caitlyn & Lila

A Day in Estes Park

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We finally meet Lila!!

Mike, Tamara and Lila arrived today from Houston. We have been waiting so long for this visit! We finally got to meet LILA! She is even more precious in person and of course we are all in love with her.

Here are a few pictures.


Getting acquainted

From Meeting Lila

Lila surrounded by her adoring cousins

From Meeting Lila

Lila and her beautiful Mommy

From Meeting Lila

Pee Paw surrounded by his grandchildren...

From Meeting Lila

Lila loved Uncle Mark

From Meeting Lila

Welcome Mike, Tamara and Lila.. so glad you are here!

Father's Day add on...

I was kind of hurrying to get my Father's Day post up and I left out my two special Dads! Check back here if you missed it!

First Family Motorcycle trip of the season...

We went on our first Motorcycling adventure of the season. Mark had found a new trail he wanted us to try out at Rampart Range. It was more of a road and a really nice ride. I have to admit I was a bit shaky at first. I haven't ridden in over a year but by the time we made our way back I was enjoying it.

It was a really scenic ride. We stopped a couple of times and the boys climbed around on the rocks and explored. We stopped at a beaver pond or what used to be a beaver pond. We didn't see any beavers but we saw evidence of them.

The weather couldn't have been any nice and Grandpa came along which doubled the fun!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sounds like a family...

I was talking to my Dad on the phone the other day. It was after school, getting close to dinner time. He asked what the noises were in the background. I stopped to listen to see what he was talking about. I said "Oh, well, Connor is chatting with a friend. Alex has a friend over too, they are playing in the basement. I'm getting dinner ready, the dog is barking a little because she wants to play and Mark is fixing something". He was quiet for a minute and he said "Sounds like a family, that's nice". He wasn't trying to be profound but his words were so genuine it touched me. I thought about how alot of times I wish our house was a little quieter but I really do take the sounds of my family for granted. His words changed my perception... so the next time you feel like your house is little too noisy.. stop and take a listen to the sounds of "a family".

Memorial Day

I hope you all had a nice Memorial Day Weekend. We went into the weekend not having any set plans but ended up driving to Wyoming for our annual fireworks shopping on Saturday. It was a nice little getaway.



On Sunday we went to see Night at the Museum, Battle at the Smithsonian . I thought it was good and the boys enjoyed it too. Mark stayed home because he wasn't feeling well.

On Monday we went for a hike with friends. We went to Castlewood Canyon State Park. We kept thinking any time we were going to get rained out but we didn't. It was actually perfect weather. Not too hot, not too cool.

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend