Monday, April 30, 2007

Birthday Baby

Jack had a fun 1st birthday celebration Friday night. A few pictures....

Big brother helping make cupcakes for our little party.

And, wrapping gifts! Carter actually earned the money to buy this toy for Jack and he was very proud of it.

Pizza time. Here is Carter with cousins Emily, Lindsey and Devon.

Opening gifts!



The always adored Elmo.

And, an Elmo car!

Caroline, here is the Frog Pod we bought with your gift certificate. He's not quite sure what it is, but we love it to keep all the toys in place!

Steve enjoying Jack's new Elmo toy.

Cake time! Jack was glowing while we sang to him.

Getting started on eating the birthday cake.

And, loving it!

Finally, he played "Where's Jack?" (our version of peek-a-boo) while covered in cake.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Happy Birthday, Baby Jack!

It's hard for us to believe, but our baby is 1 year old. It's been such a joy watching him grow up this past year into the sweet boy he is. We are blessed! Here is a slide show from birth until now. Enjoy!

Getting Settled

Well, we're just about there. It's been a fairly easy transition into the new home...Carter in his new school for the 4 weeks remaining of the year....getting used to the bus schedule, etc.

After this past year of wondering where we'd be relocated to, then selling our house in Texas, finding a rental house in Colorado, searching for a home to buy shortly after, finding someone to take over our rental house and then yet, another move.....we are prepared for anything! Thankfully, we're here for a while.

Just a few pictures below taken by Carter.....

Spring flowers!!!! I haven't planted one flower in the 7 months we've been here. In Texas, we plant year round! It's been driving me crazy, so I went a bit overboard at the thought of spring flowers. This is just a small sample of what I came home with! Now, if I can just keep the neighborhood bunnies away, they'll look great.


Jack in the stroller getting ready to walk to the bus stop to pick up Carter.


And, the baby boy.....turning 1 tomorrow....enjoying a bottle.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

We're Here!

Hello, again!

We're here in the new house and busy getting settled. Just about unpacked and with things in place....hanging pictures and waiting on our return to civilization with cable, home phone and internet. It won't be long.

The move went incredibly smooth with some much valued help from family out here. Simply put, we would be lost in Colorado without them!

I'll post again when things settle down. Hopefully tomorrow!

Friday, April 20, 2007

Moving!

In honor of Colorado's real estate market, I thought I'd include the following picture of our new house!

We're moving this weekend, so I'll post again as soon as we're settled. Take care!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The Denver Museum of Science and Nature

Last week, the boys and I visited the Denver Museum of Science and Nature. We liked it so much that we bought a family membership and have already been back once! It's a fantastic museum with something for every age. Enjoy the photos....




One of our favorite exhibits.







This is in the Discovery Zone. Jack loved it!



Carter playing the drums to African music as little brother tries to help.

Jack is really intrigued by himself right now....always looking in the mirror and giving himself kisses!



There are several wildlife exhibits with native animals....these are our favorite...the Big Horn Sheep. We see them on the side of the mountains on our way to ski.



There's a great part with information on the life of a baby before being born. It takes you from the beginning and shows you all the stages.



Learning about the importance of exercise and good health.

Carter loved this....in the Prehistoric Life exhibit....because the calendar just happened to show his birthday.



And, finally....outside with his souvenir.....a space helmet.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Zoo Trip

Most of the outings the kids and I do together are mid-week and without Dad. This past weekend, we took advantage of our south-of-Denver home (for a few more days!) and headed down to Colorado Springs for some fun. We're only 40 minutes from Colorado Springs here in Castle Rock. From Brighton, it will be over an hour. It was nice to share it all with Blake.

First, a stop at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Next to the San Diego Zoo, this may be my all-time favorite. It's built on the side of the mountain and has such cool features because of it. It's a hike at times, but worth the effort.

One of the best parts of the zoo is the giraffe balcony where you can get up close to feed them.





The wild cats...

Such a cutie! I'm serious about that. I love hippos.

A tiger rolling around in what remained of the previous day's snow.

The zoo was FILLED with babies!!!! Here is one on his mama's back.

And, another....



One more...

Carter's favorite. On our last trip to this zoo.....with Caroline right after we moved here.....one of these goats stared and stared at Carter. Wherever he went, the goat's eyes would follow, so Carter was looking forward to seeing them again.

While walking down one of the paths, we noticed 4 mule deer casually walking through the zoo. Luckily, before I started screaming "There's deer wild in the zoo!!!!!", I noticed that no one else seemed alarmed. They jumped right up on this cliff next to the mountain goat exhibit and started grazing. Still getting used to this "wildlife roams everywhere" understanding in Colorado.

Carter thought it was so cool and wanted his picture taken to show how close he was to them. Look closely and you can see one just to the right of Carter.

After the zoo trip, we drove up through the zoo to see the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun.

It's at the top of the mountain....kind of a scary drive!





Darling Jack taking it all in.





The chapel downstairs.

Some views from the top....this is the Broadmoor Hotel.

And, the Garden of the Gods.