Oh Julia Makes Me Laugh, BUT...

she doesn't always see the humor....Today I made her take a nap. She went berserk! All I could do was laugh and grab my camera! She was sooooo dramatic it just cracked me up! I asked her if she wanted to take a nap in my bed and she INSTANTLY stopped crying and said yes, just more proof that she wasn't really crying in the first place. When I showed her this picture she started laughing too. Crazy girl!
All day she has been making me laugh! Her wild imagination and fascination with being married just astounds me. Her dad is really going to get a run for his money when this one starts dating, or just hits puberty and goes ga-ga over boys. You watch he's going to loose his mind.
ANYWAY.... she was in her room pretending her teddy bear was her prince, they were both sitting in chairs (Possibly thrones?). When I came in she introduced me to "Prince Charming" and said, "We got married last week."

Later we were outside trying to feed a bird that was in our birdhouse some bread. I was scared to death so I was using tongs to put the bread in the birdhouse, that in itself creates a hilarious mental picture, but then Julia says, "I'm going to fall down and you be the Daddy say, 'Oh no my ballerina die'". And she proceeded to fall down and close her eyes.

This morning as I was digging out some 4th of July decorations I found a ballerina Halloween costume I bought for $.50 two years ago, I figured I'd use it sometime, and today was the day! I put Lauren Grace in it then got Julia in hers, sooooo CUTE! I then started messing with the edit thing on our computer and came up with these great shots!!! I love what you can do with photography now!
What a Happy Day!!!! Oh yeah and our Vegas house FINALLY closed today!!!!!!!! We're here to stay!

The Dunsmoor's Come to Castle Rock!

YAY! One of our BEST FRIENDS came out to visit us and it was such a great weekend!
Like no time had passed Julia and Avry were playing together like the BEST FRIENDS that they are, it was so sweet. I loved listening to their little conversations, for example...
Julia:(opening up the door to our garage) "Hey Avry wanna see my new car? Look Avry two cars."
Avry: "Oh my goodness, that's too many."
There were so many cute things like that said over the weekend, those little girls are so precious! I love that they're best friends.
It was more refreshing than I knew to have GOOD friends here with us in Castle Rock. All this visiting is great, but it really is so hard to see everyone go back home. Having family and friends, (and friends that are like family) here truly makes this the PERFECT place to live. We miss you all so much!
We went out to dinner Friday night and then got ice cream, which is next door to the fire station, so we stopped by to say hi to the Castle Rock firefighters. They were soooo friendly! Julia and Avry got to sit in the fire truck and wear a helmet, then they got to take home their own helmets. It was very cute.
Saturday we looked at some "Michelle & Spencer" homes. GORGEOUS!!! It made me so excited to think about them living here, it really is a great place to live, but they kept saying they didn't want to live where it snows, so we're out I guess. (sad) We then headed to the zoo. Can you tell we love that place?
It was great fun, but wore us out! The babies were so good! The girls were a blast! It was really really funny to watch them watch a Mama lion clean her cub. Avry was quite concerned the mama was hurting the cub and at one point yelled,"Noooooo". They both really liked the elephants and were very engrossed by the elephant's poo-poo that Michelle pointed out to them. We saw hippos and a rhino, which wanted out of it's indoor quarters and when a zookeeper let it out Julia cried, "Yay you got out!" Jules & Avry loved running around chasing the bunnies that live all over the park grounds. Such a nice afternoon.

We had a BBQ that night, its always so fun to have dinner with friends! After the kids went down we started a movie, the Adams were the only ones left by the end of it! Spencer crashed pretty quick and after a long fight Michelle gave in. Today we went to Sacrament together and then they had to get ready to head to the airport. It worked out well saying goodbye at church, since I cried (like usual when I have to say goodbye), so it was good to have somewhere to go to occupy my attention.

Michelle and Spencer have always been such good friends. I guess when they visited I realized how far away we really are and how we won't get to see each other as much as we use to. The past two months I have been so focused on getting here and getting adjusted and then anticipating these visits, that I hadn't stopped to think about the reality of not seeing my loved ones on a regular basis. Its such a blessing to have these friendship and although we would LOVE for Michelle and Spencer to move here, because as Spencer said, "there are only cool people in Castle Rock", we know everyone has to find their own perfect spot in the world. Thanks guys for coming to share ours for a while, can't wait to have you back!!!!

I HATE good-byes

Well mom left this morning, and boy am I a crying mess. I hate good-byes soooo much! I had 12 years of good-byes living away from my grandma and I hated everyone one of them, they're so hard when you love someone so much.
It was such a WONDERFUL visit! As expected, she SPOILED the girls rotten, seriously! I had fun showing her around Castle Rock. We ate lunch downtown at the B&B Cafe- it's over 100 years old. It reminded my mom of a place in Rockford she use to eat at across from my grandpa's Motor Hotel. ( I love hearing her memories). We of course got ice cream at the Old Towne Creamery, and then headed to the outlet mall where Julia again made out like a bandit.

She spoiled Ryan and I with going out to dinners and taking us to the movies too. She took Julia to see Cars, so Ryan and I could go see Nacho Libre, our first movie since we can't remember. We really enjoyed ourselves, love the Nacho humor.

It was so nice to have another set of hands around here. I love how she talks to Lauren and plays with the girls. I love having her around. I got to paint our bathroom while she was here simply because I had someone to hold and entertain Lauren.
Mom was so cute to listen to, she'd sing "Wheels On the Bus", she would put Lauren in the little rocking chair and on the Princess horse and tell her what a big girl she was. Then I came out and Lauren was sitting in the kitchen sink having a bath! That is such a grandma thing! It's so cool how grandma's do things with our kids that we probably don't even think of doing. My grandma gave me a bath in her kitchen sink too, I guess I too will do it to Julia and Lauren's kids. I love the legacy of love that there is between mothers and daughters.

Mom got me this hanging flower pot, they're called Impatience (PERFECT flower for me), she told me as we were driving home from the nursery that my grandma always loved Impatience. It may sound silly, but I love that connection that's there between my mom and my grandma and me and now my girls. I guess that's part of why its so important to Heavenly Father that we be eternal families, there really is something sacred about these relationships.

GRANDMA'S HERE!!!!

My mom came in Saturday morning and we've been having such a fun time. We went straight to the zoo and LOVE it there! It is the nicest zoo. We saw a hilarious monkey that was rocking out and then did quite a trapeze show for us. That night mom watched the girls for us so we could go to the temple and out for dinner, that was our anniversary gift from her. It was a really nice dinner at Augustine's Grill, a cool little renovated house. We were finishing dinner when a summer storm blew in and Ryan about peed his pants. It was so funny! A huge bolt of lightning struck right outside the window accompanied by the loudest boom of thunder we've ever heard. We ran through the pouring rain to our car and belly laughed so hard the whole way home because the rain really couldn't come down any faster, it was great!

Lauren has come down with Julia's cold, so that's a bummer right now. Her poor little voice is gone and has the hardest cough. So sad. On top of that I think her second tooth is coming in, poor babe! What a toughy, she still has the happiest disposition.

Grandma Peanut is delighting us all, especially Julia. It really is so nice to have a family here, makes me a little sad that this will go by so fast. Now I really see the difference between everyday grandma and visiting grandma and I must say, everyday grandma would be my choice!

One Cool Daddy

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Ryan got to open his presents a day early, we were all so excited to give them to him and he was excited to find out what I had been working on in the basement. He got a pair of Broncos pajama pants that I sewed and a funny Castle Rock shirt I found downtown. He was thrilled when he opened his gifts, I love how much enthusiasm Ryan has for life, and how easily pleased he is. He has always wanted me to sew him a pair of a sport's team pajama pants, I am so glad I finally did, it felt so great to use my sewing skills (husbands like wives with great skills) to make something for him. I was especially proud that I figured out how to do the pockets, because quite frankly, reading the pattern was getting me nowhere.

I think I'll take this opportunity to say what a GREAT DAD Ryan is. From the time the girls have been in my belly he started protecting them. He would jump out of bed in the middle of the night and "stop them from falling down the stairs or off the bed"- yes they were in my belly so there was no way they were going to take any spills, but he was always asleep when he'd do these crazy things, so who knows what was going through his subconscious. It does show from the very start he has been ready to protect his little girls and always be there for them.

I love to watch and listen to him and Julia play TACKLE! He loves toughening her up, it makes him so proud and amazed when she falls down and doesn't cry. The sweetest thing in the whole world though is when he gets Lauren to fall asleep on his chest as he dances to music with her or sings to her. She definitely has his love for music.

He is the most fun dad in the world! I am so thankful for him and the kind of dad he is. He is such a wonderful example to us, like yesterday when I let Julia eat a peanut from the produce section of the grocery store (which I do all the time), he was flabbergasted! He went and bought a bag of them just to put back so we wouldn't be stealing peanuts. He's crazy, but honest, and its such a good thing for our family!

I love him more than ever; he's one in a million and I'm glad he's ours!

Normal returns

It is official Julia has given up the Nuk! Hallelujah! Lauren however has gotten a hankering for one lately, so I'm sure we'll be going down this long road again. I'm terrible, but I think my babies look so cute sucking on one, so I'm not really against it, especially at night when it helps them fall back asleep.
Anyway, it has been an exciting week. We got our minivan, which we all love. It's blue so Julia has named it "Sally" after the blue Porsche in the movie Cars. Blue is as close to a Porsche we'll ever get! Yesterday she got out of it and said, "Thanks for the ride Sally." She kills me!
We got her bunk beds today, so we can put her bed in the basement as we eagerly await guests! It will be interesting to see how much she likes these bunk beds, I know as kids my brothers and I always wanted them, so we'll see.
I started and finished Ryan's Father's Day present, which I am sooooo proud of myself for figuring out. I can't say what it is in case he reads this before Sunday, but be looking for a picture come Father's Day- it's awesome!
I also made this cool wooden flag at Enrichment yesterday, I love being crafty!
Today its a chilly 62 degrees, which is so incredible to me. I LOVE COLD summer days, never knew such a thing existed! It's a far cry from last Friday though, which this picture shows. I stripped the girls down to their skivvies for a nap, it was so hot that day. They're so cute!
Julia and I have been scrapbooking, well I have, she's been singing at the top of her lungs silly songs, coloring all over my paper, and playing babysitter and making dinner at her Dora kitchen. I am so amazed by her imagination, it is adorable to behold.
That's the update around here. I fear life may be getting back to normal and the blogs may be boring for outside readers, but its life around here, and normal is feeling great!

The DaAdams Code

My husband is the BEST!!!! I woke up Saturday morning with nothing on my mind but getting our bedroom finished, (which I did and turned out FABULOUS!!!). He on the other hand had a whole scheme that was about to unfold. With just one more coat to go on the smallest wall he begun insisting that I go check the mail. Minorly annoyed and majorly starting to suspect something was up I relented painting and checked the mail. Inside was an envelope that was addressed to "The Mystery Solver" and was this HILARIOUS story about searching for the DaAdams Code. Now for a man who has neither read nor seen the DaVinci code, I thought this was extremely clever, and extremely sweet. It was all a big make up for dropping the ball on our Anniversary. I was lead to Safeway where a clue under a lid of Crisco led me to a Salon where I got to get a pedicure! YAY!!! I LOVE pedicures, especially since I get them like once a year! Then I was sent back home where he had a card and a gift- a new computerized die cutter for scrapbooking. I had mentioned I thought I would like one, but whoa, was not expecting one! I think I have talked him in to returning it, too expensive, and although I totally appreciate it and might like it a lot, I'm a simple scrapbooker, and it kills me when I think of all the other things we need. So anyway, what a wonderful guy and wonderful surprise. His creativity is BACK Jack!
We laughed so much this weekend! He is hilarious! We had to fill out our bios for a 10 year reunion book. His killed me. For family he put, "I consider the entire class of 1996 my family." Is that gold or what? It just got funnier from there!
We got a sprinkler for Julia and had fun running in the water. Lauren even got in on the action. We got her a more modest bathing suit, considering the amount of rolls she's got going. So cute!

House, Anniversary, & Minivan

So its official- the house is in escrow!!!! YAHOO! We got the offer last Friday from an investor. It wasn't as much as we would have liked, but it is still a huge blessing to get rid of it! Now we're looking at minivans. We spent last Saturday (our 6year anniversary) looking at dealerships. Let me give a word to the wise- don't spend your anniversary with your two little ones looking at cars you can't afford! Wow did that day end bad. Exhausted and frustrated I was pretty much hating the world. It is too bad to, because the day started out so well. We went to breakfast in downtown Castle Rock at this funky little place called the Crepe Cafe. It is the coolest! The food was incredible I had the "funky monkey crepe"- peanut butter, chocolate and bananas wrapped in a crepe. YUM YUM YUM! We then went to the temple and took turns watching the girls outside while the other one went in and did some initiatory work. It was cool to be there on a Saturday when there are so many weddings going on. Julia LOVED seeing the brides taking pictures. She is totally enamored with getting married. She already knows she's getting married in the temple, its so sweet. Warms my heart for sure!

So this week has been busy with having the family we bought this house from over for dinner. They are super cool people. We signed Julia up for preschool and had a play date at the park. I got a big order done of food storage and had to pick that up and get it organized. We have now begun looking for a minivan on the internet- heck we did great buying a HOUSE on the internet, how hard can a car be? And today I'm starting to paint our bedroom! I LOVE PAINTING! Right now our bedroom is a sage green so we thought we better prime it first- nightmare. I only did one wall and completely lost my patience, so today I'm just going full force with color and hope it works out. Looking forward to the weekend, I want to get a sprinkler and run around in it with Ryan and the girls! :)

LOVE MY BABES!

Museum Musings

This blog has a special guest editor today: Mr. Ryan C. Adams

Chanel and I wanted to do something educational with the girls last week, so we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (http://www.dmns.org/main/en/). Everyone knows that I'm a huge science buff (having scored an unprecedented "3" on the science portion of the ACT), and Chanel has an unusual fascination with gross body exhibits, so going to the DMNS was a no-brainer.

The museum is located in the Cherry Creek area of Denver, or so we think because everything around it had "Cherry Creek" in its name. Truth be told, we have no idea where we were, and probably couldn't find the place again without MapQuest. But that's the exciting part about being in a new town.

Chanel and Lauren went to the "Body Worlds 2" exhibit. It's basically an exhibit of dead bodies put in weird positions. Check out the photos if you have the stomach: http://www.dmns.org/main/en/General/Exhibitions/CurrentExhibitions/bodyWorlds.htm.
The line to get into the exhibit was very long, but Chanel didn't realize that, cut about 350 people, and walked right in. She was disappointed in the exhibit. It wasn't "gross enough." It didn't explain whether the bodies were real or fake. It was crowded. She "wanted to see some dead people." I love my freaky wife.

Julia and I looked at the animal exhibits. They have just about every animal known to man taxidermized and on display. We loved it. I was particularly fascinated by the huge moose, the wolverines (I didn't know they really existed), and the beavers, which really frightened me because I thought they were small and cute, but in reality they are huge and scary. The display showed them chewing down a gigantic tree. I have to stop typing about them now or I'll have nightmares of a family of beavers chasing me down Colfax.

Julia loved running around and pushing all of the animal noise buttons. She was my curator, and she told me where to go and what to look at.

We met up after Chanel finished the gnarly body exhibit in the kid section of the museum. We were treated to a puppet show and an interesting karaoke show by Jules. Lauren loved to watch her sister perform.

After the kid section we went to the T-Rex Cafe and had a nutritious lunch of pizza and about 3 pounds of greasy french fries. Then we had the brilliant idea to go to the health portion of the museum. Had we gone there before we ate, we would have shared a small side salad, no dressing. In the health section you can weigh yourself and test your strength. We discovered that I am way below average when it comes to strength. Duh. I went to the museum to learn something.

It was in this section that Chanel met her shadow: a 10-year-old Hispanic boy who just so happened to want to look at everything at the exact time that Chanel wanted to. Chanel was looking at an exhibit of the progression of childbirth. She was looking at a 26-week fetus when she felt the warm breath of the boy on her neck. Hello! Personal space! She became agitated, and the boy didn't do anything to alleviate her anger. For the next few minutes, everything she looked at had the shadow of this crazy kid on it. It was so funny to watch, but I bet so frustrating to experience first hand. "What's a young kid want to look at this birth stuff for?" she asked. I don't know, honey. I don't know.

For the most part, the museum trip was fun. We couldn't decide if we were too smart or too stupid to learn much while there, but it was a blast to do something new. I think the girls had a great time, but whenever I ask Lauren about it she changes the subject.

After the museum we wanted to go to the Tattered Cover bookstore (http://www.tatteredcover.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp), but the girls fell asleep in the car, so we went to a smothie store. Chanel ran in while I waited in the car with the girls. I had my Book of Mormon with me, so I began reading 1Nephi, chapter 1. I was in Ether when she got back, if that gives you an indication of how long it took her. Poor girl. She was stuck in a crowded room full of dead people at the museum, and now she had to wait forever for our smoothies. She again demonstrated her ability to be very smooth by talking herself into a free smoothie that was made on accident for no one in particular. The manager was going to throw it away until Chanel said "I'll take it."

So we hopped on the 25 and drove back to Castle Rock, all the while drinking our three smoothies. We love it here.

Our 1st Camping Trip!

We did it! We went camping and it was awesome! I am so proud of Ryan and myself for not backing down. We were a little deterred by the fact we didn't have a reservation anywhere and really we weren't too sure what camping with a 5 month old was going to be like, but we did it and it was way fun! Julia and Lauren were champs and had a great time too! We camped at Pike National Forest, which is just a beautiful place! We found it quite frankly by the grace of God. We originally had planned to stay at the Garden Of The Gods Campsite, which turned out to be a cement garden of the perpetual trailer camper. They had a piece of dirt down the street from a soccer field and across the road from what appeared to be "cabins" no bigger than a couple outhouses. Yeah we turned right around and headed for the mountains. SO glad we did!
Ryan and I put up our tent while Julia investigated the natural world around her. Little Miss Lauren watched on in her bouncy chair. It was a beautiful clear night. I made Hawaiian Haystack for dinner and we gobbled them up since we weren't eating until 10pm. Time really flew while we were there, getting everything set up.

The fire was GREAT! Julia was a bit scared of it. She kept asking if it was going to burn her. As soon as I would assure her she was safe she'd feel the heat from the fire and scream "it's burning me!" What a goof! The fire's saving grace was roasting marshmallows and making Smores! YUMMY! Julia totally dug that!
Ryan was in charge of teaching Julia to roast the marshmallow, until he stuck them in the fire, pulled them out, blew out flame and said, "that good?" He's such a man sometimes! I showed him how to turn them around and get them nice and golden, the less carcinogens the better! We laughed at how different guys and girls are about camping. He sure was loving having an airmattress and good dinner, so I think he's appreciating the female way of camping.
As we climbed into our sleeping bags we became suddenly aware that it was FREEZING! It only got colder too. When Lauren slept, she did so in the crook of my arm. I was determined she stay warm. She had a hard night though, I think she's really started teething hard core. Julia slept pretty good too on her own little air mattress, except when she'd suddenly wake with an indescribable throat hacking sound and say she needed a drink. Ryan and I may have slept 3 hours that night. At one point I looked at my watch and it read 3:45am, I looked again hoping about 30 minutes passed and it read 3:50am! Ahhh I thought that night would never end. It did though and morning was so refreshing. Ryan cooked us some yummy eggs, I made doughnuts, and we started packing up. It was a quick night, but since we had no reservation they needed the sight ready for the reserved people. That was fine though, because we had done it. We had a fun adventure and great experience for our first time. We put up our sweet tent, made a great fire, roasted marshmallows, looked at the beautiful stars, and just loved being together as a family. What else can you ask for? We're excited to go again and will have an even better idea of what to expect. What we really would like to do is go camping with friends!!! Any takers??

A few of my favorite things

An incredible whole RAINBOW, that made us drop what we we're doing and come out front to admire it. We were stunned by its grandness and vivid colors. It stretched all across our neighborhood. I thought to myself, "I live somewhere over the rainbow". How cool!!
A "new-to-me" rocking chair to rock my babies in. I got this at a garage sale for only $25! I have always wanted a rocking chair and this one is perfect! Just looking at it makes me happy. I think a rocking chair epitomizes motherhood to me, and I am so happy to be a mom.
Baking Cranberry Pumpkin Bread! I am so proud of this because I had to research baking bread in high altitudes. I tweaked the recipe a little and it turned out PERFECT! The whole house smelled sweet while it was baking. Now we're going to take it camping this weekend!

Julia's 1st Haircut

Julia has been really excited about getting a haircut, so yesterday I finally took her with me. She was so excited, it was very cute. The man cutting her hair was super nice. We saved a few pieces. All I could think about was how long it took for her to get hair! She is growing up really fast now, kinda makes me sad. I look at Lauren and can't imagine her that big. Then again I can't hardly believe Julia was once my tiny little baby. It is so crazy!
After she was done she said, "My haircut is so beautiful." She is such a princess girl, I LOVE IT!

We are making FRIENDS

Yesterday Julia played with the little girl across the street. I took them to the park and then they played in the basement for a while, well until they both couldn't handle the fact there was only one baby doll stroller and they both could't have it. Yeah, 3 year olds are so hard to deal with. Julia' s new friend is way cute though and I think with enough practice, they will be good buds. Here they are playing soccer. Today a girl I met at our community center called and asked if I was still coming over for a play date. Ryan had the car so she picked me up and had lunch for us and the kids. Another girl came too. It was really nice, they are totally my kind of people. NORMAL first of all, good moms second of all, and thirdly just easy to be around and talk to. It was really refreshing. I was so taken aback when I first met them because they included me like I was an old friend. Its happened very naturally and that is so nice!
Ryan has hooked up with this guy, who he thinks is just the coolest in the whole world, from church. They are going to do some ad stuff together and I haven't seen Ryan this excited about working in a long time. Everything really seems to be falling into place. It feels so good and reassuring to know we really are where we are meant to be.

Have to include some pictures from our up-and-coming photographer- JULES! She loves taking pictures and even likes to set the timer! She takes pictures of EVERYTHING! She'll even pose her toys and take their pictures! Here are some of her family shots.

No-Sunscreen Swimming

We went from having an ordinary day of running to Walmart and doing things around the house, to having the coolest evening ever! We went to our new Community Rec. Center's pool. It is like a mini wet n' wild, but the neatest thing is, it is indoors! Julia had such a fun time!!! I am so glad we signed her up for swim lessons, because she is a little dare devil! She goes down the water slide HEAD FIRST!!! We were cracking up at her! I really realized how big she is when I put her under water like I did last summer, but all of a sudden I wasn't holding my 2 year old baby- I now have this 3 year old little girl! It was so weird!

Lauren was so cute in her little bikini, rolls squeezing out from all ends! She liked the water so much. She never cried, and by the end of it she was hitting the water and making splashes. SO CUTE!!!! I loved holding her in the water, it really reminded me of Julia as a baby too.
But the one who had the most fun was...Mr. Excited...Ryan! Every time he saw me he would tell me, "I am SOOOO Happy!" He ended our pool trip with a huge cannon ball off the diving board, Julia was thoroughly impressed.

We came home and polished off two pizzas and bread sticks, which we regret this morning. UGH!
We don't know if it is Castle Rock or what, but everything here seems 100 times more fun and exciting. Every weekend it is reaffirmed that our quality of life has gone up so much here! YAY!

Using my senses

I am having a real spring for the first time in my adult life, and it is as wonderful as I have always imagined! On our walk today I tried to really take in the sights, sounds, & smells around me and it was so neat! I thought more than once, "I wish I had Candace's camera." The surrounding here are so tranquil, they remind me of a European vacation poster in a travel agent's office. The air is so fresh and clean. There are all kinds of wild flowers growing. Crickets were chirping, which Julia wondered about, "its not ni-night time" she explained. We saw our friend the gopher. I took deep cleansing breaths, the air smelled like Zion, I was reminded of girls' camp.
At home we hung out in the backyard, it was so nice to have the breeze on us. All my windows are open and it just feels so good. Everyday I feel blessed to be here and so grateful for this move. I took a walk around the neighborhood the other night by myself, my heart swelled as I smelled the fresh cut grass, heard kids playing in their backyards, watched a couple of joggers go by. These are all pretty mundane things, but they are so novel to me. I love the simplicity and the realness.

I bought the latest People magazine with Brook Sheilds on the cover. I like her, and I think its cool that I have two girls about the same age as her's. It's made me look at Lauren and Julia today in a new light- they are MINE. I love them so much! Lauren is such a doll. I love the big wide eyed smile she gives me every morning when I come get her. She gets so happy, it is adorable!!! I love her smell in the morning, like baby amplified. She's such a lovey. Julia is a wonderful big sister too. She found a Nuk in my purse today and before she gave it to Lauren she ran and washed it off. I had no idea what she was doing, but once I realized I was so proud of her. Lauren never takes a Nuk so it just showed me again how much Julia picks up on just from watching me. She is into "reading" books on her own now and will occasionally read them to Lauren. So sweet. We're going to make some cookies this afternoon- hope they turn out! Nothing better than using that fifth sense- taste! Mmmmm!

Just Feel Like Bloggin

I took Ryan to work today so I have gone to Walmart, the bank, checked out preschools, signed Julia up for swim lessons, went to the grocery store, talked to Holly, and cleaned chicken all before 1pm! The girls are napping and I have been looking up global warming on the internet to be more educated on the topic. I have always had a passion for environmentalism, but it totally dwindled during those self absorbed teenage years. I became very pessimistic I think. The innocence of childhood left me and I suddenly realized I alone couldn't save the planet, so I gave up. Well I want to make a difference now. Where do I start? Definitely going to RECYCLE more, REUSE my grocery bags at the grocery store, WALK more and drive less- (won't be hard with one car!), but I can walk to the grocery store more often even though it is a bit of a walk. I would LOVE to get a hybrid vehicle if we can afford it. They may be more of a statement than a whole lot of good, but you have to start somewhere!
We have gotten a few interests in our house, which is making me totally happy. They're not spectacular offers, but we're at the point that just selling it period will be enough of a blessing. Ryan has had some interest in freelance writing here, its very exciting prospects, so that's is way cool. I would love to see him get to be creative again, he's one of the most creative people I know, he needs to use those talents! Im glad I get to be the receptor of his creativity now, he cracks me up. I don't laugh as hard with anyone else.

Lauren is crying!

A Mother's Day Shiner

Mother's Day is so fun when you have the best family in the whole world! We actually had a Mother's Day weekend celebration! Saturday we had a blast walking around the coolest Downtown ever, Castle Rock's! I told Julia this is like living on Main Street Disneyland! They have a store for each of us! A rad toy store (jules), an awesome baby girls' clothes store (lauren & me), a fun bike store Ryan insists he is going to get a mountain bike from, and a cute little knick-knack store called Scadoodles that not only has cute things for my house but homemade COOKIES too! SCORE! After our Downtown stroll we went to Outback for dinner and rented movies. It was the PERFECT day!

Sunday Ryan helped around the house and at church I got my first Mother's Day gift- a black eye! Julia bonked her head against my cheekbone and I evidently absorbed all the force because she didn't bat an eye. Kind of cool, makes me look tough! Not really. The rest of our day was very nice. We BBQ and had a banana cake with chocolate ice cream! YUM! I got my real Mother's Day gift, a book called You're The Best Mom Ever. Its a book of stories about other people's moms and what made them so special. I hope to learn from them and be the BEST MOM EVER! Later I watched the West Wing and Survivor season finales. I love politics, hope I get to be involved in them someday! However, I NEVER want to be on a deserted island!
What a day, I'm so thankful to be a mom, my girls are amazing balls of joy, and Ryan gives me so much love, encouragement and support that this really is the GREATEST job in the world! Im so blessed!

Livin THE life!

We went to Fort Collins last night for one of my best high school friend's graduation from CSU. Naomi's a veterinarian now, wow! It was so great to see her and so crazy to be at her house! She's been in CO for 10 years and it was so weird that I was HERE to be with her! FUN FUN FUN! Another one of my best friend's Lisa was there too and it was just so great to see them and catch up. I LOVE the way they go crazy over my girls. It is one of the greatest blessings in my life to have such wonderful friends! I think it is these special relationships that have taught me I can move away from friends, but that doesn't make the friendship end. Life is so amazing that way, how we grow and move and yet we always have those special people in our lives. I LOVE IT! It is really hitting me now just how many friends I have and wait a minute, they're ALL somewhere else! If one of you happen to be reading this know I LOVE YOU!! I MISS YOU!!!
I digress!!!!
So last night was really great! The drive was like from Vegas to St. George, only way easier. Fort Collins is only 40 miles from Cheyenne WY! We have to check that out someday too! I LOVE that there is sooooooo much for us to go and see and do here!! I feel like we have to do it all right away, but then I remember we LIVE here and we have a lot of time to do things. I still haven't been to DENVER! Ryan and I were so happy driving home, it was refreshing to get out and do things with people. Vegas never lended itself to a night out with people; ironic with it having the reputation of a party city, it was always lame.

Now this morning Ryan got the lawn mower started and mowed our front and backyard for the first time! YAAY!!! He was so excited! He had to change a spark plug and Julia was very involved in the whole process, so when he got it going they were both literally jumping up and down with joy! She's been his little helper and its adorable.

Little Miss Lauren was just pooped from all the excitement! Darling babe!
So yes this is THE life we've always wanted, parties with friends and yards to mow Saturday morning! Its so wonderful!!! Happy Day!

Great Day After All

I don't know if its the snow, the fact that my hair still looks good from last night, or that Julia & I read the kid scriptures during breakfast, but this is such a good day. Plus the forecast for the rest of the week is 70's! Ryan said I should bring him to work on Friday and me & the girls can check out Downtown Denver.

I took Julia & Lauren to the mail box across from our house to mail some letters, she rode her tricycle around a little. Im sure we're giving the neighbors something to watch since none of us were dressed (except our pajamas). It was a lot nicer than I had expected, crisp but not cold. So after lunch I think we'll do that walk! YAY!

Some funny things Julia says right now that I want to remember...

pocsiful or pocasil- popsicle
han-ga-mur- hamburger
hopisil- hospital
"What did you said" when she wants you to repeat something.

I've been calling preschools for her. I found two that we can probably afford. They are both in our neighborhood, one is at a Lutheran church, one is at a lady's home. They both sound great, so we'll see. Crazy my baby is going to PRESCHOOL!!!!! She'll do so great, its going to be FUN!

Lauren is sitting up by herself so good. Still have to be close b/c she'll tip easy, but it is just amazing to me how big she's getting. She LOVES eating! She even opens her mouth and just stares at me when Im eating, I feel so pressured to share my food, its hard to remember I can't. I did put my ice cream cone up to her lips, then thought WHAT AM I DOING??? Its so different than the first child, so much more relaxed. :)

Colorado Adventure OR ALASKAN Adventure???

NO this is not an old picture! It was taken this morning!!!
SNOW on May 10? Are you kidding me??? This really is an adventure! It sure mixes things up for us. It was refreshing to get out and play in it, for about 5 minutes, then Julia had enough. Do you like how I broke the screen door off in attempts to get out the door? RYAN.....

SO anyway, I love mornings! The energy I have from the night's sleep is still at a peak, Im ready to go and can get so much done. I do dishes and laundry and play with Julia. I really like the mornings she calls me in her room and we lay in her bed together talking. Usually I'm talking with my eyes closed in hopes we'll get to fall back asleep, but it never happens, oh well it's so much fun to just hang out.

Last night was Enrichment, the RS President picked me and the girls up because Ryan had a late meeting. Can I just say I HATE not having my car! Ryan offered to take a bus to work somedays, but it is more expensive than gas (if you can believe that) so we'll just stick it out. My RS President in AWESOME! Such a nice lady, kind of reminds me of Monta. Julia had a great time playing with other kids in the nursery. I met a couple of nice girls, everyone has two kids, which makes me AGAIN so thankful for Lauren. She was my little "security blanket" last night, sitting on my lap giving me something to focus on when I wasn't sure what to say next to the strangers around me. The lesson was good, about taking care of yourself, I was all inspired to exercise, get a walking routine down at least, but we woke to snow, so I guess I'll put it off until another day.

Maybe the next blog will tell about my great walking adventure.

Our weekend

Yesterday Lauren turned 5 months old! I love these milestones because I think back to the day she was born and all the anticipation and excitement comes back. Oh the joy this baby is to me! The moment she came into this world is probably the greatest day of my life. It was just incredible that we had her, I'm so grateful to have that experience in my life. ANYWAY, we went to the mall to get her picture taken. I had matching outfits for the girls (I LOVE matching outfits!) so I had Julia's picture taken with her too. They turned out sooooo good! I love getting pictures taken and JC Penny is so cheap I can totally indulge myself.
They had to wear warm clothes to the mall and change into the summer outfits. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever need summer clothes here. I had to have Lauren's picture taken in this outfit now because she will grow out of it before it warms up enough here.


We looked around the mall afterwards and it is beautiful! It was decorated like a huge log cabin. I tried to take a picture to show (Check out our little shopper! She strutted around there with such confidence, it's hilarious!). We really enjoyed being there. It is a pretty high-end mall, a mix between the Fashion Show and Forum in Vegas, so you know we weren't a shoppin! Actually the Disney store had a great clearance sale and Julia got a Princess shirt and little toy.

Now today we're chillin. Ryan was trying to teach Julia to ride her Princess bike with training wheels, he ended up just pushing her and she enjoyed the ride. Although once in a while she would peddle backwards (which applies the brake) and he would almost flip over her, quite funny! Both girls are napping right now but later we're either going to go check out downtown some more or maybe the outlet mall. All I know is I'm getting an ice cream cone somewhere!

Chilly Today Hot Tamale

Well we are getting use to the CRAZY weather. One day we will picnic in our backyard in the warm sunshine and the next we bundle up for a walk to the grocery store. Either way we try and do things outside, taking advantage of the beauty around us. We saw a gopher or ground hog or some little varmint poking himself out of his hole on the way to the store. We were thoroughly engrossed by such a live natural spectacle.
Julia loves picking up pine cones which she calls, "turkeys" b/c during Thanksgiving we decorated one as a turkey.

I made homemade brownies last night which turned out too good. I was nervous about the altitude (we're a 1,000 ft higher than Denver) ruining them, but all went well. We are loving primetime coming on at 7pm, and Letterman coming on at 10:30, we feel like night owls that we're actually up to see Letterman!

Our days are long, Ryan's job is harder than he expected. He says he went from being a big fish in a little pond to a small fish a huge ocean. I can tell he's stressed and it breaks my heart that there is so little I can do for him. This grown up stuff is hard! I've been pretty irritable with Julia which always makes me feel guilty. She can get so fresh sometimes though, and her selective hearing drives me nuts! There is lots more yelling than I would like, but we're both pretty intense. I pray everyday for more patience.

Day by day we take it. And around here you never know what tomorrow is going to be like!