Garden of the gods......another amazing part of God's creation

We went to the Garden of the gods yesterday and it was gorgeous. There were so many amazing and unexplainable rock formations that you just couldn't wrap your head around the majesty and glory of God's creation. Here is just one example of the amazing beauty we experienced.

Caleb was excited to see the rocks and thought that we were going to climb them...well, he did get to climb some, but of course not the big ones. There were several people there that were actually climbing the bigger rocks, but not us.....My cousin Andrew and his wife Missy along with their daughter came to meet us. They are living in Pueblo pastoring a church there. It was nice to get to know Missy as we had never really met and talked before.
Uncle Terry and Aunt Linda were able to come as well. They are staying with Andrew and Missy while Uncle Terry finds a job. Pray that he finds one soon! It was so nice to catch up with them. I forget how much I love family and just being able to relax and enjoy each other after so long of a time not seeing each other.

Here is the family on one of the rocks we got to "climb" on...the weather was gorgeous, it was almost t-shirt weather, but I didn't have one, so I got a little warm.
The kids had fun climbing the smaller rocks and enjoyed the walk, for the most part. They did get tired by the end, but were good sports about it. Today we are headed to Focus on the Family, I think the kids will like that...a little Adventures in Odyssey anyone??? Will write again when I get home, unless I have time tonight.

Pike's Peak - God's Amazing Handiwork

Well, here we are on our way up to the summitt of Pike's Peak. We got stopped about mile 15 b/c there were some icy roads ahead, so we had to wait until they melted, so we took a photo opportunity. The kids were cold, so they stayed in the car. We had to wait about 45 minutes, so we went back down to mile 13 and had some lunch at the gift shop/cafe there. The ranger finally came and told us it was open all the way to the top. I was very happy b/c we had already made it this far and didn't want to turn back. Caleb was a bit of a grouch most of the trip up the mountain, and I commented on how beautiful it was and how amazing God's work is. How God made our beautiful earth and decided to share it with us. Well,that didn't help a whole lot, but he came around once we got to the gift shop at the peak....he is all about the gift shop.... At some point during our ascent, we heard Chloe in the back say "thank you God for making our earth so beautiful"....at least someone heard what I was trying to tell them.

Here we are at the peak. it was actually warmer than we thought it would be. We took some pictures and then went to the "highest donut shop in the world" to have a donut and hot cocoa. Of course we got a gift from the gift shop, which was the highlight of Caleb's (and Chloe's) trip to Pike's Peak. It was really amazing to see God's design in the mountains. Something we don't get to see very often in Texas.

Here are Caleb, Chloe, Nathan, and Sammy the boys we stayed with. We were very fortunate to have such hospitable friends here. Amazingly enough, Amanda's parents were out of town, so we actually had a whole house to ourselves!!!

Here is the mountain we climbed (by car, of course). You can see this mountain from just about everywhere in the city. What an amazing background to look at everyday.

Sorry the pics aren't in the right order, I couldn't get them to move and got tired of trying!! Today we are off to the garden of the gods!!! Should be lots of fun!

Caleb's soccer game

So, Caleb had his first soccer game of the Spring season last Saturday. I had to miss it because Chloe had a very important party to go to (a girls only tea party for Kendall's birthday), and since we have more than one child, I have to learn that I am going to miss SOME events in my kids' life.......well, this was one that I am really bummed that I missed. Caleb was an all star. He scored 3, yes, 3 goals (if you remember last year, his first game, he stood in the field and cried). He only scored 1 goal the entire season last year, so this was great. He was very excited as were we. Grandpa and Grandma Lunn came and of course, Dad was there. I sent the camera along so I could at least have some pictures. So here they are.....The beginning of the game.......
Scoring his first goal......

Scoring the second goal....apparently Reese kicked it AFTER it already went in.

Celebrating soccer. I do have to add that it was overcast that day, and Josh and I think that helped a lot because normally, Caleb loves to watch his shadow, so since there was no sun, he had nothing to be distracted by....we shall see. I also wonder if his crazy mom wasn't there may have been a good thing. I tend to yell quite loud, so maybe the pressure wasn't there.....I guess I will attempt to not yell so loud next time and hopefully I won't be such a distraction.

My baby's getting big!!

My little Keira is getting big....it is hard to believe that she will be 1 in just under 2 months. My how time has flown by. She is the sweetest little girl, she cuddles and loves to be held. She is trying so many different foods and definitely lets us know if she doesn't like them. She is becoming Couper's (our dog) best friend during meal time.....he always seems to gain weight when we have babies in the house. She just started walking with a walker a couple days ago and I wanted to share our good news with you all. Caleb was in the middle of playing the wii when he noticed (it is very hard to distract him when he is focused on that game) she was walking with the walker, he said, "she's walking!!!!" and then went on to finish his game.... Enjoy the video.

Garden time......

So, last summer, I decided that I was sick of paying $1.00 for one cucumber and the produce was so rediculously priced that I decided to try my hand at gardening. Here we are planting cucmbers, squash, zuccini, broccoli, carrots, and green beans (okay, we haven't planted the carrots and green beans, but we are going to).....on the other side, closer to the house, we are planting strawberries. I don't have a green thumb, so we will see how well this works. I have managed to keep most of my plants alive in the house. Wish me luck. Does it help to talk to them??????

January 28th, 2009

My boy is 5 today!!! He woke up and I swear he looks older....he wanted pancakes and eggs for breakfast. He was supposed to go to school and wear his pj's, but school was cancelled due to the weather....so, he wore his pj's all morning at home.

Since the weather was crappy, we stayed inside all day (except for our trip to ToysRus) so I got the tent and tunnel out and the kids played in that all morning. Can you say "static"? it was funny cuz when she would get out, her hair stuck to her face....
For dinner, Caleb asked for pizza, so that was an easy fix. Grandpa and Grandma Lunn came over for pizza. Grandma Lunn actually went with us to ToysRus. We went there once the ice melted on the roads. Caleb had a bunch of money to spend from his birthday. He got a Marvel Super Hero Squad puzzle, a "Don't Wake Hulk" game, and the Operation game featuring Hulk. We have already put the puzzle together a couple times, and played the games several times as well. All in all, he had a great day. Every year, I make a list of the things I love about my kids. so, since Caleb is 5, these are the 5 things I love about him:

1. He still loves to cuddle with me.

2. His amazing imagination

3. His sweet sweet spirit towards his sister - they play together so well.

4. His sensitive heart

5. His willingness to help with almost any task.

I love you Caleb, you truly are the best son a mom could ask for!

Caleb's Birthday Party

We celebrated Caleb's birthday on the 24th.

Chloe got Caleb the Mario that he is holding, he was pretty excited about that. We decorated for the Mario party all morning, and Caleb insisted that he would not get cold in the 40 degree weather, so I let him wear shorts.....
Here is the crew that showed up for the party - from the top - Aaron, Jackson, Finley, Lane, Caleb, Tanner, Cason, Daniel, Savannah, Kendall, Will, Adeline, Chloe, Victoria, Isabella, CJ, Will, Ezra, Halie, Reece, and Tessa.....
We played Mario bingo first (which I also made) and the kids enjoyed that. It was nice because most kids regardless of age, knew how to play bingo.

Then it was pinata time. Last year we got a pinata that was nearly indestructable. Needless to say, we did it again. It was cold outside, but the kids stayed until Mario opened up and the candy poured out. Thankfully, we had some older kids who could really knock the pinata hard.
And finally, the cake (well, gifts after that). The party was loads of fun and I can't believe my son is 5 years old!!!