Almost Christmas

Meeting Santa on Old South Pearl Street

Playing Santa in the Tub

My Little Elf

Only a little over a week to go. This season has gone by so fast but we have been having a good time. Edward has patiently endured me dragging him along on all the Christmas shopping, thank goodness we are almost done. We will be headed to Indy for Christmas with the Fitzgeralds. I can't wait to see Edward on Christmas morning. I already have a feeling that empty boxes and discarded wrapping paper will be his favorite.

Congrats Mark and Dusty

Outside Aspen Chapel

Hanging out at the reception with Grandad

The Happy Couple

We traveled to Aspen this past weekend to celebrate the wedding of Mark (Andy's brother) and his new wife Dusty. They had a beautiful ceremony in Aspen Chapel then the reception at the Little Nell. They are now in Mexico soaking up some sun. We had a great time, congratulations.

Big Steps

Just a few days shy of his 9 month birthday Edward surprised us by taking his first steps on his own. Nothing brings us more joy than opening our arms to our son as he unsteadily makes his way towards us.

Thanksgiving Lost

Somehow in the transfer of my Thanksgiving pictures from the camera to the computer they were lost. This video did manage to survive and is all I currently have to show from our trip to Alabama. We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at my Aunt Emily's. Surrounded by family and good food we celebrated family and all that we have been blessed with. Edward and his cousin Gus were definitely the highlights and they did a great job of keeping everyone entertained. On friday it was drizzling and gray but it did not stop my dad from roping Andy into helping him built a goat oven. I really wish I had those pictures but you will have to use your imagination (make sure your mental picture includes bricks, tin from the roof of a barn, and a grill rack made from stainless steel shelving). Despite its humlbe appearances the goat oven did turn out some good burgers and roast- yes it was all goat meat. Trust me, it tastes better than you think. I don't have much to say about Saturdays game. My brother and sister-in-law were thrilled. As always time went by too fast and before we knew it we were back in the airport headed home. I have to brag on Edward, he was so good on the plane and slept almost the entire way home. We came back to a couple of inches of snow on the ground and the next morning Edward got his first taste (literally) of the snow. Again, I wish I had those pictures. I hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving and I am thankful for my memories because they can never get lost in the transfer.

Some older video of Edward when he first started to say Dada. I have tried and tried to get him to say mama but so far Dada is the only word for him.

Vail

We took a little trip to Vail yesterday. We had somethings to take to our renters and then we spent the afternoon in Lionshead and Vail Village. There has not been much snow and we watched some brave souls navigate their way down the white ribbon of death (a.k.a. Born Free). Edward was very interested in the skiers and liked all the activity. After walking around the new Lionshead we headed to Vail and played on the pirate ship before going back to Bart and Yetti's for some lunch. Being up there made me sad that we won't be spending weekends with our friends in the mountains this winter. We will just look forward to some day in the future when we are back, teaching our kids to ski and having even more fun than we used to.

Cuteness

Edward is crawling all over and will pull up on anything so he can walk. I keep reallybusy these days chasing after him. His other favorite thing to do is climb the stairs. He can move up them surprisingly fast, we just need to work on the down part.

Edward's New Ride

Check out my Nutcase. "I like my brain."

Getting ready to ride

Cruisin


We took advantage of the nice weather this past weekend and took our "early Christmas present" from my parents out for a spin. We went to REI first and bought Edward his helmet. He loves it and wore it all around the store. Edward had a good time in the bike trailer, he went right to sleep. We rode a few laps around Wash park and went to visit Uncle Mark. We are looking forward to next spring and a lot of good riding.

Visit Part 2

Estes Park, CO

We stayed at River Spruce Cabins

Two mountain men

Grana and Pap's Visit Part 1

Berry Patch Farms, Brighton, CO

Edward picking rasberries

Monkey in a cage!

Edward loved kisses from Pap more than the giraffes

Looking for more animals

Done! Edward loved the zoo.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Andy! Two down, a lifetime more to go. I love you.

Fall in Colorado

From the look of these pictures you would think we had a wonderful day enjoying the aspens and Colorado mountains. The truth is this past Saturday was a series of bad decisions resulting in a 9 hour trip that should have taken around four. Fall in Colorado is beautiful and the yellow aspens are amazing but it is very short lived and you have about a month to enjoy them. I really wanted to go to the mountains and see the aspens before all the leaves are gone. We decided on Saturday to drive to Estes Park and then on into Rocky Mountain National Park. Bad decision #1, we left a little after noon (we should have been in the car about two hours earlier). We then proceeded to drive north to Boulder. Once we were there and sitting in football traffic Andy asked about the directions which led us to bad decision number 2, I had forgotten to bring a map. We pressed on and made our way to Estes Park where we found ourselves smack in the middle of Elk Fest 2008 (this is not a joke, this is a real festival). Trying to avoid the absolute traffic jam in town we took a "detour" also known as bad decision #3. The "detour" turned into about a 20 minute drive in the wrong direction, complete with pulling over on the side of the road to feed Edward. An hour later we were back in town, back in traffic and determined to make it into Rocky Mountain National Park. Of course it started to rain as were pulling into the entrance but we were determined to press on and paid our $20 entrance fee. Once we made it into the park we were awed by the aspens and actually began to enjoy ourselves. We walked around Bear Lake and took in the views, snapped some pictures and then warmed up in the car. This is where we made our 4th and final bad decision. We thought that as long as we were in the park (and had paid $20 to get in) we should see as much as possible. So we decided to drive all the way through the park and take a different route home. It should have taken about one hour more than going back the way we came. We way underestimated the time it took to drive the windy moutain roads. We also understimated Edward's patience in the car seat. Two hours later with Edward crying the whole time we were still in the park just praying we would make it out. The rest of the drive home a mission to get back with our sanity and before Edward had a second meltdown. We pulled into the garage at about 9:30. The question we asked ourselves- Was it worth it? Look at that smile on Edward's face.

New camera, lots of new pictures

Since the pictures are the best part, here are some that I took with my early birthday present from the Fitzgeralds (thanks!).

Welcome Madeline

Our good friends Jim and Andrea welcomed their sweet little girl, Madeline, into the world last Thursday. She weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs 3 ozs and s 21/12 inches long. We went to visit Friday night and had a little trip down memory lane as she was born at the smae hospital as Edward. It is amazing to think that only 6 1/2 months ago he came into this world. He has already changed so much and has brought more joy to our lives than either Andy or myself thought possible. Welcome to the world Madeline, Edward will be happy to show you around!

September is the new June

This has been the month of weddings. We started in Atlanta with our friends Ryan and Robin. It was whirlwind weekend. Edward and I took off on Saturday morning and were back in Denver Sunday afternoon. Then our dear friends the Russells celebrated the wedding of their daughter Amanda, unfortunately we did not make it to Birmingham for that one. Traveling on an airplane three weekends in a row was just not possible. We finished up the month with the wedding of Andy's sister Kelly and her husband Chris. They were married at Devil's Thumb Ranch in Winter Park, Colorado. We had a great time and the weekend flew by. Edward was a hit in his tuxedo and handled everything amazingly well. Here are some other pics of the weekend.


Devils Thumb Ranch

Mark, Chris, Andy, Edward, Leah

The Bride and Groom!

Playing around at the lodge

Gull Lake

We spent Labor Day weekend in Michigan with Andy's parents and brother. They have a beautiful little cabin on Gull Lake just outside of Kalamazoo. Edward took his first boat ride and got a chance to play in the water and even went all the way under with Andy's help. It was a gorgeous weekend and very relaxing. I managed to get up on my third try and slalom and them made the mistake of getting on the tube. I felt that tube ride for two days, my sore neck and back reminded me I am not as young as I think I am. Edward got to meet his Great Uncle Joel and Great Aunts Jenilee and Carole. He also played with his cousins and some new friends, the Clarks. Andy's best friend Blair and his family (Kelly, Bo, Brooks and Qwynna) drove over from South Bend and spent Saturday with us. Edward was especially fond of Qwynna, we will not trust them to be left alone when they are older! When we got back to Colorado it was cool and already feeling like fall. What a great way to say goodbye to summer and look forward to my favorite season.