Halloween Flashback

2005 - Yoda

2006 - Tinkerbell

2007 - Minnie Mouse

2008 - Cinderella

2009 - Fancy Nancy

Stay tuned for pictures from this year... Dora the Explorer!

Vacation Recap

I don't want to blog the entire vacation (too lazy) but I don't want to skip it completely either (too sentimental), so I'm doing the recap version.

St Louis Arch

Friday Oct 15: We drove all the way from our house to Salina, Kansas.  It took 16 hours total, including a 2 hour break at the St Louis Arch.  It was a fun stop and broke the day into two separate halves.  Also, driving across five states in one day makes you feel like you are really moving along.

Saturday: drove from Salina to Lynne's house in Monument.  Took about seven hours, which was great for day two of a driving trip.  Rachael handled all the riding in the car pretty well; I discovered it helped to have "prizes" once in awhile.

Air Force Academy

Sunday: church in Monument.  They have a lovely building with a staggering view of the Pikes Peak area.  I'm not just a little bit jealous.  Then we went for a drive around the Air Force Academy to see a little of the fall color.  Lynne gave Rachael an Easy Bake Oven and they had tons of fun making cookies.

Hacienda Colorado

Monday: Off and running.  We went to the Denver temple and took a few pictures.  Then we drove up to Golden to the Colorado School of Mines and stomped around campus a bit.  We went to the Geology Museum and we got to see what Kirk's research project is all about (although we only understood a little about it).  Then we drove past the Flatirons and into Boulder, out to Flatirons mall, then back to Denver for dinner at Hacienda Colorado with my Mom and Dad, Julie, her boyfriend Tim and son Nicholas, and Kirk. 

Pikes Peak snow angel

Tuesday: Pikes Peak day! We took the Pikes Peak Cog Railway all the way to the top with Mom and Dad.  We had a doughnut at the top of the mountain and took some great pictures.  There was snow at the topIn the afternoon we shopped it up at Castle Rock.

Wednesday: Denver day - we hit the Denver Art Museum (for the King Tut exhibit!) and the Denver Zoo.  Biggest surprise of the day was how much Rachael enjoyed the Art Museum. 

Thursday: more shopping at Castle Rock followed by a trip to Flatirons to let Rachael make a Build a Bear.  Topped the evening off with dinner at Hacienda (again!) with a friend.

Friday: hung out with Lynne and her boys, fixed homemade pizza for dinner, then cheered on the Lewis Palmer Rangers as the flattened Coronado.  Rachael loved cheerleading from the stands but was terrified of seeing her cousin Jacob on the field.  (He does look pretty scary all dressed up in full pads and everything!)

Football!

Saturday: left early for home.  Drove 14 hours to St Louis Missouri, with a stop at Cabelas in Kansas City.

Sunday: drove all the way home.  Finished the license plate game with 43 states, Mexico and Canada.

Thanks to all our family members who spent time with us, especially for my mom and dad for driving out from Utah.  A special thanks to Lynne and her boys for letting us stay at their house for a week and to Cole for letting us have his bedroom.  We really enjoyed our stay and we hope we can do it again!

Flashback Friday

February 2005

Rachael all buckled up for her first trip to Colorado.  (Which was home at the time.)

She didn't even weigh five pounds yet!

Learn From My Fail

If you decide to wash your daughter's lunchbox that she has been using for the past 2 1/2 years, check first that you have removed the lunch leftovers.

Those are some VERY clean carrots.  And I've never been so happy that she didn't take a peanut butter sandwich.

Welcome to the world!

Our newest nephew, Zachary Paul Madden, made his debut on Wednesday, October 6.  He weighs in at 7 lbs even.

Welcome to the world, little man!

Flashback Friday

Flashback to.... Tuesday!  OK I know it's not very far back but I still haven't blogged Rachael's first field trip as a kindergartner, and I don't want to miss out on that.

The gang's all here! I think this is everyone in her afternoon kindergarten class.  Ms Wilburn, the teacher, is on the right in a grey Mickey Mouse sweatshirt.  Ms Evans, the class assistant, is on the left.  Rachael is sitting in the back on the trailer, kind of next to Ms Wilburn.

A favorite from years past - the hay maze.  We have made it an annual tradition to go to Baldwin Farms every year, so we have seen a lot of the attractions before. This is one of her favorites.

Another favorite - the hay caterpillar.  (Sorry you can't see his cute face).  This is the first year she voluntarily jumped down into the hay without help.  Peer pressure at work already.

Something new this year: feeding a baby goat!  The kids all loved this.

Climbing the mountain.  All the kids loved this too... I did not love all the dirt that got on her clothes.

Saving the best for last: taking turns on the swing.  All the kids had so much fun piling on the swing or taking turns pushing.  This was certainly more fun with a huge group than just the two of us.

The kids also each got to choose a small pumpkin to take back to class.  They have been painting them up this week, so I expect it to arrive home sometime next week.

All in all a great time!

And because I still want this to be a flashback at some point...

Boys Fishing Trip/Girls Weekend

Last weekend Ryan went camping and fishing with two of his friends.  They had fun, but so did we! Rachael and I spent the weekend doing fun things like making cookies, eating pizza, shopping and watching princess movies.  In a brave fit of spontaneity, I also let her paint my fingernails and toenails. 

Our special secret triple chocolate cookies. (With any luck we will share this special secret recipe with Auntie Lynne in a couple of weeks!!)

Ryan really had to rough it on his trip.  In addition to lots of boulders and small streams, one guy that took a spill in the river (NOT Ryan), and plenty of roll casting, he and his friends were forced to use the restrooms at the campsite because the toilet pump in the popup is broken.  How primitive.  Can it even be called camping if the indoor plumbing is out of order?

What a great reward for a weekend of fishing - a six inch beauty!

Next weekend: we try spending the weekend together.  Wish us luck!

Welcome Fall

I don't know how I managed to miss posting about this a week and a half ago! It was the first day of fall, and a glorious 90 degrees. Our friends the Jasinskis invited us over for a little slip n sliding. It was so fun!

Don't we look like we had a ball?!

Flashback Friday

September 2007 Niagara Falls