Denver Zoo

On Saturday we met up with Kim and Aj at the Zoo. Sometimes I believe this is where my boys belong. They'd be a lot more entertaining than the animals, they have energy that lasts all day! They are like the energizer bunny that keeps going, and going, and they DON'T STOP! Most of the animals were too hot and lazy to let us see them. But even without many animals, we still managed to have some fun.

Here are the boys enjoying their packed lunch. I had the crazy idea to try a diet and didn't get to join them. I had a "meal bar" and protein drink for lunch. The meal bar tastes kinda like an oh henry bar, it's pretty good. But not what I would want for lunch. Who ever thought of eating candy bars for 2 weeks for lunch to lose some baby weight? I did end up splurging and ate part of a sandwich. I want real food! I failed my 2 week diet on the first day! Not a surprise. I've never been able to diet. I've never done it, in fact I don't think I've even tried. Until now. I've always been able to eat whatever I want, but I decided I need a little help to shed a couple pounds. I failed my first attempt on the first day! Oh well, I'll keep trying for another week and a half then I get to eat whatever I want! It's hard to have to eat a candybar when everyone else is eating sandwiches, chips, lunchables and licorice!
Here are the boys in the tropical jungle.

And again, eating licorice. I decided it was worth it to sneak a couple of pieces for myself.

I'm glad we didn't get kicked out of the zoo. Later that day I heard of a mother that got kicked out of a Burger King because her 6 month old wasn't wearing shoes and they have a "No shirt, No shoes, No service" policy - CRAZY!

Have I ever said how much I love this little girl?

A little visit

My dad flew into Denver to spend a few days for work, and we were lucky enough to be able to see him for a little bit. Hayden could hardly stand the wait! He was so excited to see the "Papa that always gets me".

We were able to play a little ball, and let the boys practice their skills for an upcoming game.
He invited us to go downtown where his hotel is at so that the kids could enjoy a little cool off in the swimming pool. We were actually hoping for a little cooler water - I didn't even feel the need to get in the hot tub to warm back up. We had lots of splashing fun in the water. But before heading to the pool, he walked us down to the 16th street mall. It's sad that I live here, and my dad comes for a quick trip, and introduces us to downtown! I'm glad he invited us down! It was fun, and a new experience. It's a reallly cool place, and I wish you could all see it! If you are ever in Denver, try to get to the 16th Street Mall! They have these buses that stop at every block and you can quickly hop on and off all you want for free. My dad said that in the evenings, they have carriages pulled by a team of horses, that you can also ride in. The only traffic down the road is the buses, carriages, and a lot of pedestrains. There are lots of interesting things and interesting people - a whole new experience! Down the middle of the 2 lanes, there are trees, benches, and vendors (one of which had the cutest handbags!) The people who live there live in a different world than what we are used to. Dusty said that when he gets big, he wants to live in one of those great big "hotels".

The boys don't look too excited here, but they did enjoy riding on the bus.

All along the street there are lots of restaurants, whatever you want to eat (except for Mexican!). We stopped for a bite and the boys chose McDonalds of course. Dusty tried to take his first bite of a chicken nugget, and realized something felt a little different, and much too wobbly. My dad grabbed a napkin and pulled out his tooth before it got swallowed. Nice new smile Dusty Boy!

It was here at McDonalds where Dusty recieved his own 'golden arches'. Just look at the shape of those top 2 missing teeth!

Just as we were to head back, we noticed this guy that was laying face down to get a drink. It looks like he must have drowned, the boys tried tickling his feet, and he never did wake up.

We had such a good time! Thanks for inviting us downtown dad! It was so good to spend some time with you!

Today

Living near the airport, we see a lot of airplanes, but I have yet to see a limo airplane fly above our house.

But, this morning I saw a limo airplane fly inside my house!
Nice work, Dusty!
Kyrie has not quite figured out how to crawl yet, but she is oh so close!
To get around on the floor, she rolls all over the place, she can slither forward a little, and she is a pro at going backwards. The problem with going backwards is she can't really see where she is headed, and several times has ended up in the corner. This is where I found her this morning.

This is where Kyrie plays while I get ready for the day, that way she is able to escape torture from her brothers. As a newborn, I would put a towel in the sink, and she would lay on that. This is one of those things I was going to take a picture of as a newborn, and kept telling myself "maybe next time". Well, 7 months later, I finally took the picture. I would have said "I'll do it next time" today, but she tried climbing out! So today had to be the day to get the picture, because it will probably be the last time she is set in the sink. Now what is the plan to escape the brotherly torture?

Guess who is 7 months?

THE CUTEST!!!!

Casper, Wyoming

On Thursday Chris found out that he had to go to Casper, Wyoming for work and me and the kids decided to hitch a ride. We left Friday afternoon and got to the hotel with just enough time to find some dinner and go to bed.

Here's out little sleeping beauty. Kyrie slept so well, right between Chris and I.
I snapped this picture of our hands while she was asleep, the poor girl can't ever get away from my camera.


While we were in Wyoming, we got to eat at McDonalds, Old Chicago, Cold Stone Creamery and Wed Wompster (Red Lobster). I've now had the wood fire-grilled salmon with rice twice at Red Lobster and it is so YUMMY! Red Lobster has always been one of Chris's absolute favorites, and I never liked it, but it is now on my list of favorites too. Too bad it's also one of the most expensive!
Here's our little bubble boy!
And our video game player. This kid LOVES video games! And all he gets to play at home is PBS kids on the home computer, which we hardly ever turn on since it is slower that you could ever imagine.

And Kyrie got her very first kids meal. I ate the food and she ate the toy.

And of course we went swimming. Chris called and told me all of the possible hotels we could stay in and I said I didn't care as long as it had a swimming pool and free breakfast. We all had a good time in the water. Just before we were to get out, I decided to sit in the hot tub. I'd dip Kyrie in for just a minute at a time and then pull her out so that she wouldn't cook. She would reach down for the water and complain, so we had to get back in the pool so that she could stay in the water. Our little girl loves to swim!

Thankfully this time it's her finger, she was playing with this water bomber ball and kept trying to suck the water out of it.

Hayden has no fear when it comes to swimming, which really scares me. He has actually had a couple of close calls too! So I am determined to keep him in the baby float for as long as possible. I remember before he was even two, he thought he could do it "all by myself". He didn't want floaties, or Chris or I to help him.

Can they really see through these goggles?

Too bad nobody likes Kyrie, not even her dad!


After swimming, we went to the mall in our pajamas. We went to check out the pet store and they had American alligators for sale! Who would want an alligator?

This one was about 3.5 feet long and cost $400.00. Chris's idea was to eat him.

This one is a baby and was about 1 foot long. He just looks mean!

After looking at the pet store, we grabbed a bite to eat, just in time for the mall to start closing up. So we tried heading out, and a guy asked if I'd like to try some lotion. I said sure. I never got to try the product he used to lure me in with. He then wanted to show me some magic. He was quite the salesman! He was here from Jerusalem training some new employees, and people from the East are all about bargaining, and he had to try his hardest on us! We did end up getting some salt from the Dead Sea to exfoliate, and also some body cream. We didn't do any bargaining, he just kept throwing us deals. He was really funny and very nice. Hayden kept saying, "He's crazy, huh dad". We'd quietly say, "Yes". This guy even gave us a plastic bag for "free" (as a gift) to carry our products home in. WaHoo! We did end up with a good deal though . When we got back to the hotel, I used the products on my hands and feet, and they still felt really good and soft when I woke up this morning. But I don't think I'll be buying many of his products, I don't think he'll be there to bargain over the internet!

Our free breakfast. When Dusty found out that we were going to stay at a hotel for a couple of nights, he got really excited! And his #1 reason was that we were going to get a really yummy breakfast. He sounds picked on, I promise I cook breakfast - sometimes!

Summer 2009

Our summer is almost over! The boys will soon be back in school. I really thought that we were going to be able to accomplish a lot this summer, and it seems that it just passed right by us this year. We haven't been able to do the things that we usually do to enjoy the summer and I guess it's because those things are now too far away. I miss the little things like being able to head to the mountain for a picnic, the parades, rodeo, demolition derby, family reunions, 4-wheeler rides - pretty much everything we used to do! One of my friends took me to Boulder last week. I had never been there so I was excited to go. We went up into the mountains to a river. There are hiking trails, biking trails, and a playground. My friend says it's one of her favorite places to go, and I learned that about 50% of the people in Colorado love it there too! There were SOOo many people! It was almost impossible to even find parking. We had to wait for people that were loading up to leave and wait for their parking stall. And the traffic to get there...nothing like I'm used to to get to the mountain! But I can see why my friend likes it, and I'm glad she took me there. It is beautiful.

Dusty found tiny pieces of gold flakes and he spent quite some time trying to catch one, which he eventually did!

Hayden picking up the perfect rock...

...to throw down the waterfall.

Dusty walking along the rocks

The water was freezing! I dipped Kyrie's toes in a few times, and I walked around a little bit, but I couldn't seem to get used to the ice cold temperature. The cold didn't stop the kids or the hundreds that were there tubing. It was a fun day! And I was proud to report to Chris that I was able to find my way home without following my friend, or using the GPS! I am starting to feel like I know this area a little better!

SERIOUSLY, HOW CUTE IS SHE? I think that she is absolutely, perfectly adorable. She now says "Mama", and I LOVE it! She usually says it when she's tired or hungry - or when she's had enough of her brothers.

For the Fourth of July Kim and AJ came to help us celebrate. We started the day with a ward breakfast at the park.
We had pancakes, sausage, and fruit - all of Dusty's favorites. It's amazing how much bigger his little stomach gets when his favorite foods are served. He ate a lot of food! I rememeber when he was little he hardly ate anything, he just wanted chocolate milk all day. I would complain about how little he ate. My dad would just tell me not to worry, that he would make up for it some day. This day must have been one of those make up days!

I don't think Hayden even touched his plate, like always if there is other things to do and see, filling his stomach is the last thing on his mind.

Kyrie was just as happy as could be and shared a whole bunch of smiles!

HaPPY ReD WHiTe aND BLue!