December 2011 Pictures!

December was a very fun month! It went very quickly. The kids had plays and parties in school. Mom and Dad had some Christmas parties to attend to. Jason had his 2nd birthday! He is so big and doing so well. We have a lot of fun with him and he makes us laugh a lot. Ariel and JoLynn celebrated their 10th anniversary too. Christmas was great too. We enjoyed staying at home and spending time with the kids while they had fun with their many new toys and games. We also enjoyed the 11 inches of snow we got just 3 days before Christmas. In summary, 2011 was a great year for our family. We got to do a lot of fun things, travel far and wide, and enjoyed seeing our kids grow and learn. We look forward to 2012!

November 2011 Pictures!

November will go down as a record low in pictures taken for us. We just didn't take that many. It was a bit of a busy month though. We had both sets of grandparents visiting us within a 2-week period. So, we spent a lot of our time with them running around to see them or showing around town. It was fun. The kids enjoyed having them around and getting all kinds of presents and treats. Thanksgiving was good. We had some great food and enjoyed 70F weather. It made it great to go outside and take kids to the park, play football, etc. We can't believe it is already December. We have lots of Christmas parties and things to attend. We have the tree up and there are lots of presents waiting. December will fly by too.

October 2011 Pictures!

October was an eventful month. We started by finally saying goodbye to our old blue car and buying a new one. Early in October we also got our first snow. It was a small storm. Later in the month we got another storm, this time much bigger - about 6 inches. In October we also had JoLynn's and Ariel's birthdays. JoLynn turned 30. The day after Ariel's birthday, he finally got released as the Elders Quorum President after 6 long years. But now he is the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric. So no vacations or breaks. Finally, the kids had a lot of fun in Halloween. Jason really caught on to the whole idea of asking for candy and getting some. He would not waste any time going from one door to another either. It was fun to watch him enjoy the whole thing. November should be fun. We will get visits from both sets of grandparents. We will stay in Denver for Thanksgiving this year too.

September 2011 Pictures!

September came fast and went even faster. We can't believe it is already August. Labor day weekend was a busy one. We took the kids camping one more time to the Devil's Head area. It was great again. This time it rained on us though. We had quite the thunderstorm right around 9 or 10 PM. It rained so hard that the kids' tent starting leaking. It wasn't too bad, but they ended up with a puddle of water in one of the corners. The next morning, when we woke up, Jason was sleeping right on the puddle. He was also pretty cold since Austin stole all his blankets and built quite the nest for himself. We also had a crazy squirrel attacking us by dropping pine cones on us the whole time we were there. It was a lot of fun though and we look forward to more camping next year. The rest of the month was pretty dull. Not much happening. Ariel got to go to California for his annual work conference. He stayed at the Terranea resort by the ocean. He also got to play golf at Trump National, which is pretty cool. October will be fun. We should see our first now. We will also have a couple of birthdays and Halloween.

August 2011 Pictures

August came and went very quickly. It was a busy one. The kids started school again early in the month. Kylie is now in 2nd grade and Austin is in KG. Both like school very much and seem to be having a great time. Both are making lots of friends too. Jason stays home with mom in the morning all by himself now. He really misses Austin though, even though when he is finally home the spend most of the time fighting. Ariel's office moved to downtown Denver too. It is a brand new building at the end of the 16th street mall and next to Union Station. A great location. It's been really good. Also, Kylie got glasses this month. She really likes them and they look really good on her. We also got to go to our first Broncos open practice while the kids were in school. It was really good to see the players so close. August was not only fast, but also very hot. We are looking forward to September, cooler temps, Broncos and BYU football.

July 2011 Pictures!

July was such a fun month. It usually is. We started the month in Maui, HI. We arrived there on June 30 and got back to Denver on July 6. We had the best vacation ever. The weather was perfect - 86F and sunny every day. The first day we went on a boat ride off the Lahaina coast. This boat had a bottom that went into the water and had windows so we could see the ocean floor, fish, corals, etc. It was a lot fun. We then spent a lot of time on the beach, swimming pools at the hotel, etc. The kids really enjoyed it, and so did we. We also went to the Maui Ocean Center where we got to see some cool fish, sharks, rays, etc. On our last day we went to the beach one more time and then went to hike Iao Valley before heading to the airport. We will have to go back to Maui very soon. We liked it too much. For the rest of the month we did other fun things, like the museum and camping. We did the camping thing last week. It was the first time we went out with the kids to camp somewhere else other than the back yard. We had a great time. The place we went to was beautiful. During the camp trip we got to hike the Devil's Head fire watch tower again at 10,000 ft. We really enjoyed the whole camp and we will probably do it again sometime in September around Labor Day. This coming week the kids are going back to school so things will be going back to a more normal pace.

June 2011 Pictures!

June started with Kylie's 7th birthday. We had a lot of fun that day. We took some time off and played all day with her and her brothers. We can't believe how big she is now. She is looking forward to turning 8 next year already. Earlier in the month the kids finished school too and they are now enjoying the great weather we are having in Denver. They've been swimming and playing outside a lot. All three have pretty good tans. July is going to be a lot of fun. We will start it taking some time off in Hawaii. We will also go camping later in the month. The kids are looking forward to doing all that.

May 2011 Pictures!

May was a fun month. We started with a lot of rain though. We got all the water we did not get during the winter, which is good. Our lawn is looking great. After that, the weather got really good and we are now able to enjoy it. Austin graduated from pre-school. He had a lot of fun at his field day and graduation party. Kylie is now ready for her last week of school too. She is also turning 7 next week. During Memorial Day weekend we took the kids to a couple of fun places. First, we went to Devil's Head, which is a great hike to a fire watch tower sitting at about 10,000 feet. The kids did great hiking all the way up there. It was an awesome 360 degree view of the front range. The forest we got to hike through is beatiful too. We will be back later in the year to camp around there. We also took the kids to Dinosaur Ridge. This is only about 15 miles from home. It's a area where there are all kids of dinosaur fosils and foot prints. The kids loved it, especially Austin who is quickly becoming a dinosaur professor. June will fly by. We will busy with birthdays, outdoor stuff, swimming, etc. as well as getting prepared to go to Hawaii at the end of the month. Should be fun!

April 2011 Pictures!

April was a bit of an uneventful month. We had enough good weather to play outside and grill some burgers a couple of times, but it can still get cold enough to snow. At least we are getting a lot of needed rain and our grass is green again. Kylie got to bake he first loaf of bread and she was very proud. Austin keeps learning about dinosaurs and talks to EVERYONE about them. Jason keeps getting big and is starting to expand his vocabulary a little. He is teething again, so he hasn't been the easiest to deal with lately. The kids enjoyed Easter as they do every year. We don't think Jason had a clue of what was going on, but he enjoyed opening the eggs and finding treats. He caught on with that very quickly. The kids are getting ready to finish up school later in the month. We hope to take them to a museum later and camping too. Then we will go to Hawaii and have some fun with them. Ariel continues to play a lot of soccer and Jolynn is still training for some races and going back to BYU to finish her degree, which is close.