The Duris Family - Denver

December 2011 Pictures!

2011-12-31T20:34:00.004-07:00

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!

2011-11-30T21:27:00.004-07:00

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!

2011-11-01T19:25:00.007-07:00

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!

2011-10-01T21:01:00.004-07:00

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

2011-09-02T11:39:00.006-07:00

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!

2011-07-30T19:56:00.003-07:00

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!

2011-06-25T10:34:00.006-07:00

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!

2011-05-30T19:07:00.004-07:00

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!

2011-05-01T20:10:00.004-07:00

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.

March 2011 Pictures!

2011-03-30T12:25:00.003-07:00

March started with Austin's 5th birthday. We can't believe how quickly time has gone. He was very excited about his cake and presents. Apparently, Jason really liked the cake and literally stuffed his face with it. The rest of March was a bit strange here in Denver. This is suppossed to be the snowiest month in the year. Yet, we got nothing. Just a couple of minor 1-inch storms. It is going to be a very dry summer if we don't start getting some snow and rain before it gets really hot in June and July. We already had a few fires in the mountains. At least the weather has been great. We hit 65F and 70s a few times this year so far, and we may even see close to 80F this next few days. The kids have been on Spring break for a couple of weeks. It has been good for them, although they have continued to do homeworks and practice their math and reading. Austin is getting really good at it. We are looking forward to General Conference at the beginning of April.

February 2011 Pictures!

2011-03-01T18:54:00.003-07:00

February was, for the most part, a pretty uneventful month. It usually is. We had a few very cold days, but also some very warm ones. We got close to 70F a couple of times and there is no snow on the ground. Ariel got to go dogsledding early in the month up in Leadville, which is in the mountains. It was fun. Kylie got to have her first science fair. She worked very hard on it and was proud of her display. Jason keeps on growing and getting faster. He loves playing chase and wrestling. Austin will be turning 5 on March 4, so we are excited about that and can't believe how fast time has gone. We are looking forward to welcoming the Spring in March and getting to enjoy the outdoors a little more. We are also counting down the weeks until we get to go to Hawaii later this summer.

January 2011 Pictures!

2011-01-30T16:24:00.004-07:00

The first month of the year has come and gone. Time is already flying for us. The kids have been busy with school. Unfortunately, they have not had enough snow this year to play with. We had a couple of storms, but they came with extreme cold. Kylie and Austin got sick a couple of weeks ago. We had to take them in to see the doctor pretty much for the first time ever. They both recovered quickly. JoLynn and Ariel were down too for a couple of days. Jason escaped all that and was just a little stuffy. Ariel got to go to Orlando earlier in the month for his annual 'work' conference. He got to attend the Universal Studios for one of those days. It was tough to leave the 70+ degree weather. But the weather in Denver has actually been very nice for this time of the year. Last Friday we were in the mid 60's. It won't last, but it makes us look forward to Spring. Kylie will be having her first science fair project this coming week. She is excited about that. She decided to test whether the level of water will rise as ice cubes in it melt. She thinks it will. So she will learn something.

December 2010 Pictures!

2010-12-31T11:48:00.005-07:00

December was a fun and busy month. We didn't get an snow until December 30th, which is very unusual for Denver. That allowed us to spend a lot more time outside. On December 18th we celebrated Jason's first birthday. It was fun. We can't believe how big he is. He has been walking for so long, that it feels like he has been around for a lot longer than a year. Kylie insisted with playing Happy Birthday for Jason using the keyboard, even though she has no idea how to use it. So it was an interesting version of the song. On December 22nd we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary too. Then Christmas came. The kids really enjoyed it this year and there was a lot of anticipation built up. Kylie baked some cookies for Santa and let him a note. They all got lots of fun presents and have spent a lot of time in their room playing with their new toys, which has been great. January and February are typically the coldest months here in Denver, so we will spend a lot of time inside.

November 2010 Pictures!

2010-11-30T20:57:00.004-07:00

We didn't take a lot of pictures this month. Mostly because November is always a bit of an uneventful month for us. We weather is now cold, but we haven't really had much snow. Just a couple of minor snow falls. The kids are getting ready for winter break in a couple of weeks, which means Christmas and New Year is around the corner. We set up the Christmas tree already and slowly but surely presents are starting to show up. Jason keeps walking all over the place. He will be 1 year old on December 18. Time really flew by this past year. Ariel got to spend a couple of days in Provo while on business and got to see most of the family there. For Thanksgiving we stayed home and kept it simple, just the way we like it. A few people in our ward played football that morning (it was like 15 degrees). Other than that, we look forward to December when we get to celebrate Jason's first birthday, Ariel and JoLynn's 9th wedding anniversary, Christmas, New Year, etc. Should be fun.

October 2010 Pictures!

2010-10-31T13:52:00.003-07:00

October was another fun month, specially for the kids. They got to go back to California with JoLynn to visit home in Ridgecrest. They had a lot of fun with the airplane ride into Las Vegas. Jason didn't like it so much, at least at the beginning of the flight. Once there, the kids got to play with their cousins, ride horses, go to the park, swim in the hottub, etc. They all seemed happy to be home 9 days later. Fall break in school was also over at that point and both Kylie and Austin seemed to be happy to see their friends again. Jason is fully walking and checking out everything. He is not shy with people, a lot like Kylie was. He loves playing chase and being tickled. He is a lot of fun. The trees here in Denver were beautiful this fall. They are almost gone now. We are waiting for the first snow of the season now, but it may take a while to come. We are having 60s and 70s pretty much every week. Ariel and JoLynn got to celebrate their birthday this month too and now we are getting ready for Jason's first birthday on December 18. Finally, the kids enjoy dressing up for Halloween again. We went trick of treating the Saturday before Halloween to some people in our ward. They really enjoyed it.

September 2010 Pictures!

2010-09-30T19:39:00.004-07:00

September was a fun month. On labor day we went on a hike with the kids. The hike is only about 15 minutes away from home. It took us about 1 1/2 hrs to complete. The kids really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful day. On 9/11 Ariel got to go to the BYU-Air Force game in Colorado Springs with some friends. It is a great show. The game wasn't so good for BYU, but it was still a lot of fun. For the rest of the month we tried to spend as much time as we could outside. We got one of those bike trailers to carry the kids and they love it. We take them out everytime we can. Jason is pretty much walking. He still gets tired and goes back to crawling. But he is getting there quickly. He will turn 10 months in October. The trees are changing quickly here, although it has been very warm. We expect October to change that and we may even see the first snow.

BYU - Air Force Flyby

2010-09-30T19:36:00.004-07:00

Air Force vs. BYU Flyby from arielduris on Vimeo.

Jason Almost Walking!

2010-09-12T14:32:00.003-07:00

Jason is not quite 9 months old yet, but he is almost walking. He is really trying. It is tough to film the good and long walks. We got a short one here...

Jason Walking from arielduris on Vimeo.

August 2010 Pictures!

2010-08-30T20:59:00.005-07:00

August was another busy summer month. We had some hot temperatures here in Denver, but September should be changing that soon. Ariel started the month with some travel back East and Bermuda. The kids started school that same week too. Kylie is happy to be in 1st grade and Austin is in his 2nd year of pre-school. Jason is getting big fast. He is crawling very well and already standing without help. He hasn't quite taken steps yet, but it will not be long until he does. We had a fun Emegency Prepardness Fair at the church the other day. The kids got to get on the fire trucks, ambulances, etc. They really enjoyed it. The even had a helicopter land in the parking lot. They do this every year in our stake. It's a lot of fun. We are excited for September. We will be watching lots of college football and going to the BYU games against Air Force and CSU. The kids have become quite the Broncos fans too. Fall will bring some nice weather here as well.

July 2010 Pictures!

2010-07-31T09:34:00.003-07:00

July was a busy and fun month! We started by going to Utah for the 4th of July. We got to see everyone there. The kids got to play and spend time with all their cousins. They really enjoyed that. They can now remember their names and understand who is related to whom. We also got to visit with friends and go to many places while in the Provo area. Ariel and JoLynn ran the Freedom 5K race on the morning of the 5th too. When we came back, the weather started to finally get hot, so the kids enjoyed going to the park with the fountains and the pool. It is now their last week of vacations though. They are excited to go back to school. We took the kids hiking to the Bluffs, which is close to home. They walked all the way up and did really good. Ariel got to go to the Netherlands again this year for work. It was good, but a very long trip. August will be interesting with Kylie starting 1st grade. She is excited to have homework again, she says. Both Austin and Kylie will make many new friends. Jason is crawling, but he is now more interested in standing. It won't be long until he walks. He is only 7 months, so he will be a quick one.

June 2010 Pictures!

2010-06-29T20:08:00.003-07:00

June was a busy month. Summer is in full swing, so we are spending a lot of time outside. We started with Kylie's and Austin's graduation parties at school. Both of them are now enjoying some time off from school. They will start again in early August. We then had Kylie's birthday party. She invited just a few friends from school and church and they had a lot of fun. Sunday was her actual birthday and we had some cake. She finally got the hula hoop she wanted and a few other things. We can't believe she is already 6. Jason continues to grow and to be a lot of fun. He is always smiling. He is just about to crawl. He also got his first tooth, which is early compared to his siblings. Those two didn't get a single tooth until they were over a year old. Ariel got to go back to San Francisco and Oakland for work and to attend the wedding of a boy he baptized 13 years ago together with his family. His former companion, Shannon Royster, was there too. That was really cool. July will be fun. We will start by going to Utah to visit family and friends and to get away a little. We will have those pictures next month...

May 2010 Pictures!

2010-06-03T16:00:00.006-07:00

As expected, May was a beautiful month here in Colorado. Things are green and the weather is great. We have been using the backyard a lot lately. The kids keep playing in their little playhouse and love to eat dinner in it. Austin just finished school and Kylie will finish in the next couple of days. Kylie has been counting the days until her birthday (June 7) and has her party all planned out. Jason keeps on growing. He is close to crawling, but not there yet. He gets excited when the kids are around and you can see he wants to join the party, but he can't quite yet. Kylie ran her first race too, at least the first 100 feet. In the process of cutting people off (because she wanted to win the 1 mile run), she fell and scrapped her knee. That was the end of that race. She will try again next year we are sure. JoLynn continues to run and Ariel is playing lots of soccer and riding his mountain bike now that the weather is good. We look forward to Kylie's birthday on the 7th of June and to our trip to Utah at the end of the month...

April 2010 Pictures!

2010-05-01T11:02:00.005-07:00

April started with Easter and the kids really excited about it. They were counting the days. They actually had a few practice runs for egg hunting. Once Easter came, we had to do the egg hunt a few times because they were having so much fun. It was good for both of them to go back to school after Spring Break. In terms of the weather, things keep getting better here. We still had a few snow showers and some pretty severe weather. We had one of the biggest hail storms we have seen around here. It destroyed our grill cover outside. May and June are our active weather months, so we look forward to some exciting storms. We got a playhouse for the kids in the backyard too. They love it. They spend a lot of time there. Probably one of our best ideas to date. JoLynn will be running a big race in Boulder during Memorial Day weekend with a bunch of girls from the ward. So she has been training for that. We will have lots of pictures and video for our May posting...

March 2010 Pictures!

2010-04-01T14:18:00.003-07:00

March was a fun month. We started with Austin's 4th birthday. We can't believe how big Austin is. He is a fun kid. Him and Kylie had fun blowing the candles on the cake. He, of course, got a new truck as a present that Kylie helped pick. He is very much into trucks and construction equipment. Him and his class went to the zoo and instead of looking at the animals, he was more amuzed by the tractors and constructions trucks working on a part of the zoo. Jsson is growing quickly too. He is alread rolling on his belly and we think it won't be long until he is crawling around. He is going to be a quick one. Spring is here and the weather can be very unpredictable here in Colorado. We had 2 snow storms (9 inches and 15 inches) followed by warm weather (70s and 80s). So you never know. We look forward to enjoying the outdoors in the next couple of months.

February 2010 Pictures!

2010-02-28T18:41:00.009-07:00

February was a short but busy month. We started the month with a lot of cold here in Denver. Ariel had to travel 3 out of 4 weeks in the month, so glad this month is over. Around valentines day we had some family in town for Jason's baby blessing. It was good to see everyone and spend some time in our home. Kylie and Austin enjoyed having everyone here too and they got lots of presents and things from both sets of grandparents. Jason is getting big. He smiles all the time as you can see in the pictures. We took him in for his 2-month check up and he is already 12 pounds, which for us is a big baby. March will be exciting. Austin turns 4 years old on the 4th. Also, March is the snowiest month of the year here in Denver, so we are sure we will see some good storms before the winter is over. Spring will be here too during March. We are looking forward to that.

January 2010 Pictures!

2010-01-30T13:21:00.004-07:00

We can't believe January is almost gone. Jason is now 6 weeks old and starting to do a few things, such as smiling and trying to reach things with his hands. He can hold his head up pretty good and loves to have Kylie and Austin around. All 3 kids seem to get along great so far. Kylie is finishing her swimming lessons and doing good at that. Austin gets to go to the pool with her too. Both of them are practically fish. We haven't had hardly any snow this month so far. February is typically dry too, so we are looking forward to March and April, when things get interesting. Ariel has been traveling a lot this year so far and JoLynn has been able to start running again while trying to keep up with the kids. Austin is starting to get excited about his 4th birthday in March (Kylie may actually be more excited about that). We will have all the grandparents come to town in February as we are planning for Jason's baby blessing on Feb 14. That will be fun.

December 2009 Pictures!

2010-01-01T12:18:00.008-07:00

December was quite a month for us. We have been very busy lately. We started by going to the hospital on a Friday night 11:30PM thinking that Jason was coming. Turned out to be a false alarm. We came home around 4:30AM on that Saturday. Jason ended up arriving the following Friday at 7:19AM. He came fast. We made it to the hospital at 6AM, so things moved quickly from there. He was 7lbs 15oz and 18 3/4 inches long. For us, that is a big baby. He was actually the biggest of our three. The kids love having him around, especially Kylie who is quite the little mom. On the 22nd we had our 8th wedding anniversary and then, of course, Christmas came quickly. The kids really enjoyed Christmas this year. They are now old enough to get very excited and anxious about presents, trees, lights, etc. We will watch Jason grow in 2010 and should be a fun year.

Some more pictures!

2009-12-19T18:54:00.003-07:00

Jason got to meet his siblings today. It was fun to watch...

It's a BOY!

2009-12-18T10:57:00.003-07:00

Our new baby arrived this morning, 12/18, at 7:19AM. We got to the hospital at 6:00AM, so it was a close one. He was a lot bigger than what doctors had predicted - 7lbs 15oz. Everyone is doing very well...

November 2009 Pictures!

2009-12-01T20:06:00.003-07:00

November was a busy but uneventful month. We are now fully getting ready for the new baby, who will arrive any day. We even have the car seat installed and ready to go. The kids are getting excited about having a new brother or sister. Thanksgiving was quiet here. We actually decided to go out to eat instead of doing the traditional all-day cooking. We actually liked it a lot. It gave us a lot of time to do other things. The day after thanksgiving we went ahead and bought the big screen TV we had wanted for a while and we are quite enjoying it. It will be fun to watch the Broncos in HD. We have not had snow in a few weeks now, which is nice. Actually, we had 60s and 70s during the week of thanksgiving. Cold is coming back now though and snow will follow. During the week that was warm, we went ahead and put the lights on the house and got the Christmas tree out. The kids liked helping with all that and slowly but surely Christmas presents are starting to appear under the tree. December will be very exciting for us. We will have lots of pictures!

October 2009 Pictures!

2009-11-03T21:06:00.006-07:00

October was quite a month! We had a lot of things going on. As you can see by the pictures, we had a lot of snow. Actually, this was our fifth snow storm of the season. The only difference with this last one was that it dumped 2 feet of snow on us. School got cancelled for 3 days in a row. Ariel stayed home one day too. So we had some fun playing with the snow, building snowmen and tunnels. We will have to see how this winter will be. So far, lots of snow. We also had JoLynn's and Ariel's birthdays this month. That was fun, although we didn't do much. The kids were really excited about Halloween though. They had been counting the days for the past 2 months. We had a party at church the night before Halloween and the kids got to play all kinds of games. The night after that, we got to go out and got lots of treats. The weather was perfect, so we got to stay a little longer than usual. We are now counting the days until the next baby arrives...

September 2009 Pictures!

2009-10-04T19:28:00.004-07:00

September was a quiet month. The weather started to change faster than normal here in Denver. We already had a snow storm, although it did not stick to the ground. All the trees have started to change and it won't be long until we get some real snow. The kids are enjoying school. Kylie had her first field trip. She was really excited about it and talked for days before and after the trip. Both the kids are very excited about Halloween coming up. We are sill trying to decide what they will be this year. We will have a party in our ward the Friday before Halloween, so both will be picking up a lot of candy this year. We have lots of birthdays in the family during the month of October, so we will be in touch...

August 2009 Pictures!

2009-09-02T19:36:00.004-07:00

August was another busy month. The biggest and most important thing that happened was that Kylie started school for the first time. She was soooo happy to finally start and meet new friends, do homework, etc. Austin went back to pre-school too. Both of them go in the morning to the same school and they are doing great. We also got to go back to the Beatles tribute concert they do every year at Red Rocks. It was a lot of fun and, once again, it was a sold out show. We will go again next year. Ariel got to do some more travel. This time he stayed in a hotel one block away from the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Reserve Building, hence the pictures. The other big thing that happened this month was that we had to sell our car in preparation for the arrival of the new baby. Three kids would not fit in that car. We got lucky and sold the car in 18 hours. It was quick. We then had to hurry and find a mini-van, which we did. We like it a lot. We got a Honda Odyssey. We also finished the kids room. We painted them, got them a bunkbed and some more new furniture and they are all set. The baby room is ready too. The weather remained mild through August too. This was a very strange summer. We had very few days above 90 F. It will be good to see the fall come in September and watch the BYU football games.

July 2009 Pictures!

2009-08-01T19:06:00.006-07:00

July was a fun and busy month. We started by going to Utah to visit family and friends and to spend the 4th of July there. We had a blast. We got to hike with the kids to water falls, visited Paula and her family, visited Maqueca and her family, walked around BYU, hiked the Y on the 4th, went to the zoo at Thanksgiving Point, took the kids to the movies for the first time (didn't go so well), saw two firework shows, etc. We did everything we had planned to do there. We also announced to everyone that we are expecting baby #3. The official due date for now is December 19. We are very excited. We are not going to find out the gender this time. So let us know what your guess is. Kylie and Austin have picked names already. After Utah, we came back to Colorado and continued to enjoy the mild summer we are having. We took the kids camping for the first time. We only went to the back yard, just in case. It actually went very well. The kids enjoyed it. We will do it again this summer before the weather changes. We will venture out next summer once JoLynn is not pregnant. Ariel got to go to Holland in the middle of July for business. It was his second time there. We took so many pictures in July that we have to have 2 posts to make them fit this time around. The continuation to the pictures is below this post. August will be a fun month too. JoLynn's belly will continue to grow, the kids will both start school, and towards the end of the month we get to go to Red Rocks again for another concert. We hope to get a little less rain in August as well before fall comes.

July 2009 Pictures - Part 2

2009-08-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

June 2009 Pictures!

2009-06-30T19:58:00.004-07:00

June went by very fast. We started with Kylie's birthday on June 7. She had her birthday party the day before and it was a lot of fun. Both kids got bikes the day after and we have been going to the park a lot to teach them how to ride them. So far Austin is the speedy one and has no fear of crashing. Kylie is catching on, but takes it much slower. We had a lot of rain in June too, with several severe storms and funnel clouds. It was fun to see all the storms. Because of all that water, all Denver is very green and beautiful. So we have been enjoying the outdoors and our backyard quite a bit. Just yesterday we got to go to Red Rocks again to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform. It was great. The weather was perfect and the views were beautiful. The place was packed. Even President Monson attended. Nobody was expecting that. We will be back at Red Rocks in August for another concert. In July, we will start by going to Utah for a few days, so we will have lots of pictures from that trip next month.

Kylie's Birthday Party!

2009-06-06T11:18:00.003-07:00

This morning we had Kylie's birthday party at home. She invited her favorite friends and they had a lot of fun playing games and running around. Kylie got a lot of fun presents. She is turning 5 on Sunday, June 7.

May 2009 Pictures!

2009-06-02T18:20:00.003-07:00

May was a fun month. Spring is in full swing here in Colorado. Luckily, we have been getting more rain than normal, and things are very green. It is very nice to see all the trees, flowers and grass back! Ariel got to travel quite a bit in May. One of those trips included some fun golf at Half Moon Bay, CA. We didn't take a lot of pictures in May because by the time we remembered to do so, it was too late in the month. The kids have been having a lot of fun playing outside and going to the park. Austin finished school a couple weeks ago. Kylie will be turning 5 this coming weekend and will have friend over for cake and games. Later in the month, we will be headed to Utah to celebrate the 4th of July. So we will have lots of pictures for the month of June.

April 2009 Pictures!

2009-04-30T17:59:00.004-07:00

April was an interesting month. We enjoyed conference and Easter during the first 2 weeks of the month. After that, right when it was starting to get warm, winter decided to catch up and dump all the snow that had not fallen in the months before. We had 2 big storms. The second one left about 18 inches on the ground. The kids loved it. They got to play and build some snowmen. JoLynn got to do some more snow sculptures too. The good thing about the snow is that it was melted within 48 hrs and made everything very green. We are now enjoying that. We also found out that the kids like pets. So we caught some flies and worms for them and they loved it. They don't last, but they are free. May usually brings great weather to Colorado, so we are looking forward to enjoying some of that. Kylie can't wait until June, when she turns 5!

March 2009 Pictures!

2009-04-01T17:19:00.003-07:00

March was a fun month. We started with Austin's 3rd birthday. We had a lot of fun with it. He is into volcanos and dinosaurs, so his cake had a volcano theme and he got a dinosaur as a gift. He got others later too. The day he turned 3, he also started pre-school. He seems to be enjoying it. Kylie will join him in the same building when she starts kindergarten in August. March was also very dry here in Denver, until the blizzard we had on March 27th. That one dropped a foot of snow with a lot of wind. Two days later we got another 5 inches. Right now we are getting some more snow and we are suppossed to have another strong storm this Saturday. So winter is not over yet. We look forward to general conference in April as well as Easter and warmer weather.

February 2009 Pictures!

2009-03-01T20:56:00.003-07:00

No much happened in February. This month tends to be a dry and cold one here in Denver. This one was no exception. We actually had the driest February on record in Denver. So, maybe we will get burried in snow in March, which is typically the snowiest month. In the meanwhile, we have been enjoying 60s and even a couple of 70s days. Ariel got to go to his annual snowmobiling trip with work and, as always, it was a blast. Austin has been working on this potty skills. Kylie is always in the middle of that helping. Austin is turning 3 on March 4 and starting pre-school that same day. Kylie will have to wait until August to start school. So March will be an exciting month here with lots going on and hopefully some snow.

January 2009 Pictures!

2009-02-01T18:02:00.003-07:00

After having a fun New Year day, we started a cold January. There were a couple of days when we were well into the negatives and had no choice but to stay inside. We did, however, have a few days of warmer than average temperatures. During some of those days, we were in the 60s and even close to 70s. Those were the days we took the kids to the park and played bubbles, etc. Other than that, we are all awaiting spring here in Denver when things get greener and we are able to enjoy the outdoors. Austin will be turning 3 next month and he is ready to go to pre-school. Kylie was also registered for school and she will be starting in August.

December 2008 Pictures!

2009-01-01T12:49:00.004-07:00

Happy New Year! We had a busy December this year. Ariel started with a quick trip to Hawaii. We had our ward Christmas party early in December too and it was a lot of fun. The theme was Christmas in Hawaii. We started getting ready for Christmas fairly early too. Ariel and JoLynn had their 7th anniversary on the 22nd. The kids were very excited for Christmas to come this year. They ended up getting a lot of stuff. They have been very entertained playing with all their new toys. New Year day was fun too. We spent time with some friends and actually stayed until after midnight, which we had not done in a while. 2009 should be fun and interesting with Austin going to pre-school and Kylie to kindergarden!

Kids Sliding Down a Hill

2008-12-07T19:16:00.002-07:00

The kids love playing in the snow now that we are starting to get some.

2008-12-07T19:07:00.002-07:00

This is a fly-by at the BYU-Air Force game with 3 F-15.

November 2008 Pictures!

2008-12-07T18:08:00.001-07:00

November was a very fun month. Winter has really settled in here in Denver. We got t go see BYU play here in Colorado a couple of times, both victories. One against CSU and the other against Air Force. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun too. The guys from church got together for football in the morning. In the evening we got together with three other families to celebrate. It was great. We also got the first 2 real snow storms towards the end of the month. The kids loved it. We went sliding in the snow and built a big snow man. We are looking forward to December, Christmas and New Year. We will have many new pictures soon.

October 2008 Pictures!

2008-11-03T20:32:00.001-07:00

October was a busy month with quite a bit of travel. Ariel was in FL and NY during the first 2 weeks of the month. Then, JoLynn and the kids got to go back to Ridgecrest, CA to visit family. The kids had fun playing with many other kids, riding horses and going to bed late. During the last week of the month we had JoLynn's and Ariel's birthdays followed by Halloween. The kids enjoyed going door to door asking for stuff. Austin was shy initially, but quickly realized that strangers were giving him free stuff. Kylie was a princess and Austin a lady-bug, which he loves. November should be fun with snow surely coming, BYU football in town twice, Thanksgiving, etc.

Kids Riding Toy Train in CA

2008-11-03T20:12:00.002-07:00

The kids, and some adults too, had a blast riding on this miniture train while visiting JoLynn's family in Ridgecrest, CA.

Some Family Pictures

2008-10-21T20:00:00.002-07:00

September 2008 Pictures!

2008-10-04T10:20:00.002-07:00

We started the month with JoLynn's marathon in Colorado Springs. It was a fun event. JoLynn was able, once again, to finish all 26.2 miles. The kids did not come with us this time around. Other than that, we had a quiet month, with a few colder days as fall sets in. The trees here in Denver have already changed colors and they look beautiful. We will be taking family pictures next week and we will be posting them later on in the month.

August 2008 Pictures!

2008-09-03T18:24:00.002-07:00

August was another fun month. We finally got to go to a Red Rocks concert. It was a lot of fun. Other than that, we spent a lot of time outside and enjoying the summer. JoLynn wrapped up her training for the marathon on September 1st in Colorado Springs. We will have pictures of that soon. Ariel continued to do lots of biking and soccer. The kids continue to grow and get crazier every day. Now that we are in September, the weather has began to change quickly and we have even seen a tree or two starting to change colors. We will have more pictures next month.

Beatles at Red Rocks

2008-08-27T19:05:00.003-07:00

Last Saturday we went to Red Rocks to watch a tribute they do every year for the anniversary of when the Beatles played at Red Rocks in 1964. This band is considered the best in Beatles show in the world. They sound and look just like the real thing!

Kids Playing on Trademill

2008-08-01T20:24:00.002-07:00

July 2008 Pictures!

2008-08-01T20:16:00.002-07:00

July was a fun and very hot month. We started by taking a week-long vacation in Utah. We spent the 4th of July there and got to do many things. We got to see the baloons, went swimming, went to Provo Canyon, did and saw fireworks, hiked the Y, and ate a lot of good food and BBQs. The kids enjoyed it, but they were ready to come home. When we got home, they seemed happy to be back to their toys and beds. Ariel got to go to London on business later on in the month and that was fun too. August already started very hot, but should be a fun summer month too. JoLynn will be doing her last month of training for the marathon on September 1st in Colorado Springs. We will have pictures of all that next month.

2008-07-08T18:47:00.002-07:00

2008-07-08T18:21:00.002-07:00

June 2008 Pictures!

2008-07-08T18:10:00.002-07:00

June was a very busy and fun month. We are taking advantage of the summer here. This month we did a lot of swimming, biking, outdoors, etc. We got to visit an airshow up north too. The kids love being outside and getting wet. Ariel has been doing a fun bike ride that takes him to the top of some hills about 4 miles away from home. JoLynn is in the middle of marathon training. The race is on September 1 in Colorado Springs. We will have pictures from our trip to Utah during the 4th of July next month. We also plan on going camping at some point during the month. Should be a fun summer.

Kylie and Austin Jumping Around

2008-06-01T20:31:00.002-07:00

May 2008 Pictures!

2008-06-01T20:03:00.002-07:00

May was a fun month. The weather is starting to get warmer and we have bee able to spend a lot of time outside in the parks, riding bikes, etc. In June we will do a mini camp out in the back yard to see how the kids do. In July we will go camping some place further with some friends. Grandma and Grandpa Ross visited us at the end of the month. Kylie was excited to receive early birthday presents. Kylie will be turning 4 on June 7th. We should have a lot of pictures of that coming up. Austin is starting to get a pretty good tan from being outside so much. We should be able to set up their pool outside in the next couple of weeks.

April 2008 Pictures!

2008-05-01T21:23:00.002-07:00

This month we didn't take a lot of pictures either. We did a little more video instead. The weather is starting to get better and soon we will have outdoor pictures. In the meanwhile, the kids have enjoyed playing in the stairs by throwing things down, such as the big excercise ball and pillows. Austin enjoys mopping the floor for some reason. So we let him. We plan on having grandparents visiting us in May and we will start planning some camping outings for June or July.

March 2008 Pictures!

2008-04-03T17:38:00.002-07:00

March was a good month. Most importantly, Austin turned two years old. He liked his cake. Later in the month, the kids go to do their first Easter egg hunt. Kylie is still enjoying that game.Other than that, we just worked on our emergency kit - kids love the flash lights - and tried to enjoy the good weather we are starting to have. April should be fun and things should start to turn green soon, which means we are going to spend a lot of time in the parks and start planning some camping trips.

February 2008 Pictures!

2008-03-02T21:10:00.002-07:00

This month we didn't take a lot of pictures. We mostly stayed home waiting for the weather to warm up. Austin graduated to a bed, so JoLynn made him a quilt. We decided that since he seems to like airplanes so much, we would use that as the theme. Ariel drew two planes and JoLynn re-traced them on the quilt. She later painted them and added the squares to the rest of the quilt she had already put together. I looks really nice and goes well with the rest of his bedroom, which includes four model planes hanging from the cealing. Other than that, it was a quiet month. March is always great in Colorado and we look forward for sunny and warm days when we can go biking and enjoy the parks and outdoors.

January 2008 Pictures!

2008-01-31T18:03:00.001-07:00

January was a cold, but fun month. Kylie and Austin keep growing quickly and love playing together. Ariel got to do some snowmobiling with work and got to go see the Jazz once again. We haven't had a lot of snow in Denver, so Kylie has not been able to go sledding so far. We are starting to get ready for the spring!

December 2007 Pictures!

2008-01-01T10:35:00.001-07:00

December was an exciting month as we got ready for Christmas and New Year. We also got to enjoy some quiet time off. The kids loved to have the Christmas tree up. They enjoyed all the presents they got and are still playing with all of them. We also got a very nice white Christmas. We ended up getting 8" of snow that day. That storm was followed by another 2 days layer that added some 5" more. It was great weather to use our new sled in a nearby hill. Kylie loves going sledding, so we have gone a few times. We look forward to more snow soon. Have a happy New Year!

November 2007 Pictures!

2007-11-30T19:30:00.001-07:00

In November we got to do some more travel! We spent Thanksgiving and a few extra days in Provo hanging out with the rest of the family and friends. The kids had a lot of fun playing and eating together. We got to visit some friends and watch BYU beat Utah! We think we are done travelling for the year. We look forward to a nice quiet Christmas and New Year at home in Denver. The weather is really starting to turn here and snow is getting closer. For December, we should have a lot of snowy pictures.

October 2007 Pictures!

2007-10-31T18:55:00.001-07:00

October was another eventful month. We begun by going to Utah for Conference and Ariel's mission reunion. It was a lot of fun. The kids got to hang out with abuelo and abuela, uncles and aunts. We also got our first snow of the season in Denver and it was a good one. Kylie and Austin also got to go out on their first official Halloween. Kylie loved it, Austin didn't know what was going on. We know his outfit was a bit girly, but it was warm. We ended up with a lot of candy. November should be a busy one too. We will have new pictures by the end of the month.

September 2007 Pictures!

2007-09-28T20:17:00.001-07:00

September was quite a month! We started by going down to Colorado Springs where JoLynn ran her first marathon. It was a very fun day. A week later we got to go to Hawaii for a few days while the kids stayed in Denver with Grandma and Maqueca. It was a lot of fun. We got to do a lot of things, such as visiting the AZ Memorial, hike a volcano, check out great views, swim, visit the temple, BYU HI and the Polynesian Center, etc. We spent the rest of the month enjoying the summer and having some fun with the kids. We will post the October pictures towards the end of this month.

August 2007 Pictures!

2007-09-01T09:47:00.001-07:00

August was another hot month. The kids did a lot of swimming again. We also visited some cool places here in Colorado, including Roxborough park (20 miles from home) and the new Colorado Rapids Soccer stadium. It was Kylie's first game, and she loved it. We are looking forward for the weather to start changing in September and for the trees to change colors. We should have pictures of the aspens in the mountains next month.

July 2007 Pictures!

2007-07-31T20:45:00.001-07:00

July was a fun and hot month. We had the chance to do some travelling, which included a visit to the California desert and The Netherlands. The kids are growing fast and love to be outside swimming. We will have August pictures posted at the end of the month.

June 2007 Pictures!

2007-07-06T20:50:00.001-07:00

This are some of our pictures for June 2007. It was a busy month which included Kylie's 3rd birthday, a trip to California to visit grandparents, lots of swimming, some hiking, etc.

May 2007 Pictures!

2007-06-02T20:00:00.001-07:00

These are some of our pictures for May 2007.

Austin's Photos from March 2006 to April 2007

2007-06-02T19:59:00.001-07:00

Austin was born in Denver on March 4, 2006. He came with the cutest face and quite the temper. His giggle makes everyone smile, but don't tick him off. He loves Kylie and she's given him the nicknames "Sunshine", and "Nana's 'n' Rice". She also calls him "Sneaky Boy". Austin's favorite pastime is eating. He eats all the time, even if he is full. He is big enough now that he can steal food from Kylie. Even though he is now 15 months old, he is still working on his teeth. He now has 4 of them.

Kylie's Photos from June 2004 to April 2007

2007-06-02T18:22:00.001-07:00

Kylie was born in Denver on June 7th, 2004. She was a little one with a big personality. She hasn't changed. Whether she's killing her fish by sucking all the water out of his tank or running around meowing because she's "a baby jaguar", she never ceases to entertain us and everyone else. She loves making friends and going to nursery and the zoo, where she knows the names of all the animals. Her favorite foods are cookies, ice-cream, pudding, candy, marshmallows, or anything with sugar.