Happy Thanksgiving!

Thought we'd share our picture card from the biz blog here for you! These are fun pictures we took in October while doing Julie & Keenan's engagement pictures in Garden of the Gods.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

CARDINALS WIN!!!

Wow!! No one thought the Cards even had a chance when they were 10 1/2 games back in August. Yet, they pulled off the wild card place at the last moment and went on to beat both Philly and Milwaukee and then tonight, after last night's BEST GAME EVER in probably the history of baseball, clinched the World Series title for the 11th time! Enjoy the kids celebrating with all the players and fans on the TV (we were with our friends, the Andresses, who also have two kids).

-L

Natalie's First Day of Preschool!

Big day for Natalie...first day of PreK! She's attending Sunrise Preschool which is housed in Sunrise United Methodist Church and is in the T/Th program. She has two teachers in her class of 12 students, Mrs. Walsh & Mrs. Seibel. She's been VERY excited to start school and has said for the last 2 weeks, "Is this 'kool' day?" (we're working on that 's' at the beginning of words - took me a few to realize she was asking about school!).

So, she's there now and stays through lunch! I think Tyler is pretty excited to have the house and toys and such to himself and is currently enjoying "dad time." :-)

-L





They did so well while we took these pictures of them together!




Her classroom...


Natalie's spot for circle and also for her hook and cubby are marked by the red circle...she remembered this on her own from over a week ago when we came for the Meet the Teacher day.

Christmas in June (Christmas 2010 Post!)

Get back in that Christmas spirit with this blog post! I have to say that Christmas was truly fun this year as both Tyler and Natalie were old enough to really participate. Natalie was so excited for everything she received and though there were a few "fits" along the way, overall was just precious in her reactions to her presents. And Tyler was just into everything! Very fun times.

So, a little funny story that relates to Christmas. Natalie has recently gotten very into Toy Story (she started with the 3rd and final movie since it was available on Netflix instant streaming but has since caught up on the first two movies...) and so a few weeks ago, she says this to me:

"Buzz Lightyear...he the coolest toy, Mom. You know what would be good idea? I could ask Santa to bring me Buzz Lightyear for Christmas! And he could bring Woody to Tyler and Jesse to Mom and the dinosaur to Dad. That be a good idea, right?" I just listened, smiled, and nodded...can't really get a word in with her some days, but boy that was a cute earful I got!

Enjoy some pictures!

-L

Our tree...


The entry on Christmas morning...


Surprises in stockings...








Opening her Blues Jersey (she was VERY excited!)








Natalie's first camera... :-)

Annual Christmas Tree Chop

December 5th was the day we did our annual Christmas Tree Chop in the national forest in Woodland Park. It's one of our favorite family traditions and so very neat that the forest benefits from thinning (part of forest fire prevention) and the community has a fantastic opportunity for a completely Colorado tree! You'll never see the thick, symmetrical trees like those from tree farms, but we love our "Charlie Brown"-esque tree each year and the experience and memories from finding it and cutting it down. Natalie had a blast until the end, and Tyler was his usual happy self.

-L















Our tree (and a very-ready-to-be-done-and-warm-again Natalie)

Thanksgiving in Tucson ARIZONA

Last Thanksgiving we got to go to Tucson to visit PopPop (Mike), Mimi (Pam), Grandma Bobbie, and Papa Ed! November is a fantastic time to visit since the temps felt just about perfect! The kids had a fantastic time with all the grandparents and great grandparents - especially since there's a slot machine with lights and sounds to play with! :-) Plus, some new toys that then came home with us! We had a fun day trip to the zoo, neighborhood walks, enjoyed the newly redone backyard, FANTASTIC meals (thank you Pam!!) and a great Thanksgiving Day! And Jon and I even got a date night in!! Enjoy pictures from our trip (and ignore that you're looking at them 6 months later...).

-L

Tyler loves his "big boy" car seat!


Day at the Zoo...














Fish as big as Tyler...




The anteaters were my favorite to watch on this zoo trip...




Tyler with a home-grown grapefruit...


Tyler getting to meet and spend time with great-grandpa, Papa Ed...


Natalie "stylin'" with Great-grandma Bobbie...




The SLOT MACHINE...


With Pop Pop and Mimi in their beautifully redone backyard...

First Hair Cuts!

We're going to skip ahead a little in our timeline on the blog...no worries - we'll catch you up on the end of November and all of December in the near future...

January 23rd was the big day...BOTH Natalie and Tyler together had their first hair cuts! Never would have happened if Tyler was the oldest, but having a girl first made it okay to have waited so long to cut her hair for the first time. We went to Great Clips, and they did a great job with really little kids. Tyler started out on his own and then wanted Dad to sit with him for the last part; Natalie (being older and far more aware) wanted Mommy with her from the start.

We did a "before" and "after" for you...and yes, even from Great Clips, you get great mountain views!

-L

Brave boy! He has absolutely no clue what to expect...










Natalie's turn...




"This is pretty cool since I can hold the combs!"


Our super-cute kids!