Fall Colors

From Fall Camping

We decided to take the girls up for a night of camping to enjoy the fall colors. The trees en-route to Cripple Creek are just about at their prime! We camped by the South Platte river near Lake George and we spent the next day driving part of the Scenic Gold Belt Byway. Adrianna loved throwing rocks into the river. We enjoyed getting away for a day and experiencing the outdoors. The last time we had been camping was when we were finalizing our adoption application paperwork back in 2004!

Belly Time!

Alicia normally does not like to be on her belly, unless it is on top of mommy or daddy's belly or on an occasion like this one when others join her at her level. The moments are fleeting but she gets belly time at least a few times every day.

Preschool

Adrianna started Preschool on Sept 5th. She is part of a coop preschool group and she goes twice a week (Mon. and Wed.) for 2 and a half hours. Adrianna is very excited to be in preschool and she enjoys the time there. Here are some cute shots of her on the first two days. Alicia is also pretty excited to have some alone time with mommy!

Happy Apple Farm Field Trip

Adrianna's pre-school group arranged a field trip to the Ferrara's Happy Apple Farm. We had a wonderful time picking apples and enjoying spending time with friends, especially Angie & Cassidy. You can view more pictures on in our web album by clicking on the picture below.

Apple Orchard Field Trip

Store Bought or Homemade?

So which is it? I was had at first, then I realized it was too early for stores to be making jack-o-lantern cookies, and these cookies were much too delicious to be made in any store. Sarah continues to perfect her decorating talent and made these with fondant. She is taking a class now learning how to use this dough-like frosting. I expect you will see some beautifully decorated cakes in the near future!

Swimming Graduate!

 





Adrianna finished her first full set of swimming classes. She enjoyed 5 weeks of lessons 2 nights per week at the Cottonwood Creek Recreation Center. Though I think she spent more time jumping underwater than learning from her instructor, she has gained a lot of confidence in the water. It has been fun for me to watch her interract with her instructor and the other classmates.

Morgan's Visit

Sarah's good friend Morgan came all the way from Minneapolis over the Labor Day weekend to visit and to meet Alicia. We had a great time visiting and the girls got to go visit another friend from the "days" (Kathy) up in Denver. Kathy is expecting twins on Halloween, (Congratulations Kathy & Harry)!!



Morgan even gave us a night out while she stayed home with Adrianna and Alicia. Adrianna was sound asleep but Alicia wasn't keen on being without mommy and cried for an hour straight. We were finally able to see the last Pirates of the Carribean, which we loved. Thank you Morgan for visiting and for giving us the night out!!

Painting

 

Adrianna helped me to finish painting one of the walls of her soon to be room. She was very excited to help and she did a great job in her little spot. I felt so bad when I had to roll over it to smooth it out. We are slowly getting the second bedroom ready for her so we can move Alicia into the nursery.

 

Baby Manicure

Alicia got a pampering after her bath with a manicure, a pedicure, and a massage. She is very good about having her nails clipped but it takes two to do the job right. For a girl this cute she deserves all the pampering she gets! Trust us, Alicia has a rough life!

Our Family

We went to the studio for some more pictures, this time of the whole family. Sarah and I are trully blessed to have these two wonderful girls in our lives. They bring so much joy and happiness! Sure, there are moments when it isn't so picture perfect, but the rewards are well worth it, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Maroon 5

We finally gave in and bought a new car! With both girls we were having more and more difficulty getting everything into our Mazda hatchback. The 626 served us well and was a great car, but this Mazda 5 seats six and gives us plenty of flexibility to take the family on the road. The sliding doors make it much easier to get the girls in and out, which is a huge plus for Sarah!

Tio y Tia Visit

Tio David & Tia Vanessa are in town and they came over to visit last night. We had a good time catching up while Adrianna had a great time pretending to style David's hair. Then she took advantage of his leaning on the chair and slid down his chest. As always tio, uncle, Kurt, and now David are all synonyms for "Jungle Gym". Tia Vanessa helped put Adrianna to bed, giving her professional advice on teeth brushing and reading the all of Dr. Suess "Horton Hears a Who", Adrianna ensured she read the entire book. Adrianna is always proficient at dragging out bed-time, especially with special guests.

We had a great time, thank you Tio y Tia for your visit, and thanks for helping with the couches David!

Missionary Girl

The Missionaries in our ward stopped by as we were doing some work in our garage last Saturday. We gave them water and fruit and as they got ready to head out Adrianna runs into the house, grabed her backpack and her tricycle and says she wants to go with the missionaries. She was really bummed when we told her she had to stay home. It was a very cute moment for all of us!

Cinnamon Bread

I helped Adrianna make some cinnamon roll bread this Sunday. Adrianna loves to help me bake and she did a great job with this loaf. As you can see, she was very proud of the results. It was delicious!!

LOL (Laughing out Loud)

Sarah and I just had a good laugh looking through some of our pictures when we came upon this one, I hope you get a laugh too.

Daredevil

We got Adrianna this play roller coaster, it is a ten foot track and a cart that she loves to ride. After about an hour of riding it normally (sitting down) she started to stand on the seat, and then she moved to surfing on it from the side. She likes to show off her talents to anyone willing to watch. It is a fun way for her to use some of that excess energy.

From Roller Coaster

Alicia Smiles

One of the most amazing feelings as a father is having your daughter give you a great big grin. Here are some pictures of Alicia and her grins. She is a very happy and mellow girl and she is especially smiley after eating!

Summer Concert

Before I came home from San Jose on Friday, July 13th, Sarah and the girls enjoyed an outdoor concert at the First and Main Town Center. I met up with them afterwards for some Sushi and some Coldstone Ice Cream. It was a fun date night after a long trip. To make the trip even longer we got the crazy idea of going to see Harry Potter while we were out. With Alicia sound asleep we decided to be that crazy family who takes their little ones to the late showing. It was fun and both girls did very well, Adrianna made the whole theater laugh as she bade a sweet farewell (buh bye) to the character who dies toward the end of the movie.

Swimming Lessons

Adrianna loves the water, ever since we went to Sea World in April and saw Shamu she has wants to go swimming. Grandma Terry enrolled Adrianna in swim lessons at the Flying Horse Ranch club. The first lesson didn't go so well as Adrianna was not familiar with the instructors and wasn't so sure about being in the water. She loved the play area though where she could enjoy the water without having to float. The next day went a lot better because Sarah requested a male instructor who Adrianna opened up to. We will take up lessons again when things are not so crazy, thanks Mom for signing her up, Adrianna now asks about swimming whenever she can.

Anniversary

 

Sarah and I had our 7th Anniversary this weekend on the 22nd. Though we will celebrate it next weekend by skipping town as a family, Sarah made a wonderful Blueberry Heart shaped cake that was just to die for. She has really outdone herself with these cakes, but even more so she has outdone herself as a wife and mother. The past seven years have been wonderful and I am amazed that we have been able to keep up during the past 2. With so many changes and surprises through our daughters who knows what the next few years will bring!

Business Trip

I was in San Jose last week on Business working with our Recognition Systems factory. Because I was only 30 minutes from Santa Cruz I made a jaunt down to the beach and I enjoyed a few rides at the Boardwalk. The "Giant Dipper" is still as thrilling now as it was then! It was fun to remember when we lived in Watsonville and would go to the Boardwalk to enjoy the rides and the beach. Though I longed to have my girls with me I had an enjoyable evening and a productive week working in California.

Adoring Fans

Our friends the Stone Family joined us for dinner, they have two wonderful boys Ben & Josh who were wonderful with Adrianna and Alicia. Here is a picture of all of them adoring Alicia, I know it is a bit dark but I couldn't help but post it. I love how Adrianna is hanging over Josh gazing at her sister. Sarah has watched these two boys grow up since Ben was an infant. We hope that our two girls will have a similar sibling bond that Ben & Josh do.

Odd Traits

This picture may just seem like another pic of Alicia sleeping, though that is a wonderful blessing that we enjoy, this picture has special significance. Notice on the lower right the little foot portruding from the swaddling blanket. Sarah cannot sleep with her feet covered, no matter how cold, she must have at least one foot outside of any blankets. It just goes to show that our children inherit even our oddest traits!

Jesus pick up me?

Adrianna and I have a bedtime routine of singing from her song book of songs about Jesus. She loves singing "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" with extra special emphasis on "BEAM". But what really amazes me is that everytime we turn to the page of the song "I wonder when He comes again" with an illustration of Jesus gathering little children around his knee, Adrianna says: "Jesus pick up me?" I tell her of course he will pick her up just like her mommy and daddy do. My evening moments with our daughters are special times that I will always cherish.

4th of July Fun

We celebrated the fourth by going to the Briargate YMCA with some friends, where they had an open house of sorts with a Bar-B-Q and fun games for the kids. We had a great time and the kiddos got to expend some energy dancing and playing. Alicia slept through the entire event which worked out perfectly. Click here or on the album above to link to a video of Adrianna getting down to the song YMCA by the Village People!

Later that evening we went for a stroll around the neighboorhood as a family. Adrianna loves our new double stroller, she enjoys looking at Alicia in her car seat. It is great to be able to stroll around and enjoy the wonderful Colorado evenings.

Beauty Sleep

There aren't many things better than falling asleep with your daughter. I missed out on many of these opportunities with Adrianna, so I enjoy each and every opportunity I get with Alicia. Sarah has always said I am a type of baby whisperer, babies just relax in my arms. But I think this day it worked in reverse, Alicia was the daddy whisperer; she caused me to relax so deeply that we both fell into sweet beauty sleep.

Alicia's Blessing Day

Alicia was given a name and blessed today at Church. It was a wonderful day and we were blessed that many of our family could be a part of the blessing including the Abuelos who came from Utah (thank you Mom & Dad for making that happen!). After church we had a wonderful meal of Milanesa (a recipe Sarah learned from Abuela), and Sarah made a beautiful and delicious rasberry cake. It is trully inspiring to see our girls enjoying their Great Grandparents. It was a wonderful family weekend!