The Billings in CO (August 2012)

It's been a few years since my family has been able to travel or vacation together, and last weekend we made it happen! We were so excited to plan another Colorado trip (our favorite place to go!) with them, and there were several things that made this trip great. Besides all the fun places we went and time spent together, one highlight was staying with Jenna at her house in Colorado Springs, and also having Aaron's fiancé Maria come with us. 

 When we arrived Friday night, Jenna had prepared an awesome mexican dinner for us, and we spent the rest of the evening getting settled and then playing games after the kids went to bed. I love games, and my family never disappoints in this department! We laughed and laughed!

On Saturday we got up and had a huge breakfast at IHOP, where many pancakes were eaten. After that we took off for near Denver to Castle Rock for some shopping. We all managed to find something as we wandered around the huge shopping center, and then ate at an awesome burger and shake place for lunch. 

In the afternoon we spent our time at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. We drove through, walked around, took lots of pictures and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. 

A couple in love!

Aunt Jenna and Makenah 

 This girl loves her Grandma and Grandpa!

I love this guy! 

Classic Makenah. The squinty eye. 

 Quite breathtaking. 

 Sweet little Logie slept through the entire thing. We'll tell him someday that he slept through his first trip to Garden of the Gods. Nothing like napping in the cool mountain air. 

 Makenah goes non-stop. We are so thankful for family who like to keep up with her, explore, show her new things and take care of her. 

 Uncle Bear is so much fun!!

 Bravery.

 Carrying the soon-to-be bride.

 Checking out the view from another angle. 

 We saw some wildlife. Initially this deer was mistaken for something a lot more threatening. :-) 

 We had a full day Sunday as well! More to come...

Logan (4 months)

Here I am, sneaking it in again...Sweet Logan is nearing 5 months old, and I haven't documented him at 4 months. I've got some cute smiley pictures and some thoughts about Logan right now that we want to remember...

Our boy Logan continues to wow us. We are so thankful for his sweet and content disposition. He's cuddly, happy, and a really easy going baby. We are always shaking our heads in awe at how awesome he is!! 

There hasn't been too much change in his eating or sleeping habits. He "sleeps through the night" and then just gets up once early in the morning to eat and then goes back to sleep. I'm thankful for that. Logan likes to eat, pretty often during the day too, and I think we'll be starting some cereal or baby foods with him soon. 

Logan's getting really strong and likes to always roll onto his tummy and lay. He can roll both ways now, and we will often see him rolling off the blanket or play mat. He sleeps on his side though. When he lays on his tummy he either pushes up really high on his hands, or lays flat and does the superman and flaps his arms and legs in excitement. 

He really enjoys the entertainment on the play mat and he likes to jump in the jumper/exersaucer. He doesn't really care for the position or angle of sitting in his bouncy seat through. He will also sit in his Bumbo for just a little bit, and then tries to escape and it just makes me nervous. But really, his favorite places to be is snuggling in our arms. He likes to be included wherever we are. He smiles SO big when you talk to him, and I love to hear him laugh, coo, and "talk" to me. Logan loves to gnaw on his hands and always tries to put ours in his mouth, along with anything in his hands. He likes to grab his feet too. 

He is super interested in Makenah. He is always watching what she is doing, and she seems to be paying more attention to him now too. She likes to show him her things, and now even lets him touch them. Ha! She will tell us when he needs Mama or Daddy and if she thinks he is hungry for milk. And, she always gets big smiles.

Logan has been lots of places this past month, and he does so well when we travel or are out doing activities. He sleeps well in the car in his seat, and we think he is pretty go-with-the-flow when his routine is out of the ordinary. (He makes it pretty easy on me nursing on road trips or changing diapers in funny places...)

He is starting to look like such a big boy to! I still feel like I have a newborn, it just doesn't seem like it's been almost 5 months already! If someone asked me, I'd probably still be saying I just had a baby! He's lost most of the hair that he was born with, especially on top, and it's filling in with fuzz that looks to be a little lighter. He's a big guy, but not all that chubby--just solid. Ha! I'm buying him 6-12 mo. tops and will soon be for his pants too. 

We are so thankful for Logan and what a perfect part of our family he is.

GC Zoo

The kids and I enjoyed our first visit to the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City on Saturday with Bryan's mom Debbie. I have always been really impressed with this zoo! It's so well maintained and pretty, and even for a small zoo, they have all the most popular animals! It's a perfect size for walking the whole thing or just part of it if you can only stay for a shorter time. It's open all year and free to walk through!! So cool! Or, for a small fee, you can drive through it! We went for an hour and a half or so and saw some of our favorite animals. We're planning a trip back with Bryan sometime soon to see the rest. 

Such a clean and green place!

Giraffes are a definite favorite.

 We went through the aviary, and the birds were so close to us. 

I hardly zoomed in at all. They just sat there. 

 Cute baby!!!

Makenah rode in the stroller for a little while, and then walked through the aviary. Once she was exploring on her own, you can bet she wasn't getting back in that thing!

We'll be heading back soon! 

Colorado (July 2012) Ballerina

One of the added bonuses of visiting Bryan's family in Colorado is that we also get to to spend some time with my sister when we are there. This year, she drove up to Woodland Park from Colorado Springs and spent an evening with us. She came bearing gifts, and Makenah was very excited. We've known for awhile that we have a little ballerina on our hands, and Aunt Jenna totally hooked her up with a new tutu and her first pair of ballet shoes. Jen even adorned them with ribbon to look like pointe shoes, and being a dancer herself, she knew lots of ballet skills to teach Makenah. There was lots of twirling going on in the living room! 

Thank you Aunt Jenna for visiting us and bringing such a sweet gift for Makenah. 

We love you!