Kristen's Blog

Haircuts

About a month ago, we decided that the girls needed haircuts/trims.  Kate was especially in need of one.  Her hair was getting very long in the back and staying nice and short on the sides.  I always get a little sad when it's time for the first haircut.  Plus, they don't stay still for very long so it's not an easy task.  Of course, girls may be easier than boys since it's pretty much a straight cut along the bottom.  I couldn't tell you for sure though.

I also added a few pictures of Kate with our penguin humidifier.  She loves it, and is not afraid of it at all.  Even when she is feeling sick, the penguin helps to make things better.

A Fun Few Days

My parents cam e to visit us this past weekend.  It was a lot of fun to see them and to have them at our home.  We are lucky enough to see them a few times a year, but it's not usually in Denver.  So, it was fun to have them on our turf.

It was the perfect weather for them to be here.  The temperature was ideal and we were able to do some great outdoor activities.  I took them to see Ryan's office downtown where we brought a picnic and enjoyed the park that's around the corner from where he works.  We stopped off at the Children's Museum and let the kids get even more worn out.  On another day, we went down to Colorado Springs and enjoyed The Garden of the Gods...beautiful!

Good times had by all and we look forward to another visit, hopefully, from my mom when the baby arrives.  We love being able to spend time with family and are so grateful to have some family members really close and others sort of close (within a few states).

Is it already February?

The past two months have been busy for us.  We ended the year with a wonderful Christmas at home.  It was nice to not worry about traveling or being anywhere by a certain time.  As the kids get older, the holidays seem to get more fun.  We had a great and meaningful Christmas season followed by some travel right after the holiday and lots of time with family!

Thanksgiving in NJ

We had a great Thanksgiving in New Jersey this year.  The weather was a bit chilly and wet, but it was still beautiful!  This was the first time we had been out there in the fall/winter.  The other two times were in the spring.

It was so much fun spending time with some of Ryan's family.  Our little girls absolutely love his little sisters.  We had permanent babysitting the whole time we were there.  I felt a bit lazy, but our girls were having so much fun!  They love their aunts! 

We hung around the house most of the time, but got out on a few occasions.  Ryan's mom took the kids (and us) to a children's museum and they had so much fun.  Some of us adults went to a few movies and we also got to enjoy some very late-night games around the table.

It's always fun being with family and we look forward to Christmas to be able to do the same.

Halloween

Halloween was nearly a month ago...time really flies.  I made these little tutu's for the older girls and they loved them.  (Thanks for the idea Rachael!)  They were very easy, which I liked!

We tried to go to a pumpkin festival again this year but we got rained out.  The girls were pretty disappointed so we decided to take them to the mall in their costumes.  That was nearly as fun for them...phew!

We also had our ward trunk-or-treat and even did a little bit of trick-0r-treating on the actual night.  Halloween has never been a holiday that I have cared much for, but having kids makes it a lot more entertaining!

Comfortable?

This is how Carly fell asleep last night.  She usually sleeps straight as a board (like me) and doesn't move much until she wakes up.  I'm not sure what she was doing to be in this position, but she must have been REALLY tired!

One shoe on, one shoe off

My girls love wearing their "glass slippers" all over the house.  Thank goodness we have many pairs because Kate wants to wear them now.  She only wears one at a time, which is kind of funny, but I don't think she could balance very well wearing two shoes.  She has such a big smile, and this is usually how excited she looks when she has one shoe on and one shoe off.

So Many Weddings!

Weddings are wonderful events and we are always so happy when our frie nds and family members invite us to celebrate in their joyous occasion.

We haven't been to a wedding in nearly a year and a half.  Last year, Ryan had a brother get married in Lafayette, La and we were able to attend that.  We had never been to that part of the country so it was a really fun trip for our family.  A few weeks after that I was able to attend one of my best college girlfriend's weddings in the Washington D.C. Temple.  It was so beautiful!!!  Another first for me...I'd been to D.C., but not the temple.  Even if you are unable to go inside the temple, it is well worth the trip to visit the grounds and the visitor's center. 

This year, we have had 3 weddings and one still to come over a six week period.  Ryan and one of his mission companions headed to Louisiana and Mississippi to attend another one of their mission companions weddings in the Baton Rouge Temple.  They had a great time eating alligator,  renting a convertible, and driving along the gulf coast.

After that adventure, I headed to Utah and stayed with one of my girlfriends from college for the weekend.  We drove down to Southern Utah to attend another one of our BYU friend's weddings.  It was a ranch/country wedding and the scenery was gorgeous.  They had it on the ranch that her husband grew up on and runs.  We had a lot of fun reminiscing and seeing people we hadn't seen in a really long time.

The weekend after that we had another "ranch" wedding just outside Steamboat Springs, CO.  This one was for a co-worker Ryan used to work with.  We took the whole family and were able to spend some time in Steamboat and then spend an evening at the wedding festivities.  The wedding was very classy and the views we had were like from a movie...stunning!

We have one more wedding next weekend and then I think we'll be done for a bit.  But, don't feel like you can't invite us if you do decide to get married in the next little while. 

Camping, River Rafting and Running

Labor Day weekend was full of fun for our family.  Some of our friends invited us to go camping and river rafting o n the Colorado River.  I had never been river rafting and was a bit nervous.  But, the river was pretty low and didn't get too crazy on us.  It was a good "first time" for me.  (Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures.)  I look forward to doing it again. 

We camped next to the river so there wasn't a lot of shade.  It was pretty hot , but the kids were so good while we went rafting and they had a lot of fun in our NEW tent...we were lucky enough to upgrade from a 3-man to a 6-man this camping trip.  It was much more comfortable for our family of five.

Monday morning, Ryan ran a ten-mile race in Denver.  It was called the Park-to-Park 10 miler and went, as you may have already guessed, through some beautiful parks in Denver.  It was a perfect morning and  the girls and I had a lot of fun waiting and watching at a few different points of the race.  I'm thinking of doing it next year.  I don't have a lot of desire to run a marathon, but I think ten miles would be a pretty good goal for me.  But, I'm still just thinking about it.   

Ballet & Preschool

Carly has had an exciting week with Kindergarten starting, and now it's Mya's turn for a little fun.  She started ballet on Monday and has been really excited to finally be old enough to go.  She has had to watch Carly get ready and go for the last two years, so I'm excited that it is finally her turn.  She isn't one that I would have thought would like to dance, but she absolutely LOVES it!  Everyday this week she has asked to put her dance clothes on so we could go to ballet.  I keep having to remind her that it is only once a week.

Mya also started preschool today.  This is another event that she has watched Carly participate in for the last two years and she felt so grown up to have it be for her now.  I am continuing to do a co-op with some friends who also have little girls the same age and it is going to be another fun year for all the moms and kids.