Sarah took a quick trip to northern CA with her mom to see her Grandma for her 99th (!!!) birthday! It was a special weekend. The kids enjoyed Halloween - Ethan wanted to be a T-Rex and Addison was Minnie Mouse.
We went to Vegas to visit Sarah's family over Labor Day and spent lots of time in the pool. Ethan started soccer and once he finished his tantrum at his first game, he really seemed to enjoy it.
The first week of August was extremely busy. Sarah's mom was in town for a week, Joe's parents were in town for a weekend, Joe's Aunt visited for a few days, and Joe's brother and his wife and daughter came for a weekend. Whew...The reason the parents came was to watch me and two of my girlfriends in a relay triathlon, Tri for the Cure. I swam, my girlfriend, Katie Northouse, did the bike, and Ruthann Sparrow ran. Some of those pictures are enclosed. We also celebrated Addison's 1st birthday and took pictures of Ethan, Addison, and their cousin Elena. Ethan also had his last t-ball game of the summer.
We went camping to Silver Jack Reservoir southwest of Gunnison, Co over the July 4th weekend. We had a good time though we did get rained on. The scenery was beautiful!
Joe and Ethan met Uncle Chris and Grandpa for a fishing trip in Flaming Gorge, UT. They had a great time though they got rain almost every day. Joe caught a pretty big fish. Ethan started t-ball so here are pics of his first game. I'm sure there will be miscellaneous pics over the next 1 1/2 months.
Not much going on in May - we went to Thorntonfest which is a little festival in our town. Ethan went down some huge inflatable slides and loved it. He also went on a little "train" ride and pony rides.
Ethan, Addison, and Sarah went to Redding (northern) CA to visit Sarah's 98 year-old Grandma. Sarah's mom met us and we spent 4 great days together. Addison is growing and doing so many things - push ups, sitting on her own, eatings lots, trying to drink from a sippy cup...We also went sledding for the first time this winter (we haven't gotten much snow and when we did it was in the single digits outside - brrr!).
Sarah's brother, David, was married in Las Vegas and all 4 of us were in the wedding - Joe was bestman, Sarah a bridesmaid, Ethan the ringbearer, and Addison the flower girl. We also saw lots of family which was great!
We tried to get out and enjoy as much of the holiday as possible, but we were not able to do as much as we wanted. We did take another trip to Cascade, CO (just west of Colorado Springs) to Santa's Workshop which is a little amusement park for kids. We went to Sedona, AZ to spend the holiday with Joe's family. Matt, Leda, Maddox, and Emery came up from Phoenix to visit. Matt's parents bought Emery and Addison matching outfits.
Joe surprised Sarah and threw a small surprise party for her 30th birthday. We stayed up late playing a friend's Wii. Joe's mom came out for a week to further postpone daycare.
October was busy...We took a trip to Las Vegas in mid-October with our good friends Brent and Katie to have a fun weekend and see Sarah's family. David and Nicole had not met little Addison yet, so this was a great opportunity to show her off. Sarah returned to work at the end of October, so her mom came out to watch the kids for 1 1/2 weeks to postpone daycare.
Joe, Sarah, and Sarah's brother David threw a surprise 60th birthday party for Sarah's parents. It was a great party and we actually pulled off the surprise at their own house!
Ethan absolutely loved the holidays. He helped decorate the Christmas tree, make cookies, and decorate outside. We put an inflatable snowman and santa in the front yard so every evening, Ethan asked "turn santa on?" "turn snowman on?" He would say bye to them in the AM when we left. It was adorable. He became infatuated with santa and snowmen and even noticed them on neighbor's yards.
Sarah's parents, her brother David and his girlfriend Nicole, visited for the holidays. It was great to have them visit and spend time with Ethan.
Joe's brother, Chris, was married September 15th in Fruita, near Grand Junction, CO. We drove up Thursday, Michelle had her bachelorette party that night, and Friday was spending time with family, the rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner. It was a fun weekend!
We found this great site just outside of a campground near Geneva Park. We went up Friday night with Brandon/Melissa and Saturday we were joined by Jason/Sarah and Brent/Katie. The kids had a great time and played all day long! There was a little creek running and the boys (yes, all the 6 kids were boys) threw rocks into the water, put their toy boats in the water, walked in the cold water, dug holes, etc. They had a great time!
Ethan and Sarah went to Holland, MI for Sarah's godsister's wedding. She met her parents, brother, and his girlfriend there for a busy but fun weekend.
We did not do anything special for the 4th of July. During the day we went on a walk and went shopping. While Ethan was napping, Joe and Sarah watched a movie. We wanted to watch a fireworks show, but nothing was starting until after 9 PM and Ethan goes to bed at 7:30. Maybe next year...
May was a very busy month. Included in this album are pictures from a friend's birthday party where Ethan had tons of "big boy" toys to play with. Also, Ethan's daycare provider had a Mother's Day BBQ where there are no pictures of Ethan and I. We took Ethan to his first baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was fitting since Joe's fave team is the Diamondbacks. Joe's brother, Chris, graduated from Mesa State in Grand Junction.
We took Ethan to play putt-putt golf for the first time. He didn't quite understand what to do but loved throwing the golf balls. We celebrated our 5th anniversary this month and went to the Wild Horse Bed and Breakfast in Winter Park, CO for a long weekend. It was gorgeous, quiet, and we even made it out for two nice dinners and 1 1/2 hour massages. In the picture of us dressed up, I am wearing the same dress that I was wearing when Joe proposed. Yes, I was shocked to realize it still fit...not quite as well as previously, but it fit nonetheless. While we were gone, Sarah's mom came to visit to watch Ethan. Joe's mom also visited for a few days after Chris graduated from the Police Academy.
Included are some random pictures of who??? Ethan of course. King Soopers and a local radio station were allowing kids to take pictures with the Easter bunny for FREE! There are also pictures of Ethan finding the eggs in our family room and he did much better than I thought. He definitely understood what he was supposed to do - smart guy! We went to Denver's St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Denver and Ethan had a great time watching the dogs, cows, and horses. He kept pointing every time an animal passed by. He grew a love for balloons also. Ever since this parade, he points to every balloon he sees and calls it a "ball."
