A Taste Of Fall

It seems like for the past few weeks there will be one day out of the week that gives us a hint of fall. Yesterday was a perfect fall day with the sun shining but the temperature being a perfect 73ish. We followed it up with a nice whopping 90 degree day today.

Brooke and I had a busy, fun week that ended with a great trip to the zoo. (meaning-I don't have any pictures from the week except for the zoo trip). She loved seeing all the animals and her freedom of walking the whole park. She didn't sit in her stroller until we had to leave to meet Troy for lunch. If you ask her what she saw she would say "bears, roars, giraffes, mongoose, tigers, monkeys, elephants, seals" and many, many more.I'm so glad that we got a membership there and that she loves seeing the different kinds of animals.

Yesterday was a pretty nice and relaxing day. We didn't do much at all. Troy has been training for his half marathon and ran his 11 miler. He is doing awesome training and I am so impressed with him. He's doing his training all on his own and he has kept up with it.

Uncle Jonathan came down to visit today. Brooke got to show him some of her new tricks.

Squishy has also been showing off some of her disappearing tricks as well.

Oh rise and shout?

We had a full house on Saturday as friends and family descended on us for the BYU - Air Force game. Here are the highlights:

Brooke enjoyed having a couple of other kids around, and she and Declan ran laps around the backyard. That boy is fearless!

Taylor and Riley drove out from Orem and we enjoyed their company all weekend. It was great to get to know Riley, and Brooke had a lot of fun with the both of them.

We couldn't get them to hug for the camera, just a couple of big smiles!

As for the game, the biggest highlight was the $5 food voucher and the halftime show with the big American flag. Seriously. That was possibly the last BYU game we get to watch at that Stadium?!?! We need at least one more game to redeem our poor performance, the high winds that meant no skydivers and missing man formation, and the horrendous traffic.

Sunday we got to hang out with just Taylor and Riley. We had fun playing games and Tracie enjoyed her new fur shawl.

A Butcher, A Baker, and A Candlestick Maker...oh, and a Photographer

Okay, so maybe not a butcher or a candlestick maker but I think we have a budding baker and photographer in our home. Just within the last week, Brooke has shown a real interest in the goings on in the kitchen. She is not satisfied anymore with sitting on the opposite side of the island watching. No, she has to push the stool over to be by my side and even insist on helping. Her favorite thing to do is "turn" which in the culinary world is stirring.And in this case, mash.Just thought I'd throw this one in here to show how much Squishy wishes she could help out. Luckily, Brooke knows how to take control of her kitchen.Along with being a budding baker, Brooke is also an aspiring photographer. There have been many of times, where I have left her to take a shower and have come back to find at least 30 new pictures on the camera. Amazingly enough she somehow manages to focus and produce some great pictures like these:

I may have assisted in keeping her hands still of this shot.

We managed to have a fun filled Labor Day complete with seeing some family and friends. Jonathan came down Saturday for some Brooke time and Monday, we had a Labor Day BBQ. My mom would be so proud of me. We had 7 families come which included 14 kids under the ages of 6 running amuck. We had a full spread of food and everything went off without a hitch. I didn't think I could do it but I did. Now bring on Thanksgiving!!!!

Lastly, I just wanted to show proof that Lexie and Squishy are now starting to get along.

Swimming, Paint and Spaghetti

We've been hitting up the pool in the last few weeks as we try to get the most out of the warm weather and also the rest of the swim diapers! Brooke loves it.

Saturday was paint day. We've been mulling color choices for the past few weeks and for those that were following the choices Tracie finally decided on Koi Pond. We spent Friday and Saturday morning taping, and put our first coat on by noon. Squishy had to be banished and Brooke watched more movies than she cared for, but it looked really good... Except for the fact that Koi Pond was not the right color. After some discussion we decided that Garden Sage was indeed the choice. After painting, it was definitely the right choice. Do you agree?

Two perspectives on the painting, one from Brooke, one from Tracie.

We had spaghetti tonight for dinner. Brooke liked it.

While the Cat's Away...

The mamas will play. I took a spur of the moment trip to Utah last week to keep Heather company while Shane has been away for the past 2 weeks. It worked out really well with Grandpa and Grandma Burt coming out here to visit and Brooke and I driving back with them. Brooke did fabulous in the car especially staying dry from Denver to Cheyenne then Cheyenne to Little America. She was a rockstar and I know that Gpa and Gma loved hearing her sing and babble. Once we arrived in Utah, Brooke and I parted ways. Me with Heather and Brooke with Grandma Ware and all the cousins. Heather and I had so much fun eating, shopping, talking, and watching Inception (again, I know). So much fun that I hardly took any pictures. The only pic I got was of Heather taking a bite from her lobster fettucine and my delicious halibut and crabcake from Market Street Grill.
If you want to see what Brooke was up to you can go here. It was a fabulous trip and I had so much fun. Shane needs to take another trip abroad and maybe Heather can come out here to play.

While I was away, Troy had a pretty busy week. He put together the last of our garden boxes
And made sure our lawn looked well groomed.
Thanks Troy for letting me go on such short notice. Thanks Gma Ware for watching all the kiddies. And thanks Heather for all the fun.

6 years and counting

Tracie and I celebrated anniversary #6 with a local flair. We got a couples massage (highly recommended), went to see Inception (equally highly recommended), and had dinner at a local Italian eatery (also recommended). It was a very nice day and a big thanks to Coco for watching Brooke.

We were also visited by my Grandparents this past weekend. We enjoyed hanging out and Brooke enjoyed the extra attention



"I stuck!!!"

Brooke had a lot of fun playing with Sunny last week. They play really well together and we will miss Sunny and the rest of their family.

Brooke is an excellent singer. I like W the best.

Summer Days

No summer is complete without a visit from Grandma. My mom flew out last Tuesday and it was pretty much go, go, go until she left Saturday. Tuesday, Brooke and I picked up my mom and headed my cousin, Jonathan's, place. She loves going there and playing with all of fun stuff mom doesn't let her play with at home. Also, because Uncle Jonathan takes her swimming. After swimming, Jonathan and his sister, JoJo, made a feast for dinner. It was delicious and Brooke enjoyed every bite.

Wednesday, we headed to storytime in the morning and then hit up Sprouts, my favorite grocery store. Brooke also had a little dress up session with my mom.

Thursday, we met up with Jonathan, JoJo, and Troy and had brunch at a delicious place called Snooze. It was super yummy and we were all stuffed by the end of it. Luckily, my mom, JoJo, Brooke, and I were able to walk it off at the Denver Zoo. I love that Brooke is now at the age where she gets excited by all the different animals and can even name them.

Say "cheese"

Friday, we headed to storytime again then to the paint store to look at paint samples for the kitchen. You'll just have to wait and see what we picked. (don't hold your breath though. Not sure when I'll actually get to painting the kitchen). In the afternoon, my mom helped me finally paint our downstairs bathroom. Thanks to her, we were able to get all the taping and painting done while Brooke was down for her nap. Thanks mom!!!!

Saturday, we met up with Jonathan to have dim sum then went to the airport to drop my mom off. It was a great week and we wish she could have stayed longer. She was playing with an old cell phone this morning and was talking with Popo. I guess this just means my mom and dad need to come out here more often.

Rain

This week was a rainy interim week between my family visiting last weekend and Tracie's mom coming tomorrow. As a result, we only get the following pictures.



I mean, do you need anymore words to describe our week? Two highlights. One, our grass is looking a lot greener thanks to a little TLC from my Dad. Thanks again Pops!
Two, we went with some friends to the temple on Friday night. Afterwards we went to dinner, and next thing you know it was 10:30. Nice to have some adult interaction every once in a while.