Behind the Times

 I knew that I was slow in updating but I didn't realize that I'm close to a month behind!!!

To begin where we last left off...Troy's mom stayed with the kids while we were in Seattle then stayed the rest of the week to hang out with the adults!  We spent a day at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  Love that zoo. 

The biggest highlight was feeding the various animals.  It took quite a bit of coaxing to get Brooke to feed the giraffe but by the end of the day she was a pro.

Connor, on the other hand, learned quickly to drop the lettuce close to the fence and the giraffe would lick it up.

 

We also got to feed the parakeets.  At least Brooke did.  Connor spent his time chasing the birds trying to get them to eat from the stick.

The video doesn't do justice.  It was a pretty funny sight to see him chase the bird then get frustrated when the bird ran away.

 

The following week, we had our first real snow.  Just enough to cover the lawn and allow for some playtime.

 Don't worry...we've bought Connor manly looking gloves since then.

 Gotta love hat hair!

If  I remember right, the following day, all the snow had melted and our neighborhood had their annual pumpkin fest.  Surprisingly, both the kids were willing to sit on the big bull.

The following weekend was our ward's Trunk-or-Treat.  Connor quickly got the hang of saying trick-or-treat and walked away with way too much candy.  I should have realized that 1 1/2 Costco size bags of candy would not be enough for our ward.  We had over 30 families move into our ward over the summer.  Crazy!

 Troy managed to convince Brooke to do a simpler jack-o-lantern this year. 

 Both the kids helped to carve and we had a cute pumpkin as a result.

This was the first year that Brooke's school allowed the kids to dress up.  She loved parading around the school!

I wish I could say that I was on top of things and took pictures of the actual Halloween night but alas I did not.  I figured I had enough pictures of them in costume...it totally counts.

That pretty much sums up life until now.  Troy's been gone for 4 days and will be home later this week and I've managed to keep the fort up.  I hit 20 weeks last week which is pretty exciting!  We find out later this week what we'll be having.  Any guesses????

Fall Break

Fall Break started off with a bang or boredom.  What ever you'd like to call it.  I guess this happens when you have an older sister!

Brooke finished off her soccer season. I think her last game was her best yet.  I even saw her defend the goal, which is huge.

 Most of  the time was spent picking up the black, rubber specks from the turf field

 I hope she'll still want to do it come Spring.

Though, I'm not so sure if Troy will readily agree to coaching next year.  I imagine it's a lot of fun trying to wrangle a bunch of 5 year olds.

Later that week, Troy and I headed to Seattle for a quick, weekend getaway while Troy's mom hung back and kept the kids entertained. 

Besides the crazy wind on the ferry, we picked a great weekend to head to the Northwest.  It was somewhere in the low 70s and sunny.  Perfect!!

Time was spent taking in the sights and indulging in delicious food.

 

Our first stop once we landed was to Din Tai Fung. We found this place when we went to Hong Kong a few years ago and have dreamed of soup dumplings ever since. 

 

Later that evening, we enjoyed ourselves at a place called Canlis.  It was delicious and had a beautiful view of Lake Union.

Saturday, we headed up north and stopped at Deception Pass.  Like I said, we picked the perfect weekend to go.  It looks like it was the start of fall colors and the drive up was gorgeous. Had we known we were so close to Vancouver, BC we may have even brought our passports with us. 

On Monday we headed to the Chihuly Glass Garden next to the Space Needle. It was incredible.

If we didn't have kids, we would think about installing some of these pieces in our house...

The food in Seattle was great, and we even found a little hole in the wall Chinese place with great soup and jook.

I'm so lucky to have the greatest husband in the whole world! Thanks Troy for the great weekend, and spending time together before our life is overrun taking care of three kids. You are the best!!!!

The month of September

So besides confirming the creation of our third child, what else have we done this month?

All of the old college roommates joined Tracie and Robyn out here in beautiful Colorado. Naturally, since I was watching the kids all weekend, Tracie asked that I provide a recap, so here goes.

 Breckenridge is always picturesque, but especially this time of year. Cool temperatures, the start of fall colors turning, and this year, biblical floods along the Front Range. It took an extra day, but everyone eventually made it out.

 Robyn brought up a couple of bikes and the ladies rented a couple more. Not sure if actual riding was done, but there was a lot of posing by the lake wearing bike helmets...

 When working out at altitude, it is important to stay hydrated and well fueled. Bri and Robyn demonstrate proper form.

 Delicious.

 They stayed at my manager's place up in Breckenridge. Lots of fun, not a lot of pictures, and only the occasional pillow fight.

 It was a lot of fun to see everyone, and a great reminder of all the memories that they have shared. Looking forward to the next installment of this reunion.

 For Tracie's birthday, we turned back the clock to our college years and went to the Kelly Clarkson/Maroon 5 concert at Fiddler's Green. We had seats in the grass, which sounds quaint, but in reality turned out to be more standing on a hill. It was still a lot of fun.

 Kelly Clarkson was great. That girl can really sing. I think she can go places.

 Adam Levine and Maroon 5 were a lot of fun. The crowd was an interesting mix of people. There were obviously a lot of cool people in their young 30s like us. And of course, the young teens and college kids. Then randomly, a lot of 'older folks' including people in their 60s and 70s. Fans of American Idol? The Voice?

It was a lot of fun, but for the rest of the week we felt a lot like Connor. 

It was a fun month full of Soccer, dance, school, piano, work, church, friends, and fun. We are looking for more of the same in October (except that now Connor actually sleeps in his bed).

Spilled Beans

 There you have it...mark your calendars for March 24th.

 ...And always for good measure.

Quick Recap!

I realize that we've been M.I.A. for a couple weeks.  Yikes!!!! I wish we could say that we've been doing exciting things but it's the daily grind that's keeping us busy.  Here are the highlights of the past weeks:

 

Connor got his very first hair cut.  It took him so long to grow the hair he had that I didn't want to cut it but his grandpa hairs were getting way too long.  He did great sitting in the chair and walked away looking so handsome and grown up.

We also transitioned Connor into a big boy bed.  I'd like to say that he loves sleeping in it but for the past week we've found him fast asleep behind the door.  Kind of makes it hard to check on him but thankfully he doesn't wake up as we push the door open and he moves pretty easily.

Troy and I celebrated our 9th anniversary.  It's hard to believe that it's been 9 years already.  It's gone by so fast but I've loved every minute of it.  Thanks for all the fun, laughter, and adventures!!!!

 Brooke has been playing soccer twice a week.  Some of the time she's in the thick of things.

 Other times she's examining more interesting things.

 Troy has enjoyed coaching Brooke's team.  It's a challenge to coach a bunch of 5 year olds but they've done well so far.  They're 2-1 for the season.

 We've enjoyed having Taylor here for the summer. 

 The kids miss having him around.  Troy misses having the lawn miraculously mowed.

Other than that life is good!  Brooke loves school and doing fabulous.  Connor likes having more mommy time.  He's starting to talk a little more although you may need a translator to really understand what he's saying.  Troy's busy with work but loves to come home and spend time with us.  I'm busy with piano (12 kids) but still love what I do.