Ellie's Horseback Riding Camp 2014

For her birthday, Grangran and Papa gave Ellie a week of horseback riding camp in June.  She had the best time (despite the weather fluctuating between 90+ degree temps and tornado warnings :-/)

She just loved her horse, Piglet, even though poor old Piglet has seen better days.  He was 25 years old and looked like he'd rather be doing just about anything else besides hauling another kid around on his back all summer long.  No where was this more evident than at the 'Rodeo'.

On the last day of camp, family and friends were invited to see the kids and horses put on a rodeo.  Piglet's top speed was about .5 miles/hour and his general demeanor indicated he'd rather be sent to the glue factory than trot!  

Thankfully, Ellie didn't really notice that she had the laziest horse in the whole stable, so she had great fun.  She can't wait to go back next year!

 Is it just me, or does she look super grown up in this picture?!

 Poor old, tired Piglet.

 Luke thought the Rodeo was great fun!

 Not a bad view!

You can relive all the exciting action via this video!!

A Visit to Grangran and Papa

At the end of summer we visited Tampa for a week and enjoyed the last chance to play in a pool for a while.  The weather was HOT, but perfect for being in the water!

Attempting to get a good photo of all three kids... hey- at least they're all facing the same direction!

While there, I was reminded exactly how much Luke looks like Daniel... they're basically clones.  This is a photo of little Dan, ca. 1981

Goodbye Summer!

The End of the First Year of School

Well, since it's now the start of the next school year, it's only natural that I post photos and an update from last year.  I'm failing miserably at my 2-post-per-month goal, please forgive me.

As the school year wound down there were lots of activities to mark the occasion.  At the end of the year we had a big party with our whole CC community and the kids got to dress up as a character (of their choice) from history which we had studied during the year as part of our Timeline.  The girls chose to dress as a family from the Cherokee Trail of Tears (pleasant, huh?), so that's just what we did.

Even Luke got in on the action via papoose.  

We celebrated Easter with good friends and family, however, it took me until a week later on a visit to Grangran and Papa's to actually get a decent photo of the kids.

 Luke went to Bible class for the first time, with limited success.  Now, however, I am proud to report that he happily enjoys the whole 45 minutes.  Many thanks to his wonderful teacher who is so sweet to him and continues to welcome him every week despite the occasional tears.

We took a late-srping hike at Red Rocks and thank goodness we packed our coats, because the weather went from sunny and brisk to cloudy and blustery in less than an hour.  While we were there a violinist was practicing in the amphitheater and it was so beautiful echoing through the canyons.  We hated to leave, but it started snowing, so we had to get out of there.

We officially became backyard chicken owners and have thoroughly enjoyed our daily fresh eggs!

Here's the coop Daniel and my mom built, copied from the crazy expensive one that Williams Sonoma sells.  

We started with 4 hens, Lucy, Ethel, Thelma Lou, and Aunt Bea.  Unfortunately Aunt Bea met an untimely death due to the neighbor's dog, so we added two younger hens the following month and they are just starting to lay this week.

While visiting Grangran and Papa in April, we went to DisneyWorld for a day and the girls had the best time!

They met all kinds of characters and got autographs, rode the rides, saw the night parade and some shows.  All in all, it was an exhausting, but super fun day.

 Gaston was hilarious... he kept bragging about himself and talking about his hair.  When they finished their little meeting, he told the girl, "The pleasure was all yours, Ladies!"

Lukester met his Uncle Jerry and Mawmaw for the first time

As usual, Mawmaw has the touch when it comes to getting fussy babies to sleep!

The Lukester

As you probably guessed, the main reason for my recent neglect of the blog is this guy:

Our sweet little Luke is such a joy, but the last 4 months have definitely been among the busiest of my life :)  Between homeschooling, Daniel's schedule, the girls' increasingly busy schedules, and caring for an infant, I pretty much collapse into the bed every night!  Life does seem to be evening out a bit now that Luke is on a good nap schedule and sleeping all night, so what better time to catch up on all the milestones and cute pics (mostly from the cell phone, sadly!) I have of our little guy?!  I think with Ellie and Campbell, I posted every time they hiccuped!  Oh well, at least everyone's fed and happy, right? :)

Here he is the day we brought him home from the hospital... sweet little guy in the embroidered train outfit that I found in Blowing Rock last May!

This was taken a week or two later in the 'Going Home' outfit that Daniel wore!  I have another sweet little outfit of Daniel's that Ann gave me, but it's short-sleeved and light-weight and I'm afraid he's going to grow out of it before it's warm enough to wear it :(  I guess the climate for baby clothes is pretty drastically different in Tampa and Denver! :)

As you'll see in the following pics, he slept through much of Autumn:

He went through about a 2 month period where he LOVED the swing!  Thankfully Matt and Sarah had one that Grayson no longer used, so we borrowed that and Luke slept hours in that thing everyday!    It was a life-saver for my productivity :)

He dressed up for Halloween in a Jack-o-Lantern costume that Jennifer handed down...

... and then slept through the Trick-or-Treating!

If he wasn't in the swing during school in the mornings, this was usually what he was up to.  He did not get an 'A' for participation :)

Who is putting who to bed here??

Finally!  It took 3 babies, but finally one likes the pacifier!  It's SO much easier to calm a baby when they'll take one!! :)

I love this pic... I still have it as the background on my phone :)  My how quickly they change at this age!  Excuse me while I go cry my eyes out!

He's already been on 2 plane trips in his short little life!  Here is a picture of him on his first (at 5 weeks...that was a bit tough!), to Nashville/Bowling Green for our dear friend Laura's wedding. 

While at the wedding, we had some family photos taken (more pics to come) by the photographer who took Daniel's and my engagement pics 11 years ago!  She had all kinds of props and one of them was a cute little rustic bucket.... I'm not sure Luke liked it all that well!

The girls thought it was hilarious, though!

Most of his days are spent being admired/played with/cooed at/entertained by his Fan Club.  The President of said Club is Miss Ellie P. Fox, who basically thinks that Luke is her baby.  She really is a great big sister and tons of help to me, honestly.  Campbell is not far behind her!  I'm amazed that they haven't tired of him yet!

If the Fan Club should move on to something else, we're dealing with this sort of reaction:

More Fan Club pics:

Oh how I love a swaddled baby!  I'm in luck, because Luke loves it too!  I should have known he would like to be bundled up all the time, since I basically had to evict him from the womb at 41 weeks! 

One of his other fave's is bathtime.  He mostly still gets his baths in the kitchen sink (occasionally in the tub with the girls if they beg long enough), and he just goes into a trance when he's soaking in the warm water.  Here he is in my parents' kitchen on his first trip to CA.  

Here he is in October meeting Papa for the fist time.

Aside from sleeping, he also spent the Fall eating, as you can tell from this pic!

Here he is in November, meeting Gramps for the first time.

He learned to roll over on December 28th :)

And somehow, over the last few weeks, he's become a little person!  It never ceases to amaze me how it seems that one week they're newborn/infants, and the next, totally full of personality!  We just love him to death!

Here's how he's spending the morning school hours this semester!  My what a difference Christmas break makes!

Here's the whole fam on Ellie's birthday when Luke had his first experience with Farm to Table dining at Root Down :)

Even though it's cold, if it's sunny, we're outside in the afternoons!  

Here are some photos that my brother took during Luke's First Christmas!

His head is so gigantic that if an outfit and hat come together in the same size, the hat never fits!  Case in point: His 'reindeer antler' hat that came with a Christmas outfit-- it was basically resting atop the crown of his head! 

Here he is doing some serious reflection on why his stocking only had pacifiers and teethers and no candy!!

Oh how fast the time is flying!  He is such a sweet little baby... very easy going and rarely ever cries.  He just got his first tooth this past weekend.  He's just growing, growing, growing, and changing every day!  I know that's the way things go, but I can't help be a teensy bit sad as each stage passes.  Still, we so look forward to all the joy to come!  What a blessing it is to be a parent!!!