Maddox Turned 4

We had a lovely celebration for Maddox's 4th birthday - starting with an early visit from Papaw Larry, who has been working in the Denver area. He brought Maddox a fun new Horton Whoville game that we all (including Dad & Papaw!!) enjoyed playing.

Maddox opened the rest of his birthday presents in the morning...

We always get fabulous new shirts from our dear friends in Scotland! I swear, these are the only clothes my boys wear! Thanks, Auntie Audrey!

Curious George is currently a huge part of Maddox's life.

What could be better than Toy Story Legos?!

...but the BIG present was his new Kettcar! He saw this in a bike store a few months back and we never heard the end of it.


We gave Maddox the choice of what we would do on his birthday, and he chose to go to the "Butterfly Kabillion" (aka: Pavillion). We've been there a couple times already and it's such a fun place to go... Maddox is now brave enough to hold Rosie the tarantula every time.

...and take a look at this gorgeous specimen!

Afterwards, Maddox chose Chick-fil-A for his birthday dinner!

And back at home, he enjoyed his birthday cake that Momma made SPECIAL for him (no milk or eggs)!

In the morning, his big brothers helped him put together the Toy Story Legos... it was wonderful to watch that.

And lastly, here is the masterpiece that big brothers made for him with all the leftover boxes!

What a wonderful time... we are so truly blessed. We love our little guy...

Michele

Backpackin' With Dad

Michael and the big boys have been getting their fair share of outdoor time together this summer. A couple weekends ago, they went backpacking up on Mt. Evans. You saw how they looked when they were preparing to go... well, here are some photos from their trip.

They hiked in a couple miles and then made camp here. Michael said that the stream next to their tent got so loud at night that he started to think it was going to carry them away!

The next day, they took a day hike... 10 miles or so.



Beautiful, isn't it?


Hopefully Maddox will be ready for some backpacking soon... I'm ready to go with them!
Michele

A Boy and His Cat...

There is definitely a special bond between our beloved Katie and Morgan. It's been there since he was a toddler and Kate would snuggle up with him in bed. You can refer back to this post to read more about it. But these photos capture their love for each other beautifully.

In the afternoons, we often find Kate sunning herself at the back door. Her fur becomes so soft and warm...

Katie is in kidney failure now. She's 15, and we don't know how much longer she'll be with us. I will cherish these photos forever.

A special kittie... and a special boy... sharing a special bond. Priceless.

Michele

Wild Raspberries

Another wonderful thing about living in the mountains is the bounty of fresh berries! ...and I truly mean fresh! We have wild raspberries growing all around us. This morning, we went outside and picked some to enjoy with our lunch.







Mmmmmm.... yummy!!

And here's a jar full of yummy goodness that our neighbor brought us yesterday!

I just love it here... Now off to enjoy the rest of our beautiful day!

Michele

The Backpackers

Michael and the big boys have been doing some backpacking this summer. In the spring, they took a week-long trip with the Boy Scouts to Havasu Falls (Grand Canyon). That time, they hiked in 10 miles to their camp. Last weekend, they took a trip up Mt. Evans and hiked about 2 miles in to make camp. All of their gear is carried on their backs. Here's a shot of them the night before they left... just after they loaded their packs.

These experiences have truly given them a lot of knowledge about how to survive in the wild!

Oh, the joys of being a boy in the mountains...
Michele

Ruth & Evelyn Visit

My dad's two sisters, Aunt Ruth & Aunt Evelyn, came to Colorado for a visit! They had two reasons to come... #1 to see us and where we live now, and #2 to meet a relative we didn't know we had who lives in the Denver area!

But our first order of business involved a little ball and a table. Ping-pong has been a part of my life since I was very young. Our whole extended family plays, and all of my early ping-pong memories took place in Aunt Evelyn's basement. Now, we get to relive those wonderful memories every-other year at our Guvernator reunion in Oklahoma! So much fun...

We all took turns trying to beat Aunt Ruth (who made it known that she is the 6th grade ping-pong champion)! In OUR tournament, she beat everyone except Michael, so we let her carry her title.

Our new-found cousin, Marina, came up one day and brought with her lots of pictures and family stories. It was wonderful to meet her!

Our connection to Marina is not that far off. In a nutshell, her grandfather and my grandfather are 1/2 brothers. Here, let me show you...

Below you will see a photo of my Great Grandmother (Uhr-Oma) and my Great Grandfather (Uhr-Opa). Their names are Eva Schlosser and Jakob Guvernator (pronounced "YAH-cub goov-er-NAH-tor" in Germany... to think, I've been pronouncing my maiden name wrong for 39 years!). Anyway, Eva is Jakob's 2nd wife. His first wife died giving birth to Jakob Jr., the boy on the far left. Eva (shown here) raised him as her own.

Eva and Jakob Sr. went on to have two more children (Marie and Michael) who died in childhood. Then they had Karl, shown standing next to her, and he happens to be my Grandpa. I remember him well.

So there you have it... Marina's grandpa was Jakob Jr., and my grandpa was Karl -- 1/2 brothers. Not so difficult, is it?! The difficult part would be for all of us to start pronouncing our last name correctly! Marina, who has spent much of her life living in Germany, said that we have totally Americanized it!

We welcomed Marina right on into our family and told her that she would be welcome to join us at our next family reunion... I wonder if she likes ping-pong?

Everyone in the picture below is a blood relative of Opa (Jakob Sr.) Guvernator. Neat!

We showed Aunt Ruth & Evelyn a little bit of Evergreen - Morgan even gave them a narrated walking tour around the lake while I took Mason to a dentist appointment. But we spent most of our time right here at home.

Aunt Evelyn was so wonderful with little Maddox. Below you see her teaching him how to make necklaces out of some sort of "flower" (aka: weed) in our yard.

Later, she carried on lengthy phone conversations with him through Lego tubes. Adorable. (notice the necklace?)

And Aunt Ruth taught the boys the finer points of playing Mil (I think that's the name?).

And, of course, we enjoyed our fair share of "Oh Henry" late into the evenings. ...another family tradition!

We thoroughly enjoyed their visit and wished they could've stayed even longer.

Look at Maddox... he truly loves his Great Aunt Evelyn, doesn't he?!

...and so do I! You, too, Aunt Ruth! Thank you so much for coming up - come back soon!

Miki "goov-er-NAH-tor" Force
:)

A Visit from Ray & Jazen

We had another round of guests from Texas! This time it was the Miranda family - Ray, Jazen, and their two boys, Clayton & Cooper. We really enjoyed showing them around... first stop - the Alpine Slide!

I think Jazen enjoyed it more than Cooper, don't you?!

We also took them to Red Rocks and caught this adorable photo of Maddox & Cooper. They're only 6 days apart in age and they spent their babyhood together in Texas. It was nice to get them back together again!

Wonderful family photo with the stage in the background!

Michael took Ray on a nice hike up Berrian Mountain (the mountain we live on). When you get to the top, you can sit on the rocks and just contemplate life! Gorgeous views, good exercise, and time to contemplate... what could be better?

Clayton suffered some altitude sickness the first couple of days he was here, but he's a trooper and it wasn't long before he was hitting the zip line!

...or our swing built for two.


Maddox & Cooper liked laying on the hammock.


...but then again, so did Ray & Jazen!

On their last evening here, we took them to Baskin Robbins for ice cream and a walk around the lake. I love this photo of Jazen.

...but this one of Maddox is hilarious!

We're so glad they could come spend the week with us!!

Heading back to the car, everyone had a ride except Jazen and I. (Mason was away at Boy Scout camp).

Thank you so much, Ray & Jazen, for spending part of your vacation with us! We hope you had fun and we look forward to when you can come again!!

Michele