A Visit from Grammy!

My wonderful mother was able to come for a visit recently, and we got to spend two weeks together!  Here are some of the highlights of her trip, which includes a lot of our "favorite" places and things...

First of all, Mom loves cowboys, and I just love this photo of her and her "Little Fella".  I think he makes a great cowboy, don't you?

The boys wanted to get dressed up in their finest for Grammy one evening and go out to dinner.

This next picture makes me laugh - I look a little TOO excited, don't I?!

We took Mom to the Melting Pot for dinner - one of the boys' very favorites.  We got a private room called the Starlight room, and it was dark with stars twinkling in the ceiling, so the photos aren't that great.

From the look of Maddox's face, I'd say he was sure enjoying that chocolate dessert!

Living History Day, one of our favorite events, just happened to be scheduled while Mom was in town, so off we went!  As always, we learned all sorts of things about how life was "back in the day".  This included weaving baskets...

...hearing about the latest medical wonders, such as the leach (which that man is holding)...

 ...playing a game of Nine Men Morris (and I thought about my Aunt Ruth!)...

 ...trying out a real quill pen and ink...

...learning how to bake bread in a real clay oven (this was of particular interest to me.  They lit a fire in there in the morning and got it real hot, then they scraped the fire and ashes out and baked all day in the residual heat, starting with the things that needed the most heat, and then as it cooled off, they switched to things like cookies.)

...and I just had to snag this photo of these beautiful eggs.  Both Mom and I will be getting chickens soon (Dad was building their coop while Mom was with us) and we can't wait until we will have beautiful fresh eggs like these!  Aren't they gorgeous?

As if that wasn't enough for our day, we also attended Morgan's Taekwondo testing that night.  He went from an orange belt to a yellow belt!  Moving right along on his path to black!

Whew!  After a day like that, the best way to unwind is to relax in our new hot tub!

Next, we drove to north Denver to meet up with some of Mom's friends, Erma and her sister, Daphene.  It was a lovely visit at the Black Eyed Pea.

 And yes, I drug the boys along... they were so well behaved!

Here's Grammy and her Little Fella enjoying an afternoon on the swing:

I have to include the pictures of this adorable little Goldendoodle dog we fell in love with.  You see, us kids are helping Mom get a dog for Mother's Day, so Mom and I were out "window" shopping for breeds.  We came across this little sweetheart and she melted our hearts!  We named her Ginger.  But alas, Ginger was adopted by another family, so we're still on the lookout for Mom's furry friend.

For the final weekend that Mom was here, we took her to Glenwood Springs - one of our favorite weekend retreats.  We took her up the gondolas to the Adventure Park - the six of us took two separate cars... you can see her waving at me in this next photo:

Morgan and Michael are in there with her, while Mason, Maddox, and I were in the car in front of them.

Once at the top, our first stop was the SpeleoBox - the spelunking cave simulator.  The boys have done this before, and were eager to give it another go.  As for Mom and I... no, thank you!!  So here's Mom playing Vanna and showing it off.  All three boys are in there.

 ...somewhere.

And we had to let Mom have a turn on the Alpine Coaster!  We put her last since we didn't know how slow she'd want to go down.  :)

She went pretty fast, though, despite having been bit or stung by something on the way down!  Here she is on the incline - so nice that it pulls you back up to the top.

The swing ride that goes out over this cliff wasn't open, but we enjoyed the view from this platform.  I have no doubt that if it were open, Mom would've probably ridden it!  She's braver than I am in that regard...

And here we are on the way back down.

Michael rented us a wonderful little cabin that fit us all just perfectly!  It had a nice little kitchen, a front room, a master bedroom, one bathroom, and a loft upstairs where the boys slept - you can't stand up in the loft, unless you're Maddox's size!  You can see him there at the railing in the next photo.

 This was looking down on the front room from the loft.

The cabin was just a few hundred yards from the beautiful Colorado river...

Mom's attempt at "rock climbing":

LOOK!  I caught Morgan smiling!!!

We didn't raft this trip, but we enjoyed watching this crew float past.

Michael took the big boys on a hike while Mom, Maddox, and I hung out at the cabin.  This shot is one that Michael took just to show us how beautiful it was.

 After dinner Saturday night, we went over to the hot spring pool for a swim.

 ...and look, I caught Morgan smiling again!  Perhaps it's because this is one of his favorite places to be?!

All in all, it was a WONDERFUL visit, but it flew by entirely too fast.  We'll be ready for her return in September - but I'm not sure SHE'LL be ready, as that's when Michael and I leave her alone with the boys while we scamper off to celebrate our 20th anniversary!  Rest up, Mom!  :)

Chameleon Growth

Little No-Name has grown quite a bit... it's a shame we're having such a hard time naming the little guy!!

For comparison, here he is the day I got him (April 6th) - that's just over one month ago!

These Boys Have Talent!

Our church has a family talent show each spring, and this year, Mason juggled and Morgan rode his unicycle.  ...wonder what Maddox will do in the coming years?  :)

New Shirts!

My dear friend, Audrey, in Scotland sends the boys shirts for birthdays, holidays... and just because she loves them so much.  Well, I know that most boys may not be too excited about getting clothes as gifts, but make no mistake... MY boys LOVE to get shirts from Auntie Audrey!  Here was the latest design:

Thanks, Audrey!!  xoxo

Michael's New Toy

Michael's been wanting one for a long, long time... and now he finally has one:

He found a deal on Craigslist and one thing's for sure... I'm glad we didn't have to move that thing!

Notice Maddox supervising?  Surprisingly enough, he loves to get in the hot tub... and we thought he'd hate it since he always complains that his bath water is too hot.

It has become a new family activity that we all enjoy!