3 Men & A Little Lady

Friday, July 25, 2014

{Grandparents Week}

My parents have the coolest tradition of having a week in the summer, always during the Russell County Fair, where all the cousins can come and play! We all love getting together as often as we can and its much easier for us to attend now that we live in Colorado.

Cousin Kendra made this cool sign for Gē and I couldn't agree with it more!

I always love getting to go see my Grandpa Elliott when we come home to Russell. I love that the kids still have one living Great Grandparent. Owen's middle name is Elliott and I tell him that Elliott's tend to be lucky! He loves being an "Elliott!"

Mya was so sweet and loving to Great Grandpa. When we got ready to leave grandpa held onto Mya's arm and said, "I think I'll keep her!"

Just a few of his Greats!

Tara, Grandpa, Sweet Tenlee, and Tyler

Mya loved "mothering" Tenlee and the kids enjoyed making ice cream at Vintage Place where Great Grandpa lives.

We can't go to Russell without a trip over to Hays to Sternberg Museum.

Mya and Gē had a great time driving through the jungle looking for dinosaurs!

Uncovering Dinosaur Bones

Mya loves Gē's secret Garden!!!

Tomatoes are best eaten straight off the vine!

We are often found outside relaxing or hanging around!!!

The boys love the old toys from Great Grandpa's farm!

I made the mistake of telling my boys the story of when I was a girl and finding a big mud puddle around the block from my house.

The boys discovered the puddle.....

and had to be sprayed down the same way I did as a girl!

They loved it!

Ge has passed her love for the piano down to her Grands!

Mya is so proud that her Gē plays the organ at church!

Uncle Ty cut hair for me while I played with Tenlee!

Ian loves the fact that he is almost as tall as me. I told him how my Great Grandma, better known as Little Grandma was only 4'6''. Her daughter, my sweet Great Aunt Marilyn isn't much taller than that. I used to always measure myself up against them to feel tall!

Ian loved getting to measure himself up to his Great, Great Aunt Marilyn!

Getting to see my Great Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Larry was a highlight of my trip! She made me scotcharoos, which are my favorite, she always spoils us kids!

Jumping on hay bales on the Elliott farm.

We always spend a day out on Cedar Hollow exploring and playing!

Its a time for us to kick back and relax, which is exactly what Crazy Uncle Matt did!!!

Mya and cousin Reece

Drew and Grandad...the 4-wheeler is always the favorite toy!

Matt just enjoying himself!!!

We love exploring the old house, even though it gets more and more dangerous each year!

Uncle Matt, the family protector!

Owen loading up!

The girls love Uncle Tyler!

Owens turn to drive....

I wasn't fast enough for him, so he requested Uncle Ty!

Ian brought his BB gun

Girl Cousins...Mya has the time of her life when she is with them!

Ian, Uncle Tyler's little shadow :)

Getting ready to drive up the big hill to the top of Cedar Hollow. HOLD ON!!!

Matt is feeling it again...I wonder if the marijuana that grows wildly is getting to him?!!!

We made it to the top! Carmin is on top of the World!

The drive up was quite bumpy, so Brynlee decided we should hike down.

More fun at the house with girl cousins...plus Ian!

He loves to make those girls laugh and acts super silly when they are around!

The girls adore older cousin Kendra, who is such a sweet love to them!

OFF TO THE FAIR!!!

Grandad always get the kids bracelets, so they can ride rides all night long!

The kids had a ball!!!

I love spending time with my family! They are the best and I feel so fortunate to be blessed with an Eternal Family! I am so grateful for all that Gē and Grandad do to make special memories for us kids and the grandkids. We can't wait to come back to see everyone again soon!

I also got to hang out with Rhett, one of my dear childhood friends!

I love Rhettsy!!! She tried to teach me how to play tennis...I wasn't very good!

Till next time Russell....

Monday, June 30, 2014

{CA Friends}

The hardest part about moving away from California, was leaving behind our wonderful friends who we love and feel like are our family. It made us feel so good that we had friends requesting to come to CO to visit us over summer break. We loved having them here and I tried as hard as I could to convince them to move here!

Melina, the best cupcake maker around!!! She is like my sister---from another mother!

We realized the Patterson clan has a small fear of heights! Notice how tight Mason is holding onto Pua!

Mason did not like that Kenny was encouraging the jumping from Boulder to Boulder!

Sila however still jumped!

Lu and Mya

Pua, Luana, and Mya

We had lots of fun taking them to Get Air at the Silo!

We learned that Mason has an a phobia to foam...that didn't stop me from trying to push him in the foam pit!!!

Our second visitors were the Valencia's!!!

Owen loved having Jacob and Adam here to celebrate all their birthdays together!

Everyone loved Owen's new birthday gift...the slack line!

We had a blast playing Zombie Apocalypse (Marshmallow war) on mushroom rocks!

Mya loved having Lucy here to play!

We Hiked Independence Rock

Played hard at the Silo

These two obviously do not have a fear of foam!

Jacob taught Owen how to scrape several layers of cream into an Oreo.

We had so much fun with the Pattersons and Valencia's! They are such dear friends and we miss them so much! So grateful they made the journey to CO to visit!

Sunday, June 29, 2014

{Birthday Boy}

Owen turned 7 today!!! He was lucky because our good friends from CA, the Valencia's, were here to help him celebrate! I sure love this cute, cuddly boy! I am so glad he is mine!

We let him open one of his big presents early, so we could play on it all weekend!

We want to create lots of extreme backyard adventures in our backyard!

We love the Valencia kids!

Owen loves to read. I often find books hidden under his pillow and catch him turning on a flashlight to read in bed.

My kids love picking out any cereal they want for their birthday!

It was Jacob and Adam's birthday also, so we had them all blow out the candles!

Fireworks for the Birthday boy!

He ended his birthday festivities with a slumber party on the trampoline with the boys and dogs!

My birthday wish for Owen is that he will continue to smile and dance through life! He is such a happy kid and makes all of us laugh. He is also super affectionate and smothers me with kisses. I love that he is silly, smart, kind, and easy going. The Lord blessed me with amazing kids! I love you Owen!

They say the cutest things.....

Mya, my little girl, said in her prayers last night, "Please help us to be strong and healthy like the Hulk!"

Owen almost ran straight into a woman as we entered a dark parking garage. As I told him to watch out, he quickly yelled, "Well she's all black!" Coincidentally she was African American! She was wearing a black dress, which is what he was referring too!

Owen told me today, "You are the best mom I ever had! I love you all the way up to Jesus!" He also loves kissing and told Kenny, "I just want to stay home from school and kiss mom all day!"

Drew lost a tooth at school when he bit into his apple. He felt the tooth inside his mouth as he was chewing and when I asked him about it, he said, "I didn't realize it was mine and I wondered if it was one of the workers!"

While at church, a teacher asked the kids what happened to Jesus right after he was baptized and brought up from the water. Ian enthusiastically raised his hand and said, "He asked for a towel!"

After a long struggle with my boys, to get them inside, bathed, and into bed, I yelled, "I am done, go to sleep!" Owen looked up at me and said, "Mommy I'm sorry you're sad, but the problem is that you don't beat up Drew and Ian. Just beat them up and I will be on your team!"

We are not a family who eats beans, so when Drew went to a friends house to play and eat dinner, he was hesitant to eat the burrito that had refried beans in it. When I picked him up he said to me, "Mom she put mud inside the burrito!"

Aunt Connie pleaded with Owen to shoot his daddy with the gun instead of her and his response, "No, he's the best daddy i've ever had!"

I begged the boys to quit fighting and Drew looked at me and said, "Its not Mothers Day anymore mom!"

Owen got kicked in his "man hood" and said, "Oh, I hurt my Tenders!"

Drew asked this morning, "Mom in 2011 can we get a cat?"

Everytime I feed Mya prunes, Owen comes up to me and says, "Me like chocolate mom!" I give him a bite and his face turns to total disgust.

Owen ran up to me after wrestling the dogs and said, "Me see Cassie's boobies!"

While I was nursing Mya, Drew walked in and said, "Is she done drinking from your boob?" I replied, "No and it is called a breast, thats the proper way to say it." He looked at me puzzled and said, "No thats the Spanish word for it."

Kenny opened the fridge and said, "Something in here stinks." Ian looked at him and said, "Dad, sometimes I toot over there!"

Last night as the boys were saying good night to Mya, Drew looked up at me and said, "Mom, Mya has a boy haircut!"

Drew was reminding me about how when we saw macaws in Hawaii, that one of the macaws was chewing on a woman's hair. He said, about the macaw, "Thats not very nice, it's not choosing the right."

My favorite word Drew and Ian used to say when they were toddlers was, Laddie- for water. I thought it was such a cute word. Owen comes to the fridge and points his little finger and says, "Wa-Wa" for water. So cute!

Last night Kenny went in on a call to deliver a goat and Ian came into our bed. He climbed in and snuggled up beside me, he usually snuggles into Kenny. I asked him why he was snuggling with me and he said, "I can snuggle you because daddy isn't here mom!" He is such a daddy's boy.

Ian is such a daddy's boy. The other night Kenny had to go to the clinic and Ian was sobbing for him for a good twenty minutes because he wanted to go too. When I asked him why he was so upset he replied, "I just want my daddy, he is my favorite boy!"

Birthday parties celebrated in California are usually BIG! There is always a huge jumper, pinata, food for the whole family, and tons of presents. Well we went to a party last night and the boys spent 2 hrs. jumping in a big jumper. On our way home we saw another party going on that had an even bigger jumper with a slide attached. Ian asked, "Can we go to that party too?" I replied, "We don't even know who those people are. " His response, "Well lets just go ask them their names."

As we prepared to go to the Glenwood Springs pool in Colorado with Kenny's four sisters Drew impatiently said, "Come on girls, you're taking too long!" Kenny told him, "Get used to it, this is what men do, wait for girls to get ready."

Much to my dismay I found black ink all over our white sheets on our bed. I of course went straight to Ian and asked very sternly, "Did you write on my sheets with a pen?" With an innocent look he replied, "I was just trying to write my name."

Drew was watching me as I divided my hair into sections with clips to straighten it. He looked up at me and said, "Wow, you look beautiful!" Then when I was completely done with my hair he said, "You're a cute little mommy!"

Ian was dipping his finger in Kenny's contact solution and then touching his eye. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Just putting my eyes in mom!"