An Ordinary Family

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Summer/Fall 2013 Recap:

We celebrated Kendall's 3rd birthday on July 11th

Kendall is potty trained! And she got a new bike for being such a big girl!

We enjoyed a visit from Grammy and Papa in July...

...And Grandma Janet in October

We traveled to Appleton, WI for the wedding of Derek's childhood friend, Scott

Beyer and his new wife Laura. It was a blast!!!

Kendall had fun breaking it down on the dance floor! And Sawyer had his first

plane ride :)

Kendall began her first day of preschool in September. Cannot believe she is

old enough for school!!

We said goodbye to Derek's beloved grandfather in October. He was such an

honorable man and will be greatly missed. Derek was able to make it home

with the kids to spend some time with him prior, I am so thankful that God

gave them this opportunity to be with him in his last days.

We made a trip to Wishing Star Farm this Fall, the kids really loved the petting zoo

and hay ride. Kendall even rode a pony, her new favorite thing to do!

I went with Kendall on her first school field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. I am so

blessed that my job allows for me to spend these special days with her.

We trick or treated until our fingers were almost froze off. Kendall would

have kept going if I would have let her, but I figured one large bucket full of

candy was enough for her! Kendall was Princess Sophia and Sawyer

was a cow. It was fun this year because Kendall really enjoyed going

up to each house and yelling, "TRICK OR TREAT" when the

door opened :)

We also made time for a few hiking trips this summer: Buena Vista, CO and to Stanley Reservoir to name a couple. Sawyer experienced his first summer riding in the backpack!

We enjoyed numerous trips to the zoo as well as "Monkey Business" on not so

nice days.

Kendall's life...

...still in swimming lessons and now able to float on her own!

...enjoys being a helper and big sister to Sawyer

...enjoys telling Sawyer what to do

...enjoys wrestling with Sawyer (little does she know that he is going

to be able to wrestle her back in a short while and she may be sorry)

...going to preschool every Monday and Wednesday

...says every day to mommy and daddy, "You're my best friend"

...asks about 1,000,000 questions per day

...enjoys princesses, drawing with markers, dancing and singing, pretending she

is a puppy, reading books, going to the park

Sawyer's life...

...can now crawl and walk along the furniture

...graduated from baby food to "real" food and loves just about anything

...says "dada" and "mama"

...enjoys wrestling with his sister

...enjoys watching his sister act like a goofball and laughing at her

...loves bath time

...loves reading books and singing songs

...is into EVERYTHING.

...did I mention, is into EVERYTHING? :)

Thursday, June 13, 2013

We've been super busy the past two weeks, hence not blogging. I promise, once things settle down I will update with more info. We spent 5 days in MN for a family reunion. It was a short and sweet trip, we saw our families and we headed back to CO.

When we landed in Denver we found out that a fire had started in our beautiful city yet once again, just earlier that day. As we drove closer to Colorado Springs, we could see the unbelievable red flames and smoke light up the night sky. It was a heart wrenching feeling. Just last summer, our city experienced one of the most destructive fires that Colorado has seen its history and we began to relive it once again.

As of today (just 2 days after the fire started), it has destroyed over 360 homes and is still 0% contained. The fire which is located on the northeast portion of the city is now threatening homes within the city as the winds pick up this afternoon. Evacuations are in effect for almost the entire northern portion of Colorado Springs (we live approx. 5 miles south of the fire).

Our home is safe, we are safe and we are currently not under any evacuation orders. There are a lot of structures and not a lot of vegetation in between the fire and our house, so something unbelievable would have to happen for it to reach us. However, it is still too close for comfort in my mind. Both USA Wrestling Executive Director and Executive Secretary are in the midst of all the evacuations, so we are praying for them and their homes. My heart aches for those who have lost their homes, their animals, and all their memories.

Please pray for our beautiful city and pray for RAIN!!!

(I will update on our lives and our trip soon.....our hospital is under disaster relief precautions so I am going to spend the next 4 days and possibly more at work)

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. Thank you to all our soldiers past and present who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom! I will forever be grateful for our military servicemen and women.

We had a relaxing, fun weekend. I had to work one day, we got ready for our garage sale and we attended an engagement party. We had beautiful weather and it was so nice to spend the weekend together as a family :)

Now I have to work 6 out of the next 8 days while getting packed and ready for our trip to Minnesota. We're ready to hit the humidity and mosquitos once again!