When I Turned my Back

Tyler is such a busy little guy. He spends his days following big brothers around and trying keep up with them. I love how curious he is and enjoy watching him explore, but sometimes he's hard to keep up with. Today I turned my back and discovered he'd gotten into my make-up.

When the Blackburn's came for a visit we had tons of fun. One of my favorite days was when they allowed me to practice/play with my new camera while taking their family photos. We then went to lunch and enjoyed a little ice cream as a treat.

Ice Skating Downtown

Last year, when Mom and Dad visited us for Christmas, we stumbled on a downtown ice skating rink. That evening we took the boys skating for the first time. We really enjoyed this outing in the city and decided to try in again this year with Steve, Kim, and their girls. Caleb and Dallin remember it well and were able to get around pretty well on the ice. The little guys were not as sure on their feet. Mike and I took turns pushing them around the ice.

As I was skating around the rink with the little guys, Caleb asked me if I would like to dance with him in the center of the rink. The music was playing, there were other (much more skilled) skaters already dancing, and I knew if I tried I'd end up on my butt. However, I just couldn't resist Caleb's sweet request. We danced, very poorly, and I did end up on my butt. It was incredibly fun and very memorable. I love that boy.

While we all had fun, Ty spent the afternoon frustrated. He wanted to ice skate, but there weren't any his size. He wasn't allowed to run around the rink in his shoes or be carried by an adult skater so he was forced to sit back and watch the fun. As the youngest of four boys, this has become his challenge. He thinks he can keep up with the big bro's, but is often held back by his age/size. Kim snapped this photo at the end and although I shouldn't love it...I do.

A Snowy Day w/ Tyler

This morning it snowed and the cars were covered. As I headed out to clear the car before school this little guy wanted to join. We through on a hat and sweatshirt and he walked around eating snow till we were ready to go. Couldn't resist this picture (inspired by my sister). Therefore, we just wanted to give a shout out to little cuz L. J. Parry. Looking forward to snowboarding with you buddy:)

The other evening, I was juggling boys between their different activities (scouts, basketball, and a friends house). On the drive home, Caleb casually mentioned that on that very evening his class was having an open house to display their semester's writing samples. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember reading a flier about this, but I never committed it to the calender and so it had slipped my mind. It was the last thing I wanted to do at that time. Boys were hungry, tired and still needing baths. I wanted to go home to relax. However, we were driving by the school and we could make the last fifteen minutes of the open house if we raced in. I decided to go for it and I am so glad. The class was assigned to write on a topic of their individual choices. Caleb chose to write about his family. I had to share. I love this boy!

Up Close at the ZOO

Recently, we were introduced to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We love it and bought a season pass so that we could enjoy going back a few times. One day, we went as a family and it seemed all the animals were out to play. Almost every exhibit allowed for up close interaction with the animals. It was a very memorable day.



Some animals got a little to close for comfort. The giraffes, for example tried to lick Blake in the face. Because of this, he was hesitant to feed them and a little nervous to get to close to the other animals. At lunch, Mike showed him there was nothing to be afraid of. He warmed up to the idea of feeding animals and ended up feeding crackers to the wildest one at the zoo that day:)







We rode the sky tram and were able to look at the zoo from a different perspective. The tram took us to the top of the mountain where there were amazing views. After eating our lunch at a picnic spot, we headed down the mountain to the remaining exhibits.



High five (or four) to the lion and gorilla.





The neatest exhibit for me that day was the one housing the bears. This one was napping on a rock when we showed up, but then he took a particular interest in the boys. At first, he appeared friendly and the boys were laughing and snuggling (through the glass).





Then a crowd started to gather and the bear began to snarl and swat at the boys with his sharp teeth and enormous paws. I don't know if he was being playful or angry, but it was a bit scary for me and we left him soon afterwards.

Happy Halloween

This Halloween we had fun coming up with costumes. The boys definitely had their opinions on the matter. Caleb created a joker get-up complete with checker pants, a funky tie, and home made hat. He wore it with pride and a huge joker smile. Dallin went for the skeleton costume. He thought it would be cool to glow in the dark.

Blake has had his costume idea for months. During our last move, he became well acquainted with The Karate Kid. Daniel-son is his new favorite character and "the crane" is his new favorite fighting move. Tyler, didn't really have a choice in the matter. This cow costume was a steal and the butt alone made it irresistible.

We joined a couple cute Care Bear cousins for neighborhood trick-or-treating and scored big on candy. The big boys ran ahead to ensure they hit the entire block while little guys hung back. Even Tyler caught on to the Trick- or-Treating concept, although he only seemed interested in approaching the door when the sucker in his hand ran out:)

We also were pleased to have discovered "Peter Pumpkin" again this year. Each year, we try to pick the right pumpkin out of the patch. If we're lucky, after carving him, we light him up and see if he talks. Peter knows our family well and it's always fun to have a conversation with him on Halloween night.