Thursday, September 29, 2011

Update

Well, I thought I would just give a little update on us and where we are now! We were originally supposed to move to North Carolina by the middle of August for our next job. It was perfect timing really because my brother was leaving on his mission on the 3rd of August so we decided to drive over for his farewell on July 31, then drive up to Idaho and spend a week or so there getting all of our doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, eye exams, get my license renewed and switch some stuff in/out of storage before we headed over to North Carolina for 9 months!! Well, as luck would have it, we found out the day our ABF moving trailer was scheduled to be picked up and shipped over to NC that the job has been delayed for awhile and we wouldn't be going there. Perfect! I guess I can be thankful that we found out before it was picked up so I was able to change the destination to just have it sit in Oklahoma City until we figure out what we are doing.

Chris actually left Idaho after a couple days while I stayed there with the boys and did all of our appointments and spent time with my family. At the end of the week my step-dad drove with us back to Oklahoma, where we were going to stay until the job was completely finished. What should have only taken a couple more weeks actually took about 6 weeks and we finally officially moved from Oklahoma last weekend!! All of our stuff was still all packed up in the moving trailer, so we just used rented furniture and lived in the apartment we had been living in since we hadn't closed out the lease.

That brings us to now. We have moved to the beautiful mountains of Colorado!! We are living in Alma, CO which is about 11,000 feet in elevation, but is absolutely gorgeous. The cabin we are staying in is beautiful and has awesome views of the mountains. The trees are all changing colors and are currently bright yellows and oranges. There is a little creek running down the side of the mountain right by our house that we can hear when the windows are open. There is a nice big deck that wraps around one corner of the house. We will only be here for about 4-5 weeks, as long as the snow holds out and doesn't make it difficult for the concrete trucks to get to the job. We have already seen some moose as we were driving up to the house. They walked right in front of us and one of them actually walked right by the side of our car. The boys loved it and were pretty excited to see them. I don't have any pictures yet of everything, something I hope to do very soon! And as far as where we will be going next, that is a mystery that won't be known until closer to the time we will be leaving here!!! Definitely keeps life interesting!

Oklahoma State Fair

Last week Chris had to go into Oklahoma City to get some things for work and we noticed there was a fair going on. So I looked it up online to see what fair it was and all the details. Turned out that it was $3 (it's usually $9/person) admission/person that day so we decided we didn't want to pass it up! It was a lot of fun and we bought Parker a wristband that gave him unlimited access to all the kiddie rides. He LOVED it! It's so much fun because he's finally getting old enough (and tall enough) to be able to enjoy the rides. We let him do some of the rides for awhile and then we walked all around the fair and saw some animals and ate some dinner. Because we weren't planning on going to the fair when we headed to Oklahoma City we didn't have the stroller with us, which meant that we had to carry Tyler the whole time. It was a long afternoon, but totally worth it and we are glad we went, plus it was the perfect time because by the time we left it was getting more and more crowded because people were getting off work and finished with dinner and whatnot. And sadly because it was spur of the moment, I also didn't have the camera with me :( I took a few pictures with my phone, before it died, but they weren't all that great!
This ride he rode on a couple times. He finally was able to drive a car! lol
He of course had to ride on the train. I think it's interesting how the seat belt is over their legs/feet and not their lap...do they really think that will keep them safe in their seats?! haha
Parker loved jumping on the bridge at the very top and wasn't scared at all. It was funny to watch because there were several kids that were scared and crying and didn't want to go any further and then there's Parker who's jumping on the bridge having the time of his life, scaring the other kids even more! lol I guess boys will be boys!!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Pottawattamie County Free Fair

Last night we decided to check out the county fair. It was okay, nothing like the county fairs I'm used to in Washington, but the boys had fun! We went and looked at the animals first and then watched a couple of the tractor pull races before heading over to the rides. In the animal barn they had a little kids area that had a sandbox they could play in. Tyler wasn't really too sure about it.
On the Merry-Go-Round!
I was really surprised that Tyler didn't freak out on this mini-roller coaster, but he seemed to really like it! Little daredevil!
I think it's safe to say that a day or two in Disneyland wouldn't be a waste. Parker could have ridden the rides all night if we let him!! Guess we should plan a trip!

Bricktown

On Labor Day we decided to drive up to Bricktown in downtown Oklahoma City and walk around. We had driven past it several times before and since it was about 20 degrees cooler than it had been ALL summer, we decided we would go check it out. It was really pretty down there and it was nice to just walk around outside for awhile. Later that afternoon we went over to our friend's, the Hadsalls, house for a BBQ Potluck. Chris played Volleyball and the boys had fun playing outside. It was a lot of fun and were glad we were able to go!
They have a Water Taxi that takes you through that canal through Bricktown and they tell you all about it I guess. It would have been fun to go on it, maybe next time.
We ate lunch at Sonic before we walked around much
And we ended the day with a trip to Bass Pro Shops, where of course the boys had to sit on all the tractors and 4-wheelers!
It was a nice relaxing holiday that we were able to spend together as a family!
Happy Labor Day!!!

POP'S

There is this cool little Diner/Gas Station on Route 66 called Pop's. They have over 500 different kids of sodas all in glass bottles and we had heard it was a fun little place, so we decided to go. The food was amazing, probably the best cheeseburger I've had in a LONG time! Seriously! The whole place was really cool. The walls on both sides were glass windows but they had pop bottles on the windows from top to bottom (glued on shelves of course). After we ate we went over and picked a few sodas to try and then headed home. It was sort of a long way to drive just for a burger and some pop, but it was still pretty fun!!
Pop bottle lined walls!
Apparently this lights up at night in a few different colors.

More Birthday Festivities!!

Even though we already celebrated Parker's birthday in Idaho we celebrated it again on our actual birthday, August 18. Mainly because we hadn't really celebrated mine yet, and I wasn't about to pass up cake and ice cream! We didn't do anything major, just dinner and then cake and ice cream and a little shopping. It has gotten to be a little tradition of ours to go to Red Robin on our birthday for dinner, we have gone there the last 3 years! We had to drive about 45 minutes just to go, but it was totally worth it!! I just love that place :)
The boys just weren't really cooperating with the whole picture taking process, so these were the best ones we got!
Thoroughly enjoying his ice cream sundae..mmmm
Yes, I realize we are wearing different clothes, but since Red Robin was so far away, by the time we had gotten back home it was late and we were all tired...Plus, we kind of forgot about the cake! So we just kept the celebration going for another day! Who says you can only celebrate once a year!!??

3 Years Old :)

I am so behind in my blogging, but here are Parker's 3-year pictures. My step-mom took them when we were in Arizona and they turned out too cute! He is constantly learning new things and is quite the crack-up. He really talks up a storm now, which has been fun to hear what will come out of his mouth next! Now that Tyler is getting big enough to play with, Parker is really enjoying the rough housing side of having a brother!! Parker LOVES going to nursery and playing with his friends and the toys. He is getting really good at learning the primary songs and loves to sing them with us. Reading stories is also getting to be one of his favorite things to do and loves reading the same books over and over again.

He also really loves to play outside and swim in the pool. This year he has had plenty of opportunities to go swimming and has fully taken advantage of that all summer long! He is my little fish and is absolutely fearless when it comes to water. He had his first session of swimming lessons this summer and had a blast, still needs to work on the listening aspect of it, but it was good for him to have to start focusing on something. We love you Parker and are so glad you are part of our family!!!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

All Aboard for Parker's 3rd Birthday :)

What? Seriously? I have a 3 year old? When did this happen?!! However crazy it sounds to me, it's still true, Parker turned 3 years old on August 18!! After our trip to Arizona to see my brother off on his mission, we continued our drive North to Idaho. We had several things to do before our next move so we went back for a week and stayed at my Aunt's house. It was perfect because my mom, step-dad and brother were also there visiting the same time we were! We decided that since almost everyone was in Idaho we would celebrate Parker's birthday a little early.

Now, even though he turned a year older I was so super excited to throw his party this year! Mainly because this was the first year that he had been asking for literally months in advance for a specific type of party. Any guesses? If you guessed Thomas and Friends, then you guessed right! He has been saying that he wanted a Thomas birthday with a Thomas cake for the last several months, mainly around someone else's birthday (Chris' and Tyler's). So because of this I may have gone all out for his party! haha

We celebrated it on August 6 at Rexburg Rapids (Rexburg's new outdoor water park!) with most of our family and some friend's of ours. It was a blast, the weather was perfect (for Idaho it was perfect, but for us coming from over 100 degree, humid weather, it was a little chilly!), but fun just the same! Parker got lots of Thomas stuff (back pack, lunch box, coloring book, trains, place mat, tin box), bubbles, clothes, puzzles and a T-Ball set! He loved it and still talks about it when you ask him how his birthday was!

The almost complete set-up, just missing the balloons! (And because of the wind, the "Happy Birthday" banner didn't stay up much longer after this picture!)
The Birthday Boy :)
A few of my cousins, Lizzy, Elise and Brinley. Lizzy put the party hat's on Parker like that, too funny!
Me and the Birthday Boy :)
How cute is the cake?!? He was able to keep the train, which he loved!
Getting sung to...
Blowing out the candles!!
My attempt at getting a picture of the adorable Thomas balloons, but the wind just wouldn't cooperate!
Parker LOVED the cake! While we were getting ready to sing to him he kept sneaking some frosting off the sides, he even did that to the left over pieces...so Chris just gave him another one! (That's his special plastic plate that I got him...I know, just a little overboard with whole thing! lol)
A couple of his friends, Carson and Brinley
Our friends, Jon and Sydney (Carson and Brinley's parents)
My cousins, Kolbe and Elise
My brother, Connor and my Step-dad with Tyler
My step-dad with Tyler
One of the many bubble sets he got, such a great gift and he loves bubbles (despite what the picture depicts!), but then what kid doesn't?!
His t-ball set, which he really likes, when he's not hitting his brother with the bat! Should have seen that one coming! haha
His cool new backpack, which will come in handy for all his books and coloring stuff for our long trips.
One half of the new water park: slides and lazy river
Other half of the pool: Kid's splash area, rock climbing wall and pool. It really was a nice water park. the bottom of ALL the pool areas were padded with this soft rubber padding, instead of concrete...so nice!

Family Picture
Happy Birthday Parker, we LOVE YOU!!!!