Minneapolis 2008

We just got back from our trip to Minneapolis earlier this week. This was Kenzie's first airplane ride and she did GREAT! From many helpful suggestions, I was prepared with new toys and new snacks to help keep her entertained for the 2 hour ride. Kenzie is generally a sweet, sweet girl and through this adventure she prooved to be nothing less. She only started crying about 10 minutes before landing in Minneapolis - that only lasted 5 minutes - then she fell fast asleep and wasn't even phased by the landing. This is how I held her from the time I stepped off the plane until my Mother-in-Law picked us up... Right after we landed we headed to a Birthday dinner for Justin's Grandma. It was her 83rd birthday and she nor the rest of the extended family had met Kenzie! They all loved her and despite my fears because of the long day we'd had, she responded well to meeting so many new people and was extremely well behaved at the restaurant too! Boy are we blessed!!

We attended an outdoor children's music concert at a nearby park...although the music was playing, it mostly served as background music to the exploring Kenzie and her Grandma did. She was a very busy little girl...

...and found many interesting things to look at.We shared a room with Kenzie at Grandma's house. This was funny because it is rare that Kenzie gets to wake up in the same room as mommy and daddy. Kenzie thought it was funny...but mommy didn't when it was 4:00am and she is standing in the crib at the end of our bed saying "Hi" and "Mommy". Okay, I'll admit, it was a funny site to see waking up to this every morning! Who wouldn't wake with a smile!? The crib she got to sleep in was actually Justin's crib from when he was a baby!We spent one day at a nearby lake. Justin's brother and his wife came to town too and brought their darling twin boys. We hadn't seen them in almost a year (they're only 3 months younger than Kenzie). The kiddos all loved playing in the sand together! Look at my bathing beauty...what a cutie if I do say so myself! I just LOVE beach pictures!
Below: Kenzie playing with cousins, Jakson and Connor and Aunt Megan.

Walking on the beach with Daddy...We spent a day of my choice shopping at the Mall of America and IKEA. I was so excited since I had never been to either one! I was thrilled that the Mall of America had one of my favorite stores, H&M!! C'mon, when does Colorado get one??

Justin's mom also treated us to the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America. This was SO neat! I normally don't like fish all that much but this was truly amazing! (Thanks Sue!) Kenzie actually really enjoyed it too...and learned how to say "fishies", of course it sounds more like "ishies" when she says it.
Family picture in the land display portion of the exhibit:
Just a few photos of the things we got to see...

SHARKS...Yikes!
Beautiful live coral...
Piranha! Weird how they all just floated in place, evenly spaced...it was a little eerie!
Before the cousins left, Grandma wanted a picture with her three grandchildren. Not such a great morning to do it as all three had woken up on the grumpy side. When one started to cry, it was all over from there! At least Grandma Sue thought it was funny!

Later, she was able to get some sweet snuggle time in with Kenzie. I guess Kenz just prefers Grandma one-on-one...she's a cuddle bug!One of the reasons we chose this particular week to visit was for the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Justin wanted to participate in. This was his third race of the season and his first ever out of state! The family came out to watch...Aunt Janis, Uncle Jim, Jeremy & Megan & the boys, Sue, Anita, Kenzie and I. Thanks for the support everyone!

Pictures from the race:

Done with the swim, out of the water...Coming in on the bike... Finishing with the run...
All in all, we had a great time. The weather was actually quite wonderful and it was fabulous to see all of the family and let them finally meet our sweet Kenzie.

The airplane ride home was just as great as the one out there. Kenzie handled it like a champ and once again fell asleep just in time for landing. What a stinker! She was really tired though and spent the bus ride home from the airport like this...

God Bless America!

It was a wonderful, warm (downright hot, really...) day and a perfect one for Barbecuing with family. We stayed in most of the day getting laundry done (thanks Justin!!), playing with Kenzie and relaxing on the couch together - a rarity since our schedules during triathlon season are hardly ever in sync. I love the days when we can take even a few moments to enjoy each others company and just sit together.

We ended our day with a barbecue at my younger sister's house. Usually we gather as a family at my parent's house. Mom and Dad do the grilling, Dad makes his special beans, and we all pitch in with something of our own to share. Well this year, Mom and Dad were out of town so we partied as sisters and hubbies instead. John and Abby grilled, I brought the beans (Dad's recipe of course!!) and Angie brought the fruit salad! Yum! Yum! We had a great time although I feel like we ate continuously from 6:00-9:00...we all had FULL bellies! Then it was off to find a fireworks show. What would the 4th of July be without a fireworks display!? We found one that was being set off around 104th up north. It was great though the kiddos seemed less than interested. It wasn't completely dark when the show started...bad if you like it dark...good if you have tired kids and a long drive home!

We parted ways and drove south just in time to catch the finale of the show at Bandimere Speedway. Talk about AWESOME!! I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to take any pictures but the show was spectacular. We had perfect timing as we drove right by on the highway and it felt as if we were in the middle of a firecracker! The streamers were showering down as if I could have reached my hand out and caught the sparkles. I have never seen a fireworks display appear so BIG! That's how close we were!!

Well, I hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful 4th of July celebration too! I am thankful, and blessed to live in America! I appreciate the soldiers who fight for our freedom and pray for them and their families! God Bless America!

Happy 4th of July from my family to yours!

"Blankie"

Kenzie has formed a special attachment to her blankie this week...

She takes it everywhere she goes.

She can't eat breakfast if it isn't securely on her lap.

She needs it during nap time & when she goes to bed at night.

She loves to wear it over her shoulders and walk around like a queen.

She likes to snuggle up with Mommy in it...

And rest on it on the floor when she needs a break from playing.

It sure is a special blankie...Aunt Angie made it with lots of love and Kenzie just LOVES it too!

In One Word...

Since it's been over a month since my last post, I decided to fill in with this meme from Natalie's Blog (a new fantastic blogger who recently found me!):

In One Word...
1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your significant other? Justin
3. Your hair? dark
4. Your mother? funny
5. Your father? smart
6. Your favorite thing? daughter
7. Your dream last night? bizarre
8. Your favorite drink? macchiato
9. Your dream/goal? mommy
10. The room you’re in? condo
11. Your church? serving
12. Your fear? injury
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? house
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you’re not? tidy
16. Muffins? blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? house
18. Where you grew up? Colorado
19. The last thing you did? ate
20. What are you wearing? dress
21. Your TV? on
22. Your pets? cat
23. Your computer? consuming
24. Your life? blessed
25. Your mood? happy
26. Missing someone? sisters
27. Your car? Toyota
28. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite store? many
30. Your summer? warm
31. Like (love) someone? family
32. Your favorite color? pink
33. Last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? ????
35. Who will repost this? sister

Summer Outing

We spent our first outing of the summer at the Denver Zoo with friends - our first official summer play date! We got to see a few animals and get some exercise in but with 6 kids ages 4 and under I felt a little out of control. This certainly won't be our last time at the zoo...I bought a season pass!! I just love the zoo and so does my sister, so I know there will be MANY summer days walking around and learning about animals.After the zoo, we decided to stop by and visit Daddy at work.

Kenzie was even nice enough to give him a little gift. She didn't wet her pants....she wet Daddy's!! It was really funny! Daddy was a good sport about it, even though he was too embarrassed to walk us back out to our car...And after such a full morning, the car ride home was just too much...

Kleenex

I remember when it happened with my niece and it was only a matter of time before Kenzie discovered how facinating a box of Kleenex can be.

The amazing part...there seems to be an endless supply!

I was going about my day and Kenzie was playing around the house. Suddenly things were very quite so I went to see what my sweet girl was doing and what new things she was learning about.

This is what I found...

But at least they didn't go to waste...And how could I be upset with that face?

Fashion Show (Part II)

Well, I must apologize for the delay in getting this posted...and I must let you know that the content of this post is not what it was originally intended to be. I was going to follow up with more pictures of the fashion show, the beautiful table settings, gifts, and a recap of our morning speaker. However, due to the comments and the pictures on my camera that followed the lovely morning, I had no choice but to take this in a new direction. Every time I pulled up the pictures for this post I just started laughing and lost all concentration to get this done. You are in for a real treat! Following the lovely time we had at the Ladies Spring Brunch, we (my sisters, mom and I) all went back to my parent's house to relieve my dad of his babysitting duties (THANKS DAD!!!!) and to go through a few of our belongings. Since my mom and dad are in the process of a MAJOR clean out, my sisters and I have all been instructed to come get our stuff. So, this particular trip was intended to go through the closet containing old formal dresses from past high school homecoming dances, proms, sorority formals, bridesmaids... We pulled them all out, one-by-one each claiming our own and reminiscing each occasion for which they were worn. Angie was the first of the three of us to attend high school dances...take a look...notice the green one on the right in the picture below-this a was a hit back in 1991!!

These (featured in the photo above) were all worn by Angie in High School. They will now be fancy "princess" dresses for the little girls to play dress-up.

Can you tell that they already love them? These little darlings were thrilled to be taking the dresses home...but not before they got a proper trying-on of course...

Strike a pose!

This is one of mine (above) from college...the color was just stunning on this little blonde doll!

A maternity formal? I think not! ...If only you could see the back...

not quite the perfect fit it was 13 years ago!

What a beauty!

What a pair! You can see how special they felt?! Well, this one was mine but Emma loved how sparkly it was!! She looked like a mermaid as she walked out of the room with it trailing behind her.

Okay, saving the best for last...
(This model’s face has been concealed to protect her identity! LOL!!!)Anyone in the mood to dance? We have a few dresses you can borrow! I guess this is our take on "27 dresses"...you should see the collecion. But...I promise this was the best of the bunch!