Happy Halloween!

Well, we can cross if off our list.  Halloween is all done for this year and the kids had a good run.  Their costumes were worn three different times and they each have huge candy bags that will be the topic of discussion for the next few months.  This year Jackson was Spiderman, Lizzy was a vampire princess and Emily was a pirate.

Vampire Princess Lizzy.  Her costume widdled down with each wear.  This was the one and only night she wore her eyelashes (she lost one) and her rose only made it to the 2nd night.

Pirate Emily

The gang before a night of fun!





Zoo Fun and Family

 Ok, so a month late is good right? Just wanted to post some pictures from our trip to Pueblo Zoo. We had a wonderful day with great weather and cute animals. The kids are getting to the age where it is not so much chasing them around but enjoying our time together, it was such a great day! We had some peacocks come over during lunch, the kids liked it for about a minute and then we were shooing them away.



 

A little unsure about the peacocks





Warming up to them





Some super fun kids





Lizzy loved the zebras!





Ma and Baba came for a visit.

My parents also came to stay with us for a few days.  It was so great having them here!

First Day of School

Can you believe it?!?!  The girls started school on August 11th this year.  Lizzy was so excited and nervous to go to school all day.  She loved it though and her teacher is wonderful.  When I took them to school that morning Lizzy wanted to be dropped off in the circle and then I drove around and parked, Emily wanted me to walk her to her teacher.  They are such very different girls.

Emily's now a third grader and Lizzy a first grader!

Summer Wrap-Up

I thought I should post more of the summer pictures before I put up the school year ones.  Hopefully the girls will remember all the fun we had when they get older!

Tennis lessons.  The girls loved it and Jackson got to play with all of the little brothers that were watching.

Their 2nd annual lemonade sale.  Thankfully the people on our street are pretty nice :)

They upped it from 25 cents last year.  Inflation I guess

Going to the drive-in's to see Cars 2

At one of the summer camps they did, a baby bird had fallen from a tree and the kids got to it before the parents knew it.  So why not take a picture? :)

More Summer Fun

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera for the 4th of July fun but WOW, what an amazing day!  We started with a 5k, the girls both ran their first ever and did amazing!  Emily wants to continue and train for another in August while Lizzy is on the fence.  After that we went to the Wet parade in Pueblo West.  The kids were soaked and laughing and screaming the whole time.  I sat with a friend near an umbrella (for shade, it was 95 out) and that made us an instant target.  We were soaked by the end as well.  Later that night we went to a BBQ with friends and watched the fireworks.  It made me so grateful for the town we live in and the freedoms we enjoy.  Thank you to all who have served to provide that!~

Another favorite around here is bowling.  During the summer the local bowling alley offers free bowling for the kids, who can resist?  Jackson is big enough to do it now too and they all had so much fun.  Here are some pictures from one of our recent trips and the kids hamming it up.

Summer Fun

Summer is in full swing and going fast!  Our new found favorite pasttime is skyping with the family.  It is so fun to chat with all of our family and see their faces!

Skyping with Pops and Gaga

Our friends Tina and Andrew came for a visit, it was so wonderful to see them!  What darling kiddos too!  



Christopher and Lindsay goofing off with Joe



The kids started swim lessons and even Jackson is doing them now. Both of the girls are in level 4 together and doing great. They have to swim across the pool and I always get so worried that Lizzy will run out of energy but sure enough she makes it!



3 Years Old - Happy Birthday Jackson Man!

Yesterday was the big day!  Jackson turned 3!  I think I say this with each birthday the kids have, but where has the time gone?  He was so excited from the moment he woke up.  All day whenever someone would say "Happy Birthday!", he would reply "Happy Birthday to you too!", too funny.  We love you Jackson and are so grateful to have you in our lives!

The Wedding!

Well, I don't have very many photos from this day as my camera was now too full to take anymore!  Thanks to everyone that sent them over.  Stacia and Charlie had a beautiful day!  They were married at The Hitching Post, a beautiful home built in 1812.  Stacia's dressing room was upstairs with a balcony overlooking a beautiful property.  They were married outside and the weather could not have been more perfect.  I think she beamed the entire night!
Jackson, Emily and Lizzy all did an amazing job in their prosective roles.  Jackson even got to carry the actual rings!  From what I have been told, he made funny faces at the audience while the ceremony went on and then when he got bored of that he started to pull out the grass.  The girls made a million new friends and danced the night away with all of the groomsmen.  The band let them come up and sing Party in the USA, which they have not stopped talking about.  We only saw Jackson a few times that night as well, he was adopted by the entire bridal party and loved every minute of it.  An amazing night with family; seeing my sister marry a man she is a perfect match for!

North Carolina Part 3 - Rehearsal Dinner

 The day before the wedding we attended the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Below are some pictures from the ride to dinner at the North Harbor Club on Lake Norman. The kids all got to ride on the "party bus" and loved every minute of it!

Pops and the Jman relaxing on the bus.

 





Charlie, Stacia, Emily and Lizzy.  Don't let the girls' empty hands fool you, they downed 2 capri suns each on the way there! :)

  

The Bridal Party



 



Gaga, Grandma Peterson and Pops




Aunt Pam and Uncle John









Stacia and Charlie giving their thanks, such a touching moment for everyone.  Love you Charlie!  I have to note that they gave Jackson a Spiderman costume as a thank you for his part in the wedding.  When he opened the box, all he could say was "MY FAVORITE!".  Stole the show that little guy.

 

North Carolina Part 2

So after we were all pampered, we attended my sisters Bridal Luncheon the following day. It was held at The Historic Sharpe House, built in 1866, such a beautiful venue! We loved touring the house and making up stories of the owners and their daily lives.  Everyone worked hard to make a very yummy lunch, with Patti and Lynn keeping the kitchen going, they did a wonderful job!

Emily and Lizzy....

 
The Bride to Be and her beautiful Mother....

We got to sit with the Bride to Be!  Alli and Maisie, Emily, Stacia, Lizzy and Stefani

Grandma Peterson and sweet Maisie (she did not want her picture taken) :)

Picture time out front, the Carolinas are so green!



Sisters!  We didn't plan it but we ended up matching so perfectly, great minds think alike! ;)

Gaga and Aunt Julie.  So happy to see her!

 Maisie, Aunt Pam and Alli.  We missed Emma and McKenzie but they were there in spirit :).

The girls and I....

Our Trip to North Carolina (Part 1)

Well, this year our family vacation was getting to see my little sister get married to the love of her life!   The first part of our trip was actually getting the kids out of school a week early.  Lizzy was able to have a little Graduation in her class with her amazing teachers Miss Butorac and Miss Larsen.  We also found out later that Emily received 2 awards this year, Outstanding Behavior and also Music.  She was sad to have missed the assembly but it was for a great reason!

We started our trip with two plane rides, the kids were so excited but by the end Emily said flying was boring!  The kids at Denver International.  This is Lizzy practicing her smile, we told her she was going to have to smile for a lot of pictures for the wedding!

 

Our first day in North Carolina and we got to get pampered!  Stacia had arranged for a mani/pedi for all the ladies of the family.  Four generations, how blessed can we be!  The girls enjoyed getting their nails painted and they even got to order their own drinks while they got it done. 

 Aunt Pam and Miss Lizzy

Maisie and Emily



Aunt Sharon, Stacia, Debra (aka Gaga), Grandma Peterson and Alli

Catch-up Time Again (Ok I am really trying now) :)

Lets see, since our last post, we have had some fun happenings around here......

Lizzy went on a field trip with her class to the Pueblo Steel Museum.  They had a great time learning about the different kinds of rocks as well as how the refinery works.

She also lost her very first tooth!  With just a little tug, it slipped right out while mom was "checking it".  She was so shocked and excited.  Such a cute girl!  Since then she lost the one right next to it and the two on the top are loose.

The annual Tom Sawyer fishing derby was on again this year.  Both girls decided to do it (Lizzy had passed on it last year) and boy was it cold out!  Neither caught a fish, the wind kept blowing their hooks right back to them but they had a great time!  The Parks and Rec really do a great job with this event each year.  I am sure we will be back again next year! 

 Jackson was the official helper.  There were great stations setup by the Department of Fish and Wildlife where he got to practice casting, I think even he had a great time!

The Easter bunny also brought the kids a Butterfly Pavilion, they really enjoyed watching the caterpillars crawl around and finally transition to their chrysalis.  They checked them each morning to see how they were coming along.

Easter 2011