Happy New Year!

Rockin' out with Rara on New Year's!

Bye-bye San Diego...

...until next time...

Disneyland!

On a beautiful Southern California day, we went to Disneyland with Papa Pete and Nana (sans Andrew). The park was filled to capacity. It was exhausting. But our girl met her favorite Disney Princess, Jasmine, and everyone's day was complete because our princess was elated!

Toes in the sand for the first time...

Toes in the sand and sand in the mouth...

Christmas with the Turners

Christmas Take 2 with Papa & Nana Turner.

Here's Liv with cousins Jake, Ty & Kylie.

(The babies aren't pictured: brother Andrew & cousin Sophie)

Merry Christmas!

Our day was filled with presents and love and lots and lots of family.

We are so incredibly blessed!

Christmas Eve

My dear sister, Alton, was also in San Diego with Dad and Kiki for the holidays. We spent a beautiful morning together along the coast with site seeing and brunch!

Christmas Eve church with the Stephens Family ♥ Auntie Anna, Liv & Cousin Aiden

Christmas PJs. Ready for bed and for SANTA!

Balboa Park

After Christmas shopping in the morning sans the kids, we spent a beautiful afternoon exploring Balboa Park with Papa and Grandma. We ended the day with Auntie Anna and Auntie Grace and families in Point Loma. It was a beautiful San Diego day!

♥ San Diego ♥

We made it!

Arrival. Cousins. 3 Generations. Pizza Nova. Birds of Paradise.

We're leaving on a jet plane

Early Wednesday morning we headed out to DIA for our morning flight to San Diego for Christmas. It was Andrew's first time on an airplane and his 19 month "birthday." Since we were on Southwest, we were able to score an extra seat for Andrew who was a lap child. The kids were perfect. They slept, played together and ate snacks. It was a perfect flight!

Santa Claus

We headed to Flatiron Crossing with our Williams family, Josh, Sara (and B-dub in the oven) and Cameron, to visit Santa. Olivia and Cameron kept each other entertained and the Bubs was a champ chilling in his stroller taking in all the sights and sounds. The kids ate snacks, read books, sang songs, counted trees and played "I Spy." Liv was a little shy with Santa and Drew was like a little deer in the headlights. However, to mama, it was a success! No tears!

Santa Claus with our Besties

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, dear Papa!

Happy Birthday to you!

We love you, Papa!

♥ Liv & Drew

We were able to spend Papa's birthday with him this year. After Liv's recital, we went to 3 Margaritas for a yummy lunch. Thank you for spending your birthday with us, Dad. It was a lovely day!

My Broadway Baby

Our sweet Olivia made her dancing debut in a Broadway Baby number. Her first recital might also have been her last. She didn't love taking dance and it was a struggle to convince her to go each week. However, it was a teachable moment for us and a learning opportunity for her. We had many discussions about trying new activities, following through on a commitment and not letting others down. She made it to the recital and was pretty adorable in her costume. She loves the stage, but I think her route might be singing and/or acting, not dancing... But, you never know... She is, afterall, only 4...

My beautiful Olivia, I am very proud of you for finishing what you started. You are such a cute little dancer and you did a fabulous job. Here's to starting gymnastics in the new year!

Broadway Baby

Thank you to our dear family and friends, Papa, Gigi, Sena, John, Rara, Miss Colie and Rachele, for supporting our little performer!

befunky.com

1. befunky.com 2. upload pic. 3. make it funky. 4. save it. 5. share it.
LOVE IT! And it's free!

Football with the Freetly's

New friends: Olivia, Harper and Andrew ♥ Old friends: Steph, Heather & Greg

After reconnecting with my high school friend, Greg, who recently moved to Colorado from San Diego, we finally coordinated a time to get our families together. It was so wonderful to meet Greg and Steph's darling little girl, Harper. We spent the afternoon eating and watching football and reminiscing and sharing stories. We are looking forward to spending more time with the Freetly's! It was a wonderfully fun afternoon!

Haircuts

Tears and smiles Bubs does not like to get his hair cut. Liv, on the other hand, loves to get her hair cut. Seriously, she asks all the time. And each time she asks she also tells me that she wants her hair shorter.

Olivia's Family Festival

1. Liv's biggest fan 2. Our little star
3. Aunt Joyce and cousins Josh & Kelly 4. Jingle Bells
5. Liv with her BFF, Gretchen 6. Miss Denny & Miss Lorinda ♥
7. Santa! 8. Papa
9. Our attempt at a family picture... ♥

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandpa Marty!

Us • Grandpa with his three daughters (and a great granddaughter) • 3 Generations

The Navarre

What a truly amazing experience. The Navarre. Dr. Colorado.
Anschutz's private Western Art collection. My Sena. A perfect afternoon!

Celebrating Baby Girl Yebra

♥ My Girls ♥ Grandma Lenz reading a sweet story ♥ The Lenz girls with their Mom ♥

A sweet day celebrating my dear friend, Michele, and her baby girl
who will be making her arrival late February.

Christmas Book Club

Tara's house. Friends. United Chinese. Wine. Ornaments. Alyssa Cares. Boulder & Big dog.

A lovely evening with beautiful friends. (We missed you, Kristin & Abby!)

Craft Time with Grandma!

Grandma with her girl, Olivia, putting together a foam Gingerbread House. The glue gun operated by Grandma was necessary to get the structure put together, but Liv helped with the rest of the house by carefully placing each of the sparkling red and green shingles, candies, gingerbread man and Christmas tree. The final product was pretty cute and Liv enjoyed the craft time with Grandma!

Deck the Halls

(Although it pains my heart, we purchased a fake tree this year. The driving factor was that we will be in California for Christmas. I must admit, it's still pretty cute and all I need is some pine scent for the house to make it feel a little more real. The sleeping Bubs missed decorating, but Liv loved putting the tree together, hanging the ornaments and some brother-free alone time with Mommy and Daddy.)

Advent - Day 1

Gigi made Olivia and Andrew this fun and festive Advent Calendar. She brought it over on Thanksgiving, so it was a looooooooooooong week for Olivia and waiting for December 1st to arrive was so difficult. But finally the day came and she was so excited for her little treat. Thank you, Gigi, for such a wonderful addition to our Christmas festivities. Liv is so excited to discover what is in the stocking for Day 2!

Tangled in 3D

Quite simply, the most lovely Disney movie in quite some time. We all loved Tangled! ♥

Light the Lights

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, Denver is illuminated... 16th Street Mall, Union Station and the City & County Building. To kick off the Christmas holiday season, we joined the festivities in Civic Center Park to watch the lighting of the City & County Building. It was a beautiful evening which included Santa, carolers and a LED light display to Christmas music. The highlight of the evening for Liv was her heart wand glow stick. Andrew wanted one, too!

What a pair!

Oh these two little cherubs just adore each other! Together they fill our house with giggles, wreak havoc on the play room and already get into trouble together. As the big sister, Liv loves to help brother, takes care of him and showers him with hugs and kisses. As the little brother, Drew follows sister around, takes her toys and likes to play in her room. They love to tease each other and play games and get into hilarious laughing fits together. I love watching the two of them together and I can only hope and pray that their sweet relationship continues to grow and deepen as they grow.

Bountiful Blessings

thankful

♥ Jason, I'm thankful for... your unconditional love, belly laughs, random outbursts of song, kind and gentle heart and your unwavering dedication to me and our family. You are hands down the best husband in the world for me and Daddy to Olivia and Andrew. I adore you.
♥ Olivia, I'm thankful for... your beautiful smile, contagious laughter, flair for the dramatic, silliness, helpfulness, unparalleled imagination and ever-growing vocabulary, enthusiasm for learning and exploring the world around you. You are the best daughter and the perfect big sister. I love you.
♥ Andrew, I'm thankful for... your lopsided grin, ticklish giggles, natural ability to run and throw, joy in all things, hugs and love and sweetness, determination and boundless energy. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful baby boy and sweet little brother to Olivia. I cherish you.

On Thanksgiving and always, I am eternally grateful for these three individuals who make me smile and laugh and have blessed my life beyond measure.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Magician's Elephant

In order to prepare for Stellar's annual Battle of the Books competition, I began reading books from the list that I have not yet previously read. First on the list, The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo. This story of love and magic held me captive from start to finish. While my children napped, I raced through the pages of this lovely tale. Kate DiCamillo is a brilliant story-teller who uses such beautiful language and is one of my favorite children's book authors. I have enjoyed each and every one of her books and this title is no exception. I am anxiously awaiting to discuss this book with my students. Next on my list, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, a ghost story, by Mary Downing Hahn.

18 months.

It is hard to believe that my little baby boy is 18 months old today. Translation: one and a half years old. Is that really possible? My growing boy is lean little guy weighing in at 22 lbs. 12 oz. (10th percentile) and measuring 32 1/2 inches (50th percentile) long.

He is healthy, happy and clearly does not appreciate being weighed!

But he loves Dr. Jordan who quickly had him at ease.

My CU Girls

Good friends are like stars... You don't always see them,

but you know they are always there.

We spent a lovely weekend in Boulder with our dear friends and visitors... Sam and John (and Sammy's sister, Jenny) from New York and Jen and Dave from California. The weekend was like a passport to the past... Delicious food and drinks. Chatting and laughing. Watching our Buffs win. Shopping along Pearl Street. Even though I don't see Sammy and Jen on a regular basis like I once did, spending time with them is as easy and fun and absolutely wonderful as it always has been. Love you two very much! ♥

(My Spotts made the collage, too. By chance, she and her husband Luke were at the game on Saturday.)

Happy 35th Birthday, Daddy!

Today is a day to celebrate the gift of "you" to the world,
especially the gift you are to the three of us! ♥

October 2010 Highlights

My little tapper. Celebrating baby girl Hafner
Total and complete silliness

Football!

Buddies heading to the MRHS football game

Me and my girl

Rock Creek Farm Pumpkin Patch

Scarecrow and the pumpkin

The Senas at Terror in the Corn, Anderson Farm

My Spotts after the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin Run in the rain with my Sena

And, pose.

My little cheerleader at the MRHS Cheer Clinic

Haircut, even shorter this time!

My little monster

Liv. Mommy. Popcorn. Scared Shrekless.

Bright Horizons Halloween festivities

Jasmine & Camo

Ready to perform at halftime - MRHS football game.

Kianna and Liv ♥

Fun with Daddy

Liv's pumpkin carving creation

Treaters ready for candy!
Our little Rajah
The fam on Halloween Night
Tired but happy treaters