Durango,CO

Yesterday we woke up and decided to go to Durango. Yes! We are CRAZY like that sometimes. There have been plenty of times that we have driven hours to only spend a small amount of time where we were going. :) The drive there took about 4 hours and the drive home took about 3.

We ate lunch at a place in downtown Durango called Zia Taqueria. The kids had some awesome homemade burritos (ha ha Amanda! I know what your thinking!), and Casey and I had a steak bowl with the best cilantro rice ever!!!

After lunch we headed to a fish hatchery, and saw tons of baby trout! This was big Casey's favorite part of the day! When he retires his dream would be to work at a hatchery! He

would also like to be a park ranger! :)

After the hatchery we went to a wildlife museum and saw all the animals native to the area.

Next we went to the river. The kids had a blast, and realized you don't need a swimsuit to have fun in the water. They skipped rocks....ok, they tried. They waded in the water, and had a blast watching all the tubing, and rafting that the locals were enjoying. We also enjoyed a park that was close to the river.

At the end of the day the kids thought this would be the perfect place to live. Skiing in the winter, biking, hiking, and tubing in the summer. The weather was perfect too! We had a great day, and can't wait to go back for a longer stay! :)

On another note, can any of you see the annoying photobucket message that shows up on my blog? I'm not sure how it got there. I haven't moved or deleted anything from my blog or photobucket. Does anyone know how I can remove the message? If so, thanks in advance!!

We saw a lot of people biking across this bridge! Our plan for next summer!

Can you tell Casey is almost falling in this picture? I thought we was going to get soaked!

The boys chillin' while the girls played on the playground.

Almost time to go home.

Before heading home Neen had her first grape soda! She was in LOVE!!!!!

On the way home Neen told us she loved Mirango! (Durango)

Another funny thing Neen says is Markywave (microwave)

The other night Anna said exspost (supposed). I think this is the last word she says a little different. I asked her to spell exspost and this is how she spelled it. :) I had to tell her how to say it, and she sheepishly grinned at me. I love those little mis said words.

No More Paci's

Yesterday we took the kids to the dentist for their check up. Before going I told Neen we were going to the dentist and she said "her going to tell me I not need my pathi's". I told her she was right, that the dentist would say that. I had already prepared and told myself I wouldn't let the dentist get to me like she had in the past regarding paci's.

When the dentist started in with she shouldn't have a paci.......blah, blah, blah. I told her that the last time I tried to take Neen's paci away she started showing signs of anxiety in the form of obsessive ear rubbing. She said she didn't care, to just throw it away.

Okay, Mama Bear coming out... I told her I didn't care how long she has it. I would rather pay for braces than to pay for a psychiatrist. She told me it was much more than braces. She said the paci had already changed the shape and alignment of her jaw. :( She showed me places in her mouth where her teeth no longer touch. So, the verdict.....I needed to take away the paci. You know, with the older kids taking away the paci never phased me. With Neen it's like a dagger through the heart.

I tried thinking of several ways to take her paci away, and then I thought of a brilliant plan. We gathered all the paci's this morning and took a trip to Build-A-Bear! I thought I was ready for it, but as soon as we walked in the store my eyes filled with tears. She picked out her bear, and put every paci she owns inside it. There were 11 in all, and she didn't flinch or hesitate when she dropped them in. We explained to her what we were going to do and she was all for it. The lady working with us was a gem. She was so supportive and encouraging to Neen. She let us all wish upon a heart and put it in the bear. My wish was that Neen would never miss the pacis and the days ahead would go smoothly. Wish us luck. She has done well so far with only a few meltdowns. One being in a parking lot when she fell down and scraped her knee. Made me want to cry again. I held her all through lunch. I think this may be harder on me than it is her! I just love her to pieces and never want her to hurt for anything.

Neen was such a big girl this dentist visit. She volunteered to go first, and didn't cry once.

Such a big girl holding the mirror while the hygienist showed her how to brush.


Neen's paci loot. Eleven in all!

Helping stuff the bear.

Everyone following the "heart" directions for the bear.

Here she is putting in the very last paci.

Time to give the new bear his first bath.

Neen choosing the bears name for her birth certificate. She named him Creamy. She said "like ice creamy". So, Creamy Paci Bear it is!

For being such a BIG girl we let her and Creamy get a cookie at the mall.

I can see this being the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

My favorite part.....you can feel the paci's inside the bear. :)


Here is a short video of her putting her paci's inside the bear. :(

P.S. Last night when I asked Neen if she remembered what the dentist said about her paci she said "da dentist a mean, mean, mean poopie!" :) Love that girl!

Cute Kids Photo Overload

After getting the girls ready this morning they wanted me to take some pictures. Neen is so silly, but a few of these really capture her funny personality.

Dad wanted in on the photo action too! I tend to think that Anna looks like me, and little Casey looks like Casey. Neen is our "tweener". She's a good mix of Anna and little Casey, but today, in this picture I think Anna looks A LOT like her daddy!

I love Neen's "real" smile! It is so big, and look at those cheeks. How can you look at her and not smile? :)

"Plum Stealing"

We have a plum tree in our front yard that only produced about 12 plums this year. We have been anxiously waiting for them to ripen. We checked on them tonight, and they were perfect! Perfectly sweet that is. So sweet that our 12 were not enough. So.....we went what I call "plum stealing"! No not really! We went to one of Casey's restaurants (where there are about 6 plum trees) after dinner and picked the plums off those trees. Can you tell from the pictures what we had for dinner?

Nana's visit!

My Mom came to visit for the 4th of July weekend! We had such a great visit with her! The night she came in town we went straight to a ball game from the airport! The kids LOVED it! A few foul balls came in our direction so I was a little nervous, but it was great! After the game we watched the fireworks! I saw a lot of fireworks I hadn't seen before! They were really cool.

I love my Nana!

Casey and the kiddos. Look at that lady behind us. I think she was having a BLAST! ;)

Neen's favorite was the cotton candy! Talk about a sugar rush! It made her so silly!

The kids with a statue of the mascot after the game.We also went to Tinker Town when my mom was here. Kind of a junk museum. There were alot of recycled bottles in the walls, and carved statues.

They did have this really cool medicine wagon, but this was the closeset you could get.

We also saw a lot of hummingbirds. It looks like this finger is pointing right at him.

The girls also had fun flying. Neen is much easier to hold up than Anna.

We've spent a lot of time at the library this summer. It was nice having my mom there to read to Neen while I helped Anna find her books. Speaking of books...I think Bub has read 15 novels this summer. That kid is a machine!

We went to a Wedding yesterday and I thought I'd take a few pictures of the girls. Bub isn't in to pictures too much these days. When all 3 get together for a picture it just turns into a bunch of sillyness!! Plus, Bub didn't get dressed until we were walking out the door.

That's about all we've been up to the last week. We did watch fireworks from our new front yard Saturday night, and it was amazing! They seemed like they were only feet away. Sunday night on the fourth we watched fireworks from our balcony. You could see the entire city and multiple fireworks shows going off at the same time! I hope you all enjoyed your 4th and are having an Awesome summer!

Survey 2010

My dear friend Emily posted this survey on her blog , and I thought it would be fun to try. It was a little harder than I thought it would be, but I think I'll try to do it each year and see how the answers change. I'm not sure if anyone but my sister reads my blog, but if so feel free to do a survey yourself.

Survey 2010

Ten Things I Wish I Could Say To Ten Different People Right Now:

1. Thank you for always telling me it will be OK, even when it's hard for me to see.

2. Please just stop crying, you make things really hard.

3. I am so happy for you! What a blessing this will be!

4. Please mold me into the person you created me to be!

5. I'm so sorry you are still broken from this. I wish I could take all the pain away.

6. You are so talented, creative, loved, blessed, and cherished! I believe in you my friend!

7. I wish you would return my phone calls. I miss you!

8. Thank you for trying your best! I think you did well!

9. I'm praying for you and your grandmother. I wish I could come get you and make all things better.

10. You bring so much joy to my life everyday!

Nine Things About Myself:

1. I am emotional, and feel deeply.

2. I am seriously addicted to Diet Coke. 5 a day is not bad right?

3. I love it when I make people laugh.

4. I gag on soggy bread, therefore I order my cheeseburgers plain and dry. I do not want an excess of pickle juice or condiments messing things up.

5. I love the Lord, and truly believe all prayers are answered.

6. I am a closet cleaner. I don't care if it's a mess if I can't see it.

7 I love to sleep! I mean LOOOOVE! My ideal amount of sleep in a day is 12 hours. For now, half that amount will have to do.

8. I wear a baseball cap every other day.

9. I Love being a mom, and try really hard to be the best I can be.

Eight Ways To Win My Heart:

1. Tell me why and how much I mean to you. Yep...lame, but my love language is words of affirmation. I don't have to have it, but I sure do love it!

2. Bring me a Diet Coke cold in a bottle please.

3. Send me a card or letter. I love mail surprises.

4. Compliment my children.

5. Offer to watch my kids so Casey and I can have a date night.

6. Bake me some goodies....or a meal.

7. Give me a big hug if I need one.

8. Tell me you thought of me.

Seven Things That Cross My Mind A Lot:

1. Are we done? One more? Am I crazy?

2. What will I do when Neen starts school?

3. Will I have any hair left when Anna is a teenager?

4. Am I doing enough?

5. Am I making a difference?

6. I should really eat better and exercise more.

7. Am I making great memories for my children?

Six Things I Do Before Bed:

1. check on each child and make sure they are still breathing

2. put on my night clothes

3. brush my teeth/put on retainer

4. rub Big Casey's back

5. talk to Casey about our days

6. Talk with Jesus one more time.

Five People Who Mean A Lot:

1. Casey- I LOVE you with ALL my heart forever and always!

2. Casey/Anna/Trinity-I'm glad God chose me to be your Mom.

3. Mom/Amanda/Taylor- I couldn't do it with out you!

4. Emily-My life is a better place because of you!

5. my friends- you make me laugh and feel loved.

Four Things I'm Wearing Right Now:

1. capris

2. t-shirt

3. flip-flops

4. ponytail

Three Songs I Listen To A Lot:

1. Anything and everything Third Day

2. Butterfly Fly Away by Miley Cyrus

3. Kids songs and Klove in the car.

Two Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Meet Ingride who lives in Kenya.

2. Go on a mission trip as a family.

One Confession:

I ate whoppers for lunch two days last week.

Theme 3...birds

This was a theme I was super excited about, but it fell short of my expectations. I had planned to make these really cool birds nest with twine, but the week flew by so fast. I had also planned on going to a wildlife refuge where they save wild birds, but that didn't work out either.

The kids did each learn a poem about a bird. We went to the aquarium where we did see a bird. They had sea gulls with their sting ray exhibit. We also saw birds when we visited a feed store. They had geese, guineas, and turkeys. The geese were adorable with their fuzzy yellow down.

One interesting thing the kids did learn about birds is that hummingbirds use spider webs, and caterpillar silk to make their webs. It makes the inside of the web like plaster.

Hopefully next weeks theme will go more as planned.

Here is my favorite picture of the week. Neen is inside a little bird egg maze that we found at the Botanical Gardens.