Father & Son

Daddy & Daughter

Family Photo Session

Many of you will recognize our family picture we had taken this year (it made the Christmas card) but I want to share some of the other fun shots.

Garden of the Gods

Barry came out for the last part of the Colorado trip and to help us drive home. We went to Garden of the Gods, a Geological formation in his honor. Can you see the "kissing camels"?

Once there was a snowperson!

They even built this snow lady (?). Sadly, in the sun she melted, melted, melted. In the sun, she melted, small, small, small.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

"It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow!" Of course, we have to travel to Colorado or Utah to find it. Colorado didn't disappoint, even in October. The kids were thrilled to get to play in snow. Now we are just hoping for a "White Christmas" in Utah.

Together at the zoo!

Shanda bought Trenton the toy giraffe from the gift shop and as we exited the zoo, he chased all of the people with his giraffe and growled at them (I didn't know giraffes were so vicious!)

Favorite Friends (at the zoo!)

Among our favorites were the escape-artist orangutans and the nose-picking gorilla.

Photo ops. at the zoo!

Up Close and Personal

Feeding the Giraffes!

At the ZOO!

Shanda took us to a really cool zoo in Colorado Springs that is built on the side of the mountain. We had a great time (and got lots of cool pics)

Hanging with the Hickmans

Kira
orchestrated this "family picture." And Trenton loves uncle Preston's smoothies!

Trenton troublemaker

He chased the ducks, too.

Traveling Trenton!

Trenton loved exploring at the park and on this bridge. He spotted a turtle in the water from this view.

The Squirrel Tormenter

Kira had the squirrels eating out of her hands until Trenton would come running at them full speed, roaring.

The Squirrel Whisperer

Shanda took us to a park with ducks, a beaver, and tons of squirrels. We took peanuts to feed the squirrels. Kra literally had them eating out of her hand.

Cozy Kira!

Kira wasn't quite prepared for the cooler weather and had to borrow her aunt's sweater to keep warm. She showing you the peanuts that she so masterfully fed to the squirrels.

Colorado Trip

In October we spent a couple of weeks visiting my sister, Shanda and her husband, Preston in Colorado Springs. It was a long drive! But a lot of fun! We spent a lot of time helping with their house (painting and decorating), but also managed trips to the park, zoo, and Garden of the Gods Park. We enjoyed the autumnal and winter weather (it snowed five inches while we were there) that we just don't get in AZ.

SUPER TRENTON!

It's a bird! It's a plane! NO. It's super firefighter-Batman-Baby Boy! (Showing off his muscle and doing a dance!)

The PURPLE wall!

I love to decorate. When we first moved in we painted the focal wall in our master bedroom a dark purple. It came out brighter and more grapey looking than I had intended. One Saturday we went to Home Depot, got them to mix the darkest grey/purple color they could in their Venetian Plaster paint product, and spent the day troweling it on. We were quite pleased with the result and thought if any of you were considering Venetian plaster, you might like to see it.

Trenton Turns Two!

On Sept. 5, Trenton turned two-years-old! We had a car themed birthday, since that is what he is obsessed with lately. I tried to recreate Herbie for the cake, and his main gift was a large canvas "Car Town" his Lita and I made for him.

Kira goes to Kindergarten

I had to take pictures on Kira's first day of school, even though she didn't think it was that big of a deal since she had attended preschool at the same place the previous Spring. She loves being the big kid this year and helping out the preschoolers. She is an excellent reader and is becoming quite the bookworm (like her Dad growing-up). She is pretty ridiculously busy for a 5-year-old. School goes all day from 8-3, and she has been involved in soccer, dance class, and a singing group. I'm missing having her around very much!