Corbin's Preschool Graduation

After three years of pre-school, Corbin is graduating to the public school system! And he couldn't be more proud. I remember when Audrey was starting kindergarten and Corbin wanted to go to school. He was only 2 1/2 years old and had barely potty-trained, but he seemed ready! And I was ready! We enrolled him in a Montesorri program with some of his friends. He has always been a little more attached to me than Audrey, but once we got through the separation anxiety upon drop offs, he devoted his entire attention to all the fun activities and LOVED it! (Amazing how the show of tears and screaming can be turned off just like that.)

This year in Grand Junction his preschool has only been two days a week. He goes just right around the corner to his friend, Jackson's house. His mom is the teacher and Corbin has really thrived. Bored at times because he has "nothing" to do the other days, but definitely loves learning. He feels so grown up when he has homework just like Audrey. Next year he will be going to all-day rather than the mandatory half-day Kindergarten at Caprock Academy Charter School. It's about a 10-minute drive from our house and the school bus is not accomodating to a charter school. So, Audrey and Corbin will be on the same schedule to minimize my stress level with a 2-year old and a newborn. They go Monday-Thursday and have Fridays off. He is really excited to go with his big sister, wear the uniforms, pack a lunch, and RECESS!!!


His preschool program was cute. They sang a bunch of songs they learned and he did well on memorizing his speaking part. "We learned our letters and sounds in lots of fun ways." And then he had a little ceremony in his graduating uniform. Here he is with his teacher Miss Mindy Smith.

10 Year Anniversary - MAY 19, 2009

Hard for me to believe Brandon and I have been married for 10 years. Although I think we both will agree the last five have definitely been easier and gone by faster than the first five. For us personally, I remember saying, "if we made it through the first five years, we can make it...FOREVER!" Gratefully that is where we are headed.

As I reminisced through the last ten years to past anniversaries, there are only a couple that stand out. We typically try to go on a trip during May and count that as our anniversary, but having children at times complicates the romantic schedule. There is only one anniversary that I remember the "gifts" we gave each other. It was our first. We had just closed on our first home. We were living in Walnut Creek, CA and had kind of given up that we would be able to afford anything in such a pricey market. BUT, somehow, all the stars aligned and we pulled through. We bid against four other people for this 15-year old, 1200 square foot condo for $180,000. The guy who owned the place didn't even put it on the market, and even at that, he was a year behind in market value. (Yeah for us!) Our bid was accepted and a month later we had keys in hand, totally broke, but with $5000 sitting in our bank account that we had borrowed from my parents for 30 days. Whatever kind of loan we got, we had to show that we still had money. :) Fortunately, both Brandon and I were debt free upon graduation with the help of our parents and scholarships throughout the college years. We both had great jobs and were able to afford the renovations we made to the condo in the next few months.

So, on our one-year anniversary, we shared pizza and rootbeer with my two brothers, Ryan and Daren. We had flown them out to help with some of the demolition work. Brandon and I decided we would tell each other what we would have given had we had any money to spend on gifts. I "gave" him this exotic white parrot that he wanted ($1000 bird), and he gave me diamond earrings. And then we went back to scraping cottage cheese off the ceilings. :)

And here we are 10 years later. Of course we would have loved to have travelled on some big trip. Ireland and Thailand are front runners on the list these days. But instead, we will be celebrating something way more exciting. We are expecting the birth of our fourth child any day!!!

At the onset of the pregnancy, I asked Brandon when he thought the baby would be born, "Before or after our annniversary?" He said, "right on." Well, as the weekend before approached, and I felt pretty confident I was not going into labor, I planned a quick over-nighter to Glenwood Hot Springs, which is about an 80-minute drive from Grand Junction. That was my gift to Brandon. He has been "needing" a break. Our cousins Chris and Jess watched the kids for us and we headed out of town. We had a nice time at the hotel, hotspirngs (you should have seen the looks and comments I got), spa, eating out, shopping a bit, and riding the tram.

It was a relaxing 24 hours and something I didn't realize we were needing to re-connect before our household is once again altered by adding a new member. We have been so busy with the routine of family and work life, we haven't taken enough time for us lately. That didn't seem to be an issue before, but now living in Grand Junction, we are further from grandparents and airports. And travelling in the last months of pregnancy is all but enjoyable. :) So this trip was great.


I am pleased with where we are. We both have changed a bit - more wrinkles, stretch marks (me), few pounds, less hair (Brandon), and time for ourselves, But we wouldn't want it any different. Our testimonies have grown, as has our family. I wonder where we will be ten years from now. Audrey will be graduating from High School, Corbin getting read to drive, and a couple of scouts in full force. Ooohh, something to look forward to? Some of that time for self may come back in disguise. We should be out of baby years and into school. Maybe more activities after school, but a couple hour break for mom during the day will not be taken for granted!


These are the beautiful flowers that were delivered the day of our actual anniversary! I know life is so precious. I'm glad I have my husband and my family to share it with. I love you Brandon!

Moon Farm

After cleaning the house for two days straight and having Brandon out of town, I wanted to preserve as much of my sanity (a.k.a. clean house) and thought I should take the kids to do something fun. I wondered (1) what would they would consider "fun", (2) what I could find in Grand Junction, and (3) would I be able to handle it 35 weeks pregnant. Well, Corbin went to this place on a field trip and came home to report "it wasn't that fun." Nonethless, I thought I would give it a shot. We went with Jess and Hannah (cousins) and the kids loved it. They told me they want to go back tomorrow. :) Cute. The place is called Moon Farm and is in Fruita (10 miles from Grand Junction.)


I had envisioned something similar to Thanksgiving Point, just on a smaller scale, but I was a BIT off. This 90-year old woman owns the place and it's pretty much a free-for-all. Out in the middle of the country, you knock on this lady's house where she lives, pay her $4 per person, listen to her chat for a while, and then off you go to explore the property. Apparently she and her husband created this "playland" over thirty years ago. I'm sure in it's prime, it was hot stuff. Now, it's a bit run down, but my kids didn't know the difference and it was perfect. There was only one other child there with his mom and friend so we didn't stress much about letting the kids run wild.


There was a "jungle" set up with stuffed animals. Drew kept kicking the gorillas sitting on the ground and saying "oooo, oooo, aaaa-aaaa." It was funny since there was no response. There were also about 10-15 crazy little houses the kids could go in and around (Old Woman in Shoe, Church, School, Office, Cabin, Little Italy, Castle, whatever!)


Then there was a small area with animals that you could pet and feed if you wanted. Corbin ventured as close to the peacock as he dared.


Audrey kept running over to the hay bales so she could have a decent stash of food in hopes that her hand would be nibbled as she fed the horses.



They also had a pony ride you operated yourself. It was crazy. Just get on and lead the pony around the circle. Take as long as you wanted. Drew started getting carried away and "led" the horse to a fast walk while Audrey was riding. Problem was, I couldn't keep up to stay by her side as a safety measure.




They also had a merry-go-round that you just flipped the on switch when you wanted a turn. A bit old and scary when it starts up, but then a nice ride for the kids. Whoever maintains the place (Corbin called him the farmer) was not there because we did not get to go on the train ride and I was not about to operate that myself.


Overall, it was a good time. We took a picnic lunch and stayed for a couple hours. The older kids would have stayed all day, but both Drew and I were done...tired, hot, and achy. :) We will have to go back again sometime.

EASTER 2009

Here's a couple pictures from Easter Morning. Audery's isn't so sure she believes in the Easter Bunny anymore, but is happy to eat the candy and play with the toys the bunny brings.


We didn't bother to set the timer on the camera so we could have a family shot. We were going to be late to church as it was...Drew was a little groucy. We woke him up straight from his nap and said, "Smile!" All three kids are starting to look so old to me!