High School Band

Who looks familiar here?

That's my tall drink of water husband--high school freshman.

Utah Trip

Instead of taking our chances with Wyoming weather in November we made our Thanksgiving trip to Utah early. Oh we had such a good time! Even Patrick agreed we could have stayed longer (could it possibly be that we stayed at a hotel and had actual down time while visiting my family?).

We spent one day just hanging out at my sister Charlotte's house. Grampy stopped by with a huge box of tomatoes from his garden and whipped up a fabulous bowl of salsa. Then, in typical Grampy fashion, he breezed out.

Randy made an appearance as well. For the food I'm sure.

Maggie had a crazy good time. Cousin Olivia was great at keeping her entertained.

During some of our down time at the hotel:

Caroline enjoyed a blanket swing at Julies:

I just thought this was funny. Caroline was playing with my chapstick and somehow got it stuck under her double chin. She kept trying to look on either side of her to find it.

On our way to the Art Market:

Cousin Courtney MADE the adorable dress on Caroline! Thank you SOO much, Courtney. We love it!

After all that careful planing we still had weather issues . We took the "other" way home--through the mountains. We came upon an accident that had us sitting on our car for a LONG STINKING TIME!

But...we made it home safely. Phew.

Daily Life

Maggie loves to dress up. I wonder why I buy her the nice clothes I do--they end up in a pile on the floor. Here she is having a little discussion with Caroline about her old potty chart:

Caroline really wishes she could eat some of that cake batter:

The happy pair:

Anderson Farms 2009

Last year we did our autumn farm visit much too late. It was freezing and there were hardly any pumpkins left to choose from. This year was just right. The weather was chilly but sunny and nice and there were loads of pumpkins. We had a great time.

Kids hay maze:

Daddy feeding the goats. Maggie would not even try. There were also about 4 brand new baby goats that we (me) enjoyed.

Barrel ride. Maggie took it very seriously:

Pony ride with mommy. This she took this even more seriously:

Make Up

So intent. So serious. Almost peaceful.

And a cute one of Caroline:

First Dance Class

I signed Maggie up for a dance class--the Tiny Tutu's. We arrived early in order to purchase the required outfit. They don't allow people to just stare into the class so I was only able to get a few quick snap shots as she headed into her first big class.

I actually teared up when she went in! It was the cutest thing ever. She was so excited when we came home I let her show me what she learned. And...she kept the dance outfit on all day.

Don't Ya Just LOOOVE My New Header?

My super talented sister Julie over at Mom's Purse designed a new header for me. Love it!

Thank you, Thank you Julie.

Misc Pics

Caroline was kind enough to let Maggie put some sunglasses on her.

We've found the high chair to be the ideal spot to let Caroline play. She has a good view of the tv for Baby Einstein videos and a tray for all the toys.

First Solids

I decided to start Caroline on solids. She seemed extremely interested in food so, what the heck. She seemed pretty darn happy--not knowing what was coming and all.

I guess she expected "food" to taste a little better:

In the end I think she really liked it. She got the majority of the cereal not only in her mouth but down the hatch as well. Impressive.

Since then she has really enjoyed meal time and whines when I take too long between spoonfuls.

South Dakota

Another family adventure. Patrick and I have been talking about seeing Mt Rushmore since moving to Colorado (being so close to it and all). Aren't we glad we did?!? Who knew that this trip would be so family friendly?

Dinosaur Park, Rapid City:
After walking up a boat load of stairs, wayyyy up a large hill, we hung out with the dinos. This park had been there since the 1930's which we thought was pretty impressive. We had a good time and the view of Rapid City was amazing!

Reptile Gardens:

This place was crazy! We caught a live snake show but I didn't get my camera out in time to snap a shot of Caroline touching a massive boa. I'm so bummed. Next we moved onto the huge tortoises which you could walk around with and touch. Maggie did eventually warm up to them.

Bear Country U.S.A.:

This was one of those drive through "zoo" type places. We expected to see a bear off in the distance or something but this place did NOT disappoint! We saw something close to 100 bears and not just from a distance. These bears were just walking around just feet from the cars. We also so elk, wolves, cougars, etc. After the drive through portion of the park they had a spot where you could get out and walk to see the bear cubs in a traditional zoo like setting. I loved this place.

Mt. Rushmore:

I did not expect this mountain to be so much...fun! First, it totally looked fake to me. Weird, huh? It looked like it was carved out of Styrofoam or something. The mountain was amazing. The walk to get up there (with all the flags) was super cool. And the museum--wow. Maggie and Caroline were kind of done with the whole thing so we didn't get to spend nearly as much time as we would have liked reading each plaque, looking at each display, etc. We could have done two days here rather than just a short afternoon.

Back At The Hotel:

Snacking and playing on the bed.

In the parking lot. I just thought Caroline's expression and the way she's holding her hands were funny.

We stayed in Keystone. Here is Maggie (and me) eating the biggest ice cream cone ever on the boardwalk.

Everyone should do this trip. Well worth it!