In the Mood!

I came across this picture of Kaitlyn and Kysen on his first Christmas and it brought my mind back to the true meaning of the season....the birth of a child. Well it is officially one week before Christmas Eve and for some reason I am in the same place that I always am....behind on my Christmas shopping! I thought I had it all done, but I always think of those last minute things I need to buy for teachers or babysitting kids, or neighbors, etc.....why do I procrastinate so much. My mind seems to start spinning circles when I think about all the things that I need to get done in a weeks time. So instead of ponder over the craziness, I put one foot forward and begin to tackle the many tasks. I made 5 dozen cut out cookies yesterday, gathered some last minute gifts I needed to wrap, and even attempted to make a nice dinner last night....just ask my husband how that turned out. After choking down the meal, I really needed to go to the store to find Kysen a shirt to wear for Christmas, get a few more presents, and grocery shop...BUT instead my husband said, "Aimee you get Kaitlyn's reading done for the evening while I put away the dinner mess, and then we will go look at lights around town!" That was just the thing I needed to do to prepare myself for the next week ahead....a time to relax, listen to Christmas music on the radio, and look at all the beautiful lights around town! It worked...I am ready to finish everything and in fact I am going to finish it today! However, I will keep the true meaning of Christmas at the top of this long list!

A Different Perspective!

As I drove my daughter to school this morning, I was elated by the fact that she was so excited to go on her first field trip for school. They were going to go to the Denver Museum of History and Science. The thing she was looking forward to the most was riding in a bus....this was her first experience. She was telling me who she wanted to sit by, how she would not want the heat blowing in her face because that makes her sick, and what ever could they talk about for an hour down to Denver. It was quite entertaining. I cannot believe that she is old enough to do this. I have been going through pictures and I saw pictures of her when she was three or so and I am amazed at how fast she has grown into a 6 year old. As I dropped her off and drove home from school a sense of sickness welted in my stomach....oh my goodness, the roads had snow on them and I was trusting someone else to drive my child in a bus to and from Denver. I just drove that trip with her last night and I drove so cautious because I had my own flesh and blood in the car and I didn't want to get into a wreck.
I am sure all of you remember being able to go on field trips as a child. How you could not wait to get on the bus, drive to the destination, miss school, take a sack lunch, and learn. Well I wonder now how my mom felt about the situation. I am sure she was excited for me to go, but I wonder if she worried about her child being in the care of someone else on the roads.
So, I am sure that she is already on her way back to the shcool by now, and I just pray that the bus driver drives as careful as I did last night on the icy roads. I also pray that my daughter had the time of her life on her first field trip and learned a lot. My Grandma told me today that I have to remember that the bus drivers are probably parents also. So I relax and take that into consideration, but I have to say, I do have a different perspective of things now that I am a parent!
I am posting a picture of her on her when she was three and one of my most recent ones. I am so proud of who she is becoming and I am just amazed at how fast the time has gone.

So Much To Be Thankful For!

Well another holiday season has come and gone and our family is all preparing for the Christmas season, which well all love so much. Last night, Don was sick so he went to bed and I man-handled the children. They always seem to do something that just steals my heart and puts all my stress at ease. Last night Kailtyn and Kysen both were begging for popcorn, so I figured that was a good snack. So, I put the popcorn in, and layed a blanket on the floor for them to sit on, eat their popcorn, and watch "Polar Express", which happens to be one of our all time favorites. Soon after, the popcorn was gone and I caught out of the glimps of my eye both of them staring at the tree, giving each other hugs and talking in a language I would never understand. Of course I get the camera out and I caught some great photos.

I am so thankful for my children. After a tragic accident took the life of our friend's grandson and badly injured our friend, I have paid closer attention to those precious moments of the kids. They can so easily be our last! I know that sometimes my kids stress me out, but it is times like last night that I am reminded how precious they are and how fragle life REALLY is. Thanks be to God for family... and thanks be to God for helping my husband get better!

Who Ate The Cookie From The Cookie Jar?

Well, this morning proved to be yet another excited adventure with Kysen! I decided to do the Betty Crocker thing this morning and make chocolate chip cookies...while they were baking I was working on getting the Christmas letter written! Well 8 minutes after the first batch went in the oven timer rang and I ran out to take the cookies out of the oven and place the next pan in! Well....I found a kitchen towel on the floor that was waded up and dirty. I thought maybe I just forgot to throw that one in the laundry after cleaning up dishes last night. So I went to the oven, took out the done cookies, reached for the next pan that I had ready to go!!!!! AHHHHH three of the scoops of dough were gone and there were finger streaks all over the pan, down the cabinet, across the oven, and down the wall. I just about died. Suddenly I saw Kysen bolting for the kitchen, he looked at me and I fell to the floor laughing. It was one of those moments that you cannot get mad! He had cookie dough from one piece of hair clear down to his toes. So, I had to quickly grab the camera to capture the moment, clean him off, change his clothes, and reform dough to place on the pan to go in the oven. God constantly reminds me through these events that children are true blessings! My days would be so borning if I did not have my kids to keep me entertained! Kysen must take after me...I would rather have the cookie dough than the cookie. Just thought I would share that laugh with you, and even some pictures to prove this really did happen!

Settling In

I recently stumbled across a poem that has inispired me all my life. What better of a time to stumble across it, then now. As most of you know, the move to Colorado was a hard decision for our family. We have so many great friends in Nebraska, not to mention all the family. I sometimes wondered why we even made this big move, but I know that God has a plan for us and this move was inspired by him to get out of our comfort zone and experience a new adventure. I know that for the past 3 months, there has only been one set of footsteps on my path. I know that he has carried me through this move and his helping me settle in. I know that in the past and even in the future, that I will be carried through situations where I will stumble. Someone once told me that it takes a good year to get settled in....so I continue to look up and walk on with this adventure, whether it be with another set of footprints beside me, or just one......

One Of Those Days!

Well, it started out as an ordinary day, but it is turning out to be a day that I have had to look up and ask God to help me out, ALOT!!! I decided that today would be a good day to clean out cupboards and cabinets. Well, lets just say I have cleaned out more than anticipated. My husband got some shot glasses from Denmark from his brother when he visited there. They are now property of....the trash. My son decided to take a stool and climb on the counters and drop them. I guess maybe he is preparing for the egg drop expierement that everyone does in high school phyisics. Glass went everywhere and so did my temper! I took a deep breath, put on my shoes, got the kids out of the kitchen, and prepared to vaccum up all glass. It is amazing what other things I vaccumed off the floor. I think we need a dog to help us out! Well, I went about the usual routine of putting a few chairs on the kitchen table, a few in the living room and the bar stools on the island. I proceeded to vaccum the kitchen floor when it sounded like a bomb landed in our kitchen. My son decided to take it upon himself to try and take the chair off the table. Instead, it about took him out. Remind you, we JUST bought our new dinning room set right before we moved. Once again, I took a deep breath, chased him out of the kitchen, and looked up to God to pray for more patience in this situation. Little did I know, the chair not only fell, the wood split.....IT WAS BROKE!! God knew to take ahold of me and help me out. He must have told my husband too, because when I called to tell him about the ordeal, my husband just said, "Well, we will just have to order a new chair." Was that all he could say. I think I said a few more words than that. He is always the calm one in the family....thank goodness. So, I cringed and set the broken chair by the trash and proceeded to finish mopping the floor. Well, half way into the chore, my mop handle broke! WHAT ELSE could go wrong. So, I had to clean the rest of the floor on my hands and knees.

Well that has been my morning and I have realized something. I made it through it. My grandma called and we chatted and God was working through her also. She just calmly said, "At least no one was hurt." I am so thankful for the people in my life. They bring it to my attention everyday that material things can be replaced, but as long as my family is okay, than life is good.

I am taking a break now..reflecting on my morning, and knowing that children are a true test in life, but most importantly, I am thankful that I have them!!

Utah Trip!

Well, I just returned yesterday from my fun filled weekend trip to Salt Lake City! I always go with the great intentions of taking tons of great pictures, but for some reason, I end up with maybe five or so. After arriving there on Friday, I sat in my friend Laura's car and I told her that I just did not know what to do without the kids! Well I figured out that I could do a lot of stuff and not get interupted!! I did tell Laura, that the one thing I PROMISED Kaitlyn I would do is take a picture of the high school where they filmed High School Musical. What a disappointment! You wonder why the heck they picked that school out of all the schools in America. But, I did my duty and took the picture. We went to a ski resort, the great Salt Lake, and many other places. I did get to see the Mormon Temple and all of its connected buildings.....AMAZING!! I did not go in them becuase it was Sunday and I would probably stick out like a sore thumb. I also got to see where Elizabeth Smart lives. In case you forgot, she was the girl who was kidnapped out of her own home and held captive just a few miles away and was soon discovered. It truly gave me the goosebumps seeing where that all happened. Anyways, enough with the boring vacation news. The best part was walking off the plane when I got home and seeing my kids and my husband. Kysen just started screaming and hugging me and Kailtyn ran up and gave me a hug and so did Don. It feels so good to be welcomed back home to a great family.

Future Musician

I must share a funny story that took place last night. It is short so it won't take long to enjoy, but I asure you, it will make you laugh. My husband was at a dinner meeting last night and my daughter was not feeling the best so she went to bed. My son, on the other hand, was bound and determined to not fall asleep. I was watching the CMA awards and Kysen was attempting to watch but his eyelids kept going shut and then he would do something to keep himself awake. Well just when I thought he was sleeping, Brad Paisley sang a song and played his guitar. All of a sudden Kysen jumps out of my lap like he was on some mission. Well, lets just say he was. He comes running back to the living room with Kaitlyn's guitar, sat on the couch, put it around his neck just like so, and strummed and hummed. And when the song was over, he got up, put the guitar away and layed back down. He did this twice. I about died laughing. I wanted so much to get the video recorder out but I knew he would shy up and not do it if I tried to tape is so I was the only one who got to wittness this! All I have to say is tooooo cute. Do we have the next Brad Paisley in our house???

SUPRISE!!!

Well I am off the Salt Lake City in two days!!! I have never been there so it will be a new adventure for me. Why am I going? Well on November 5th Don and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. In case you don't know Don, he is full of suprises. Every year we go through the whole, "We are not going to get eachother anything this year, we will just have a night out to ourselves and go out to eat" thing. Well I try really hard to keep that promise. This year, I did let him venture out with the guys to a Denver Broncos vs. Miami Dolphins game. I considered that my present to him....a day out with the guys, no kids and no wife. He had a blast given the fact that Miami crushed Denver! So we headed out to dinner, while the kids stayed with some family in Fort Collins. We sit down to dinner and I said, "Well we actually kept our promise of no presents this year." Little to my knowledge I was wrong!!! He pulls out a piece of paper and says, "here read this." So I just figured it was something he looked up or some plans for the house. Well when I opened it, it was plane tickets to see my best friend in Salt Lake City. I thought well that is cool....I wonder who is going to watch the kids while we go. I just figured that he got that planned. WEll then I asked who else was going. I got the response of, "JUST YOU!" ARe you kidding me? I get to have a weekend without kids or a husband. What ever will I do. So then I looked at the date and realized that it was this weekend!! I had just 5 days to ponder going on a weekend trip by myself. So here we are 2 days till the trip. I told Don last night that I am a little nervous doing this airport thing by myself since it was the Denver International Airport.....HUGE. But he said you will be just fine! So, I prayed about this situation last night before bed.....I will be okay. How thoughtful of my husband to treat me to something for just me! I am so lucky to have him in my life. It has been the craziest 7 years (2 kids, 2 houses, a huge move, career change for me, and lots of fun memories). I look forward to the next 7 years with such a wonderful man and family!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Well, the little guy in our life turned two!!! Seems like just yesterday I had him.....I kept looking at the clock all day on his birthday and thinking what I was doing at that time two years ago. It just amazes me how unbelievably fast those little kids grow. He was just not sure what to think of the birthday song being sung to him. I put the candles in his cake and we we turned out the lights and all sung Happy Birthday to him and guess what he did, he just closed his eyes. I don't think I got one picture of him with his eyes open! We got him one of those riding toys.....lets just say 2 miles an hour is toooooo fast. I think we may invest in a helmet for him. Some how he almost went down the stairs in that thing already! We also got him a big boy size bed. He was not sure how to fall asleep in such a big thing. But, he did really well in it his first night. I only had to go lay with him once in the middle of the night. During the day, he thinks it is a trampoline. That was until he fell off. I will post some pictures of his big 2nd birthday as soon as I get them on the computer.

Fall 2008

Well I have decided to create a site that will be easily accessable for our friends and family to see what we are up to since we moved to Colorado. I will try my hardest to post current pictures so everyone can see how the little munchkins are growing up so fast.

We are settling in our new house, although we miss all of our friends and family a lot!! Kaitlyn started 1st grade in August and she can already read some hard words. Kysen is 2 this Sunday, which is really hard for me to believe. Seems like just yesterday I was up 4 hours a night with him walking the floors and listening to him scream! I watch a 4 year old Monday thru Thursdays, so Kysen likes to follow him around and learn the tricks of the trade. Don is busy at work on the Blackhawk Helicopter Hanger and Education center in Cheyenne. They are trying to get it inclosed before the first blizzard hits, which I feel is just around the corner. We just celebrated our 7th anniversary yesterday! Time flies when you are having fun!

Besides that, we are just living life to the fullest our here in the mountains. We try to take advantage of having them so close by taking road trips every weekend to a different part of the canyons. We love the beauty!