Enjoying Spring!

Spring is here in Denver!! When we moved out here, I was bracing myself for cold, snowy days into May....but, thankfully, it decided to warm up in March! The past few weeks have been in the 60's and 70's and full of warm sunshine. The trees are starting to bud and bloom, and the grass is turning green again. Colorado is really SO beautiful! It is beautiful when it is white and bare, and it is beautiful when it is green and blooming. I am well aware that we could still receive some more snow and cold, but for now, I am enjoying the warm days we have been given. Thank you Lord!

We have been spending LOTS of time outside. There are days when we play outside all morning, have a picnic for lunch, come in for naps, and play outside again until it's time for dinner.

We have...

fed ducks by the river,

thrown lots of sticks in the river and watched countless ripples,

gone on walks,

spent hours in the sandbox (Lucas' favorite place to be),

played with friends,

splashed in puddles,

discovered new parks,

collected pockets full of rocks,

and hiked!

The kiddos' hair gets "whiter" by the day, and their cheeks are rosy and sunkissed!

Buddy boy is pulling up on everything and starting to cruise around! He entertains himself for long periods of time cruising around checking everything out.

On Sunday we did the most beautiful hike in Reynolds park. We only brought our little point and shoot camera, so the pictures don't quite capture the beauty we saw at the top- Pikes Peak is in the background. Sadly, this is near the area where the forest fires have been this week.

This week, two baby lambs were born at the Littleton museum, so we went to meet them! They were so cute and little.

Avery with the mama sheep.

Free Days

The past few weeks we have taken advantage of the Free Days around Denver and have visited the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the Firefighter Museum.

One of the things that was hard about having kids in the DR, was that there just weren't all that many fun things to do with kids...so we just had to stay at home most days (unless we took a big outing to McDonalds for Aves to play in the occasionally air-conditioned Playplace). So needless to say, we have been loving all of the different things to do with kids here in Denver, and the fact that they have days you can go for free is SWEET!

and....this guy is not so sweet....what in the world? Glad these things aren't roaming around anymore.

Avery with her new friends and neighbors!! They are so cute together.

Avery's favorite thing at the museum was this big fan that you throw scarves into and watch them fly around.

She was a little bit scared of the big bear, but I had to get a pic. Sic 'em Bears!!

The museum had an awesome rooftop deck overlooking downtown Denver, so we went up for a little graham cracker break.

I live here!! What? So, beautiful!

Then, on Saturday, Elliott had the great idea to take the Light Rail into downtown and go to the Firefighters Museum.

The train ride was AWESOME. Avery loved it and thought it was so special. Lucas liked it so much, he took a little snooze :) It was neat to see the city from another perspective, and see things and people that you don't normally see or notice when you are driving in your own car.

Poor Lucas was pretty cold after waiting outside for the train to come.

Once we arrived downtown, we walked a few blocks to the museum (or zoo-zeum as Avery calls them). We got there late in the afternoon, so we had the place to ourselves.

All suited up!!

Fireman Lukey to the rescue!

Life in Littleton

It is hard to believe that it has already been close to 2 months since we made our loooong westward drive to Colorado. Here are some rambling thoughts on our time thus far:

We are really loving life here, and feel like we "fit" Colorado life pretty well....we are trying to take advantage of our beautiful, and fun "backyard"- the Rockies. We have been on some really great hikes in the foothills and on Saturday ventured a little further into the Front Range and hiked through a beautiful pine forest- spectacular views.

It has been wonderful to settle into our own place after being on the move for nearly 9 months. And, although we made a wonderful home in the DR, there is something about having your own "stuff" that makes life feel more comfortable and settled. We had a blast unpacking boxes and boxes of nearly unused wedding gifts that had been in storage- and are really enjoying using them now!

Christmas was really special this year to celebrate in our new home, just the 4 of us (although we missed our families greatly). We attended a Christmas Eve service and then came home and had a delicious meal. We started the tradition that on Christmas Eve the whole house (apartment) is candlelit- no lights except for the tree. It was a great way to settle our hearts for the coming of our KING! Christmas morning was fun watching Avery open her gifts. This year she asked for "Chocolate toys." It was fun to see how our family got creative in giving her just what she wanted- chocolate makeup, a dirt pudding kit, and chocolate santas! Lucas liked chewing on all of his new toys too- even though they weren't chocolate like Avery's!

My parents came out to visit a few days after Christmas and stayed through New Years. We had a great time showing them around Denver (and exploring it for ourselves). We went on a beautiful hike, ate lots of great meals (of course), celebrated my mom's birthday, went shopping, El and Pops went to a Broncos game, and had fun hanging out in our apartment.

Avery and Lucas have both adjusted well, and I think they both feel a sense of home here, and know that our long nomadic journey has ended (for now, ha). Avery is finally getting used to wearing layers of clothes, coats, gloves, hats, and boots, after living in shorts, and flip flops for the first 2 years of her life- we are now down to just one minor meltdown when suiting up to leave the house...progress! Avery looooves to play in the snow and go sledding with daddy. They have even gone night sledding after dinner and used Elliott's head lamp for light. We think Avery is going to be very social- she has fake conversations with people on the the phone or on Skype all day long....she also has a few imaginary friends, Wawa and Su-si. She also likes to play church and sing the doxology (thanks to Mia). Her favorite story in the Bible is Noah's ark, and she thinks that Noah's name is "Noah's ark."

Daddy made Avery a cardboard house (it is beautifully decorating our living room right now).

Lukey man is getting so big and turned 8 months this week. He realllly wants to crawl, but can't quite figure out how to get moving. Sometimes when he is on all 4's he just hops his legs forward until the reach his hands and then he tumbles over. He just learned how to put both of his arms up in the air when we say "SO BIG," and wants to do it over and over once you start doing it with him. He is a big eater, and seems to eat more than Avery at some meals. He is a babbler and loves to talk and make loud noises- he says da-da, ba-ba, squeals, screams, and has a husky giggle. Everyone who is around him, even for just a few minutes, always comments on how smiley he is. We are still waiting on some teeth.

Go Lukey, go!

Elliott started class today, so the seminary adventure has officially begun!