I'm Thankful For....

Today we were riding in the car and the kids were asking when we are going to Grammy and Granddad's house. I explained we would be leaving in 6 days and would be there for Thanksgiving. I told them we eat turkey on Thanksgiving and we remember what we are thankful for. I asked them if they could think of something they are thankful for. Austin said "I am thankful for steak and chocolate milk and....oh yeah, strawberries." So glad he is in tune with his stomach :). Jacob said "Uh...I am thankful for the day....In Jesus name, Amen." Apparently he had no real clue what I was asking.

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John's Gambling Problem Causes Embarrassment to Our Children :)

Today the children were forced to pay the price for their father's gambling problem. When the Rockies won the National League Championship, John made a bet with the Prud'hommes that the Rockies would beat the Red Sox in the World Series. Of course, as we all know, that didn't happen, so Austin and Jacob had to "pay the price" by wearing Red Sox shirts.



During the day, I heard "Why are you wearing those shirts?" and "Surely you aren't Red Sox fans." The most encouraging people were at the pediatrician's office where the kids got their flu shots. The nurse said, "Red Sox fans in Colorado? Traitors!" Austin did tell me that when Ms. Gail, one of his teachers, asked him about his shirt, he said "Red Sox are stinky." Nevermind that he isn't 100% sure whether the Red Sox are a baseball team or a color of footwear.

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Our Trip to See the Prud'homme Clan

The boys and I just returned from our bi-annual visit with the Prud'hommes (Kim, David, Noah, and Josh). We were excited to be able to meet the newest addition to their family.....Josh is so adorable! For those of you who don't know, we met the Prud'hommes in Russia and their son, Noah, was in the same orphanage as our kids. Kim and David adopted Joshua from Kazakhstan this past summer. We have been getting together twice a year since we first met in Russia and we really value their friendship. They are a riot and have been an encouragement to us.

During our visit, we made a trip to Boston. It was a lot of fun especially since I had never been farther north than New York. We took the kids to the Children's Museum and they had a blast. We spent the rest of the weekend catching up, taking the kids to the movies, and eating lots of yummy food. We look forward to our next visit. John was jealous he had to stay home and work and we had all the fun.

Austin and Jacob were still talking about Noah today and Austin swore he saw "Mr. David" at the grocery store today. When I explained it wasn't him, he said "Well.....that man looked the same. It could be him."


Our trip to Boston


Quincy Market in Boston




Austin Being Corrupted by the Prud'hommes


Jacob Succombing to the Pressure as Well

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Halloweeen

The boys celebrated their second Halloween. They both were much more excited about the holiday this year than last, especially Austin. He has been asking for days when does he get to go trick-or-treating and get some candy. They both choose a superheros theme for their costume: Austin was Superman and Jacob was Spiderman.



The Morgans and the McGraths joined us for our second annual pizza and trick-or-treat party. The kids has a blast, and John seems excited to eat their candy.


The whole crew, Austin, Abby, Jacob, Patrick, Patrick, and Josh


Our favorite superheros, Austin and Jacob


"Abby, you distract them while I go for the candy," Austin said.
"Ok, lets meet up to split the loot," Abby replied.


"I am superman, the most powerful candy collector of them all!"

Spidy brings up the caboose of the train.

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Rockies Lose World Series

The Rockies lost to the Red Sox in a four game sweep of the World Series. The Sox played very well, executing on both sides of the plate. I guess the curse of 2004 was lifted and the Sox again win the series. We just didn't have what it took to beat the Sox. I guess this AAA expansion club will have to work harder, and spend more.

The Red Sox have now entered into a new world. They are no longer the lovable underdogs, rather they are a full-fledged American League powerhouse, on par with their long standing rivels. I am glad for them and wish them the best of luck winning their next 19.



Truth be told, if allowed to have an American League club, which I think that I can, it would be the Sox. I am impressed with the decisions made and the execution on the field. The fans are great and the tradition awe-inspiring.

Oh ... the photo is coming. I am sure the "best" t-shirts are being purchased as we speak and waiting for those that bear the brunt of my gambling habits ... my children.


Austin still says that Sox are stinky...

If you are a Red Sox fan and happen to be in Denver on November 4 then I strongly recommend you put on your favorite t-shirt and go down to my favorite ice cream shop in Denver, Bonnie Brae Ice Cream. They too bet on the game with a Boston shop, which resulted in the provision of ice cream cones to all visiting Boston fans.

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Bet?

Well, the Rockies played in their first World Series game last night. The boys and Daddy watched for a little bit. Then Daddy just watched... or cried as the case may have been. The Rockies lost the game.

However, Daddy is still confident in our team. Confident enough to wager a public bet to our friends in Red Sox Nation (aka Kim, David, Noah, and Josh). Here is the bet: The winner must purchase 2 team t-shirts (in small sizes) and mail them to the loser. The loser must dress their children in the t-shirt (with no defacement of course), take a picture, and post to their respective blogs. Will they take the challenge?

As a side note, I was talking with Austin tonight about the Rockies and Red Soxs and he said "Red Soxs? Soxs are stinky!"

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First Snow of the Season

We had a typical "extreme weather change" Colorado weekend. It was 80 on Saturday and John and I went to a friend's wedding. Then on Sunday we woke up to an inch of snow and got about 5 or 6 inches of total snow. Jacob woke us up saying "Look....snow...come on, put your things down and come look, right now."



The kids had a blast playing in the snow and even built a snowman. According to the weather, we are supposed to be back to the 70's by mid week.



Oh how I love Colorado :)

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A Future Avalanche Player?!?!?

Austin had his third ice skating lesson this evening. He is in a "learn to skate" class at a rink near our house. He had only been ice skating once prior to the class and seemed to like it so we thought we would let him give it a whirl. He is definitely not breaking any records for speed and at times seems more interested in making friends with the girl who was skating next to him than actually getting to the other side of the rink, but he seemed to have fun.



He was extremely timid the first lesson but seems less fearful now. Jacob, as you should expect, is trying to sneak out on the ice in his shoes whenever we turn our head.



John planted pumpkins in our yard a few months ago and we have had been able to pick quite a few pumpkins. We have put several out on our front porch but a squirrel keeps eating them. So, we decided to bring a few in so we have at least a couple left on Halloween.


Believe it or not, our local major league baseball team, the Rockies are headed for the World Series. I bought the boys t-shirts.


Maybe the Red Sox will start winning and have a chance to play us in the World Series.

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Brave Little Boy

Austin had his first experience with having a cavity filled yesterday. He has not been too fond of the dentist in recent months, so I was a bit worried how the experience would go. I am happy to report that he took it like a champ. He didn't even cry when they gave him the shot of novocaine. He kept telling me beforehand, "Mommy, I am going to be brave at the dentist." Of course since we had such a positive experience at the dentist, I should have known we would have some other issue to deal with at home. From the time his lip went numb, Austin started chewing on his lip despite myself, John, and the dentist explaining to him how important it was not to do this. Last night when he went to bed, he had a fat lip. This morning it was a little better but it looks pretty bad. Oh well, I guess there are worse things, right?

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Busy with Preschool

The boys started preschool in late August and seem to be loving it. Austin has the same teacher as last year and according to his teachers is doing wonderfully this year (aka much improved from last year). He is learning his letters, can write his name, and is learning the sounds all the letters make. One of his favorite shows is "Super Why", a show on PBS about letters, words, etc. Jacob is in Mrs. Sutherland's class (aka Mrs. Kathy). Apparently Jacob's teacher wants to be called by her last name but Jacob continues to insist on calling her by her first name. Jacob really seems to enjoy his class although he has a bit of a hard time following directions at times. Every time I pick Jacob up from his preschool class he says, "I listened." This is not always an accurate description of things but he is enjoying himself.

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Beach 2007

We took our annual break to the beach. Ocean Isle Beach, NC is the place we go. We had fun this year, despite the fact that vacations are no longer ... vacations. We were up every day at 7 am and in bed early. Two little alarm clocks, we like to call them.

We go with the entire Parsons clan, to include Riley, the boy's cousin. They all really enjoyed the water, and Dad almost read his book.

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Our Superheros

Spiderman, batman, blanket-boy with ball on his head... what do these three things have in common? They are super heros. In fact, they are super-duper heros. Not sure what the ball on the head provides, perhaps protection from the cosmic rays that the super secret evil empire may use to read his mind.

Our superheros are also pictured in their alter-egos... swimming with nana and Uncle Mariano at the Antero Hot Springs. It was great the cabins are semi-rustic and the water very hot, with no-stinky after smell.



I am not sure if you knew this but Russian adoption has been rather slow (ok shut-down) the last couple of month. We personal know many couples that have traveled and met the child they intend to adopt only to have to wait months, and in one case a year to travel again to pick up the child. Jesus has been good and faithful as the country is starting to re-accredit agencies, i.e. allowing American Agencies to work inside Russia. Please pray for these adoptions that they would be successful. The real tragedy is the number of children who are waiting ... and there are many. Pray they would have a forever family.

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Matt and Jen's Visit

Ok. there are no pictures of the boys in this one... however they are good pictures. Our friends, Matt, Jen, and Carson McShea, visited us from North Carolina. We had fun and the photos are from a bbq we had one evening.

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Jacob Turns 3...

The wait is over ... Jacob is now a bigger boy. Not sure what has changed but the terrible twos are behind us and onward to the terrifing threes! ;)

We had a good time, several friends and family showed up for fun in the sun on the slip-n-slide and sprinklers. Event Aunt Anne got some water... on her shins. All of the boys had fun. I think Jacob was a bit overwhelmed by the end of the day. He slept till 9:30 am the next day, and usually he is up at 6am sharp.

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4th of July

We spent the day outside playing, and eating. The boys tried out the new slip-n-slide and they are both fish out of water.

We went to Southlands for their fireworks display. Last year we got rained out so I was looking forward to seeing fireworks this year. Last year I was giving Jacob a bath during the display, Austin was with Granddad (in the rain) watching the fireworks.

The display remined me of being at home watching my neighbor. It was terrible. However the kids didn't know better. There are some good pictures of Jacob's face, he was a bit ... suprised!

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Sprinkler Fun

The best thing during the summer, besides sleeping in late (a farce for us), eating Popsicles, and going to the pool is running through the sprinkler. Or as Jacob says...



Today was nice and hot so they boys went outside. Beth bought a new spider man sprinkler, she sure is a good mommy:) I would have made them use the basic one.

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Ravoli, Excused Please, Goodnight

Life is certainly interesting. Jacob and I went to purchase a new (used) lawn mower. My thought is lawn mowers are like washers, dryers, refrigerators, or appliances in general. Necessary, expensive, and not fun to spend money on. The clip is from the other night a supper. Those kids say the darnedest things...

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Mothers Day

For mother's day we went to church followed by a brunch at Hudson Gardens. It was a beautiful day the food was great.

We were finishing up lunch and we heard a blood curdling scream. We looked over and Jacob was terrified of a "bee" flying around him. Really it was some other bug, he is currently classifying all moving insects as bees.


We took some pictures and came home for a much needed rest... all four of us.

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Cousin Riley Goes to Colorado

Michael, Erin, and Riley have come to visit us. The boys love playing with their cousin. The spent time together in several places including the Denver Zoo, the backyard, and every possible shopping experience from here to Castle Rock...:)

Aunt Erin is a favorite word for Jacob as he likes to say it over and over and over and over and over. The boys think that Uncle Michael has hung the moon. They enjoyed playing on the tramp and determining who was in big trouble.

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Kim and Noah's Visit

Kim and Noah Prud'homme visited from the east coast. We met the Prud'homme during our lovely extended vacation in Volgograd November 2005. Actually Noah and Jacob were in the same group in Russia.

We had snow, the boys were excited, Beth and Kim were not.

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Easter

Candy. That is the result of several easter egg hunts, and care packages from Grandparents... Thank you for the sugar shock:)

We spent time at my parent's house where the little ones and the big ones had an easter egg hunt. The local hunt in our neighborhood's was canceled due to weather (snow). It was postponed until a week or two later.

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Sledding in Grand Lake

We spent the weekend at my parents cabin, a work in progress. Beth and I went skiing and the boys stayed behind for sledding on the road that leads you into the cabin, yes it is very steep.

After skiing Beth and I went to the local hot springs and return to find our boys very tired and ready for bed.

Fotos

Slideshow

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