Road Trip to Utah

The kids and I took a trip to Utah for the last two weeks in July.  I was a bit nervous traveling without Milton, but this was a rare opportunity of seeing Kathryn and her two boys, Abram and Bennett.

As we passed through the canyons between Fairview and Hungington we saw the damage that one of the many fires had caused.  This was the same route that my dad has traveled to work for many years.

 

 I was very relieved when we got to Fairview, the trip was long and a bit difficult entertaining the kids. Abram, Bennett and Ayla rode their bikes up to Great Grandma Anderson's to see the bummer lambs and turkeys.  The lamb was very friendly, but the male turkey didn't like the kids getting so close to his territory.

 The kids had a blast playing together.  They even found the coat closet to hide in (one of my many childhood memories).

 We took walks "down the lane" and found more friendly bummer lambs.

 Dear sweet Great Grandma Anderson who just gets sweeter and sweeter! What an amazing lady!

 We took a Sunday ride to Price to Great Grandma Garff's for dinner.

 We then headed over to the care center to visit with Great Grandpa.  We loved the short time being with them, but trying to keep the kids from destroying the therapy room was quite the task. Grandpa kept calling the crazy kids "little shits."

 My parent's long time neighbor Ross Cox was so kind to let the kids ride his horse.

 The night before the horse ride while asking Ross if he would let the kids ride his horse Ayla had quite the scare.  Upon getting out of the car she began to pet the horse only for it to sneeze all over her and even my mom's car.  Even Ross was amazed at the amount of snot that came out. Despite wanting and even begging to ride a horse for a very long time that experience frightened her enough that I had to ride with her. 

 After getting comfortable she was able to ride with her brother.

 Shortly after the horse ride a huge and nasty rainstorm came through.  After it cleared up the kids went outside to play.  They found a little bird that had been knocked to the ground by the storm, was shivering and the ants were already on attack. Kathryn found a little box to put the bird in so it could die peacefully.  Poor Bennett was quite upset when she told him that it may not live.

 A couple hours later the bird had perked up quite a bit so we took it outside to see if it would fly away.  It was able to fly a short distance before falling again.  We figured it had a broken wing and would eventually die, so we put it back in the box.  Eventually, we had to move the bird to the garage because it was becoming quite vocal.

In the morning, Kathryn and the kids took the bird outside, opened the box and it flew away. We were very happy that we took it in and I think it taught the kids a very important lesson.  Aunt Kathryn told them it flew away to it's mommy.  Ayla's didn't particularly like the response and added that it went to it's Papa too. Of course, no birdie (or little girl) should be without a Papa.

 Little man and I at the 24th of July parade.

 After the parade we all met up at Great Grandma's with lots of other family.  The kids were playing in the barn, where Ayla came upon a pile wool.  She was very concerned thinking it was a dead sheep and had to investigate.

 On the very short ride back to Grandma's on the four wheeler little man fell asleep.  I think all the excitement and celebrations were really starting to catch up to him.

 That night we were able to go to the demolition derby.  A must see event!

 To wrap up our awesome trip we went to a pizza place in Mt. Pleasant to celebrate the kids birthdays, since Ayla's and Bennet's are in August and Abram's in October.

 The last couple days of our trip we headed to Orem to stay with their Abuelos.  Tio Pepe and Tia Lulu (Cristina's sister) from Durango, Mexico were visiting.  Ayla had them both wrapped around her little finger in no time!

Enjoying an evening dinner in Provo Canyon.



July 2012

 About a month after we moved we noticed Kusko's feet were always red and he wouldn't stop licking them.  We thought maybe it was the weed killer Milton had put on the grass, but when they started oozing we knew something was terribly wrong.  While looking at his feet I noticed that there was a piece of straw embedded in between his toes.  I took it out and realized that it was a grass seed.  I couldn't believe it but then I noticed that between several of his toes there appeared to be punctures.  I did some research on the internet only to find out that foxtails (the tall prairie looking like grass) are dangerous to dogs and other animals.  The seeds are actually designed to embed in the skin and then travel, causing damage and infection.  Unfortunately, the dog run was covered in foxtails. Poor dog!

Everyday we would drain his punctures and clean them.  We thought for sure we were again faced with losing Kusko since the infections were really bad and surgery wasn't an option since he most likely wouldn't live through it.

Upon more internet research I was able to find a mineral that helps the body expel foreign objects.  We started him on those and within the next 2 months about 6 foxtail seeds came out of various parts of his feet. It was horrible! But he amazingly pulled through it despite a very long healing process.

 Always a little ham for the camera!

 Ayla's hair has really gotten long and is what I believe to be every girl's dream! Should we even wait until she's a teenager to lock her away?!

 Once again, our many afternoons playing in the water!

 Ayla had a performance at the Denver Boys and Girls Club. Pictured is the performing group with some of Denver's police.

 Our dear little performer!

 

 Ahrian cheesing it up at the lake. He has always been happiest with the least amount of clothes possible.

 We went to Water World with the kids. I just wish I could be a kid again to fully enjoy the rides (some of them can be quite painful). I guess that's why parent's start "living" through their kids.

 Aunt McKelle came down from Cheyenne to go with us.

Ayla was a bit tuckered out from the long day in the sun.  She hitched a ride to the car on the cooler.

June 2012

 On May 27th we threw Ahrian an early birthday party.  We couldn't believe that our little man was already turning 1!

 I've decided that even though I can bake really well I just may need to leave the decorating up to the professionals.  I made him cake balls, which didn't turn out exactly as planned.

 Luckily he didn't care...

 And ate to his heart's content.

 We had just moved into the house just the week before and our playset was still on the trailer.  The kids could have cared less (I think they actually liked it better on the trailer).

 On June 1st for Ahrian's birthday we made a family trip to Dairy Queen.  Ayla was very nice to share her blizzard with the birthday boy.  The reason we chose to move to Northglenn (North Denver) was for Milton's job.  He had been moved to the Thornton/Brighton area that previous February.  It was perfect because he could come home for lunch and we saw him many times throughout the day.  Unfortunately, that came to an end the middle of June when the transfered him back to Centennial, which is now even further away than it was before we moved.  I could continue to complain, but at least he was transfered to a department that has provided us with a steady income.

 Later that night we gave him his birthday present. I don't think he'll be using it until next year, especially since he had just started crawling a couple of weeks before.

 Ayla continues to make us laugh.  Here she was ready to help her Papa in the garage.  She needed her work gloves on.

Another of her funny antics.  She had gotten dressed and was ready to hit the town. Her outfit consists of a Rockies tee, pj bottoms, her Papa's socks and my heels.  Of course, her accessory is a cute pink purse.  Oh, this girl is awesome!



More of June 2012

 June was a very busy month, we had just moved and the entire summer consisted of many visitors and trips to the lake. 

Ayla, she's always doing things to make me smile, even when life is absolutely crazy.

 One of our visitors was cousin Eli and Aunt Rachel (Ray Ray). Ahrian and Eli are only 3 months apart from each other and they had a lot of fun playing together.

 One of the many trips to the lake. Aunt Ray Ray, Eli, Me, Ahrian, Ayla and Aunt McKelle.

 Aunt Ray Ray is very talented.  She made Ayla two skirts, which Ayla was very happy to model.

 Grandpa and Grandma Anderson came to visit while Rachel was here. Grandpa is a little softy for the grandkids, especially Ayla.

 We took a trip to a local theme park.  It's perfect for family fun.

 

 Ayla and I had a lot of fun on the Ferris Wheel.  When at the top she was more concerned about her Papa who was below than where we actually were at the moment. 

 The summer was really hot so we spent many afternoons playing in the water Ayla wasn't quite sure what to think of the splash parks.

 I thought it would be a good idea to get a slip and slide.  I tried many times explaining to Ayla how it was done but eventually I ended up demonstrating.  It was fun, but painful. I don't think adults were in mind when the slip and slide was invented. I was particularly grateful for our privacy fence...

 They at least appreciated the sprinklers.

I decided it was time for a change and since I've vowed to never cut my hair again I went with some bangs instead.  

 

After several years of my road bike sitting in the garage it was time for me to take up the sport again.  I LOVED the freedom of having the both kids old enough to ride in the bike trailer.  Ahrian did much better after getting used to wearing his helmet.  

Each evening we would go for a walk with Kusko while Ayla rode her balance bike. 

May 2012

 May was out of control busy, busy, busy! The first weekend in May Ayla had six performances for the Cinco de Mayo celebrations.  She was in absolute heaven and danced her little heart out!  Even though she was the smallest and youngest in the group that didn't stop her from "keeping" up with everyone else.  I was so excited for her and managed to get her to all her performances despite the fact that we were going to be moving within the next 10 days. 

 Ahrian and his Tio Gerson

 This girl has always loved corn on the cob.  Especially Mexican style!

 My dear friend Nicole came during the week that we were moving and was such a huge help in entertaining the kids and helping me clean the rental house we were moving into.  Now this rental came at the last minute.  Our search for a house was extremely time consuming and stressful sinced we were moving at peak renter's moving season.  There were so many applicants on each property that we truly didn't even know if we were going to have a place to live coming closing day on our house. Luckily we found one just 10 days before our closing date.  However, it didn't come easy. The property owner's told us we could have the place if we doubled our deposit (so that meant we had to pay first and last month's rent and match that same amount for the pet deposit) since we had a Great Dane.  Of course we had no choice but couldn't help feeling totally taken advantage of since we know Kusko is 100% trained and very, very seldom leaves his bed.

 My dear Ayla already says things that are quite shocking! One day she came up to me with her barbi and says "Mama, it's you."  Quite sweet and of course I took it as a complete compliment (she must have her beer goggles on).

We were so excited when Tia Vanina had her baby May 22nd! Ayla and Ahrian finally had a cousin on Milton's side of the family. They named him Tyler Ashton Jepperson. 

Ayla was very happy to hold Tyler!