Santa!

To no ones surprise... it happened again! Luke cried on Santa's lap. Nick and I were suspecting that this might happen and so to avoid further anxiety I stood in line while Nick distrated Luke. When the time came, Nick put Luke on Santa's lap, we got our picture and here it is. Hopefully Luke is not scarred for life!

Santa "roar?"

I took Luke to see Santa on Wednesday and he cried too much to take a picture. I kept talking to him about Santa and we read some books ahead of time so I was hopeful that it would be a successful trip. He held on to me so tight and shook so much when we got up to see Santa that I did not have the heart to make him sit for Santa right there. He also thinks that Santa says "roar" which is too funny!

Happy Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving this year with Nick's family and had a great time with his aunt and uncle and Nick's cousins. Luke got an extra special treat this year becuse his great-grandmother flew out from St. Louis for the holiday. This was the first time that she had met Luke. It also had been over 2 years since she last made it out to Denver.

Happy Halloween!

We celebreated Luke's 2nd Halloween wtih lots of fun events. Last night the 3 of us went to the Honeybee's Halloween party (my mom's playgroup) where we found that getting 15 1-2 year olds to sit for a picture proved more difficult then expected.
This morning we then headed off to the Denver Zoo for Boo at the Zoo. It was lots of fun to see all the kids dressed up in their costumes. There were many trick-or-treat stations where all sorts of goodies were handed out. Notice the camels in the background.


And finally my dragon pumpkin that I carved. I tried to get a pattern that matched Luke's costume. :)

Rock Creek Farms Pumpkin Patch

This morning I headed up with Luke to the Rock Creek Farms Pumpkin Patch in Broomfield. It was an event organized by my mom's group. There were animals to pet and a maze to run around in. What fun! There was even a beautiful view of the snow-capped mountains. We did not venture into the pumpkin field because of the many rotting pumpkins from the frost in early October.

More zoo fun!

Last week in Denver it was freezing so we decided to take advantage of the 80 degree day and go to the zoo. We met up with our friends Courtney and Slade and their daughter Sloan who happened to be going as well. Luke still loved the great apes and took his first zoo train ride. We all had so much fun we ended up getting a pass for the year. :)

Wedding in San Francisco

Standing outside the St. Francis in Union Square.

The new bride and groom.
I guess the dancing took it out of him.


On October 2nd, Nick's cousin Beth got married in San Francisco. We had a great time at the wedding and enjoyed seeing our friends Tori and Travis from USC. We actually had not seem them since graduation 3 years ago! Luke was a good traveler and loved the cable car which looked like Toby from Thomas the train.

Rocky Mountain National Park

At the end of September, we headed out for our annual trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a 2 hour drive so we left early and took the same hike as last year up to Cub Lake. It was a warm and windy day and the three of us made it up the trail to our destination by lunch. On the way back we saw 3 different herds of elk bugling.

Oktoberfest in Vail

What a fun weekend we had at Oktoberfest in Vail. It was a beautiful fall weekend with a little chill and amazing fall colors. On Saturday we enjoyed veal brats and dancing to German music. FYI... Nick and I need to work on our dance moves. :) On Sunday we headed out to Betty Ford park for a fun hour with Luke and then hit the last farmer's market of the season. Fall is truly my favorite season since living in Colorado.

Labor Day

Over Labor Day my parents came out for a week long visit. All 5 of us decided to head down to Colorado Springs to ride the Pike's Peak Cog railway. Fortunately my Dad survived the altitude and we all made it down the mountain in our train. 5 passengers were left at the top of the mountain for being late! Here are some pictures at the bottom of the mountain and also from the ride up.

Trip to Colorado Springs

Last Saturday we decided to take a impromptu trip to Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods. It turned out to be an adventure that lasted until 6PM that night. I had never been down to the springs and have been wanting to go for 3 years now so it was fun to be able to see it. I am also teaching Colorado history for the first time and am gathering up information to be a better teacher. We stopped at Garden of the Gods which was beautiful but more touristy they I was expecting.




Then, we heard the the Anasazi cliff dwellings were interesting and checked them out. They have been there since the 1100's and are in great condition. It was interesting to learn how they lived in the foothills of Pikes Peak.


We ended up our adventure at the pioneer museum in downtown Colorado Springs where we learned all about the allure of PIkes Peak and what brought so many people to the region.

This mama is back to work!

Today I started back to work teaching 4th grade for the first time. It feels good to see everyone here and catch up on the summer. It is also fun meeting my new students this afternoon (they are just dropping off their supplies) and will start up on Monday. I will miss not being able to play with Luke during the day and do fun things like go to the zoo, children's aquarium or a long walk around Wash Park. However, I am thankful to have a job and so blessed that Luke has a great place to go and be taken care of when I am gone during the week.

One cool dude!

Luke can now say his name but it comes out as uke instead of Luke. :)

Beautiful Crested Butte Colorado

Last Monday Nick, Luke and I headed out on our family vacation to Crested Butte. We picked Crested Butte because of its beautiful wildflowers and scenic mountains. It took 5 hours to get there with a lunch stop on the way and Luke did great! We stayed at the Elk Mountain Lodge which was a block away from the main street. The first day we did a more local hike off by the ski mountain and I was amazed at all the wildflowers that were there!

Then we enjoyed the free concert in the park where Luke danced to reggae music. The next day, Nick planned an adventure up to the Maroon Bells mountains and to get there we had to go on a 4WD road. It was not bad until Nick jumped out and had to check out a river (ok.. more like a stream) crossing before we made it to the trailhead. This hike was the most beautiful hike I have ever been on in my life because of the red colored mountains, river next to the trail and the abundance of wildflowers of all kinds. I wish that I had a better camera to capture the scenery.




At the end of the hike, Luke was so tired that he fell quickly to sleep while Nick carried him back to the car. What a great vacation!
P.S. the three of us were never as popular as we were on that hike up West Maroon. At least 3 people took picture of us with their own camera and Nick even got the "dad of the year" designation from another hiker.

Butterfly Pavillion

This morning was another fun outing with my MOD mom's friends. We went to the butterfly pavilion up by Boulder and the boys got to check out all sorts of bugs and butterflies. At least this time they were all in cages so Luke did not get the chance to squish any creepy crawlies like he has done in the backyard.
OH NO... a giant praying mantis!

Family and Friends in Claremont

After we got back from Kauai, I spent another 10 days in Claremont having fun with Luke and seeing friends in the area. We went to South Coast Plaza Mall which is were my mom took me when I was little to ride the carousel. Uncle Dennis (Nick's uncle) came out from Palm Desert for a visit and we also got together with Deanna and Carter for a playdate in the park. Melissa and I were able to spend a lunch together in Pasadena but we did not take a picture. :( Luke also learned lots of new things, one of which was to kick a soccer ball thanks to Granddad and Uncle Dean.