Dinner with the Kaddatz Family

 

We had a great time with the Kaddatz family tonight. We took the kids for a stroll over at the Gypsum Ponds and then enjoyed dinner at our house. The fall colors are in full bloom and Baxter had a blast swimming for sticks. But...I think we need to stick to the rivers, Baxter came home with an uncountable number of teeny-tiny burs all over him :( 

Backyard Camping

We wanted to go camping two weekends ago but also wanted to hang out with our roomie Daniel - so we did the best of both worlds and camped in our backyard! We had a blast roasting hot dogs and s'mores, playing card games, and sleeping in the tent. The best part was that we kept Macy inside and had the monitor outside with us. She got a normal nights sleep and we enjoyed the tent! 

We picked up the tent from Grandpa and Mema this summer. They had it in their basement but weren't using it. Just so happened that a new family camping tent was our next adventure purchase! What a blessing it is to have this. It is brand new and worked great for our growing family! Good bye to Justin's grade school Bass Pro Shop tent. You served us well for the past six years little blue tent, but we had worn you out and out grown you. Best of luck with your new owner (whoever buys you at the Thrifty Shop)!

Check out this awesome kid sleeping bag that Daniel has for his girls. No room for cold spots - it was perfect for Mack :) 

We also got to use our little firepit from Joannie and Earl. Since we have re-done our yard, it has been used at least on a monthly basis. It provides us with a nice atmosphere in the yard. We just have to remember to not let the grass burn out underneath it...oops. 

Fall Photo Shoot

 

After a rainy day last week, I decided that I wanted to take the kids for a walk around "downtown" Gypsum and take some pictures! We haven't done professional pictures in a while (a maternity shoot with Ben Dodds and a newborn shoot with Cara Leonard along with our Hawaii Pictures, all in 2012) and I have been leaving my camera at home a lot lately. 

Macklin

Oh, how I love the bow-tie. He actually wore it to church this morning and I was bummed that I missed a pic of him. Then, when we went to bed for his nap, he asked to sleep in it! So after his nap, we headed out with the bow-tie still on! Macklin is fun to take pictures of if you get him in the right mood. The pictures in front of the Old Gypsum Printer were great. Then he lost interest. As we were walking home, he was throwing rocks into the Gypsum Creek and I just had to snap a few more. His mood rebounded and I started clicking away. I love all of the goofy/serious ones as well since they show different sides of his personality. 

  

 

Macy

My little peanut is at a hard age to photograph. She is squirmy and won't sit in one place for long. She takes lots of candy corn to bribe her with and her poses are still kinda weird. Hard to ask her to smile, but we still managed some fun pictures! 

 

 

Macklin & Macy 

As if Macy wasn't hard enough on her own, add Macklin to the mix and a picture of them together is a hard shot. I still tried hard though :)

 

 

What happens when we are done trying to be cute....Puddle splashing and dirty shoes! 

 

The Out-Takes 

   

"Mommy, why does Macklin keep choking me?"

 

Here is what Macy really looks like....

fingers in the mouth, Taggie in hand....and..."More candy!!!!!"

Grandparents - Let me know if any one needs a picture emailed to them :) 

Justin's 30th Birthday

We let Justin sleep in as long as possible on his Sunday morning birthday before serving him breakfast in bed surrounded by two kids that want to love on him! We headed to church and had a seemingly quite afternoon...until he was awaken from his sleep...

As I thought about what Justin would like for this birthday, all I could think of was.... GUY TIME! He gives so much to our family, to school, and to Young Life, he is often at a lose for time to spend with his guy friends. I called up Jared and we started planning! Jared ended up getting Jake and Kyle to come pounce on Justin during his afternoon nap and snatched him up for a birthday camping trip! They headed out toward Sylvan Lake to do some climbing and camping. It did feel weird to be without him on his birthday, but it was refreshing and adventurous for him...and that is just what I wanted to give him! 

Jared, Jake, Kyle, and Justin with the birthday brownies that I sent them off with! 

First Day of School 2013

It is hard to believe that Justin is starting his 7th year at Eagle Valley High School. We are so blessed to be in this community and to be enjoying our lives in Gypsum. I want to start taking a picture every year on the first day of school so that Macklin will have all of the pics when he grows up. 

Justin is excited to be teaching two different levels of Chemistry this year. He has dropped the Physics (which he taught for the last two years) and is looking forward to having one prep to focus on. 

The Yellow Room

When we moved into our home, we had a green guest room and a yellow office. When Macklin came around, we turned the green room into his nursery and then the yellow room became the guest room and office complete with the desk above and bunk beds. When Daniel moved in with us, the guest room became his. When Macklin needed a bed, he got the top bunk bed so that little Macy could take his crib - both in the green room. 

When Daniel moved out, the yellow room became the guest room, office and toy room as. We did not have storage for the toys, so we just put them all around the floor. Last winter break, Justin constructed the Murphy Bed that is the piece of wood on the left in this picture. We got a new desk to maximize space and the toys are still on the floor. 

After doing a little toy inventory, we decided that we had to have something in order to get the toys off the ground. Nothing that we were seeing at the stores was satisfying our needs for this room. Seriously, who has this many toys in one room of a tiny house?

After a lot of thought time, Justin and I constructed our own shelving system for the room to meet the needs of the toys as well as the fact that Daniel was moving back in. I LOVE the final product and am so bummed that we didn't do this sooner! The top bins (and we have added some more to the top of the shelf) are for Daniel and the lower ones are for the kids. I did have to move some of the bigger toys around the house in other places as they did not fit. 

Here is where I got all of the bins and baskets:

White and Green Baskets

Blue Buckets

Blue Boxes

Print on the Wall

Fabric for the Pillow 

Custom Wall Shelving Unit 

Macklin loves his reading nook! 

What happened to the desk you might ask? It got moved to the baby nook! Everyone wants a desk in their bathroom, right? Please pardon the crazy mess. I just put the shower curtain over it and you don't see it! If we get to have another baby, this will have to move again, but it is a great solution right now for a work space for me to plan out my cross country season.