Last week we had our Young Life friends making money for camp by working in our yard! We are starting the process. They got all the weed-block in and gravel for all of the rock areas. Next week Justin is going to start on the sprinkler system and hopefully we can put in sod by the end of the summer :) I can't wait (that is an understatement!)
Mack loves to help the big boys!
The side yard is totally different!
The stepping stones are in but I think we might change them up a bit. I love that the diapers won't get nasty when I drop them any more!
We got rid of all shrubs under the four big trees. The stump is gone now too!
We have had the chance to get out a couple of times and have some family adventures in the past two weeks.
Last week we headed to Glenwood Canyon to do a little hiking. We live in such a gorgeous place! It works out pretty good to put Macy in the Bjorn and then Mack in the hiking backpack. I am proud to say I carried Mack the whole way on this hike of over an hour. He weighs almost 30 lbs now and the pack is a bit more. It is a workout to say the least!
This past Thursday we had a "date day" instead of a date night and headed east to Wolcott to do some climbing! It was awesome! Justin lead a 5.9 for the first time. It was a bit nerve-racking but he did it with me belaying. Then I climbed a couple of routes before he finished with a few more. I forgot how much I miss climbing. I think I have only been really climbing less than a handful of times since Mack was born. I need to be grateful for the time I do get to do things like this, instead of dwelling on the fact that I wish I could do more...so yah for climbing with my hubby!
Let's start with Macy. Macy is laughing, playing on her playmat, smiling a ton, sleeping and nap wonderfully and is just a joy to have. She is easy to read and mostly easy to calm. She is going to bed around 9pm these days and getting up around 6/7am. She likes watching her older brother do things and going for rides in the Bjorn. I can't believe she is almost 3 months old!
Macklin has been like one big explosion of change lately! He is using his manner (please and thank you) a bit more. He even said "thank you" unsolicited a couple of times in the last couple of days! He is putting together full sentences that actually make sense! The other day, after being asked to go outside, he said, "I am playing cars now." Oh, my bad, continuing playing my sweet boy! He knows what he wants and as long as he is not super upset about something (still has his super moody moments), he can express himself. He is also changing physically. He is way more coordinated. His jumps are higher. His running speed is faster. His climbing is more planned and skilled (and constant, have I mentioned that he is a climber...on everything!). His his bike riding is more balanced. He completes scenes with his toys. It is just so fun to watch Macklin play!
Big Bro and Lil Sis
"I want Macy on my belly."
"Macy, smile! Look at the camera Macy!"
One day Mack wanted to watch fire engines on my iPhone. So, I said, "Why don't we take a walk over to the fire station and look at them?" I just thought we could look at the ones in the drive way, but we got a full on tour (note: this was two Saturdays ago before the entire state was burning!). Firefighter Sarah showed us all of the cool things about fire trucks and even gave Macklin his own fire hat! You gotta love small towns!
Just hanging with Daddy at a friends going away party.
Playing in his club house.
Have I ever mentioned that red and tie-dye are his favorites for clothes. Often, if given the chance to pick out his clothes, he would pick all red, or red and tie-dye! So funny.
We were able to help one of our high school friends celebrate their birthday last week. Maddy hosted a little party for JJ, one of Justin's favorites! He loves hunting, so Maddy had a camo party compelte with a full on attack of JJ when he arrived. Macklin had the best time! It was one of the first times I felt like we were somewhere for 2 hours and we didn't feel like we were running out in a cry-fest exit due to tired kids. Macklin loved playing with the water guns, watching their fish tank, playing with balls, and just being a sweet boy. What a fun night!
Playing at Brush Creek Park in Eagle.
Justin with another one of his favorite high school friends, Will.
What happens when we try to take both kids shopping. Wow, there are four Macklins!
Recently we started talking about the future of sleeping in our home. Macy is doing a great job in the "Baby Nook." Macklin loves his routine in his own room. It is our hope that they would successfully share a room together in the near future. Macy will be out of a bassinet before we know it and ready to move on to a crib. Macklin can climb out of his crib now...he just doesn't totally know it yet.
Last weekend, Justin decided to see how things would fit in Macklin's room. We had to get a twin bed in (we are just skipping the toddler bed stage all together) while keeping the crib. All other furniture was optional based on what fit. In the future, I will pay more attention to the size of furniture that I buy (this stuff is a bit large for such a tiny room). I woke up to find that both beds fit and only the rocker had to go. It is tight, and that is an understatement, but it will work for now.
Macklin wanted to sleep in his big boy bed on the first night! He took a nap there during the day (successfully) and then slept the whole night through. The next day was a bit different. I think he was less tired. Check out the monitor for what I found when I looked in on him while he was supposed to be sleeping for the night...remember it is totally dark in there.
As of now, it is not a battle at all. We just ask him where he wants to sleep for the night, the big boy bed or Macy's bed. Sometimes he choses the bed, sometime the crib. Sometimes he goes to sleep in the bed and we wake up to find him in the crib. It is a transition time for sure, but it is way easier than I expected. Good thing we started early, before Macy gets in there! Not sure how we will keep him separate then! More to think about, that is for sure.
One of the reasons I have not been up to date on blogging is that I have busy in preparation for a very special event - the Young Life Senior Send-Off. This a new event that I created for a bunch of very special girls. This group of girls are the ones that I started out with at our first Vail Valley Young Life camp trip to Frontier Ranch in 2009. These girls had just finished their freshmen year of high school at that time. Now they are going into their freshmen year in college! Craziness! I sure feel old because now I have seen a complete group go all the way through Vail Valley Young Life. Many of them went to that week of camp at Frontier, others went to camp for the first time this past summer at Castaway. One is even going one last time in a couple of weeks to Lost Canyon. These girls were great role models and each contributed in their own way. What a blessing it has been to walk through life with them over the past four years.
The Senior Send-Off was all about CELEBRATE-ENCOURAGE-COMMISSION. I wanted to celebrate them (through a late night slip n slide party, ice cream and brownie sundaes, and the whole night out itself), encourage them (with some advice, specific verses for each girl, letters from family members and young YL girls, and special gifts and flowers), and commission them to go out and love others for Jesus (through a time of prayer and foot-washing). It was a very special night for all. I am very encouraged by them as young women.
Brooke, Kiah, Andrea, Haley, Kendra, Molly, and Shannon
(Maddie, Madison, and Kassi couldn't make the event.)
This past weekend was the Eagle Flight Days town fair. I thought I would hate living in a small town, and now I love it! I really enjoy all of the fairs and events that bring the town together. The Flight Days are a pretty legit set of events. Friday we participated in the Cute Baby Contest. I know what you are thinking....Mack cried through it the last time I took him (help yourself remember the story by reading my long description of the day), why go again? I told Justin I was not going to take the kids, and then my friend Bethany invited me so I decided to go along. This year there was some tough compition, but both kids came out as ribbon winners. Macklin (and I) won 3rd place for the Best Family Look-Alike category and Macy won 3rd place for Best Smile (not that she is modeling very well above). It was a fun yet long ordeal but we made it though. I think they should have won Best Two Kids in the World....but hey, I am their mom.
What to do while you enjoy a baby contest....play on your iPhones of course!
Glad they each have their own ;)
After the contest, we were having our picnic during the concert and Macklin was practicing his emotions (thanks to the Curious George book that we like to model). Here he is doing (clockwise from top left) his happy face, sad face, scared face and mad face. He is one funny kid!
Saturday night was another concert, and this time I talked Justin into coming with! We met up with Torrey and Alana with their new baby Logan (Born June 13...he had a little trouble with a UTI but he is a healthy little guy now and doesn't need oxygen! Praise God for a sweet little guy!) for Logan's second outing. We had a great time visiting with them as well as enjoying the Flight Days.
Macklin riding the train. --- Mack and Daddy hanging out (Justin is sporting his new sunglasses)
We rode our bikes from Gypsum. It was great! --- Macklin found his little buddy Braden at the park!
Sunday was the final day of Flight Days and I enjoyed it by running my first competitive 5k since Macy was born 11 weeks ago! Guess what? I won! It was a fun race with quite a few less people than in years past. But a win is a win. I did run 22:17, nothing impressive but still respectable. Hopefully I can get some miles under me before the Gypsum Daze run next month. I had five of my runners (one was running the 10k while we took the pic below) do it as well. I put them to work handing out flyers for our own 5k at our home meet this fall while I talked with younger runners about EVHS XC...can't waste a good opportunity!
