Thanksgiving 2008

Once again, we were on our own for Thanksgiving this year. With finals around the corner, we couldn't afford to take time for the drive to Utah to see family. Despite the fact that we spent the day away from family, we fixed an entire Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed spending time as a little family. Ethan was definitely great help with the preparations. We didn't realize how time consuming fixing Thanksgiving dinner could be.

Urban Camping

Happy Anniversary to us! Cory and I went out to celebrate our special day over the weekend but spend our actual anniversary chilling out at home. After dinner, we built a fire and roasted marshmallows. That's what we call "urban camping." Our roasting sticks are stored in Utah so we improvised by soaking bamboo skewers in water and taping them together. Hey, it worked, and the marshmallows were delish!

House of Bounce

For playgroup, a bunch of us in the ward took the kiddos to a place called House of Bounce. The kids and parents can play on several inflatable bounce thing-a-ma-bobbers. We had our first snow today so this was a perfect activity to keep the kids active and warm. In addition to being fun, I think we got a good workout.



Ethan was too scared to go down the slides forward so he slid down on his stomach.

Food Storage Mania!

So we got some early Christmas money this year that was to be used only for food storage so a few of us in the ward got together to stock up on the basics. I had never been to the cannery before and thought it was quite fun. We were there for 2 or 3 hours and really accomplished a lot. I feel so happy and relieved to have a little food storage now. And really there is nothing sexier than women wearing hairnets! Yeah, baby!

My First Fire

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Cory and Ethan while they stared at the fire in the fireplace. It's the first one that we built this season, and Ethan kept saying, "This is my first fire." He was fascinated, and we all enjoyed spending some family time in front of the cozy fire.

Go Cougs!

We made the hour or so trek to Fort Collins for the BYU/CSU game with the Langstraats, friends from our ward, and a group of the Langstraats' friends. We were beginning to think that our trip had been in vain, but the Cougars pulled out the victory in the end. It definitely was a nail-biter and well worth the trip! We love BYU football!


Here are the cougs preforming the Haka before kickoff.


Here's our attempt at a picture with Cosmo. Ethan was too distracted by the game and surroundings.


True blue fans all the way!

Happy Halloween!

Here is our scary little vampire before he went out for treats. We went to the ward trunk-or-treat and then took Ethan around to a few houses for the real trick-or-treat experience.


Looks like Ethan made out like a bandit!

Another Halloween Party

Ethan and I are just party animals. We got together today with some moms and kids from the ward for a Halloween party at the Stewart's home. The children played pin the nose on the pumpkin, ate yummy pizza, and went on a "monster walk" to find a special bag of goodies. Here's a picture of the little monsters. They were having so much fun that it was hard to get them to sit or stand still for the picture.


Ethan had fun playing in the backyard. I guess vampires like doing gymnastics...


and riding in toy cars.

Early Halloween with Cousins

Ethan and I spent some time in Utah in October and were able to have a little Halloween party with my brother and his family. The kids got all dressed up, watched a Halloween cartoon, and decorated sugar cookies. What a cute bunch!

Walking to the Park

The lovely weather continues here in the Denver area. Today Ethan and I decided to walk to the park with our friends Alicia and Nathan. Nathan hopped into Ethan's stroller so Ethan decided to push him. Nathan is like a little brother to Ethan. We are so blessed to have such great neighbors.

Littleton Historical Museum

Today we visited the Littleton Historical Museum with our playgroup friends. There are cool outdoor areas (old houses, a barn, and animals) and a cute little indoor museum. In this picture, Ethan is playing with the exhibit that demonstrates how wheat is ground into flour.

Denver Parks Rock!

We are just falling in love with the Denver area. It's a very family friendly place to live and the parks are plentiful and fun. Today we went to a new park that is one of the best we've ever seen. Check out this great slide!

Ethan and Ethan

Today we invited Ethan's friend, Ethan, and our little neighbor friend Nathan to come over and play. We broke out the tunnels, and they had a blast. The two Ethans pretended that they were in a pirate ship while Nathan enjoyed watching and laughing with them. Arrr!

Ethan's Got Talent

Ethan taught himself how to do this. We tried not to laugh, but we just couldn't help ourselves.

Picnic and Hike at El Dorado Canyon

Some friends of ours, Kelly and Miguel Zuniga, invited us to visit El Dorado Canyon today. We set up our picnic along the river's edge and used the cold water to cool our drinks. Obviously the cold water didn't deter Ethan from playing in it. What a great way to spend the last weekend of summer. The surroundings were beautiful, and we had a great hike. We were impressed with how long Ethan hiked. He wanted to continue going, but we were afraid he would get tired and want us to carry him down the mountain. There were some pretty steep parts of the hike so we didn't think it would be a good idea to try to carry him.

Another Trip to Utah

After Cory took the BAR exam at the end of July, we decided to visit family in Utah. Ethan had his first ride on an amusement park ride (ferris wheel) at the Uintah County Fair, and we all went to the demolition derby the same day too. Ethan visited grandparents, cousins, and museums. After the long two months of having Cory study for the Bar, we thoroughly enjoyed spending so much time together as a family.

Ethan tried to slide out under the safety bar while at the top of the ferris wheel after Cory jokingly said that the ride was finished.


There's nothing like a good old demolition derby.


Ethan was probably more interested in the motorcycle act than the crashing cars.




These are some pics from the musuem at Thanksgiving Point where Ethan even got to dig for fossils.


While visiting Great-grandparents Mace at their cabin, Ethan was able to help daddy and great-grandpa Mace fix the lawn mower.

Denver Zoo

We decided to go check out the Denver Zoo today. Ethan was so funny. All he wanted to do was see the elephants and ride the train they have there. He couldn't have cared less about the lions, tigers, bears (oh my!), or even the penguins! What a funny kid.

Quality Family Time

Ahhhhhh...the Bar exam is O V E R. Now that I'm not stuck in a room with law books all day I can finally spend some time with my family. I have two months of not being around to make up for. Today I took Ethan to the Belleview Park next to our house and we made a day of it. Nothing better than Papi/Son time!

Riding The Train




Getting To Know The Wildlife





Playing In The Creek




Ethan's Saggy Butt