Halloween night...

Ah, to capture a sweet moment of peace between our little rug rats.  There are more and more of them, really, but then I'm so busy trying to get stuff done that I forget to take pictures.  :)  Can anyone else relate?

What a great shot of the boys on Halloween with the other neighborhood kids. 

Our Gagey smiles so easily and so often.  I love that about him. 

Pumpkin carving...

I like this picture of me with Gage in our pumpkin-carving aprons. 

We had a whole family of pumpkins by the time this party was done!

I love these guys so much. 

Halloween at AppleTree with Gavin...

Here's my bumble bee and his buddy, Callie (or Merida from Brave).  Can you believe this awesome red wig?  I loved helping during the Halloween party.  I'm going to try to get in both boys' classrooms more often.  Why not? 

REI adventures...

My dear friend, Tanya, and I often meet at REI downtown because it's a good midway point. There's a great walking and biking path from REI to the Children's Museum--where there's a great park--and this particular day I brought Gage's bike with us.  The issue was, as I recall, that Gage was the only biker in the group, so the pace to the park was too varied to provide good catch up time among the moms, which is the main point of our visits most of the time.  But, it was fun to watch the boys play together once we arrived (and we did, in fact, arrive)...just in time to hit the trail again to make sure that I could get back to school to pick up Gavin.  :)  Ah, the life of the "stay-at-home" mother. 

Valmont Cross Race with Friends

After the road biking season was complete, next was Cross racing season.  It seems like it could be fun on warm days, but I have never attempted to race Cross.  It's kind of a "cross" between road racing and mountain biking which usually involves riding through sand pits, jumping barriers, riding over grass and hills, and quite often mud and snow.  I guess those are the reasons it sounds less appealing.  They actually have a world class Cross course in Boulder now at Valmont Park and some of the best in the Nation were there to race this day.  Here are some pictures of some of my crazy teammates dressed as cow bells (which happen to be quite common at bike races).

This day I took Gavin with me and he and I enjoyed watching the races and another one of my teammates who was dressed as a sheep.  I love that Gavin has taken up biking and we have tried to take him several times to this same bike park when there are no races and he has always had a great time.

This is one of my teammates actually racing and with the pro men to boot!  He actually was disappointed because he got pulled with 2 laps to go from the race because he was a bit behind, but I think he still managed to place like 25th out of 45-50 pro men.  Not bad for your first pro race.  Nice job Brian!

Trunk or treat at AppleTree...

Thank you, Friends, for these adorable hand-me-down Halloween costumes!  And thank you, God, for these precious hand-me-down boys to fill them.  Something about the picture above makes me think that, despite the rough 'n tumble between them, they really love each other and want to be together most of the time.  Separating them for mandatory quiet times has been good (Gage won't nap for me during the week anymore) for many reasons (Dr. Steitz says that they should have at least one hour a day by themselves), not the least of which is that it actually makes them want to be together more. Sometimes this time apart even yields five whole minutes of peaceful playing upon their reunion.  Just kidding...mostly. 

The church where the boys go to school holds a "Trunk or Treat" event in their parking lot the weekend before Halloween.  And what's an event like that without Moses...and a creepy alien in an inflatable suit.  You can see that Gage doesn't quite know what to make of the whole thing.  Gavin, on the other hand, has no qualms about returning to the same trunks many times.  I guess we are related, huh? 

Halloween at AppleTree with Gage...

Gage was our little zebra this Halloween, and his good buddy, Bode, was Spider Man.  It's so cute to see these two together lately.  Big Bro (Gavin) and Big Sis (Callie) are in the same class together, too, and became good buddies during preschool last year.  His mom and my good friend, Natalie, and I were just commenting the other day that Gage and Bode are really becoming friends, not just pals by default.  They look for each other and are visibly and audibly excited to see one another.  Gage has nicknamed him "Bodester," and I had nothing to do with it, really.  We're bummed that they won't be in the same class next year.  :( 

Did I know that I was wearing a zebra shirt that day??  I don't think I meant for us to match, but stranger things have happened I suppose.  I'm so blessed to be able to attend my kids' class parties and school events.  I'd like to start volunteering in their classrooms more regularly.  Like Natalie recently said, "We've got to do it now because how much longer are they going to want us in their classrooms?" 

Visiting Zachie!

How fitting!  In this picture of us, I'm wearing the very Lucille's t-shirt that Zach bought me when we were eating at Lucille's together during one of his visits home (last year or the year before that) when I suggested, "Hey, Lee, wanna buy me that t-shirt for my birthday since you won't be here then?"  Hey, at least we both know that I love what I got that way! 

This is my adorable niece, Camille, outside of their place in Austin.  As much as I hate the many miles that keep us all apart, I do have to say that I like the city where they're living.  It was so much fun being with Camille this visit, as she attempted to say my name and could not attempt to be any cuter.  One fun memory was keeping her busy as Mommy and Daddy did "biz" at Floor & Decor (was that it?), a place where they currently log lots of hours.  Zach and Lorna have become very successful  house flippers and sold their first "flip" very shortly after my return home.  It was fun for me to see some of their properties and what they've done.  They both have crazy good eyes for how and where to improve things, and watching/hearing them was impressive.  They're doing this on top of Zach's normal full-time job--making this a full-time job for Lorna most of the time, it seems--but the hope is to make it more of THE (primary) deal sooner rather than later.  And why not bring that business right back home...along with their children (nephew coming soon!) and their wits about them, really?!  I'll even throw you a "Welcome Home" party, Guys!  Consider it. :)

Hiking and Biking with Daddy

Tara took a weekend vacation, so I was excited to take the little men up for a hike/bike day in the foothills.  This first picture was taken from the trial head and was more about just experimenting with my new camera.  It did turn out to be quite a pretty day, but a little mild.

As usual, at the beginning of the hike they are off to the races and trying to leave me in the dust.  This usually goes on for about 3-4 minutes and then they need to find some cactus to try to touch, some log to try to roll over, or some rock to try to fall off of.

Here is Gage enjoying himself on one such rock.  I usually try to allow them a decent amount of liberty or freedom on these hikes, but I often have to intervene when rocks start getting thrown in all directions with total disregard for where anyone else is.  All in all, we have had several of these hikes and they always seem to be a blast.  I love that we can just get out and walk or run around and get some exercise.

Not wanting to return home without these guys seriously tired, we got back to the car from the hike at Shanahan Ridge and went over to Marshal Mesa for a trail ride.  Gage, at this point, is a good cyclist on pavement but sometimes gets a bit wild on the dirt trails.  It's hard to teach him that he can't turn quite as quickly without slipping without him experiencing it for himself.  Thankfully he is a fairly quick learner, though we did get back to the car with a few war wounds from the ride.

Lastly, here is a picture from the bike ride trail.  I always love having the time to look at the beauty of the mountains and where we live.  I think the new camera is taking some good pictures too.

Visiting Austin...

"Oh mah word!!!"  This is an expression that flows so naturally from Lora Beth's mouth, but I hadn't heard it in person for far too long.  This dear friend of mine lives in Boerne (is that right, LB?) and was willing to drive down (or was it up?) to see me in Austin during my last visit to Zach and Co.  And, thanks to our sweet husbands, we were both there childless and fancy free.  So what did we do for most of our day together, you say?  Well, she met me at my brother's house, and shortly thereafter we walked to this incredible Italian eatery (Mandola's) where we proceeded to--rather unintentionally I suppose--spend the rest of the day.  I looked down at my watch at--I kid you not--2 o'clock when Zach had said he might be getting home, and we finally forced ourselves to exit the restaurant.  We ate enough (and took enough home) to feed a family, but we couldn't decide what to get and what we could possibly skip, and MAN do we think and feel the same way about good food.  Lora Beth and I were in grad school together, and our friendship really blossomed while we were together in Puebla, Mexico, for a two week class.  (Was it really only two weeks?  It seemed much longer!)  It's so lovely to be able to pick up where you left off with friends like this when you can't see one another with any sort of regularity.  Te quiero mucho, Amiga Bella.  El dia que pasamos juntas fue fantastico. 

Raking leaves (day 2)...

Oh, how I miss Gage's long, healthy hair when I see this picture of him.  I took him to get it cut the other day (Great Clips during a $7.99 promotion), and the gal who cut it didn't really take much off.  But, unfortunately, when I went back then next day to get it "fixed", the next woman took off enough for three hair cuts.  His hair was butchered, and I'm getting a lot of flat top/army comments these days, as if I didn't feel bad enough.  (Several others have called him handsome with his new cut, and I feel like they must be kidding.)  He looks two years older right now.  I can't wait for it to grow back--and thank God our boys' hair grows so fast and furious--and I fear that I may not cut it for the next year.  Call it PTSD if you must...

I love this shot!  Did I take it?  Gavin is such a fun-loving ball of energy and emotions.  He's such a doll...when he's not pestering his little brother or falling apart at the seams when his Lego fire truck just broke.  I know, I know:  It's all part of the package.  And I wouldn't trade the GEK package for all the rice in China.

Raking leaves (day 1)...

One of these pictures is funnier than the other...

Visiting Grandma Mike at the quilt store...

It was fun to finally get inside and see where Grandma Mike spends so much of her time: the quilt store!  She's been working/managing there in Berthoud for awhile now, and many of the beautiful quilts that adorn the walls were her creations.  Gage's most recent birthday quilt was, in fact, previously hanging there until all of the kits sold and she brought it to Gage, who loves it and talks about it with such affection.  What she has--the eye for colors, fabrics, designs and how it will all go so well together--is a special gift.  And we, my readers, are among the very blessed benefactors.  We recently got rid of some other (code for lesser) blankets, realizing that we have enough beautiful quilts from Pam to keep us all warm, cozy and decorated for quite some time...or at least until the next special occasion :) 

Gavin's fall soccer...

After the awesome week-long camp that Gavin did with the British soccer program last summer, we signed him up for an outdoor session with the same amazing Coach "Lear."  It was a good combination--both fun and challenging for Gavin--and we'll probably do it again if it's offered, especially since they meet so close to home. 

Zoo with friends...

I think Gavin was riding on the zebra behind the tiger on the carousel that day, but if you look quickly you may think he's just riding the tiger's tail. 

Andrea was accompanying Haley on the cheetah,and that left me free to take pictures of everyone!

I wish I had gotten a closer picture of Gage on his cheetah...

Meet Gavin, the cutest, most ornery elephant you'll ever meet.  This is outside the new elephant exhibit at the Denver Zoo.  It's fun. 

Pumpkin patch 2012...

How much do we all love the FREE activities at Rock Creek Farm in Broomfield?!  I have a friend who drives up from Highlands Ranch just to experience this every year.  We only do the pumpkin part once (and we try to wait for Daddy), but we'll visit the farm to do the other stuff lots of times during the month of October.  My boys love anything inflatable! 

Fall days...

These pictures look so green!  (There's snow on the ground here now, finally, so our back yard looks so different that it did back in the fall.)  And I love when I occasionally find a picture of myself that I actually like.  Hurray!  Here's one!  (The boys are always cute, but it's nice to find one of yourself you don't mind, right?)

Enter new camera...

For a while, I (Brent) have wanted to get a "real" camera.  I love to take pictures, and I think I had been doing a fairly good job with the old hand-held Olympus, but on Black Friday I saw a deal I couldn't pass up.  I ended up getting a Nikon 5100 DSLR.  I spent quite a bit of time going through all the reviews, and I am confident that I ended up with a good product.  It's actually a bit more camera than I know how to use currently, but hopefully over time I can learn to use the camera to its full extent.  Here are Gavin and Gage in the very first picture with my new camera.  Don't they look overjoyed...

Gage's private soccer lesson...

I can't seem to recall why, exactly, Gage was the only soccer student in Coach Seth's class that day, but that's how it turned out, and we loved it.  I think it was a make-up lesson on a day when no one else showed up, and the amazing part of the Soccer Tots program at Boulder Indoor Soccer (I sound like I get paid to promote them, don't I?) is that they would keep Coach Seth around to give Gage his own lesson and not just send us home, right? Gage is very coordinated and is doing a great job in his class these days.  And he LOVES Coach Seth.  I've noticed him holding his hand lately to get his balance...and maybe sometimes for no reason at all.