KC Visitors

Life's big moments are made even more special when surrounded by loved ones. A tremendous thank you to Paul and Sawyer who flew in from Kansas City to join us for this First Communion weekend! Thanks to some fabulous weather, we maximized the time outdoors, and the boys had a blast! We'll let the pics speak for themselves... many memories, many laughs!

Ready, Set, Jump!

 Another action shot with the Ninja & Batman!

 

 How many cousins can twirl at once?

Hold on ... let's find out!

 Climbing Up. Crawling Around.

 Father & Sons

 The Fellas

 "Push us, Uncle Paul!"

Jump. JUMP!

Driveway Hoops

What's for Dinner?

Grant is a funny little eater. When he's ready to eat, he's ready to EAT! And watch out ... this boy can devour the food! He is a loud lip-smacker and has been known to talk with his mouth full. When he's done, he will throw the remaining food left on his tray overboard onto the floor. In case anyone invites him to dinner, we just thought you should know what you are in for!

 What do you mean I have food on my face?!

I hear Mac-n-Cheese 

makes a great hairstyling gel!

Three Cheers for the Children's Museum

Our family adores the Denver Children's Museum! We have been there several times, but our last visit was over a year ago. For some time, Reid has been requesting to visit the museum again. With Luke off school for a teacher inservice day, we jetted up to the museum and spent 3 hours playing the day away. It is amazing how our experience changes with each visit to the museum. As our boys grow, they prefer certain exhibits over others. Luke has "aged out" of some of the exhibits that Reid now loves, and Grant found so much fun in many of the exhibits the older boys liked when they were younger. It warmed my heart to see all three boys exploring and enjoying moments playing together there.

Boys in a Bubble

The bubble exhibit was a HUGE hit

with all 3 boys. By pulling on this rope,

Luke created a square bubble 

around them, but not for long with 

Grant right there to POP it!

 Shopping Spree in the Marketplace

He was kind of a crazy driver with this cart.

Let's just say that it's a good thing he doesn't

push the cart in the grocery store or

a few displays (and people)

would be knocked down!

 Leahy Pizza Shop

They had the cutest make-believe wood-fired

pizza oven, and the boys whipped up

some great pizza masterpieces!

 An earthworm. An ant.

Lots of chuckles.

Have you ever seen a tap dancing chicken?
Well, here you go!

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley!

As we exited the museum, we spotted

this trolley that was about to make

its last trip of the day. We hopped

on board and took a 20 minute tour.

 A lovely day for a trolley ride 

with these cute fellas!

Those baby blues were watching

it all. G loved his first trolley trip!

The next morning after our children's museum visit, Reid awoke and exclaimed, "Yesterday was the BEST.DAY.EVER!" I couldn't agree more. Sweet boys. Sweet memories.

Grant on the Go

For some time, we've been anticipating that Grant would really take off with walking. It was a while ago that he could take a few steps walking between us. But ... he had some other plans when it came to walking as a main mode of transportation. So instead he's preferred crawling like a bear. Modified crawling with one knee up. Cruising around. Climbing up everything. Stairclimbing. Pushing around the walker. You name it. One thing is for certain, he is always on the move! This video showcases "Grant on the Go." Enjoy!

Wicked!

Maybe it's that all Kansas natives have a special place in their hearts for the Wizard of Oz, but last night we went to see the Broadway hit Wicked and it knocked our socks off ... or at least our red ruby slippers! Jami's 35th birthday present included tickets to see the show touring through Denver this month. (And how great is it to be able to keep celebrating your birthday 3 months later!) We jetted up to Denver and grabbed a bite to eat at a hip bar called Euclid Hall and then walked the 4 blocks over to the Buell Theater to see the show. Our seats could not have been better ... Row 4, front and center! Everything about the production was stellar ... the casting, the costumes, the musical numbers, the emotions ... we loved it all! Hopefully, future birthdays will involve theater tickets because experiences like these are truly the best of memories.

And a special thanks to our babysitter Papa. Not only did he watch the boys for us for the evening, but he also solved a problem with our hot water heater while we were gone. Not many babysitters are also good plumbers!

Say Cheese!

Oh, school picture time! The best thing about school pictures is that years down the road you look back and chuckle about the hairstyles, the clothes, the smiles. But for now, we love this moment in time captured in Reid's Pre-K photo. Here is handsome young Reid all dressed up for his school photo ... sporting a sweater vest!

Reid's class of 9 kiddos. They are a fun bunch!

Easter Then & Now

Easter: THEN

During Easter 15 years ago, we took this photo as a couple (Jami had a gig in college as the Easter Bunny at the mall.) Little did we know what Easter 15 years down the road would look like...

Easter: NOW

12 Years of Marriage, 3 Sweet Boys, Lovin' Life in Colorado...

We are BLESSED!

The week before Easter, we gathered together with some friends for a playdate and Easter egg hunt. Grant is still too young to understand there is chocolatey, sugary goodness hiding in those plastic Easter eggs, but he loved being outside and watching the big kids scurry about.

 Caught with his hand in the cookie jar...

or in this case, the Easter basket!

 Why hunt for Easter eggs when I can drive THIS?!

 The kiddos at the egg hunt. Priceless expressions!

And G was trying to make a quick getaway!

On Saturday morning, we ventured to a local Easter egg hunt (rumored to have 4,000 eggs!) We ran into many neighborhood friends and joined in this Easter tradition with our 3 little fellas.

Patiently waiting for the hunt to begin.

 Mama & Her 2 Happy Hunters

 Dad (green sweater) lends little Grant 

a hand in his quest for eggs.

 Returning victorious!

 Chillin' with Mom

Luke was quick to load up his basket!

On Easter morning, we awoke early for an egg hunt, Easter basket treats, and then headed off to 8 a.m. Mass!  

 Well, would you look at that...

The Easter Bunny made a visit to our house!

Easter is one of two times a year (the other is 

Christmas) that the boys wear neatly ironed 

shirts & ties. The funny part is that we got in the car 

for 8 a.m. Mass and discovered that none 

of them had on socks. Oh, well!

Nicely dressed. Nicely playing.

 At least 2 out of 3 look happy.

 Grant's favorite toy Lion joined the photo opp...

We enjoyed a nice family brunch for Easter complete with this menu from the Junior League of Houston's Cookbook:

•  Cinnamon Pear Scones (in the shape of Peter Rabbit)
•  Frittata with Fontina & Italian Sausage (featuring one of Scott’s own sausage creations!)   
• Radicchio Salad with Blue Cheese & Peppered Almonds
• Meyer Lemon Pistachio Tart for Dessert

 

Napkins folded into bunnies.

The table is set for Easter Brunch!

A lesson in fine dining...

Luke takes his seat, right next to the 

frittata, scones & Devonshire cream.

 

Dessert, anyone?

Happy Easter to all! We hope you enjoyed 

a blessed day full of faith, friends & family.

The Brothers

A New Chapter ... Taekwondo

One of the highlights of our Spring Break at home ... Taekwondo Camp! Luke & Reid attended the week-long camp in the morning at our local US Taekwondo Center. (Fun fact: The founder of the school is Grand Master Sang Lee, who was the first ever head coach of the US Olympic Taekwondo Team in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.) The boys enjoyed the camp, and we decided to enroll them as taekwondo students. They now attend 30 minute class sessions up to 3 times a week. In addition to the taekwondo skills being learned, the program is also great for building confidence, respect, self-discipline & focus. We also like that the boys are able to take the program together and share that experience as brothers. 

 Reid shows off a kick.

In his first day of class, he was awarded

"Student of the Day" for being so focused.

Way to go, R!

 Go, Luke!

The brothers with their camp certificates.

Trailblazers

We've been hitting the hiking trails a lot lately. Here are some scenes from our spring trailblazing...

Every good hike requires

a walking stick.

Mama loves the Great Outdoors! 

This hike is in our backyard ... well, pretty close.

Fox Run Regional Park is just a few miles away,

and we escape to trek around in the pines 

as often as we can.

Happy Little Hiker.

Grant loves hiking and doesn't say

a peep, unless we see a dog.

Then you hear him say,

"guh" for dog ... he loves
furry friends!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Monkey, we sure do love YOU!

ONE Big Reason to Celebrate!

Long-time friends & 1st birthday parties ... the perfect combination! Our friends Brent and Kori and darling daughter Harper visited Colorado earlier this month (along with both of their extended families) to celebrate Harper's 1st birthday with a weekend away in the mountains. We were thrilled to join in the festivities and help the birthday girl celebrate! 

 Proud Parents & the Birthday Girl

 Brent & Scott grew up together...

now sharing memories as fathers!

What fun to also catch up 

with Brent's parents Si & Kay!

Lions & Lambs

Our new sandbox ... nicknamed "Mini Maui"

Whew! What an amazing ... crazy ... memorable ... fantastic month March has been! They say March comes in like a lion & out like a lamb, but I'm pretty sure this March was at the full-speed running pace of a lion with the peaceful, beautiful weather of a lamb. But enough of poetic references, this March will long be remembered as one of our favorite Spring Breaks.

This is the first Spring Break since we've moved here that the weather has actually seemed like ... well ... SPRING! Sunny skies every day. 60-70 degree temps. Shorts & t-shirts. Grilling. Lots of time on the trampoline and swingset. And no snow. The week spent in Hawaii was technically the week before Spring Break, so the boys got to enjoy some good quality time on the homefront for the week of actual Spring Break. Thank you, Mama Nature, for sharing your very best weather with us!