Walking down memory lane.

When we were in Wamego, we spent part of Saturday checking out the old stomping ground in Aggieville and ran into two Theta friends. We saw Erin Fisher Wertenberger and her baby Rhett dining with her family. Then we walked over to Varney's so Luke and Reid could play trains in the kids' section. We ran into Jenny Hoit Payne and her daughter Lauren there. What a small world! Both Erin and Jenny were in Manhattan for a Theta House Corporation Board meeting, and what a fortunate thing that our paths crossed that day! It was so good to catch up!

What fun to reconnect with friends Jenny & Lauren Payne ... a great surprise to find in Varney's Bookstore!

Mom-n-Sons Road Trip.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but we've been busy travelers with a Tour De Kansas road trip. Jami, Luke, and Reid left Monday, Feb. 11 for a week-long trek. That's right ... Scott had to stay behind for work ... and yes, that's 10 hours of driving solo for Jami. Audio books and DVD players rock!

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Our first stop was in Kansas City to visit the family there for a few days. We kept Juli, Sawyer & Stratton company while Paul was away on a medical mission trip. We enjoyed a belated birthday party for Jami & Luke, some Valentine festivities, a fun afternoon at Wonderscope Kids' Museum, and visits with Grandma & Grandpa Keary, Aunt Mary Ann, and Jami's friend Heidi. The cousins had a ball playing together!

A line of Leahy cousins.

With these two behind the wheel, look out!

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Our next stop was Wamego for our nephew/cousin Dalton's 1st birthday party. We enjoyed a farm party complete with a red-and-white checkerboard cake. What a special celebration to share with the family, including Great Aunt J and Great Uncle D from Chicago, Great Grandma Eleanor, and Mimi and Papa, too. All in the family were down on the farm!

Birthday Boy Dalton & Aunt Jami

Craig and Briana sing "Happy Birthday" to Dalton.

Happy Heart Day.

Superheroes Unite.

For some time, Luke has liked Superman. This soon grew to include all things Spiderman, too. Now it's spreading and little brother Reid is in on the superhero action, too.

Luke was a little under the weather this week, but he used the downtime to read up on Spiderman while resting on his Superman pillow.

In case you can't name that tune, it's the Superman theme song!

Theta Trip to LA.

Jami continues to volunteer for Kappa Alpha Theta as a Director of Risk Management for her district, which encompasses 16 chapters in Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. This Theta volunteer position involves occasional travel opportunities, one of which was this weekend to LA for the District Leadership Conference. Jami spent the weekend facilitating educational sessions for the chapters' executive officers and advisors discussing topics of social events, liability, and Theta policy. It was a great weekend with her District Team friends (see below) and the chapters she advises.

Reid-ito.

This week we tried out one of the new Mexican restaurants in the neighborhood, as we continue the quest to find our favorite spicy fare. Reid gave the chips and salsa (very mild) two thumbs up. He also likes black olives and refried beans. Strange combo ... we know.

Ski bums.

The grand finale of the January birthday extravaganza was this weekend's ski trip to Monarch Mountain, a very family friendly resort about 2+ hours from Colorado Springs. We were lucky to have Mimi and Papa join us for this roadtrip adventure. (They also were great Reid-watchers while the rest of us were skiing!) This was Luke's first time to ski, and he spent the morning in ski school learning some new skills for the slopes. Jami and Scott (who had taken an 8-year hiatus from skiing) really enjoyed the great snow conditions, bright sunshine, and short lift lines. Monarch Mountain lived up to all the rave reviews we'd heard about it, and we're sure to return again!

We're trying out a new option to post online photo albums. You can check out the album link here for our Monarch Ski Trip.

4 candles on the cake.

Our little Luke celebrated his 4th birthday today. What a great year it's been for him! He's taken some major steps in life with starting pre-school, moving to a new state, and being a good role model as his little brother gets older. We are so proud of him!

Luke celebrated the Big 4 with a ski cake.

Gymboree fun.

Reid received a very special birthday gift back in October from our AZ neighbors to attend a Gymboree class for a month at the Colorado Springs location. He's been loving the class ... especially the climbing opportunities, bubbles, and parachute time. It has been interesting to watch Reid's personality on his own among his peers (since he's usually tagging along after Luke!) He's very fun-loving, adventurous, and gets the other kids giggling, too.

Foxy.

Two interesting facts about our neighborhood ... 1) ice harvesting was a major industry here years ago and 2) fox farms were common, too. We learned these 2 tidbits from our realtor Ray when he was showing us around back in October. He also mentioned that every once in a while we may see foxes running around. Hmmm. Interesting.

This week, we've had 3 different fox sightings! One was by our mailboxes trotting across the street toward perilous I-25. Wrong turn, buddy. The other sightings were 2 different occasions while driving through the Gleneagle community near us, and they were roaming around in people's yards (not ours). It's likely the snow has them looking a little harder for food these days.

What's up, doc?

Today we ventured over to Monument to see our new pediatrician for well-checks for both boys. Here are their stats:

Luke (4 years)
Height: 41 inches - 60th percentile
Weight: 36 lbs. - 75th percentile

Reid (15 mos.)
Height: 32.25 inches - 90th percentile
Weight: 22 lbs. 15 oz. - 30th percentile

A few other notes of interest...

• Luke took his first vision test today. The nurse asked if he could recognize letters (yes) so she decided to test him. Luke was identifying letters from the eye chart while standing 25 feet away that Mom could hardly read (maybe she needs glasses!)
• Luke has gained 3 lbs. since we moved in November. Colorado agrees with him!
• Part of Luke's well-check involved some coordination exercises. He passed those with flying colors and enjoyed jumping around with our pediatrician!
• Reid had 2 shots. Luke had none. The little guy always gets the short end of the stick.
• Reid decided halfway through that he'd show the doctor his excellent vocal talents of screeching. Lovely.

A clean bill of health for both boys!

Homework.

Luke recently had a take-home class assignment that required a little help from Mom and Dad. The task at hand was to trace a life-size Luke on paper and then decorate it. Here's the finished masterpiece and below is a description of how it was decorated (as told by Luke to Mom.)

"The hair is macaroni and cheese because I like to eat it and it's yellow. The shirt is my favorite color green. I'm holding a cupcake because I'm turning 4 years old. The picture in my other hand is of me and my family. I like to do stamps so I put some on my pants. The stickers on my shirt are for Superman and Jesus."

Birthday breakfast.

Breakfast at Snooze. We enjoyed a visit with our friend Megan, too.

Jami's birthday treat of turning 31 was enjoying breakfast at Snooze, a hip a.m. eatery in Downtown Denver. Snooze is owned by the husband of one of Jami's Theta volunteer friends Megan. So we loaded up yesterday morning, road-tripped north to the Mile-High City, and enjoyed the BEST breakfast ever! We ended up with a full spread of eggs florentine, an omelet, a pineapple-upside down pancake, a sweet potato pancake with pecans and ginger butter, and a peanut butter/chocolate pancake (this was our dessert - ha!) As they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day ... better do it up right for your birthday! Afterward, we spent some time celebrating Jami's birthday with her parents and took a trip to the YMCA for some playtime and pooltime. What a fantastic day!

Luke-isms.

As Luke approaches the Big 4, he's been spouting off some pretty funny sayings. Here are a few of the latest...

• One day this week we picked Luke up from school. Jami said to him, "Hey, Luke. We missed you today." His response: "Well ... I didn't miss you! Not a bit. We had a snowball fight at school today. It was fun!" Guess he likes school, eh?
• Later that day, Luke shared this piece of wisdom with Mom ... "Tootsie roll, tootsie roll, lollipop. We were talking. Now we're not." We love a teacher who incorporates a little song and dance into classroom lessons!

Swinging in the snow.

Since we've moved to the mountains, it seems like we're averaging one snowstorm per week. It's actually quite nice to see the big flakes falling, play around in the powder, brave the slick roads for a day, and then it all melts back to normal. One day last week, the boys were itching for some park time so we enjoyed an afternoon swinging in the snow.

A little snow can't keep Reid from the park!

Birthdays galore.

January is a big birthday month. On Saturday, Luke's buddy Levi celebrated his 4th birthday, and we joined him for the festivities! Then we journeyed up to Denver later in the afternoon and celebrated with a much more seasoned birthday partier ... Papa is turning 65 on Monday! We also enjoyed dinner out last night with our friends Joe and Mary Fran, while Mimi and Papa watched Luke and Reid. A fun weekend socializing and celebrating!

Celebrating 3 generations of January birthdays!

Indoor slide.

One of the greatest things about having a brother is scheming up random games. We bring you the game of "Slick Leather Couch." Reid designed this game, and Luke caught on quickly. Thank you to our friends at IKEA for developing both a quality leather couch and a playground all in one.

What's in a name?

School is back in session for Luke, and he's happy to be back with his friends. Here's a recent convo about his school pals.

Mom: Hey, Luke, what are your friends' names at school?
Luke: Well, there's Garrett ... but sometimes I call him "Carrot."
Mom: Why?
Luke: Because I do.
Mom: Hmmm. Okay. Anyone else?
Luke: There's George, too.
Mom: What do you call him?
Luke: Oh, he's "Curious George."

The art of nicknaming begins early. Just wait until he joins a fraternity...

Walk this way.

Jami has joined a moms' walking group that walks along Monument Valley River for 3 miles each Friday morning. Usually, just Reid is along for the ride, but today Luke joined us since he's still on school break. (Visual: Today Mom carried Reid in the backpack as she pushed Luke in the jogger ... talk about a full load!) It's been fun getting to know other moms while getting some fresh air! Jami's friend Torie started this group several years ago, and it's still going strong!

Jami & Torie & all the kiddos after a beautiful morning walk!

Denver adventures.

Today we roadtripped up to visit Mimi & Papa. Denver got a ton of snow last week, so we took advantage of it and per Papa's request we hit the sledslope. (Yes, if you are wondering, we are professional sledders.) A church near their house had a longer, steeper incline perfect for some longer runs ... and louder laughs!

Reid keeps up with big bro and his fence-climbing skills.

Papa and Luke brave the hill!