More Visitors!

... And the great visits from friends and family continue! This weekend some friends from our college days --Kerry, Teresa and their sweet kiddos Krew, Keera & Kelton -- were on a weekend trip to Colorado Springs. We loved catching up with them over lunch at our house, and the kids all had a blast playing!  They live in Western Kansas and come to Colorado every so often ... hope we get to meet up again sooner than later!

Little Moments. Big Laughs.

Sometimes little moments make for big laughs.

 One day Grant was napping as though he had

been sitting upright and then just tipped forward

and fell asleep. At least he had his lion as a pillow!

Perhaps he's integrating yoga and napping...

 Quiet baby in the pantry =

Bagel buffet on the floor!

Doesn't he look so proud of his efforts!

Our neighbors have this furry little friend.

Grant was so intrigued at the idea of a ball
with this guinea pig inside! 

Snow Day. SLED DAY!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

When life gives you snow, go SLEDDING!

Today the boys enjoyed their first snow day 

from school for this year. What to do?

Break out the sleds!

We had some friends join us for a sledfest

over by Luke's school. Now THIS is how
to spend a Snow Day!

Snow Tires

The great thing about Colorado weather is that it will snow one day and melt the next! And a little snow adds an extra bonus on outdoor adventures. It is always amazing to see how well Luke takes on new challenges. On our most recent trail ride at Spruce Mountain on a beautiful 65 degree Sunday, Luke biked through a few obstacles of snow and mud on the trail ... never once complaining and leading the way on the path. As parents, we live for moments when our children can join us in The Great Outdoors and enjoy these adventures as much as we do!

Sometimes the terrain was too tough...

Time to walk the bike!

We biked past this bench and found

someone had made a tiny snowman.

The muddier ... the merrier!

Luke thought it was pretty cool

how muddy we got!

Happy Halloween

Oh, Halloween. How we like your costumes and pumpkins and good times galore! 

 Pumpkin Carving at Papa's House

Lil' Punkins with Little Pumpkins

 Perched in our front yard with their pumpkins

 Spiderman enjoys historical novels and academics by day,

slinging webs and fighting crime by night.

Sometimes he even recruits Batman 

& Strawberry Shortcake to help.

 Wait a minute. We don't have a dog...

 ... Oh, but it's just Grant in his puppy costume!

Grant enjoyed his first Halloween!

Luke the Lobster & Darth Vader are ready

to trick-or-treat at Dad's work! These costumes were 

hand-me-downs of Jami's cousins. 

Thank you, Aunt Marcia, for the awesome 

costumes! The boys LOVED them!

Sometimes wearing a costume is just too much...

Hope your Halloween was a CrAzY good time!

The Leahy crew in our Halloween finest...

The Lobster, Richard Simmons holding the Beagle,

Spiderman & the Witch

The Boys on Halloween

 Sweatin' to the Oldies

& holding a baby!

Hello, Snow!

Today I learned about snow.

And how much fun it is to play in the snow with my brothers.

I like to sit quietly in the snow and play.

They like to run and holler and throw

these things called "snowballs."

 No need to close down the trampoline 

for inclement weather.

 White snow. Golden Aspen leaves. Beautiful.

Hair-Raising Adventure

For the longest time, his locks were lacking. And then that blonde hair grew quickly. But only in patches. Time for a trim! 

{Grant's 1st Haircut}

:: Before ::

The Mad Scientist 'Do

 "Mom, I'm not so sure about this first haircut."

This haircut is hard work. Time to refuel.

:: After ::

Stylin' with his Mr. Businessman 'Do
Do you have any accounting I can do?

Ready, Set, HIKE!

This fall in Colorado has been exceptional. The fall colors lasted much longer than past seasons, and the weather has been gorgeous. We have taken every opportunity to enjoy the beauty that is autumn in our fine state. After a week of the cold bug in our house, we decided it was time to get out and breathe in some fresh mountain air. Off on a family hike to the Palmer Lake Reservoir...

 Wanna check out our hike? Follow me!

Hiking is fun, but leaping on boulders 

in the lake is more fun!

 

This hike is just 15 minutes from our house

and journeys to two lakes, which are the 

water sources for the city of Palmer Lake.

Sorry, no swimming ... but rock skipping

is allowed!

 Happy Hikers

 Dad & Grant. It is amazing what

an outdoor kid Grant already is!

He is happiest in the great outdoors!

File this one under "Random Items

Found in the Wilderness." Someone

made a swing that overlooks the lake.

The boys enjoyed trying it out!

The Whole Crew

9 Months

Our little Grant turned 9 months old today! We are truly enjoying every day, moment, and milestone as he's growing up and growing into his sweet little personality. He now has 4 teeth (and grinds them, too!) He loves playing in the same room with his brothers, and the feeling is mutual. It is heartwarming to see three boys spanning 7 years who entertain each other with their antics. The boys love trying to make Grant giggle: "Mom, the best way to see Grant's teeth is to make him laugh!" He has mastered stairclimbing (with supervision) and he has also mastered speed crawling. He pulls up on anything and everything ... and cruising the furniture is just around the corner. At our recent pediatrician appointment, here were his latest stats:

28.25 inches                 65th percentile

18 lbs. 6 oz.                    25th percentile

Head Circumference     90th percentile

And perhaps the biggest milestone of all is that he is FINALLY spitting up less. This took him a while to outgrow, but we are thrilled that he's almost through that stage! 

Birthday Boys

{Cue music...}

You say it's your birthday.

It's my birthday, too. Yeah.

They say it's your birthday.

We're gonna have a good time!

These two share birthdays one day apart (oh, and 30 years, too!) This year Scott turned 35 and Reid turned 5. What a fun week we had celebrating our two birthday boys ... complete with Scott's wish for German Chocolate Cake!

 Mix dodge ball and laser tag.

What do you get? 

DODGE TAG ... and silly boys!

Reid's special birthday breakfast request...

PANCAKES!

Reid picked Texas Roadhouse for his

birthday dinner. Why? Because

you get to sit on a saddle and 

they sing to you!

 This year Reid celebrated his 5th birthday party
at his gymnastics studio.

1 hour of jumping, bouncing, swinging & running.

30 minutes of celebrating in the party room!

 Pumpkin cupcakes & cream cheese frosting!

 I can't wait until I can JUMP!

 "Okay, kids, make a funny face!"

Party favors for our friends...

caramel apples with sticks from our own back yard!

More Visitors

We feel so blessed that we've been able to see so many family members these past few months. Last night we met up with Scott's Uncle Rob and Aunt Cheryl. They were visiting family to the south of us and extended their trek up to the Springs to include a visit to some local landmarks and dinner with the Leahy 5. As you can see, Grant was all smiles about meeting them!

Fall Fellas

 Papa gave us these pumpkins. 

Someday they will become jack-o-lanterns. 

For now, they will be hats.

 Oh, these boys. They are charmers. But don't let their sweet smiles fool you. Prior to this photo being snapped, here was the scene. Luke broke off his pumpkin's stem and then asked, "Can we hot glue it back on?" Reid tried to see how far he could catapult his pumpkin across the yard. Grant repeatedly pushed his pumpkin off the step. About 8 times. He thought it was a fun game with Mom. Oh, how we love these funny, lively boys!

 Look whooooo has a new hat!

Ready to ride!

Road Trip Back to Our Roots

Adventures. We are always up for one … or two ... or a few.

  

With Luke on Fall Break, we zipped back to Kansas to sneak in a quick trip to spend time with family & friends, attend some Theta Alumnae Weekend festivities, and enjoy the lovely autumn season in Kansas. With over 1200 miles on the road and 3 little boys who travel amazingly well (Grant earned his first big road trip badge on this excursion) we packed in 5 days of FUN including the following ...

Catching up with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and more. Visiting with friends and walking down memory lane. Listening to laughter from little ones sporting costumes and playing Legos and driving the Kid Jeep and batting around the tetherball in the basement. Introducing Baby Grant to loved ones. Enjoying games and prizes galore at the school carnival. Spending the morning at Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead with the goats and chickens and owls. Celebrating birthdays and more birthdays with family lunches and delish dinners. Touring the K-State Theta house and showing the boys where Mom used to live. Shopping in Downtown Wamego. Watching K-State win against Mizzou. Checking out Uncle Craig’s 1942 vintage fire truck. Running in the WildKAT Chase 5K. (Even better, running the race with Theta friends!) Seeing how much campus has changed over the past 12 years. Enjoying a family brunch at Kite’s before hitting the road back to Colorado. Napping boys on the trek across Western Kansas. Pulling into the driveway at 8 p.m. with happy hearts and fond memories.

- Grant and his Godfather - 

We were so thankful that Michael

drove over from Lawrence to join us

for not one but two evenings of fun!

 Enjoying a beautiful fall morning at Deanna Rose Farmstead.

 Gazillions of fish in the water

 Just another day down on the farm...

 Mama & the boys outside the barn

 Hello, Mr. Goat with a Beard.

 Strolling around the butterfly path

with Mimi Margie

 Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory

with Uncle Sal

- The Lunch Bunch -  

Grant met Aunt Mary Ann, Aunt Marie and 
Aunt Florence for the first time. What a treat!

Family Dinner at Paul & Juli's Home

Cousin David (via skype) who's studying in Germany,

Paul, Grant with Emily, and Aunt Mary Ann

A special present from Grant's godfather Michael 
who is in law school at KU... it's a KU track suit for Grant!
(Never fear, K-State fans ... we're still Wildcats at heart!)

 The Leahy Cousins ... some of whom 

have a side gig in the superhero field!

No trip back to Kansas is complete without

a trip down a country road. In this case, we were

driving from Kansas City back to Manhattan.

We encountered some traffic on I-70, so we exited

early and took the back roads to get there.

At one point, we were on a road resembling the 

Oregon Trail ... but hey, we made it

to our destination!

 At the Theta House for an alumnae lunch.

Back in the day, we used to eat dinner

and study in the dining room.

 Blast from the past ... old composites on the wall.

 No Theta legacies here with 3 boys, but there's always 

hope the boys will find a Theta girl some day!

 Driving Miss Gracyn

 Uncle Craig recently purchased a 1942 fire truck to restore

and eventually drive in local parades. The boys loved 

checking it out ... and hearing the siren!

 Cutie Cousins

 Proud Papa with his 5 Grandkids

On Sunday morning, we joined the K-State Theta

Chapter for its 15th Annual 5K run. This fundraiser

for CASA began when we were in college

thanks to the vision and talent of our friend

Melissa (pictured on the far right!) And she's

even wearing the original race t-shirt!

What a great walk (or run) down memory lane with

from left ... Lisa and her son Will, Kylie, Heidi & Melissa!

 Let's rock-n-stroll!

 Heidi, Jami, Grant & Melissa post race

Ladies Who Lunch...

at Kite's in Junction City.

Briana, Jami & Gracyn

Papa with the 2 young'ns

Grant & Gracyn