Cheyenne & Denver

Early this month we headed down to Cheyenne, WY so Luke could attend the WES Conference for his engineering stuff. (Can you tell I know a lot about it?) We headed down on Thursday and did a little shopping and took the kids swimming. Both LOVED the pool. And Kate was so adorable in her little baby swimsuit. Want proof? Ok, fine, I'll put some pictures in (since you twisted my arm, and all.)Ok "some pictures" might have been an understatement. Sorry.





While Luke was at the conference on Friday, the kids and I did some shopping. It was a really windy, cold day and by about 2pm I was SO done. Thankfully, Luke decided to skip out on the last 45 mintues of the conference and we got to head to Denver (and Brent and Claire's) early. We got there in time to eat some dinner and then Luke and Brent headed to a Nuggets basketball game. While they were there we did our best to tire out our 2 year olds...here's a hint to what they did!




I think they ended up having a bath everyday we were there. It was a great entertainment when we adults were worn out! They went to bed VERY well for us that night.
Saturday we took the boys to the mall to wear themselves out in the indoor play area. That's where my finger decided to swell, itch, and totally take away from my day. I survived, but it sure was annoying. For the afternoon, Claire and I got to go shopping all by ourselves. It probably sounds more fun than it was, since neither of us felt like we had money to blow! It was nice to get away and I'm totally jealous that Claire has access to all those stores within 5 minutes notice. (Traffic depending-of course!)That evening we made the men put the boys to bed. Let's just say it didn't go so well for them. It makes a mom feel good...is that bad????
Sunday was the superbowl, snacks for the kids, more baths, and just hanging out and relaxing.

Oh yah. And church! Kate got compliments for how good of a baby she is in the church nursery. She's such a sweetie!
Here's a picture of the boys...as you might have noticed it was a little hard to get them still enough to get a good one. This was MAJOR success!

We got home Monday evening and we were all so tired that we put on Lady and the Tramp and had movie night til we were allowed to go to bed!
Thanks Brent, Claire, and Parker for letting us see your world!

Water Bottle

Rachel and I decided to make a trip to Rapid City while she was here...mostly for the good eatin' but also for some shopping (mostly me!) First store: Gordmans! Where they have this awesome TV area for kids. Rachel, Kaden, and Kate hung out there while I shopped...and finally got myself the promised "when I'm done being pregnant" pajama pants. You can see them in the back of the cart in the picture below. Kaden had decided that he needed to hold Kate and it was too cute to not take a picture! Kate didn't hate it the whole time...just by the time I got a picture of her face...hence the "happy" picture that avoids her upset face.

After Gordmans we realized I had not brought Kaden a sippy cup to use for the day. So, since we were going to Scheels anyway I figured I'd just get him a water bottle like Luke and I have. He's always swiping ours anyway. So I let him pick one. Much to NO ONE's surprise, he picked an orange one, and wanted to hold onto it from then on.

Next we went to lunch downtown to a place called the FireHouse Grill and Brewery- a favorite of Rachel's that she was wanting me to experience (definitely good if you're every in the Rapid City area!) I think she likes it mostly for the beer....mustard.

It was a busy day downtown with some kind of parades and construction all around. We managed to find a parking spot only about a block away and headed in. As we walked Kaden held to his new water bottle proudly. Then he dropped it. And it rolled into the street. No big deal...we'd send him to get it once it rolled to the curb. Except that the curb was a gutter drain...without a metal cover! It rolled right down into the ground about 6 feet down. I COULD SEE THE STUPID $12 water bottle that hadn't even been washed yet, much less used!!!! But I could not reach it.
What to do? I was sick. Would I go back and buy another one? Or would i just go find the cheapest sippy I could find and cut my losses? We got into the Firehouse and ordered and I just could not get that water bottle out of my head. So, I left Rachel with both kids...and headed back to my car to see if there was a clothes hanger I could try to snag it out with. No such luck. So, I looked to see if there was ANYTHING...and much to my surprise I found a tow rope with a nice little (ok, it's big) hook. I walked back to the hotel with a stupid little grin on my face...the thought going through my head was "I sure hope I can get it, and I wonder how dumb I will look...oh no! A car is in front of the drain!"
I didn't let that car stop me. I am sure I looked quite hilarious swining a tow rope down a gutter drain...but after only 2 tries i hooked the bottle and hoisted it up.
Then i walked dumbly with a huge grin on my face into the restaurant...with my huge tow rope and my newly saved water bottle. It was a happy moment.

(Here is a picture of where it rolled down the "drain."

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful, I will say that I kept better hold of that bottle. When we got ready to leave we stopped at a convenience store to get some drinks and left Kaden in the car for a minute and when we got back out he was already asleep just like this:

It was a cute ending to a fun day.

Our Okie/Arkie Friends

A couple weeks ago we had some friends here. My friend Rachel from college, her brother Nate (also from Grace), and their dad Bill.

This morning Kaden asked for "Boppa Bill" again. The kid has a memory, and LOVED Boppa Bill. (And Nate and Rach too!)


Nate could get Katelyn to grin and giggle like a pro. She wasn't scared of him at all, which is amazing because most people she doesn't know bring her straight to tears.

Rachel was a hit with both kids! I had so much fun watching them with her. If she left the room Kaden was lost without her. Completely lost. Although, for some reason he couldn't remember to call her Rachel. Instead it was "Lori" or "Terri". We're gonna work on that one for the next time!


Here is the new version of peanut butter pie that I made for them while they were here. I have to make peanut butter pie when I see Bill...it just seems like tradtion by now. This one was utterly amazing.

Mostly Rachel and I and the kids hung out, cooked, ate out, and tried to avoid the butchering process. (Rachel = successful, Bethany = unsuccessful). Luke got an antelope so I did wrap our packages of meat.
In the evenings, when the guys were home, we hung out with them and had some meaningful conversations that were super encouraging.

It was such a fun visit and flew by way too quickly.

Outside

"Out-tide...Out-tide...OUT-TIDE.."

That is the sound I was serenaded with as Kaden fought naptime this afternoon.

We spent the morning outside with his friends (and mine) Mallory, Ashley, and their mom Marissa and Aunt Lindsay. The kids screamed, splashed, slipped, and scrambled in and out of the pool. Back and forth they went from the driveway full of trikes, bikes, cars and wagons, to the pool with the slide into it and a few cups and balls to splash around with. I can't get over how kids can just sit in a pool full of hose water and not even FLINCH. BRRRR.





From the moment we came inside...through lunchtime...through his Dr. Appointment...back home and until he finally fell asleep for a nap, I heard nothing but his pleading "Out-tide...out-tide..." I tend to find it somewhat annoying, but as I think about it, I realize that he is just a little boy who LOVES loves, LOVES, to be outside, and has no other way to express it. When he grows up I will miss these moments.