Summer of '09

So my blogging has gone from daily to weekly to monthly. I guess that's what happens when you get interrupted by life right? Since we last met, a lot has happened.



First, our fence blew down. Al and I went to Lowe's, bought all of the necessary repair materials, and he and the boys got ready for a little DIY work. The first step was to dig up what was left of the poles. Our neighbor suggested that Al simply dig holes next to the existing posts, but Al was worried they would be off center so he decided to reset the poles in their original location. Unfortunately he didn't realize that the original hole had 4 ft of existing concrete as the base. It only took them 2 weeks of working every day after Al got home, in 100 degree heat no less, to empty the holes.

Finally, it was time to put the new posts in. I don't know firsthand, but it seems like that was the easiest part. They got the posts set in one afternoon, and then we headed off to the mountains.



We went to the mountains with Bob and Lucy and stayed in a condo in Fraser, Colorado about 5 miles from Winter Park. The boys left with Bob and Lucy on Wednesday and Al and I followed the next day. It was my first time visiting Colorado, and it was also the first time Al and I had taken such a long drive alone. We actually had to talk to each other. Anyway, everyone had a fabulous time. We started out in Denver at the Coors brewery, and thanks to their free samples, I got the privilege of driving up the 10,000 ft mountain. Oh did I mention I'm deathly afraid of heights?

The next day everyone went to Winter Park Resort to enjoy the ski lift, alpine slide, and mini golf. I wasn't feeling well so I went out to the resort later in the afternoon. I ended up getting a very bad case of altitude sickness, but thankfully I had my CPAP to go home and put back on while I napped.

On Saturday everyone enjoyed the tennis and racquetball courts at the condo, and after I started feeling better we went to a city nearby called Grand Lake and walked along the boardwalk. We went to the rodeo that night and the boys really enjoyed it. It was Al and the boys' first rodeo, and I think they were most excited by the bull riding.

On Sunday Our cousins Bill and Cheri, and Cheri's husband came up to the condo for a visit. Both Bill and Cheri live in Denver. We had a great visit, went to lunch, and had great conversation. Bill even teased Christian by asking him if he wanted to drive his Mercedes to the restaurant.

On Monday we went home, and Al and I saw a bear on the drive down the mountain. The boys stayed for two more days with Bob and Lucy and enjoyed a boat ride, horseback riding, white water rafting, and a soak in a hot springs pool

I'm sure that you'll never guess what I've been doing with the rest of my time...besides writing grants that is. OK, you're right...I've been enjoying my grandson as much as possible. He is getting so big so fast. He's crawling all over the house and pulling up. He also has 6 teeth and he's trying to say Grandma. The only three things he really says are "gaga" which I believe is Grandma, "gug" which must be dog because he says it every time he sees Riley, and "baba" for everything else. Oh and that boy does know EXACTLY what he wants. He has this new thing that he does which is squeeze his eyes shut and turn his head when he doesn't want you to feed him (I don't have a picture but it sort of looks like he does in the picture above) and he likes to yell when he's mad.

I had to take this picture because he was sitting in Al's lap and he kept looking up at the picture of Christian and waving. I thought it was so cute and couldn't help notice the resemblance. In the shot, Logan is 10 months and standing by Christian's 12 month picture.

This was funny. Logan was lying on Christian and Christian was trying to take a nap. He ws hoping Logan would go to sleep too but Logan kept whining. When I went to pick him up, he had had a blowout and had poop all up his back. It totally grossed Christian out and he was convinced that he had poop all over him too.




Logan is so curious and he loves to get into anything that he shouldn't. You can see how he reacts above when his momma (or anyone else) tells him no. I love him so much and sometimes it is hard to tell him no, but he has to learn to start obeying (even at this age). I can't stand it when people don't start teaching their kids to obey at an early age and then wonder why they are so rowdy at 5 or 6.




These are some pictures Alyssa took of a visit that Andy's mom and brothers made to Manhattan. The guy in the red is Chris (he's the middle son) and the one in blue is Wes, Andy's oldest brother. I really like the picture of the three brothers and Logan. Don't they all look alike? I do hope Logan is blessed to get at least a little of the Owen's height.

Like I said Logan loves to get into anything he's not supposed to, but he especially loves remote controls. What is it with the Y chromosome and remotes? We give hime the old ones with no batteries to play with at Grandma's house. However, he has figured out that ONE very special remote makes my bed go up and down like an amusement park ride.



As you can see, we are all enjoying every minute that we get with Logan, and sometimes Alyssa even comes to visit. More often than not we meet her halfway between our homes and exchange that very valuable package so she can get a little break. However, last week she was here for 4 days, and I loved hanging out at the house as a family again. Logan has the right idea in the picture above. I think he was saying "I'm number one around here and you better not forget it."