A little of this and that and Nathan's Wedding

My nights have been filled with sleep lately as Jude has made a new discovery....his thumb! Yes, I know it is not good if they are thumb suckers for years on end, but I am sure thankful to end the frantic midnight search for the binky!



Elise and Jude hanging out at the Grandparent's pad.



Before leaving for the wedding in Texas, Titus and I made coffee cake to bring along. Josiah was the photographer for this one.




Grandma and Grandpa treated us to our first ever Branson Show. Yakov Shmirnoff's Russian Circus. We loved the slinky woman, the ballerina, the dancing poodles and the fire woman.




When we arrived in Texas, these flowers were on the bedroom vanity. They were an amazing array of flowers put together by my cousin on Michael's request for our anniversary. I got to smell the sweet aroma of flowers every time I walked into the room...thanks husband on 9 years!

A better photo of the flowers:

In Texas, we were invited to a brunch to meet the bride's family. It was a good time to talk and get to know them. Here, the little girls ate at one table.

The big girls were all at another.

It was a joy to see Gramma holding baby Jude and enjoying him. They both lit up for the other as many smiles were shared.

On the day of the wedding, it was a glamour spa in the house. The girls had their hair in curlers, thanks to Vicki, pedicures and manicures followed.

Here is Vicki, the manager of the salon, with two of the three primping princesses.

The end results: One cute little girl! Here she poses as 'The Three Musketeer Barbie'.

My four sweet kiddos before we leave for the wedding, and cousin Peter.

Playing outside the church, the cousins found something in the dirt.

It must have been really sunny, but they still obliged me this picture!

In the church right before the wedding we met up with Mom and Dad.

Jude with Cousin Heather.

Father of the Groom, Gramma and Grandpa Art after the wedding.

All the great-grand children of my Gramma (with exception to Thaley and Eric Jr.) in one shot, needless to say, they are not all looking at the same time!

Elise and Kaitlyn at the church, lovely hair!

Cousin Madilyn joins the two girls.

Thought this was cute, little Shay checking out all of Sara's jewels.

The good looking groom, my Cuz, Nathan.

Congrats to Nathan and Joy! We are blessed to have her join our family, and had a great time celebrating with them. Now we are in the countdown to the next family wedding....a few more weeks and then we will be in Michigan together!

Colorado to Missouri via Kansas!

Before we left Colorado, we celebrated Titus' 8th of July birthday. Here is intensely opening his birthday envelopes.

Elise, Katelyn and Josiah all helped make Titus' birthday cake.

The finished product, a sweet little farm scene.

Elise poses with her cupcake cow.

Titus before he devours his cake.

Jude was exhausted from all the party events and found a nice place to nap.

We then left Colorado's cool climate to be in humid Kansas, but it was enjoyable with our great friends the Stewarts. Here Christy gets a baby fix holding Jude.

Moses and Josiah, still easy friends as the day they met.

Mr. Lou served up back yard smore's, we all enjoyed that!

The kiddos enjoyed a romp after lightning bugs and then posed for this picture.

Elise and Hannah enjoyed playing all sorts of dolls, we didn't see them for hours at a time they played so well together!

The next destination was Grandma and Grandpa's house. The boys are all hanging out together here.

Titus helped Grandpa make some tasty pancakes.

In front of Grandpa's lily pond, the flowers bloom during the day and close again at night.

I was interested in the flowers, Titus in the water.

More journeys to follow...

Colorful Colorado

We have been enjoying our time in Colorado, and I can't believe that it is almost time to move on. Jamie and her boys are also here and enjoying visiting her mom and family. One day we went to 'Grandma Kim's' for some slip'n'slide fun with all the Snyder cousins.



Here, Jamie poses with our little Jude.



Our two big kids and Peter all attended VBS with Mimi. They had a blast and are still singing all the songs.



My roomate Sherri and I got to have brunch in Denver with all the girls in her family. They had come out for a Women of Faith conference.


Titus has enjoyed Colorado immensely. He is an outdoor boy, and there are few places where you can have so much outdoor fun year round! Here he and Papa were going on an errand, both wearing their Texas best.


One of my best friends since gradeschool, Sarah and her son Cooper came to visit us. Jude and Coop were born within one day of each other. It's fun to think they could go to kindergarten together!



This is Titus' way to wear a ball cap. I think that he likes it like this because it sticks firm to his head, and he can still see!


We spent as much time outside as possible. Here we are in Red Rock Canyon, a beautiful place they just opened to the public 2 years ago. There were red rocks all around, and people were rock climbing from either side of the cliffs. There were also some Ft. Carson soldiers training to hunt snipers there so we came across fake blood on different rock formations. Papa took us through a pass where they had blown dynamite to mine the rocks. It was a beautiful day and a fantastic hike. The kids kept pretending they were archeologists. Here Elise takes a breath from the hiking and blows a dandylion.


Papa, Mimi and Titus smile for a shot.


Here are the big 3 in the canyon...can't look any better than this!

Four Bears, Fourth of July

While enjoying making cupcakes for Titus' second birthday, Mimi discovered a little family of bears in the backyard. The mama bear is two years old, from a bear that had triplets. She herself then had triplets, which you see below. They were so cute, toddling around the yard. A couple times one would fall and startle the other two up the closest tree. I had never seen so much. The new mommy just hung around and kept an ear out for their safety. When she heard me open the screen door to get these shots, she stood on her hind legs and looked at me as if to remind me they were not teddy bears. Point taken!



That is not a rock, but the momma. She is a cinnamon color compared to the little black cubs.






Also thought I would include our fourth of July family picture. This was shot at the infamous Broadmoor Hotel.



Here is Jude dressed in red, white and blue. Look how bright his little eyes have become!