Go Big Red

I'm not sure Dave has recovered yet from the loss to USC. It seems he may need a therapist cause he has to always hash everything out over and over again. Hopefully with tonight's win, he can begin the healing process. Brother!
Anyway, the last two days I have done nothing but clean this pit of a house. Once in a while I get kind of nutty and clean everything. Too bad it is only once in a while. Rebecca...I am also a little late on the spring cleaning. The constant shifting of clothes to bigger sizes and shorts to sweaters is quite the project. Our basement is Rubbermaid central and we are going to outgrow it in time. Not much else is new except Lauren is FINALLY in her own room and Dave and I no longer have her for a "roommate." Emma's room is pretty much done except we are waiting on grandma for the curtains. :) I will post a couple pictures some other day!

Too many pictures to choose from

Picture time

Well, there they are. I can't believe how much the two of them have grown, especially Emma who looks a little older than she maybe should at 4. Anyway, I cannot say enough about the photo studio we went to. Portrait Innovations. Wow! And the girls were awesome. The guy took 120 pictures....basically just kept snapping them. Of course I spent more than I had thought I would but definately worth the money. I even got the proofs on a CD and can print them off of my printer. How cool is that. Anyway, I am glad we are done with that cause picture day is always exhausting.

One more mountain story

Ok, I promise this is the last vacation story! :) Anyway, one morning Emma and I decided to go for a nature hike up the hill/mountain behind where we were staying. We left at 8:10 in the morning and it was gorgeous outside. We took two plastic grocery bags with us...one to collect rocks and leaves and one to tie at the top of the hill where the trail branches, so that we didn't get lost. :) So, we tied the bag at the top of the hill and decided to go "left". Emma stopped constantly and collected rocks, leaves and to step on mushrooms to see them "smoke." After about 40 minutes we decided to turn around and retrace our steps back to the bag we had tied.
I have no idea what happened but we must have missed the bag and we were TOTALLY LOST! We weren't even close to any houses or roads and the only sign of any life was this black donkey. We were literally climbing through people's property trying to figure out where we were.
After awhile Emma started to realize that maybe we weren't "in Kansas anymore." She kept saying "mom, are we lost?" And I kept reassuring her, "no Em, we're ok." Pretty soon she tripped and fell and began to cry that she was done hiking and wanted to go back to see daddy. I was actually starting to get a little panicky so I ended up carrying her for awhile. We started to retrace our steps and all of a sudden this chocolate lab comes running at us. I could hear people in the distance calling for him but I knelt down and was trying to coax him in our direction so the people would have to come our way. Thank God this really cute young couple that lives on the mountain came after their friendly lab. I humbly told them that we were actually quite lost and that I didn't even know the address of where we were staying. (how embarrasing) but I did tell them that I had tied a garbage bag at the top of the hill where our house was.
They said they had seen our bag and had just passed it a couple of hundred yards back on the trail. Wow, was my prayer answered because if it weren't for those people out for a hike poor Emma and I may have been in big trouble.
Anyway, I have never been so happy to see a plastic bag hanging from a tree. I just about cried. :) Anyway we got back at 10:15 and Dave said that he had gotten a little nervous since we were gone so long.
Believe it or not Emma wanted to go again later that day, but we took Dave and Lauren and did not get lost that time.

We got pictures done today at Portrait Innovations and they are fabulous! I will post some of them tomorrow.

A snowy mountain

For months, Emma has been asking to climb the "highest mountain and touch the snow." So for months I told her that we probably wouldn't be able to touch the snow but we may see some snow on the mountains.

So, on Friday, we went up to Estes Park...which is one of my favorites then up to Rocky Mountain National Park. We took "Trail Ridge Road" all of the way up to the Alpine Visitor's Center, which is about 11,000 ft. above sea level. Anyway, Dave drove the way up and I realized by looking over the edges of the road that I have an issue of being in control in scary situations. Now to most people, it really wasn't a scary situation but I think I have a little issue with heights. We were glad to reach the top and after bundling up the kids (32 degrees out) we started up the famous stairs to the top. The air is so thin up there and the wind was really strong. We did make it to the top though and talked some poor guy who didn't even speak English to take our picture.

We could see the dark clouds beginning to roll in as we made our way down the stairs. By the time we got back to the visitor's station, it had started to snow, which was so exciting to all of us. (We acted like we had never seen the stuff before.) Anyway, we were inside for just a few minutes and the snow began coming down sideways. Of course, my wonderful husband is asking a hundred and one questions to the old guy that works there. Pretty soon this other gal that works there announces to the crowd that it was pertinent that we all get in our cars immediately and start down the mountain while the road was still open. OK kids, we are leaving now!! So Emma and I, along with about 50 senior citizens on a bus were scampering to get the heck out of there. So I go over to Dave.....who was present for the same announcement that I was, and he is laughing and joking with the guy about the flood of '82. I know that I had just a little bit of anxiety in my voice when I said, "are you ready?" and he said, "just a few more minutes I just have two more questions." HE WAS SERIOUS! The guy doesn't get worked up about anything (except Husker football) and I couldn't understand how he could not be concerned about being stuck in the mountains somewhere with two little ones.
Literally, I think he asked two more questions cause Emma and I were out in the van buckled in before he came running out with my poor bundled up sleeping baby. He gets Lauren in her car seat as we (I) am hurrying to get out of there. So he says, "you want me to drive?" HE*L no, I have this control issue and this is definately a scary moment in my life and I must be the one in control of this situation. :) So we cleared off the windows and SLOWLY and CAREFULLY made our way down the mountain. I was going so slow that Dave said a few times, "I bet you could go a little faster." I didn't respond except I thought...sure, I bet we could slide right off the side too. THAT'S WHY I WAS DRIVING! At certain points you really couldn't see much in front of you which was maybe a blessing cause you couldn't see over the edge either. After several minutes I settled down a little and of course Dave had to break out the video camera to prove how nutty I was. Once we got below the "tundra" and there were trees, the conditions weren't near as bad and once we got to the very bottom, the ground was actually dry. WHEW!

Anyway, to get to the point of this story.........Emma got to touch her snow on "the highest mountain" Dave even rolled his window down on the way down so she could eat some of it. I guess that was as clean of snow as you are going to get.

Back from the mountains

I cannot describe how wonderful of a weekend we had!!! I took 203 pictures but don't worry, I'll limit what I post. Anyway, the Rocky Mountains are the most beautiful and when you are lucky enough to get to stay in the midst of them, you are very lucky. Our good friends Lisa and Paul live just outside of Denver and Lisa's parents own a house in Arapahoe National Forest. They are very generous and offered their mountain home to us for the weekend. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Starke! Anyway, we had the best weekend. We hiked and hiked and climbed. I am only going to post a couple pics tonight as we just got back into town at 9, and I am too tired to write too much (as you have probably already noticed.)
These pictures are from Bear Lake inside of Rocky Mountain National Park. Gorgeous as you can see.

How cute is this?!

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Here is our little crawler. We are hurrying to get all of Emma's little toys out of the family room and up in her new bedroom. I can't believe this little peanut is moving like this already. She sits a little on her own too, but she will be crawling all over the place before she sits. Crazy....Emma didn't crawl till she was nine or ten months.

There isn't much new here..we are getting ready to leave for a long weekend in Denver this weekend. I am getting all of the diapers, food etc. ready. Wow, babies require a lot of stuff. I am way too excited to go and see our friends Lisa, Paul and Mason. We will be staying at Lisa's parents vacation house just South of Denver in the foothills of the Rockies.....It doesn't get any better than that and we are so grateful for their hospitality.

I just printed off a picture of Emma swimming because she is taking that along with her goggles to "show and tell" tomorrow at preschool. How hilarious will that be! I would love to sit through a show and tell :)



Anyway, hopefully I will have one last entry tomorrow before we leave early Thursday morning for "heaven." Oh yea, the other pictures are of course Emma having to try her hand at feeding Lauren. Lauren is ssooo tolerant which is a very good thing.

We will never forget!!

We will never ever forget September 11th, 2001! Reading Stacy's blog reminds me of where Dave and I were. I don't think anyone really forgets where they were when this unthinkable thing happened. Dave and I were having the most relaxing and peaceful week fishing in Minnesota. I of course slept in a little and when Dave came to wake me up to tell me about the plane, I just kept thinking it was impossible that something like that has happened to "us." So I went out and sat in front of the tv for hours in disbelief. Later that day we decided to get out on the lake to "get away" from the tv. It almost felt selfish of us to be on this gorgeous lake with the sun shining down on us. It was unreal to think that we were on the same piece of earth as all the suffering and sorrow in New York.

It was exactly three years ago this hour when Officer Jason Pratt was fatally wounded after helping other officers search for the occupants of a vehicle that ran from them. Never will I forget the horrible night and how wonderful it was to hear Dave's voice on the telephone telling me that he was ok.

A huge thank you to all of our family and friends serving our country here and abroad. We truly believe in you and support you 100% and are proud of what you do for each of us everyday. Thank you also to the families of these service members who make huge sacrifices everyday for OUR freedom and safety.

Of course we are praying for your safety everyday!

Happy Grandparent's Day

We had a great day eventhough the rain is getting to be annoying :) We had an awesome brunch at Stacy and Ted's....thanks Stacy for the awesome food..what a treat. Then kids had fun "playing" together.
We have had a really busy weekend. I am still trying to clean up from the aftermath of a new bedroom project. We still have woodwork to stain, and curtains to hang etc. so I won't post the finished project for a while. Emma spent her first night in there last night and so far so good.
Thanks to mom for staying at our house Friday night so Dave and I could go out with some work friends. It was ssoo nice to be out and not watching our watches.
Dave switched precincts today and will be working out of the NW precinct behind the old Walmart on Fort St. So, his hours changed to working at 2:40 everyday, which means my butt has to be at work at 6:00 am. UGH! Oh well, I love it that he is home before midnight. We leave for Denver early Thursday morning for the weekend and hopefully can celebrate another husker victory.
I didn't have my camera today so here are some old "grandparent pics" Mom and Dad...thanks for being wonderful grandparents!!!

Yeah, preschool time!

The first day of preschool was a hit like I knew it would be. I was able to sneak away from work and meet Dave there. I walked her in and she was so excited to hang her backpack up on a hook and see her teacher. We went into the rooms for a few minutes then when I realized that I was just a damper on her having fun I gave her a hug and got the heck out of there before anyone could see my watery eyes. How rediculous.....oh well. She loved her first day and brought home a beautiful green painted oval. She said, "mom, do I learn the alphabet in preschool?" and after I told her yes, she said, "oh well, I already know that." Anyway, she already has told us that she wants to go back tomorrow because "Friday takes too long."

Tonight was another soccer game. I just love soccer time cause the weather is awesome. She actually scored another goal so she was thrilled. Mom and Dad also came to watch. This game was so funny for some reason cause the girls really were aggressive and Emma kept bouncing off of the others and falling, then the others would trip over her. We couldn't help but laugh. We pretended like we didn't see it when Emma grabbed the jersey from a girl on the other team so she could just slow her down a little bit. At the end of the game she complained to me that the other girl pushed her and that "next time" she was going to "push her back." ARE YOU KIDDING ME.....YOU'RE 4!! I told her that she could do that if she wanted to but she would not be playing that game anymore. That is truly my fierce little competitor coming out in her. :{

Dave took the night off to go to Andrew's football game and they got skunked again. Not too good so far but atleast he is having fun and keeping busy. Did I mention that I will go to a football game ANYDAY over a long stinkin hot baseball game. So, I better get upstairs before it's time for bed.

painting, painting and more painting

Well, here is the beginning of the big bedroom remodel. :) No, we didn't paint it white....that's primer!!



I took today off of work and painted like crazy, like I said I was going to. Actually the painting started yesterday until about 1:00 this morning, then back at it again at 8:00 this morning. Emma keeps asking when she can sleep in her new room and i remember as a kid being ssoo excited to sleep in a new room, or just having the furniture rearranged was huge!

I always post the pictures backward...but I'm sure you get it that we are painting it "periwinkle" Emma's new favorite color.

Tomorrow is Emma's first day of preschool and she absolutely cannot wait. We have her clothes laid out for dad since I have to work tomorrow. I'm sure I can manage to sneak over though and meet her there on her first day. Her Dora backpack is bigger than she is and I'm afraid it may not fit in her "cubby." We'll see. She is worried that she may not like preschool though because she may have to be quiet and she "hates to be quiet" as all of you who spend any time with us know. She is just being dramatic and will love her new school.

I have tons more cute pictures to post but it is bedtime and I need to save them for a boring, newsless day :)

I know, I know, I know

I know....it has been over a week since the last post. It is due to busyness and laziness to be honest. We have had a really busy week with soccer, preschool open house and me working about 25 hours of overtime in the last 10 days. Anyway, enough with the excuses.

A week ago, we got all the kids together to make grandma and grandpa an anniversary gift (which was on the 22nd). We had each kid paint on their own 8x10 canvas using some of the sample paint colors that mom and dad had gotten for their house and then some metallics that we bought at Michaels. WE HAD A BLAST. Lauren went first and of course I couldn't get a picture of her in action cause it was a two person job. Pretty much just spreading some paint on her feet and having her step on the canvas is all it took for her.

Emma went next and covered the whole thing with dark paint. (When everyone else was done, hers stuck out ssoo bad so we "painted a little more" (redid hers.) Actually, we covered it with the base color and helped her a little more with the project. She absolutely had an awesome time and was so proud of her painting.

The twins were a little more reserved and apprehensive about getting their hands messy, but had no problem trying to eat the paint off of the brush. (I can't believe no one got sick or "broke out" in some strange rash after all of this.

After they dried, I superglued these metal plates with sayings on them and put some metal brads on too. They actually turned out so adorable and mom and dad of course loved them. This project would make an AWESOME mother's or father's day gift...it is so easy and cute!

This weekend has been a little crazy. We are changing Andrew's room to Emma's room, so we are changing everything but the carpet. We tore down the wallpaper and pulled off the ugly beat up woodwork. Dave managed to find time to patch the holes and sand them. I just finished vacuuming up all the dust and wiping down the walls. A HUGE thank you to mom for going with me Saturday to the fabric store to pick our some material to make curtains. We got this really "funky" as Emma would say print that has about every color in it for $5, which is a good thing cause I spent PLENTY on paint. Emma can't wait till it is done and is telling everyone that her bedroom is going to be periwinkle. (I don't even know if she knows what that is). Anyway, I love decorating and painting.....just finding the time is VERY difficult. Mom is making the curtains, which will be so cute.

I am working tomorrow for the holiday. I can't pass up the time and a half, which will give me 12 vacation hours. I will probably take Tuesday or Wednesday off and paint like crazy.

I know I am rambling, but maybe it's an attempt to make up for the lack of activity on this blog. :)

Lastly.....GO HUSKERS! (and sorry Colorado fans and relatives)....what in the world happened??? Montana State??