Bryce's 1st Birthday

Bryce turned 1 year old on May 12th. We threw him a birthday party on the 8th. We invited family and some great friends to celebrate with us. I think he had lots of fun even though he thought we were all crazy for singing to him with silly hats on our heads.

Bryce and his PawPaw

Opening presents

I think he's having fun here...mostly with the wrapping and boxes though :)

Cousin Daniel (who turned 3 on May 11th), friend Sarah and Bryce

Lots of great friends of ours at the party...patiently waiting for cake and ice cream

Hmmm, what do I do with this?

I think he figured it out!

Playing with cousins Daniel and Joy (who turned one on May 15th). Joy was teaching Bryce how to hug and kiss. Now he does that to all the babies that he sees.

Tackle!

I think one started crying so the other chimed in!

Birthday Boy! He went straight to the bath after his cake.

Joy carrying her mommy's purse

Elan and Joy

Canyon Lake

Early in June, we went to stay at Grandpa's (aka Shane's Dad) lake house in Canyon Lake. Jacob and Shane were racing in a Texas State Qualifier in San Antonio that weekend and we wanted to stay a couple of extra days to relax. I can't remember now how either of them did at the race. I do remember that Jacob had a bad gate position and didn't do as well as we would have liked :(

We took Bryce out on the boat and went swimming in our favorite little cove. He did not like the boat ride or the lake. I think it was the life vest, though. It was in his face and he didn't like being restricted or constricted.

Bryce's favorite toys were the coasters :)

Jacob in the hot tub

I'm thinking that Bryce didn't care for the hot tub either

One day, Shane, Jacob and PawPaw went out on the boat to get some tubing in. They had fun while Mimi, Bryce and I relaxed at the house.

Jacob

PawPaw

Shane and Jacob on Big Bertha

Bryce playing at Landa Park in New Braunfels

Jacob doing some rock climbing

Me and Bryce at Landa Park

As much as we love the lake, there isn't too much to do with a baby there. I am looking forward to Bryce being a little older and being able to spend more time on the boat and tubing on the Guadalupe....and Schlitterbahn!

Durango, CO...Part III

Here are some misc. pictures from our trip:

Our transportation...we have put 20k miles on the Yukon in the last year

One of our shorter day trips was to Mesa Verde National Park. I really thought Jacob would enjoy exploring the indian ruins. Unfortunately, there was only one that we could go to with a stroller. And, they were doing some serious road work so we spent a lot of time not even moving which was frustrating.

It was a short hike down to The Step House but a hard walk back up :)

Jacob

PawPaw and Mimi

The family

Bryce loved this teddy bear at the house ;)

On our off days, Shane or Shane and Jacob would go mountain biking. One day I drove them up a mountain and met them at the bottom. These pictures are taking at Durango Mountain Resort (Purgatory). Just Shane and Jacob enjoyed this trip. The rest of us enjoyed just being at the house. The owner told us that there were 2 bears that lived behind the house. That kept me from exploring our property, especially with Bryce. Yikes!


A bear (cinnamon colored). Just one of the wildlife that we saw. From our home, we saw wild turkeys and deer every day. This picture was taken from up above on a ski lift.

Shane and Jacob

Jacob

This picture was taken from our living room window after a rain storm

Video of our Durango Trip

Shane loves to make videos and put them to music...Enjoy!

Durango, CO...Part II

Our 2nd outing, and my favorite, was a day trip to Ouray. We did a jeep tour (http://www.soajeep.com/) up to Yankee Boy Basin. We did the exact same jeep tour 30 years ago and have a great picture of my mom and I sitting in the middle of wildflowers. Although we enjoyed out jeep tour this trip, it rained and the temperature dropped and we were all wet and freezing our fannies off. I had hoped to recreate mom and I's picture but by the time we had gotten to the top of Yankee Boy Basin, we could of cared less. It was a disappointment but we (especially me) enjoyed the jeep trip regardless.

Jacob and Bryce

It took Bryce about 30 minutes to cave into all the bumping around we were doing and take a nap. We couldn't believe he could sleep on the jeep. His cheeks were just bouncing around.

Jacob and I at a natural spring

Jacob getting a drink

We also toured a cave mine and got to see some old mines and pictures of what they looked like when they were working mines with towns built around them. Right up my alley.

Going to and from Ouray, the only highway you can take is Highway 550, or the Million Dollar Highway. It is the most dangerous road in America. The sheer drops were so nerve wracking for me as I am afraid of heights. I kept my nose in a book the best I could. On the way home, we were stopped about 45 minutes south of Ouray. A man had driven off the side of the highway and plunged 500 feet. He was drunk, driving in the rain and on a dangerous road. What an idiot! Traffic was stopped for a good 3 hours. We were stopped in 2 hours of the wait. They had to repel down to him to bring him up. He was alive with not too serious injuries considering. The accident even made the Houston Chronicle. I hope and pray that that accident made him sober up!

The next trip to Durango, I would really like to spend a couple of nights in Ouray. The town is so pretty with lots of great shops. I would also like to do a full day jeep tour. Can you tell I had fun?

Durango, CO...Part I

Hello! I know it has been a long time since I have posted. I am going to do a lot of catching up, Bryce permitting. There have been quite a few things on my plate that I have neglected besides blogging. Yes, Dad, I will get your tax return done asap :)

Late June we headed to Durango, CO. You may remember me posting about our family selling our condo in Summit County. We decided that this was an opportunity to see some more of our country, so we headed to Southern CO! I know, it's not that far from Summit County but it is a trip that I remember from when I was younger that we took with my grandparents and I wanted to recreate that trip for Jacob and for Shane.

We took 2 days to drive there. My parents were gracious enough to go along with us. It's not all fun and games traveling with children, much less a one year old. Bryce was a trooper, though. He did great in the 3rd row with Jacob, MiMi and I entertaining him. Ha! Ha!

Our home was about 10 miles (a 20 minute drive) from Durango. We had our own private 60 acre meadow out front and the Red Rock Cliffs behind us. It was a beautiful home and a beautiful drive to the home. Randy drove down from Denver to stay the week with us.

Our first day outing was to ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (http://www.durangotrain.com/). We rode the train to Silverton which was a 3 1/2 hour train trip. The views were amazing. I was so nervous that Bryce would be cranky being locked up in a car with us but he had a blast and took a good nap the latter part of the trip in hid daddy's and PawPaw's laps. We had about 2 hours to eat lunch in Silverton and than rode a bus back to Durango. I really didn't think Bryce could handle another 4 hours on the train and I think I made a good call for all of us.

Here are some pics from that day:

The family in front of our train car...The Prospector

PawPaw stretching his legs

The views were amazing, whether looking down or out

Jacob sticking his head out the window

Shane and Bryce

Uncle Randy and Jacob

I'm glad we rode the train but don't plan on riding it again until we are grandparents and can enjoy it with our boys and their families.

Happy 9th Birthday Jacob!!!

We can't believe our baby is turning 9 years old today. I will never forget the struggles we went through to bring him into this world and the incredible day of his birth. The last 9 years have flown by and what a ride it has been. He is such a sweet, loving boy. He is passionate about riding his bike and reading books. Two complete opposite hobbies but both things that he loves to do. And, he is a great big brother. We always knew he would be but he has surpasssed our expectations. He loves to just sit and play with Bryce and understands that babies are sometimes very demanding. He has not once complained about us giving Bryce more attention than him when Bryce needs it. I thank God each and every day that we could answer his prayers with giving him a sibling.

His bday present from us is a new mountain bike. We plan on bringing the guys bikes with us to Durango, CO this summer and Shane is looking forward to riding the trails around our house with him.

His party is at an indoor rock climbing party today. What a special day this is for him. We love you and are so proud of you Jacob!!!

Here is a great picture of him jumping at the track:

Pictures of Bryce

Bryce is now 10 1/2 months old. Man, how time flies. He weighs around 22 lbs as he lost some weight while sick (another post) and is still trying to gain it back. He is into everything. He is walking behind his push toy and looks like frankenstein when he walks....too cute. He will put anything, including dog hair, in his mouth. He is crawling up the stairs, pulling up and walking around things like the table while holding on. He loves to clap and play patty cake. He loves to wave at people and the animals. He will lay his head on Sadie and pat her (melts our hearts). He copies us with his tongue and he has this thing about sticking out his lower lips and making a silly face.

Here are some pics of him:

Yes, that's a mohawk on my head :)

Funny, isn't it?

I have a sweet face and gorgeous eyes!

I like to sit at the window and watch the boys playing in the driveway. Sometimes Sadie sits by me and we stare out the window together. We won't stay put for mommy to get our picture together, though.

This is my high chair. I love to eat and have never given a sign that I am full. I just keep eating and eating. And, if I don't like a food, I just throw it over the side. No big deal!

I can pick up a sippy cup, when I feel like it.

My first 2 teeth...see there, on the bottom....this was about a month ago. Mommy thought those teeth would never come in.

Playing Catch Up

I need to apologize for being so quiet for so long on our blog. There has been lots going on and I will try my best to remember everything exciting, good or bad, that I can to tell you about. Just a glimpse into what is to come....lots of pictures of Bryce including his first teeth and holding a sippy cup, Jacob's baptism, Bryce's first ER visit for rotavirus and, of course, a BMX update.

Let's start with Jacob's baptism. Unfortunately, the lighting in the kid's chapel was so bad that the pictures did not come out. I do, however, have an amusing video for you to watch if Shane will put it on his youtube account. Jacob was baptized on February 7th with several other children in elementary school. I had always imagined him being baptized in the big church, but this was great. Several of our friends from our small group and our family came to witness it. Shane did the dunking, which was very special to him. They had cake afterwards to celebrate the kids' baptisms. Then we went to Hido, a japanese steakhouse to celebrate with our parents. The food was great and the chef was very entertaining.

Jacob first accepted Christ when he was just 4 years old. He doesn't remember it, and I would not expect him to as he was so young. I remember Shane was out of town and Jacob and I were reading this big board book about the life of Christ. It is a pretty long book and I kept saying "let's finish this tomorrow night" but he pressed me to go on. When I read the pages about what they did to Jesus and his crucifixion, Jacob began to cry about the suffering Jesus went through and asked "He did that for me?" The next page talked about what a Christian is and he said that he wanted to become one, so we said the prayer together. I was amazed by his understanding of it all at such a young age.

When he attended VBS at church a few years later, we told him that they would be giving the message of salvation to the kids and reminded him that he was already a Christian but if he wanted to say the prayer again, that was fine. He did, of course, and has a vivid memory of it.

I used to keep a little kids bible in the car and he would read it everywhere we went. He would ask me if I knew the story of someone important and I would always ask him to read me the story. This not only improved his reading but his knowledge too.

We are so proud of Jacob's decision to tell the world that he is a Christian and pray that he will grow to become a God honoring man, husband, son and father. Of course, we can expect a few rough years somewhere in there. I mean, he is Shane and my's son, right???? Yikes!