Wordless Wednesday

Baby Bump

We had some baby bump pictures taken by my cousin Kelsey and her mom, Kayla. They did such a wonderful job, it is very hard to pick out my favorites!  Here are a few of my favorites! I'm getting so excited to meet Cody, but it is a little bit sad knowing this is probably the last time I will be pregnant. I am trying to enjoy it as much as I can.  These pictures will be fun to look back on.

 

Catching Up

Its been a while since my last post.  There has been a lot going on over the last month, and like always Jackson is growing and changing too fast.  He has started talking so much, he will jabber non-stop in the car or point out anything he sees- sky, trees, truck, airplane.  Good thing I have that second set of eyes in the back seat! :) We went on our first camping trip to Glendo Reservoir. We went with some of our neighbors and they brought boats and jet skis so we got to play on the water.  Chris went tubing and got up on the wake board for the first time, he loved it but was really sore.  Jackson loved playing in the water and sand and waking up under the trees. He did really good, I cant wait to go camping again. (Next time I will remember my camera, I am bummed I didn't get any pictures!)

Chris started coaching a little league football team so he got Jackson a new football too. Now he wants to wear his football pajamas every night.  And he likes to kick the ball off the tee, then he runs around with it saying "hut-hike".  Also, Chris's softball team finished the summer league in second place and they are getting ready to start their fall league. 

 Nana found this car at a garage sale and JACKSON LOVES IT.  (Sorry mom...I think we were supposed to bring it to your house)  One time he actually took it down the driveway jumped the curb and went across the street. I was so scared I went running after him, and when I got to him he was saying "WEEEEE".  He is such a boy.  The pictures below are after Jackson's haircut, he looks so grown up now.

The last two weekends of July were spent in Cheyenne at The Daddy of 'em All!!! We saw The Band Perry, Brad Paisley, Chris Young and Blake Shelton.  Papa Jeff also had his annual pig roast, which was delicious, and he gave Jackson lots of tractor rides. 

Twan and Chris showed up in matcing shirts....cute!! Sunny, Sarah and Bree also came up for one of the concerts, it was so good to see the girls!

And now....we are getting our basement finished, they should be over tomorrow to start the frame work.  AND only 7 more weeks til we get to meet little baby Cody!!!

Rooftop Rodeo

Yesterday, we spent he day in Estes Park.  It was a much needed day away, just spending time as a family. 

 First stop: We went to breakfast at Randy's Pub and Grill. I finally had biscuits and gravy (I have been craving them for a week-thanks sister).  Then we drove up the canyon and walked around downtown Estes. It was super crowded, so we just got some ice cream and sat by he river and played at the park.

 Then we took a drive up Old Trail Ridge Road.  It was windy and cold at the top, 11,700 feet high.  We shopped around the gift shop, Jackson got a new Teddy Bear and he picked out a Moose for his brother. We had a little snack then headed back down for the rodeo.  As we were leaving the cafe in the sky and driving back down the gas light went on in the truck. OOPS! We should've filled up before our little adventure. Luckily we made it down and back into town to the first gas station (which was about 40 cents/gal more for people like us that wait til the last minute to fill up).

Next stop: RODEO!!

Jackson loved the horses!! He ran around saying "Neigh" to every horse he saw.  His favorite part of the whole trip was probably the pony rides.  He loved it!!!! He got to pick which pony to ride then he got on and grabbed the horn and started saying "go, go, go".  It was so cute, he had the biggest smiles on his face.

 After he got off we went and walked around and after about 10 minutes, he ran back over to the ponies and wanted to ride again.

 After his second ride we got some popcorn and went to our seats for the rodeo...we ended up with front row seats, the ones where the flags hit you in the face and you get sprayed with mud when the horses ride by. Half way through-Jackson was done sitting for a while, so Chris took him out to walk around...of course they ended up by the pony ride again. The nice pony man told Chris to put him on and walk around til he got tired. They probably walked around 20 times before Jackson was ponied out.  They came back and we watched the rest of the rodeo together.

 After the rodeo Jackson got to go down in the arena and get his hat signed by a bull fighter, the rodeo queen and princess, and the rodeo clown.

 Once we got back to the truck, we put of Jackson's p.j's got in the truck, turned on some Garth Brooks and drove home.

Hawaii

We spent last week on our family vacation to Hawaii.  We stayed in Princeville on the Kauai island. It was beautiful-mountains, rain forest, beach, ocean and beautiful sunsets.  There was beauty in every direction.  It was very relaxing and great to spend time with family and explore the island. We were very busy, and the time flew by way too fast.

These are pictures near the Kilauea Lighthouse.  The water was so blue here.  After our trip to the lighthouse, we stopped in the little town for some shave ice. Delicious! 

There were many different beaches along the island, we were able to visit quite a few of them-mostly on the North Shore-Hanalei Bay, Aninini Beach, Ke'e beach, Tunnels Beach.  We found some great snorkel spots and saw lots of colorful fish.

 We loved spending time with Jackson, he did great on the plane rides, but had trouble adjusting to the time change. So we were up EARLY every morning.  Jackson and I got to watch the sun come up every morning-great memories.

Leanne and Ryan went on a long hike one day, so we took a trip to visit one of the plantations.  We took a train ride through the  plantation to see how all the fruit is grown. I didn't know pineapples grew on the ground! That was really interesting.  We also stopped along the way and got to feed the wild pigs, chickens  and goats. Jackson loved this part.

We took a quick detour on the way home to look at the Wailua Falls.  

We took a drive to the South shore of the island and drove up the Waimea Canyon, also know as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, the veiws from up there were amazing.

We stopped in Poipu on our way down from the canyon to see the spouting horn-its a hole in the rock that the ocean water sprays out of straight up in the air. It was really neat. The beaches on the South shore were beautiful, I wish we could have spent more time there...maybe next time!

One of our favorite things we did on this trip was a sunset sail.  We went out on a giant sail boat, they served us appetizers and drinks and we got to watch the sun set over the ocean.  The captain of the boat took Jackson up and he got to drive the boat, too.

This is the view from an overlook on a walk that we went on a few times.

Jackson absolutely loved the water.  If there was water around he was in it within minutes. It was fun to watch him splash and laugh. The pools at our condos were really nice, a good change from the salt water.

We took a river boat to the Fern Grotto, and learned about one of the most popular wedding sites on the island. After the boat ride we went to the Smith family Luau-complete with a garden tour, Imu ceremony, feast, and an incredible performances from all the different cultures that make up Hawaiian history.

Chris and I spent one night out together, we watched the sunset from the St. Regis bar, then went to dinner at Fredricos's and had tacos, and listened to some live music.  It was a great night.

Building sand castles.

Soaking up the sun!

We went to the farmer's market and we tried lots of new fruits-papaya, mango, coconut, apple bananas, sugar cane and of course pineapple-my favorite.

ALOHA!!!!