Denver Zoo

Anna and I headed to the zoo this week with some new friends. We had a great time. It's definitely different from the Richmond Zoo. Although I really love how personal and quaint the Richmond Zoo is, it's fun to go to a zoo with tons of animals and really fun exhibits. Anna absolutely loved it. By noon it was in the 90's and we decided it was time to head out. I bought a season pass so there was no pressure the maximize the day. We can go back anytime we want!

With the Elephants

Riding the Carousel.

Playing the drums with friends.

Anna-isms

Alright, it's time for the "look at how cute my kid is" post. It's for my sake more than any of yours, except maybe grandparents. Anyway, here are a few of Anna's cutest moments for the last few weeks.

A good read. Anna has decided that JK Rowling's title character should have his name changed to "Peter Potter." She loves to pull my set down and pretend to read and no matter how hard I try to convince her the name is Harry, she is adamant that it is Peter. Her love affair with books continues with most of her playtime filled with reading.

My helper. Anna is great motivation for me. Throughout the day she is always asking to do chores. Among her favorites, cleaning the bathrooms, washing dishes, sweeping, and working (aka cooking.)

A good joke. Anna's humor is developing and she seems to have picked up on her dad's love of bathroom humor. Anna came up with this one all by herself. "Winnie the Pooh Diaper." Get it? Pooh? Diaper? So funny, especially when she says it about thirty times a day and then runs off in a fit of giggles.

A little fish. We got some water wings for Anna and ever since she refuses any help whatsoever in the pool. "Don't catch me mom!" is the most frequent chide I receive as I nervously let her paddle around the pool. While she's really pretty good, we never leave without having swallowed about a pint of pool water. I love my independent girl!

A growing imagination. Anna brings all sorts of imaginary friends over to play. Her favorites are Mickey and Minnie, but Dora and Tigger make occasional visits too. She also loves to pretend with her babies and stuffed animals. She makes them dinner, puts them down for naps, reads them books, and will get them band aids when they inevitably fall (or are thrown) down the stairs.

I am so grateful for my smart, beautiful, playful, funny little girl. I can't wait to see her as a big sis.

Estes Park

This Saturday we went up the canyon to Estes Park. It's the town right before you enter Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the cooler weather of the mountains. We found a great lake where we ate lunch, fished, dug in the dirt, and played on the nearby playground.







After the lake, we made our way to Stanely Hotel, most famous for where they filmed "The Shining." It was actually built in 1909 and has a ton of history. It's not quite so remote as it once was. You just don't get the same feeling of isolation the the movie depicts with Taco Bell just down the way. Maybe we'll have to visit in winter to get really creeped out. The hotel is actually known for being haunted and they offer ghost tours everyday. We opted not to do the tour, but wandered around for a little while and took some pics.

On the porch of the Stanley Hotel with the beautiful Rockies as the backdrop.

Finally we hit up the Riverwalk. They have a paved parkway all along a river with shops and restaurants all along the way. Most of it was a bunch of tourist trap shops (think West Yellowstone, lots of tourqouise jewlery, and plenty of awesome "wolf howling in the moon" t-shirts) but we did find a few great places. Jeff found a great fly shop where he salivated over various products. There was also a great climbing shop that had a resident Lab to greet the shoppers. Anna LOVED that. She kept saying, "Mom, I wanna chase the dog" for about an hour after we left the shop. I found a paper supply store with all sorts of unnecessary, beautiful paper products, and interesting silk screen printings.

Dipping our toes along the Riverwalk.

A great day.

Can't get enough of days like today.

Yesterday was one of those days.

Anna refused to nap, I missed my friends in Virginia, Jeff had to work late, and I was feeling my pregnancy big time. Basically, I turned the day into a woe-is-me selfish fest. After

some reflection and a good night's sleep I realized (again) that my attitude sets the mood for the day and Anna's mood usually follows suit. I found myself enjoying motherhood today. I couldn't stop laughing watching Anna's new discovery of rolling down hills. I laughed even harder watching my prego belly bounce "like a bowl full of jelly." While Anna napped today I enjoyed watching and feeling "baby sister" kick. Anna continued to indulge me after her nap by actually letting my photograph her. I love that she looks so very happy. (For once.)



Today I feel blessed.

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Happy Father's Day

This year Jeff told me that all he really wanted for Father's Day was to be able to go fishing. Not that he needed permission, but it sure simplified things for me. Plus, it was probably the most cost effective celebration option. So, Saturday Jeff headed to the Colorado River for a day with the Salmon Flies. There was a big hatch, but since the water is still pretty high the fish weren't rising like they normally would. Jeff mostly fished the banks of the river and still caught several fish. He even brought Anna home a souviner--a live Salmon Fly. You can see Anna snuggling with the fly below. She was super-impressed.

Jeff is an amazing father. He is so kind, patient, concerned, fun, and so loving with Anna. I love to see him play with her. They have such a special relationship. Here are some of my favorite pics over the last 2 1/2 years that Jeff has been a daddy.

This post would be complete without a word about my other two dads. First off, my dad. I could not have asked for a better father. He has always been a great rock for me. He gives the most sound advice and direction. Growing up he always made me feel special as a daughter. He took interest when I played soccer, supported my leadership positions, took interest in my friends, and always made me feel like whatever I was doing at the time was a good thing. My dad has always been a righteous pillar of strength. His testimony is quiet and unassuming, but always there. I have never doubted that my dad has strong convictions in the gospel. He lives them without apology and I deeply admire that about him. Thanks for all you have sacrificed for our family. You are a great dad. I love you.

Secondly, my father-in-law, Larry. Larry has always made me feel so at home in Jeff's family. He was the first to congratulate me with a big hug when we were married. I have loved long, late-night conversations, great vacations, and more sound advice. I never met Grandma Emmy, but from what I know of her, she was always teaching as she conversed. I feel this way about Larry. When serious topics come up, gospel principles are shared and taught. I appreciate all the help and support that Larry has given to our family. I love to see Jeff's relationship with his dad. I don't want to speak for Jeff, but there is a deep mutual respect between father and son that I admire greatly. Larry has always been a great father to Jeff, and also to me. I love you, Larry.

No Pictures Please.

Anna is hates to have her picture taken. I usually have to use the sneak-attack method, and even then I have a hard time getting a picture. You may have noticed a lot of my pictures of Anna are from the back. It's because she's usually running from me.

I thought Anna looked so cute before church this Sunday I decided to pull out the camera. Anna was not happy about it. I love the picture from the front because she is so bugged by the fact that I am photographing her. Classic Anna.

The People's Fair

Saturday afternoon we loaded up and headed downtown to the People's Fair. It's held on Capital Hill where there is a beautiful park with rotundas, statues, and lots of grass to run around on. I love people watching and there were definitely lots of interesting characters to observe. I love urban fairs because you get hippies, families, bums, dogs, skateboards, and all sorts of other eclectic folks.

Anna especially loved the bubble tower, which--you guessed it--makes huge bubbles. I loved wandering through the local arts and crafts section seeing everything from junk to beautiful art.

After eating some ridiculously expensive gyros from a local vendor, we walked couple of blocks to the 16th Street Mall. We stopped at a bookstore and let Anna peruse the children's section. More people watching for Jeff and I out the second story window and then in was back home.

What a great afternoon.

Jeff's Induction

Yesterday Jeff went to his first executive meeting at the hospital. This involved all the "C's" (CEO, CFO, COO, CNO, etc) and the HR director. Todd, the CEO, started conducting and speaking in third person. "Hi everyone, Todd would like to welcome you to the meeting." He continued for a while, all in third person. Each person that spoke also spoke in third person. This went on for about five or six minutes. Jeff, aka the new guy, didn't have much to say. Todd eventually asked Jeff if he had any questions or anything he'd like to share. Jeff hesitantly said no, but that the third person thing was kind of creeping him out. A couple of people stifled laughs, and then Todd went into a long explanation about how they started running meetings like this because if fostered accountability and ownership of problems. Jeff was pretty taken back until Todd got a huge smile on his face. Everyone started laughing.

Gotcha, Jeff. Welcome to North Suburban.

PS About five minutes later a singing telegram dressed in full costume came to sing "I'm Bringing Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake to the CEO for his birthday, set up by the other executive team members. The song is apparently an inside joke. What a meeting!

It's gonna be a long one...

I find it really depressing to blog after not blogging for after a month. How do you capture all the goings on (yes I just invented that word) of probably one of the craziest months of my life? The answer, this incredibly long, often random account based on whatever pictures I happened to capture in the last four weeks.

Right before we took off on "bacation." That's what Anna calls it. Goodbye 8543 Aldeburgh.

We stopped off to the side of the road to get a shot of the Smokey Mountains. This is also where Anna discovered a new love...

Dandelions. Cute at first, until mom's allergies kick in.

We stopped at a small lake off the Blue Ridge Parkway for lunch. Notice Anna's change of clothes. The second look came after Anna decided to run at full speed into the lake. The water was mid-thigh before I reached her. Unfortunately, she did a face plant into the water before I could snag her. After she was dry she kept reassuring me, "Just toes in water, Mommy, just toes." Lesson learned, I guess.

Our first stop was in Knoxville. It was smaller than I thought it would be and not as pretty. Hence no pics. Sorry if you live there. No offense intended. We really enjoyed Nashville. Why? Well, because HCA's Corporate Headquarters are there, of course.

Actually, it just happened to be across the street from Centennial Park, where we hung out for a couple of hours. Beautiful flowers, lots of people watching, and a local arts fair, a perfect afternoon.

After the park we had some delicious hot dogs, sweet potato fries, and shakes at this hamburger stand. Seriously good stuff.

We stayed at The Preston Hotel, an independently owned place. It was SWEET! I sadly did not get a picture of the red velvet cow hide in the elevator.

I am being totally serious.

It was right by the Nashville airport and Anna loved looking for planes out the window.

We didn't do much in St.Louis but hang out at the mall right by our hotel. We did, however, get detoured on our way to the hotel and ended up driving through a seriously richy-rich area. Think Walker Lane (all you Utahns at least) times ten. That's the way you want to get detoured, I tell you.

This is Anna's actual mother who we stopped to see in Omaha. (How did I get such a fair blondie?) This is pretty much an awesome picture of both girls. Sorry Ambs, it was the best shot I had.

This sign is awesome because we entered from the plains side of Colorado and it was pretty much the brownest landscape I've seen. Well, I guess if I had to include Wyoming it would probably take the cake for brownest. ANYWAY, Anna was mad because I wouldn't let her run into the oncoming traffic. I'm a terrible mom.

A few days after we moved in, the Raffertys came to visit. Jeff and Scott went fishing and then we hit the Rockies game. Ahhh...I heart major league baseball games. Anna was so excited because we told her that she would get to eat a hot dog at the game. It was the first thing we did when we got there. She finished her last bite, looked up, and said, "Okay Mom, let's go home." Uh, sorry sweetheart, still have about three hours to go.

Love these pics of Anna. We went to Boulder one day. It's much prettier than where we live. It's right at the base of the Rockies. We live on the flat side of Denver. This was at a playground in Boulder.

We visited Utah for a week. I only took two pics while there. This is at the Sollis cabin where Anna immediately attached herself to the picture books. Loved seeing her pal around with Ethan and Tanner.

Dandelion love continues at the Jordan River Parkway.

By the way, did I mention I'm getting HUGE. I wouldn't mind the belly so much, but is it already time for puffy pregnant face? I guess so.

Back to Denver, we hit the local Farmer's Market. It was here we bought brats from an Austrian and I coveted the most adorable homemade dresses. I would have bought one for Anna in a heartbeat if it wasn't way, way, way out of my price range.

So we bought a new car. After six years of marriage we figured we deserved it. As expected, Jeff is keeping it meticulously clean. I don't know how he put up with my car sloppiness for so long.

Yesterday we went to Flat Iron Shopping Center. Anna loved the huge sandbox and dinosaur playground. I loved this dress with this cardigan over it that I found at Fossil. Jeff saw my mouth watering and said, "That outfit is so you." To which I replied, "It will be nice to be able to dress like myself again one day." Until then I will have to stick with my signature look of t-shirts and jeans.

Jeff's first day of work is tomorrow. I am so excited for him. He's finally able to jump into his career. I'm sure it will be crazy. Anna and I will definitely be having withdrawals. We've been spoiled having his undivided attention for a whole month. He's going to be amazing, I have no doubt.