The Blacks come to visit

My brother Josh, Julie, Caleb, and Taylor came to visit a couple of weeks ago. We had such a great time with them.



Anna and Caleb played together really well for the most part and Taylor was absolutely adorable. Anna was surprisingly friendly toward Taylor which gives me hope that she'll actually like baby brother when he gets here. (She normally has a cow if I give any baby attention. Major brake down.)

Fourth of July morning. No smiles! Don't they know it's a holiday?!

It was especially fun to have the Blacks here for the Fourth of July. We first headed to the ward house for some breakfast with our ward.

Julie, Taylor, Caleb, and Anna relaxing at the ward breakfast.

Then we drove to one of our favorite sites, the Red Rock Ampitheater. It was blasted hot and we must have climbed 200 stairs, but I always love the the beautiful scenery and view of the city.

Checking out the Red Rocks Ampitheater, Caleb in the RR Museum

J and A in the museum and walking up the millions of stairs.

The highlight of the day came after that when we stopped in a mountain town for lunch. We found a little park with a playground for the kids and were pleased to find a mountain stream behind the park to play in. It was completely shallow and safe for the kids to fun around in. Julie could even sit Taylor down in the river and let him splash. Anna opted to play in a mud puddle next to the river that some older boys had dug out. The impromtu river play was so fun and refreshing after the the heat of the red rocks.

Playing in the river.

Anna in the mud hole and Caleb showing off his big muscles.

Post-swim lounging.

After some naps we ended the day with some city fireworks. Personal fireworks are illegal here, so there was no home show. That's okay since Caleb had burned his hand on a sparkler the day before. (Poor guy!)

Being silly and waiting for the big fireworks show.

Watching the show and heading home.

Thanks Josh and Julie for visiting. We loved having you and you are welcome back any time! (That goes for anyone reading this. We LOVE having visitors.)

Anna's Prayer

Just before Anna jumped in bed for a nap today, she reminded me that she needed to say a prayer. Stalling? I think she's just really spiritually minded. Her prayer went something like this:

Dear Fader,

Grate for books, grate for bed, grate for toys, and chairs, and floor, and wall, and teddy, and carebear, and....that, and go to the library, and go back home, and the book store, and King Soopers (grocery store ), and Target, and shoes, and 'member that yesterday at the doctor, and dad go to work at the hopisal, aaaaannnnnddddd....,

(Mom interjects: Please bless...)

Bess Anna get some rest, and no be scared.

Jesus Chwist,
AAAAAmen

Had to try so hard not to smile and laugh watching her roll around the floor and pray. Funny kid. Love that she tries so hard.

I finally got a video to work...

Anna in her favorite pastime and demonstrating her diva attitude toward being filmed.

Summer Rainstorms

Yesterday while Anna was napping a summer rainstorm hit. Knowing the brevity of western rainstorms I quickly stopped what I was doing, opened the front door, grabbed a blanket and book and parked myself on the couch.

In my mind there is not much more satisfying to the soul than smell of fresh rain on dry earth and uncharacteristic cool air floating through the house. Even though the thunder and rain only lasted about 30 minutes it made me so happy!

Within an hour there was no trace of stormy weather. The sky was blue, the ground was dry, and the air was hot. But at least for few minutes everything seemed to hold still for the storm.

I need more moments of spontaneous stillness...

The Denver Temple

A couple weekends ago we finally went to visit the Denver Temple. It's about fourty-five minutes south of where we live. There is such an immediate peace when you step on any temple grounds and this one was no different. The grounds were beautiful, Anna was content, and Jeff and I had a great time taking photos. Can't wait to do a session. (Now if we could only find someone to babysit...)

SURPRISE!

It's a BOY!

We're still in shock.

After being told at 17 weeks we were (probably) having a girl, we are happy and still reeling over this news. Even better news, everything looks great and HE is a healthy, kicking, growing BOY

Sorry the pics are so blurry. The first is baby boy showing off the goods, and the second is him sucking his thumb.

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.