'Tis the Season

Just in time for our annual trip up "the hill" to cut down a Christmas tree, it snowed!!!  Finally!!  Yeah!!  A perfect Colorado day provided lots of holiday spirit for today's voyage.  We went with 6 other families & enjoyed hot chocolate, sledding, coffee cake, pumpkin bread,  & more.  With a little bit of work, & a bit of hiking up a slippery hill, we found this year's tree...full of character - imagine slightly sturdier than Charlie Brown's tree, but still with branches that favor the small and very light ornaments.  The kids weathered the cold o.k. & Evan was quite the Dad pulling both our large tree and a 45 pound child on a sled a fair distance out of the forest.  The kids met (and Georgia was spooked by) Smokey the Bear.   After thawing out, we stopped for lunch and watched Georgia inhale 3+ pieces of pizza & then proudly show us her belly.  

P.S.  Wyatt has been polishing up on his Spinner skills and is anxious to challenge any adult who will take him on.  With very little to no coaching yesterday he beat me 2 out of 3 rounds and then went on to do the same with Evan.  Watch out!

We also enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with Brooke & Gary and their family! Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera out to pass along any photos.  The kids were so excited about the holiday & had fun with all of the preparations, even stuffing the turkey.  They wore themselves out, asleep that night by 7 and didn't wake up 'til after 8 on Friday. 

Spelunking

Last week the kids had a school holiday (one of many), so we headed to the caves with the Richardson family.   We all loaded up in Cheryl's car and made the day trip to Colorado Springs to explore the Cave of the Winds.  The boys and Georgia brought their own flashlights for the tour and had fun exploring the dark, narrow, curvy, and sometimes steep tunnels of the cave.  We practically had a private tour and on a cold wet day outside here it was actually warmer inside the caves where it is a constant 54 degrees. It was so dark, the pictures really don't do it justice, but the 4 little explorers had a great time.  They only wished they found some bats and were a bit surprised we didn't come across a dragon.

Princess Georgia

He's an Independent....

Well, Wyatt's an Independent, no surprise I guess.  He would have nothing to do today with all of the hype, buttons, stickers, or kids Obama gear created and sold by our neighbor, Olivia.  Although, he was excited about the Electoral Coloring Map he and Evan created (before picture below) to be filled in at the election party we went to tonight.  Georgia on the other hand is an Obama girl (no, not "The Obama Girl", thank goodness!) and is still young enough not to protest the Democratic brain-washing in our household.  She was excited to don her new Obama t-shirt, "Georgia Peach" Convention button, and any campaign sticker that came her way including the token "I Voted Today."  God Bless America!

5 Redheads Sitting in a Row

What's in the water out here?  We're not sure, but Wyatt and Georgia sure enjoy hanging out with their redheaded buddies.    Sydney, Zoe, and Katie are our neighbors to either side of us.

Happy Halloween

Early Halloween

Corn Maze

Let It Shine, Let It Shine, Let It Shine

Our solar is off and running.  Lucky for us, we live in the 2nd sunniest state in the union (Florida #1) with 300+ days of sunshine a year!  Now, we are hoping that translates into much lower energy bills.  So far, so good.  We've reduce our carbon footprint and produced as much energy as we have bought.  

It all started last March...

when a package arrived from Grandma Brooks.  Some seed starters!  Wyatt planted the seeds indoors and diligently watered the little cups.  They took off.  When it warmed, we transferred them outside and below is the result!  Our homegrown Jack-O-Lantern.  Wyatt and Georgia had fun watching it grow and change colors.  They are pretty proud.  

Dinosaurs Alive! Wyatt is 5!!

For his birthday, we took Wyatt and some friends to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to see the new dinosaur exhibit and the IMAX film Dinosaurs Alive.  Luckily, we had extra hands on deck since Grandma & Grandpa Brooks paid us a visit on their way to Canada!!  Yeah!!  It was a beautiful fall day so we enjoyed cake outside afterwards.  Wyatt had a fantastic time, and so did Georgia who seemed to be just as excited as he was!  She's already requesting a cake for her birthday with race cars and Swiper (Dora character).  Happy number 5 Wyatt!!

F is for Fall Fun

Our tree has finally grown big enough to provide some beautiful red leaves to roll around in this year.  And that's just what we did this afternoon.  Photos by Shannon AND Wyatt.

Kristen and Matt's Wedding in KC

It was a great weekend in KC, but of course went way to fast.  The wedding was beautiful and fun was had by all at the reception.  Georgia LOVED being a flower girl, she even carried the flowers through the airport on Sunday, and referred to Kristen as a Princess all night ("where did the princess girl go?").  We danced and Wyatt couldn't pull himself away from the skee-ball game, but why would he, he held the second highest score most of the night.  Uncle Ryan mentioned that we should ice down his arm.  The food and the atmosphere at the Culinary Institute were fabulous.  Most of all it was just great to share such a special day with family.  Congrats Kristen & Matt!  Cheers!!