Holiday Blizzard of '07

Here is a picture of someone who got stuck on our street. The drifts were about 3 feet high.
That's Emily, sitting in the bank and watching. But she did contribute the kitty litter.

Here is a picture of the back yard. The one drift is about 4-1/2 feet high in the top corner.

Here is a picture of Reese trying to make a tunnel in the snow drift.

If you scroll down the page a little bit, you will see a picture of the retaining wall in all of it's glory. Here, the retaining wall is covered by snow drifts. I guess this is a small test to see if it holds.

It took 4 men with shovels and a few handfuls of kitty litter to get this Tahoe unstuck. He did finally make it, and convinced me that I should probably stay put today.

6th Grade Band Concert

This evening, the TMS 6th Grade Band performed for friends and family at the Liberty High School Auditorium. We were not seated properly to get a picture of Emily while she was playing her clarinet, but there are some pictures of her before and after the show.

"When does this thing start?"

Before the show

After the show

Noelle's 5th Birthday Party

Noelle celebrated her 5th birthday at Focus on the Family. She was joined by her playgroup friends and some friends from preschool. It was not the happiest birthday ever, as she was up most of the night with a tummy bug and still has some residual effects the morning of her birthday. She was a trooper and pulled herself through the day. She felt much better that evening and was able to enjoy a trip to Chuck E. Cheese for a family birthday dinner.

The Dora Cash Register from Mom and Dad.

An ATM piggy bank from Reese.

Emily indulged her with a joke book and a children's CD.

Some of Noelle's guests eating pizza.

Thanksgiving in Minnesota

Here are some pictures from our recent Thanksgiving trip to Minnesota.

Funny faces with Mimi.

Saying good-bye to Kayla and Madison.

"We love Uncle Shirley!"

"Please stay, Uncle Shirley!"

Emily in a tryptophan induced state.

This is really funny. Reese is operating the pedals, Emily is operating the gears and Noelle is driving.

A nice picture with Mimi.

Dog piling Dad.

Don't ask me where they get it.

One of the rest areas in Nebraska had a pond with fish in it. We tried to feed them some pretzels and goldfish crackers, but they were obviously well fed fish.

I think some people were getting bored in the car.

Can you tell?

Preschool Field Trip

Today, Noelle took her first class field trip. She and her class walked to a local pond to feed the geese and ducks. The weather was perfect and everyone had fun.

Day at the Park

Sunday was spent enjoying a beautiful fall day at the park. Hard to believe that just over a week ago we were socked with 18 inches of snow!

The New Garden

With a lot of help from my Uncle Scott and a masonry grinder, the back garden is in place. It is now just awaiting spring so that it can be filled with herbs and vegetables. We used the Courtyard by Allan Block system and I have now been forbidden to visit the rock yard to pick out landscaping material. Although it is a beautiful garden, it was not made to sit in a sloping yard and caused a lot of work and grief, especially when my aesthetic tendencies lie towards curvy objects. However, this is another project that can be checked off and along with the completed retaining wall, the backyard is closer to completion.

Visit with the Colorado Daraghys

Today was spent at Paul and Judy's for Grandma and Grandpa Mulder's last weekend in Colorado. Also there were Paul's brother and sister-in-law, Dennis and Amy from Oregon.

Grandma and her most handsome grandson.

Backyard Landscaping Part 2

This past weekend, Jeff started on the retaining wall for the backyard. When the wall is finished, it will accommodate a tether ball pole, a climbing rope, a fort on stilts and a huge sandbox.

Other plans for the backyard are to build a garden and get some grass growing. Long term plans are to pour another cement pad and install a hot tub.

I'll keep you updated on the further progression of the wall and other backyard projects.

A Little Funny For You

Topless Car Wash Sounds too good to be true? SFW.

Labor Day Camping

This past weekend was spent at Lake McConaughy in Nebraska with our neighbors, the Beltrans. We left Sunday afternoon and made our way to Cheyenne, WY to see my aunt and uncle and rolled back into the Springs on Monday afternoon. Now if only someone would find the washer and dryer and do this mountain of laundry we seem to have accumulated. Reese

Noelle

Emily

Some interesting bones that we found at the lake. For the past 3-4 years, the water level has getting lower and lower because of a drought. The shoreline has receded about 300' and we were able to pick up things that were once on the bottom of the lake. The vertebre and leg bone are the most interesting ones. We also found many huge clam shells.

Emily at the fishing dock.

Noelle

Playing at the beach.

On our way to the fishing dock.

Reese

Pictures of the Girls

Here are some pictures of the girls from their various spring and summer activities.

Reese at T-Ball.

Noelle and her Tap/Ballet class. They danced to the song "Easter Parade".

Noelle and Emily in their individual pictures.

Cottonwood Dodgers team picture.

Emily and her Jazz/HipHop classmates. They danced to "Lose My Breath".