Friends!

June 27, 2012
There is one thing Denver absolutely did right and that is all of the parks!  I read somewhere there are over 200 parks in the Denver area.  I don't think we have visited even a small portion of them, but maybe that is a good summer goal!  One of our favorite parks is Belleview Park.  It has a stream that is not over 4feet deep at the deepest point, a playground and of course, a train ride.  What?  Did you say train?  Yes Steven, I did.  We kidnapped the girls one day for a play date and drove to the park.  To save my camera, I didn't get it out in the water at all, but I did take some pictures on the train.

 The kids were so cute! Emmy and Lydia are Steven's best friends!. He asks where they are and what they are doing all of the time. He loves these girls! It is so sweet to watch the 3 of them when they haven't seen each other for awhile. Steven will literally run up to them and give them huge hugs. I am so lucky to have such good friends who live just a moment away! Love you guys!

Earlier in the week we went to the zoo with the girls as well.  It has been so hot we don't get to spend as much time outside as we would like.  Luckily, we chose a day that was overcast, so it was quite nice.

We love the Dirt!

June 24, 2012
Matt had a scout meeting at our home.  Despite the fact he told me it wouldn't be very long (never, ever believe a committee of men when they say it will be a short meeting) we believed him and went outside to play.  We had such a blast!!  We played soccer, splashed Wally in the pool, swung on the swings, played fetch with Wally, played basketball, played keep-away from Wally...I gotta tell you, we had a BLAST outside for about 2 hours.  I didn't get my camera until the end though.  I had to snap a few of my dirty faced, sweet littl guy.  He has become so independant lately and wanted to swing by himself.  I love this face and I could kiss it all day long, dirt and all!

Train Museum

June 23, 2012
My sweet little boy has become obsessed with trains.  He LOVES them!  It is so incredibly sweet.  We had a coupon to visit the train museum, so we drove to Brighton, slathered up our boy in sunscreen and enjoyed an afternoon looking at, visiting, and playing with trains.

 The moment we stepped out of the car and he saw his first train, he was in heaven! We were walking up to the museum and they have hundreds of trains you can see. He was bouncing up and down and saying "Choo Choo. Choo Choo." It was priceless! I know he was excited, but I felt the same excitement watching him!

Playing Outside, Take II

June 2012
I have so many pictures of my sweet boy I just had to include more!  I am absolute LOVE with this kid!  I can't stop taking pictures of him!  I feel like if I don't I may forget or miss something.  I want to capture every single moment.  I guess I am scare of him growing up or scared of losing him or forgetting something about him.  I try to relish every single moment of every single day and one way I do that is by trying to capture as much as I can with pictures.  (maybe another reason I am so far behind in blogging!)

Big shoes to fill!

June 2012
IOne day Steven put my shoes on because we had to run outside super fast and it the ground was hot.  He thought it was hilarious!!!

Seriosly, look at those adorable, pudgy little baby feet!  I could kiss on them all day!!

When you ask him to smile, he says "Cheese" and makes this super adorable, super cheesy, super beautiful smile!  I LOVE this kid!!!!

We Love the Outside

June 2012

It has been an amazingly HOT summer, so we typically go outside very early in the morning and then don't go back out until around 6:30 or 7:00pm. We enjoy the tractor park the most! It has really been a blast watching Steven grow from the last year. There is a tube you have to crawl through to get down the bumpy slide. He pretty much had that figured out last year, but this year he taught his cousin, Emmett, how to go down. He has also gotten much braver this summer. He crawls up to the top of almost any set of stairs to go down almost any slide. I have been very impressed to see my shy, very reserved and a bit scared little guy yell from the top of a slide, "Mama! Watch!" And then see him going down. He still will NOT go down any covered slide, but that is understandable....I won't either!

What a differance a year makes!

 2011

Steven also LOVES to swing! Last year, he would swing for about.8 seconds and then scream to be let out. Now, he ASKS to swing. When we go to the park, he will spend forever in there if we let him. At our home, we have a small swingset and he climbs in and buckles himself and asks to swing. He is so sweett!

Birthday #30

June 17, 2012
For my birthday, I asked Matt if I could a mani/pedi with my bud, Rhonda.  He so graciously watched Steven while I went and got pampered by Carolyn in one of her last few weeks working the floor at her cosmotology school.  It was my very first mani/pedi and I was a bit nervous, but I am telling you, I am addicted!  I asked Matt how it was possible with our meager budget to afford a pedi at least once a month.  He just kinda stared at me. 

I didn't get any pictures of my mani, (my hands were a little preoccupied) but it was fabulous too!  Rhonda ended up with purple fingernails and staying true to Brandy fashion, mine were a lovely shade of pink.  I am grateful for Rhonda for coming with me and to Carolyn for helping me feel so luxurious on my special day!

My birthday weekend also included a yummy dinner (twice) at Kurtis and Rhonda's home of Navajo Tacos.  Yummy!!  We also had a super great carrot cake, complete with a pink princess candle and amazing singing from some of the people I love the most.  My grandma sent me some money to help pay for my bike trailer/stroller, so we have been having a lot of fun with that.  How lucky I am to have such great family and friends who love me.

I was so worried about turning 30, and on the eve of my birthday, I heard a song I have heard several times by Mr. Tim McGraw called My Next 30 Years.  It really made me think that this is just the beginning, absolutely NOT the end.
I think I'll take a moment, celebrate my age


The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it's time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years I'm gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I've done
Maybe now I've conquered all my adolescent fears
And I'll do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years I'm gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I'm doing here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, I'm gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I'll remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years
In my next thirty years