Crazy Colorado Weather and Color Run!

You may have seen on the news all of the crazy flooding that has gone on in the Denver area, we have been lucky to not see anything too bad in our area but I did take some pictures of the pond outside our apartment that is usually empty but can fill up super fast when the rain comes down hard. I also took pics of the bridges and channels that wind around the complex.

 Alex and I went outside for two minutes to take these pictures and we got completely soaked.

 The no longer empty channels and the bridges.

 Ten minutes after taking the pics above, the pond had flooded even more (this is taken from my apartment window because there was no way I was going back out there). These pics were taken on the 12th.

On the 14th there was a really scary storm in the evening with hail and major wind. On the roads the water was really deep. Andrew got caught in it on the way home from studying at the school, he said that when he was at a stop light the whole car would shake as other vehicles would pull up and cause waves to hit it.

Before the big storm on Saturday my ward hosted a color run for the young men and young women (did I mention I have been called as a young women's advisor). My  family was able to attend, Andrew got to throw color and take pictures. I ran the entire 5K and Alex was a little cheerleader, I think his favorite part was the water fight after the run.

 I ran with my pregnant belly and I did tease the boys when they let me pass them. I was way sore for the rest of the day though.

Alex brought me my water bottle and his sippy so I could fill this up for him to shoot water. Funny guy.

Alex Alex Alex, Plus a Trip to Cherry Creek Reservoir

My little guy is growing up so fast and is so much fun. My ward has a play group scheduled every week and we like to go and make new friends, plus it is in a different location every time so we have gotten to explore lots of different parks and splash pads. Centennial has a way cool splash pad, it took Alex a while to warm up to it, at first he only liked to play in the drain grooves, but then he caught on and thought it was great!

There is a racquetball court at the apartments where we live so one night when mom was way sick Andrew took Alex over to play. He loved running around and chasing the balls. He asked to go home after a while because he was all tuckered out.

Playing with pie crust while dinner baked

Wearing Mom's red heels after church

"You see my hiding place mom?"

All Alex

• When trying to see the mirror while Dad was doing his hair for church. 

Alex: "I can't see my Alex!"

• While I was patting his back one evening

Alex: "Its not a drum it's a shirt! It's a shirt, it's like a shirt."

• After hurting his toe.

Alex: "I just need milk, little bit."

• During a conversation the other night.

Me: "Are you lying?
Alex: "No I'm not lying."
Me: "Do you know what lying is?"
Alex: "RAAAWWRRRR!"

Gotta love that little guy!!!!

Over Labor Day weekend a group at Andrew's school held a social over at Cherry Creek Reservoir so we decided to go. It was a hot day and the water was so nice. We spent the day playing in the waves and chillin on the beach. We all went home a little pink but it was way fun.

 Alex was so excited to try out his new Spiderman inner tube, at first he just threw it in the water so I thought he didn't like it or was nervous to try it but then when Dad went out to help him use it he loved it so so much.

Some Things You May Not Know About Us

• When I blow dry my hair I have too much time to think and sometimes end up crying. 
• When Alex sees me cry he says, "Its okay, Dad will be home soon."
• When Andrew hugs me Alex comes up and says, "I wanna make a sandwich," so we have to pick him up and make an Alex sandwich.
• Alex has to have two sippies at a time, one with milk and one with juice. 
• Andrew never complains about the food I make, not ever. I think it is because he is so happy someone is cooking for him. 
• Andrew is the only one in our family who fries bacon, and because my dad always made the milkshakes when I was growing up he has to make those too.

And there is one more thing that Alex would like you to know about us....

Trip to Moab

At the beginning of the month Alex and I made the long trip to Moab to stay for ten days. Alex did great on the trip over, although his face was stiff from his antics with a sucker by the time we arrived at our destination.

The first weekend included a long drive up to Logan for the Clarkston Pageant. It was so great being with family, even if the acting in the pageant was lacking. Guess we have to look past that and focus on the testimony of Martin Harris instead.

 Lindsay and Kynlee came to spend the week with me at Dad's house. Our first Sunday there was fast Sunday and my dad bore his testimony and said he was grateful that two of his children had come to clean his house. After two days of cleaning it only seemed a little better.

 Alex helping Lindsay clean

Or just getting into Papa's stuff

Even though Alex isn't always careful with little Kynlee, these two were so happy to be back together.

The final weekend of the trip was spent at the cabin with Aunt Valerie and her fun children and Aunt Daryl and the rest of the family. Alex was so happy to have his aunts come to love on him. He wore himself out playing with cousins on the mountain.

 Yes those are my aunts allowing Alex to stand on the table.

 Do you think they had secrets to tell??

Alex and I had so much fun!! Andrew was able to study hard his second week of Med School, but we were eager to get back together again. The drive back home included road construction (think major delay and stop and go traffic), one child saying, "no music" for the last hour, gross milk throw up in the final half hour and a major tantrum as I tried to get Alex into the bathtub while we waited for Andrew to come home from dinner with classmates. It may be a while before I muster up the courage to make the long journey to Moab all by myself with my wild little toddler again. Thanks for the fun time everyone!!

Welcome to Colorful Colorado!

We have started a new adventure in Colorado. It took us a little over a day to travel from Cedar City, Utah to Aurora, Colorado with the slow Budget truck, plus one stop for me to overcome my carsickness. That day spent traveling and then unloading was one of the longest of my life and I am not looking forward to moving ever again, hopefully by the time we are ready for our next move I will have forgotten how bad it was.

 Knowing Andrew would be starting med school I tried to unpack as fast as possible so I could have help.

 The best little helper. Andrew and I were in separate rooms unpacking and we came out to the living room to find this little guy unpacking cases of canned goods and stacking them into a tower. He was so funny, when his unsteady piles would tumble he would turn to us and say, "oops, sorry guys" then he would stack some more.

 On the 27th of July we were able to attend Andrew's white coat ceremony. Andrew had to be there early so while Alex and I were waiting outside I asked him if he wanted to take some pictures. He was so excited and wanted to take them in front of the waterfall. Little model. I sure love that cute  face!!

 Student Doctor Andrew Alton!!!

So glad we have such good friends to share this adventure with!!!! We love you guys!!

 Rocky Vista sold students and family of the new medical school students tickets to the Rockies game following the white coat ceremony. I was worried that Alex would get bored because baseball games can be so long. He loved the whole experience though. You'll notice in all the pictures I took he can't keep his eyes off the game. He liked watching the people around us and listening to the music, he liked the 7th inning stretch when everyone stands up to stretch and then we sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." I think his favorite was when a dental chain sent people dressed up as a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste and a thing of floss to have a race around the field.  I loved it too, even though the Rockies were losing 6-0 and the rain was coming down hard, we still stuck it out. We saw the Rockies score 4 runs in one inning. By the bottom of the ninth they were down by two and everyone was rallying for the win, and then we watched the field crew pull out the giant tarp that covers the whole infield. It was after 9:00 so we went home. The game ended up being delayed for one hour and 45 minutes, and the Rockies couldn't pull off the win. I'm so glad we went though it was way fun!!!

That is the start of our new life here in Colorado! We are excited to start this new chapter in our lives, even though we miss being so close to family. I am going to try to keep positive and brave and embrace new experiences and friendships here.