Pictures of the Week -- Week 43

We had our first snow of the season before Halloween.  The kids had fun playing in the snow .  Mattea made snow angels and a snowman.  Indy doesn't seem to enjoy the snow as much as he used to!

Pictures of the Week -- Week 42

I bought some curlers for my hair, but I will give you one guess who begged me to use them in her hair???  But, look how cute she looks even with curlers in her hair!

Cody had his 3rd birthday on October 18th!  He celebrated by eating Frosty Paws with the neighbor dogs and playing with his new toy.  He loves his toys!

My anniversary flowers were so absolutely breathtaking.  I took several shots of them as they opened up fully.  The yellow one is Mattea's... she kept close tabs on that one.  We are such lucky girls!

Josh made breakfast for us (without wearing a shirt!!!) and it was SO delicious!  French toast, scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage patties, apple slices and yogurt.  YUMMY!

Josh had his last football game of the season.  We had a blast watching the Spartan Bronze team this year.  Next sport... basketball.  Bring it on!

Pictures of the Week -- Week 41

The weather cooled off for a bit, so it was a good day to make a big pot of chili and some homemade apple crisp. YUM!

Josh & Mattea built a fort in Mattea's room.  The best part???  Their plan all mapped out on the white board.  LOVE it!

Indy has always been a picky eater.  Lately, he is very choosy about which pieces of food he will eat and he makes quite a mess while he eats.  I am always picking up little pieces of dog food in the kitchen.  I love his expression here.  I would imagine he is thinking "Really?  A picture of me eating???  That's the best you can do?"

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today is a special day.  It's the day that Jeff and I vowed before family & friends to love and honor each other through sickness and in health, for richer for poorer until death parts us.  In today's society, long and happy marriages aren't necessarily the norm anymore which is pretty sad.  This roller coaster called marriage has its up and downs, its twists and turns, but as long as we are riding together, we are always smiling at the end of the ride. 

Jeff got home early from work for a change which was a really nice gift!!!  Shortly after, the real gifts started coming.  The doorbell rang and a delivery man had a HUGE spray of roses -- 15 red ones for me and 1 yellow one for Mattea.  Jeff is so thoughtful and ALWAYS brings Mattea flowers when I get some.  Along with the flowers was a wonderful array of spa products sure to make me feel & smell delicious!!!  As if that wasn't enough, Jeff handed over a bag from Biondi Diamond Jewelers.  (I guess it's a good thing to have your wedding anniversary land on payday!)  He picked out a gorgeous sterling silver ring that is incredibly unique.  I love it! 

The boys were at a sleepover, so Jeff, Mattea and I went out for a nice Italian dinner.  Jeff & Mattea shared a plate of pasta, I had some yummy lasagna, we enjoyed some fruity cocktails and followed it up with some turtle cheesecake & chocolate cake (complete with candles!).  Mattea kept us entertained with conversation... she is super funny... and she had the waiter in the palm of her hand by the time the entrees came out.  What a fun night!

Fun Facts
Months we dated - 19
Months we were engaged - 21
Tracy's age when we got married - 23
Jeff's age when we got married - 22
Years married before we had our first child - 3 1/2
Years married before we had our second child - 5 1/2
Years married before we had our third child - 9
Blissful years we have spent married - 16

Pictures of the Week -- Week 40

Cody sliced his foot pad, so we tried to bandage it, but he kept tearing off the bandage.  I didn't want him messing with it, so in lieu of getting him a cone for his head, I used one of Mattea's Hello Kitty socks to cover up Cody's boo-boo.  It didn't last long, but it was sure funny while it did!!!

Mattea & Josh made root beer slushies today. They were quite pleased at how well they turned out.  (Yes, Josh is often shirtless.)

Alex & Josh's friend, Mikey, had a sleepover.  In the morning, they helped themselves to some cereal.  They mixed multiple types of cereal together and ate it.  I thought it looked disgusting, but they seemed to like it!

Apparently, the cereal wasn't enough, so I made the boys some pancakes. We added some whipped cream on top for fun!  (As you can tell, Josh added his own.  And he's also shirtless.  Again.)

The boys got all their gear on for an "airsoft war" in the field.  Don't they look bad ass???



Pictures of the Week -- Week 39

I took Mattea to the Taylor Swift concert at the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver.  Just like last year, we had a blast!  We decided to sit further away this time since it was much too loud for Mattea at the concert last year.  We ended up in the "nosebleed" section, but she didn't mind a bit.  My pictures aren't too great since we were so far away, but that doesn't matter.  We enjoyed the music, the atmosphere and our girl time.  Taylor puts on an amazing show.  Her encore included her strapped into a balcony zooming over the crowd.  It was out of this world!!!

 

Jeff gave Josh a project.  He had to shovel rocks on the side of the house to uncover the beat up weed control cover, put down a new cover and then shovel the rocks back.  It is a tough job and Josh is working at it slowly, but surely.  He did get a little bit of help from Mattea.  He's still got quite a ways to go.  I would say he isn't likely to be a landscaper when he grows up.

Josh and Mattea decided to reward themselves with some brownies.  They are quite the little bakers!

We love us some San Francisco!!!

Josh and Jeff met up with Grandpa Pete in San Francisco, California for a boys trip.  They went to Muir Woods to show Josh the sequoia trees and he was amazed at their massive size.  Jeff had told him about them before the trip, but I don't think Josh realized how big they really were until he saw them up close.  They also made a trek to Calaveras State Park where they saw more gigantic sequoia trees.  A ten-mile bike ride along the ocean was lots of fun and apparently wore everyone out - even Josh - who fell asleep in the car afterwards.  They enjoyed a nice dinner on Fisherman's Wharf and drove across all three bridges.  Unfortunately, it was very foggy when they crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, so they didn't get any pictures.  Everyone had a really great time!