Kaleb turns 7!

I can't believe that they grow up soooo fast! Kaleb has just turned 7 and he is becoming such a big man!

Well, decided to make him the "star wars" cake that he asked for. I did some research on the internet and found a picture of this really cool cake. I have pictures of it below. It is a scene from Episode III where Obi Wan and Anakin are fighting on the lava.


I think it turned out pretty cool. I put dry ice in it to replicate one of the steam vents on the planet, I am not sure if you can see it in the image below. R2D2 is standing on a white chocolate platform on top of one of the steam vents constructed from rice crispies and the terrain is made from melted milk chocolate. I must say it was a lot of chocolate!


Happy Birthday Kaleb, my little man!

Thanksgiving trip to Texas

We packed up our bags and made the looooong 15 hour drive down to texas to visit family for Thanksgiving this year. A few years ago Shawn's dad moved down to San Antonio. It was nice to see them again.

While we were there, we visited one of the missions which was pretty fascinating.


We got in some good family pics....







The kids had fun climbing around all of the old structures, running in and out of doors, rolling on the ground commando style; the stuff is hundreds of years old, so as a result, they kept pissing off the Park Service guides. hee hee hee BUT look how cute they are, you got to love kids man!






We also visited my Uncle Wayne and his new family. He is getting ready to deploy overseas for the second time. He has a wonderful new wife and a beautiful new baby boy named conrad. I can't believe that I have a cousin who is less than a year old! Well here is a picture of all the crazy kiddos... (minus Conrad).



All in all it was a good trip.

Halloween

This is a bit late, but here is the Halloween costumes for this year.
I made Skyler's Halloween costume, she is an ice princess

I made Kaleb's cape, and we found the mask and gloves at goodwill...go goodwill!

He was really scary this year. Scared a couple of little kids too!

Blogging

I am finding it quite challenging to blog now that we do not have an internet connection at our new apartment. In an effort to save money, we decided to not have cable or internet and MAN...I am going through withdrawals! So just a quick update. We have rented our home in Virginia, which is a blessing, and we have moved out of the parent's house to an apartment. Right now with things the way they are it would be difficult for us to buy, so we have decided to be patient and rent for a year. The apartment is nice, small but cozy. We are right at the base of pulpit rock so Shawn is able to walk across the street and take the shuttle up to the University where he works. The kids are still in school close to the grandparents so that grandma can still pick them up from school.

So in a nutshell there will most likely be "spurts" of postings all at once ever so often but stay tuned.

Skyler Soccer

This was Skyler's first official year playing soccer (last year she just practiced with her brother's team). I originally signed her up with Colorado Springs parks and recreation, like Kaleb, but the coach was absolutely horrible. I attended the parent's meeting and then the first practice and realized it would probably hurt her more then help her playing for the team. So I broke down and paid the extra money for her to play with a local club. It was TOTALLY worth it. She ended up with an excellent coach and playing in a league where they only played 3v3 without goalies. She got much more playing time and significantly more touches on the ball then she ever would have with the other team. She has done remarkably well; during her first game she scored a hat trick! Here is some footage of the action...

School Pictures

Another year older...
the kids grow up sooo fast!

Kaleb 6 1/2 years in First grade


Skyler 5 years in Kindergarten

Labor Day Camping

We took advantage of the Labor Day weekend and the nice weather to go camping. Unfortunately since Mommy was not on the ball and didn't reserve a camp ground weeks in advance, it took forever to find an available camp site. It is unbelievable the amount of people in Colorado who were camping this past weekend...I am talking like thousands of people. Well, anyhoo we ended up at a campsite in green mountain falls which is a beautiful area just at the base of Pikes Peak. We were truly roughing it with a bathroom facility, pool and club house that served a pancake breakfast! The kids had a blast and really enjoyed sleeping out in the tent. Kaleb was hoping to get a glimpse of a bear but he was disappointed and had to settle with only a raccoon sighting. Here is dad putting up the tent, and the kids enjoying the finished product.


The kids had a really great time in the pool and were really played well together. These are the moments you cherish because you know they can be few and far between. Here are some great shots of Kaleb carrying his sister around the pool on his back.

Jet had a blast with all the smells and sounds. Unfortunately he still can not be trusted off a leash, but we have a 50 foot lead which allowed him to explore a bit.

We enjoyed some quality family time and even had a couple of hands of go fish. Here is one of Shawn's "creative shots" of Skyler through the eye of the coffe cup. And of course a picture of Kaleb who is forever cheeeesing. My boy!

I am looking forward to many more camping trips in our future.

Cell phone

Two days ago, Kaleb asked me, "Dad, do you think I am pretty responsible?"
Hesitating, I said "yeah."
Then he said, "Maybe later, when I am EVEN more responsible, I could have a cell phone?"
Shocked by the request, I could only respond with, "We'll talk about this later."
He has yet to bring it up again, but I'm sure it won't be lone. What's the right age for a cellphone ... 7?

So...Ariane has added a voting buttons off to the left...let your voice be heard.

Posted by Shawn

Another family member

Welcome Jet to our family. As some of you know our family has been without canine companionship for over a year. And now since I am at home and not working, we have taken a leap of faith on a new friend. Jet is approximately 2-3 years old and we adopted him from the Rocky Mountain German Short-hair Pointer rescue . Some of you might be familiar with our history with dogs. Titan was our first baby...nearly perfect in every way. When we brought him home from the pet store at 8 weeks, I set him down on the floor in our kitchen and he walked straight out the sliding glass door did a right face on the patio walked out onto the grass and went potty. He was potty trained from the day we brought him home and he was the most loyal companion we ever had. Unfortunately his life was cut short at the age of 2 when he died from bloat the night I was giving birth to Skyler. (That is why her middle name is Titan-Lynn; Lynn is the surname of a old family friend). Well, to say the least I was devastated and I went thru about a month of withdrawls... I could hearing the dog scratching at the back door or walking around the house, a random bark here or there. We then broke down and bought Zoey a Great Dane puppy from a Colorado breeder. Unfortunately, in retrospect, she was our rebound dog. She was set up for failure from the beginning, never able to live up to the perfect dog that Titan was. After a couple of rough years wrestling with her strong will, we adopted a companion for her, Mike; another great dane. Mike was a gentle soul who just wanted to be loved. He was a bit skittish around the kids, I think he was neglected in his early years but he was a wonderful companion and a good buddy for Zoey. Well, when Intel announced they would be shutting the site here in Colorado Springs, I started looking for other work; this led us to Virginia. We packed up and moved our entire family across the country to a new community, including the dogs. As I adjusted to my new job, Shawn took the led role with raising our beautiful kids while simultaneously renovate the house we bought. Due to a number of factors Zoey and Mike didn't really fit into our family’s newly defined focus. We returned both Zoey and Mike to the breeder in Colorado; both found great new homes but I still greive over the decision.

As many of you know, we have now returned to Colorado and what we consider home. Shawn and I both have been able to spend a lot of time in reflection on our lives, our relationship, our family, and our priorities. We have started a new chapter in this "Morgan adventure" and with that came a new canine companion. We spent a lot of time analyzing past successes and mistakes. Regrettably, I could not bring myself to own another Weimaraner because of their distinctively common characteristics and features. However a german short haired pointer (GSP) is as close as you can get to a Weimaraner. We did the research and applied to be adoptive parents for an orphan GSP dog. We visited the rescue and met a number of wonderful dogs, but the moment Jet jumped into my lap and loved on me I new he was my new companion. Jet has integrated into our family amazingly! Fortunately for him, we have a tendancy to spoil our pets and he has found his place right smack in the middle of the bed with us. He is a beautiful dog that we suspect maybe flunked out of hunting school for being gun shy; man if he hears anything remotely like a gunshot or a firework...watch out! Poor thing. He will require some special attention and training but he is a beautiful, loving and loyal companion. Believe it our not he may be even more attached to us than Titan was.
So join me in welcoming Jet to our family...

Skyler starts Kindergarten

So my little girl has started school. They grow up soooooo FAST!!!! And it is so funny because she is her own little woman too. You have to check out the Hanna Montana backpack...it is all the rage. And below are some pictures of her in her new classroom. Of course, the parents of all 25 kids were taking all kinds of pictures, and these are the only 2 she would let me snap. You can't tell from the angelic face but she has got a bit of attitude in her. She is TOO young to be embarrassed by her parents ALREADY!!!! I think she has a bit of her Aunt Dani in her ... hee hee. You know we love you Aunt Dani, but she has the eye roll thing down pat!

First Day of School

Well the school year has already started. One of the main reasons we returned to colorado springs so early was because the school year starts so early here. Kaleb started August 6th and Skyler started August 11th. Skyler is only going half day to school which is really not half day it is only 3hrs...really what is the point of that. But I am able to have a few moments to breath.




Since we are still living with the grandparents, the kids walk to school, about a half mile. It is truely a family affair. Spencer and grandma join us each day for the walk to and from school. As you can see from the pictures Kaleb has a Star Wars Clone Wars back pack and Skyler is all about the Hanna Montana stuff. I hope in years to come they will be able to look back at this blog and see how funny it was that they could not live without these cool backpacks. When I dropped Kaleb off at school the first day, the kids wait in the gymnasium until classes start. His backpack was a conversation starter for him...it was neat to be a fly on the wall and watch him attempt to make new friends and meet new people. I am so blessed to have some beautiful and loving children!

Another family hike

After spending sometime in Virginia Shawn and I realized how much we missed Colorado. Well, we are not taking this beautiful country for granted any longer. We took another hike with the kids. This time we did one called the The Punch Bowls (http://outdoors.coloradosprings.com/traildetails.php?id=35); it is located on land owned by a missionary organization called the navigators. It was a challenging hike. It started off with a trail that led to some bridges that hugged the side of the canyon. Here we are at the beginning of our hike.


There were gorgeous rock formations all around us; every so often you had to take a moment and just look up the views all around us were breathtaking.


About a half mile into the canyon was a small waterfall.


The second half of the hike was extremely challenging and not good for the faint of heart. At times the trail was difficult to find, and we had to traverse some pretty steep terrain; climbing over boulders, wading in waste deep water, and there was an incline which was about 200meters that was virtually straight up. The kids did an amazing job.






The map said it was only two miles round trip but it seemed like so much more. Towards the end, Shawn and I were pushing Kaleb and Skyler up and over the sheer rock face. We sat and ate a late lunch by the 3 pools. Despite the 90 degree heat, none of us really swam because the water was bitter ice cold. Here we are pictured next to one of the three natural pools. We all had a blast and the kids are already want to go back.

Visit to Denver

Well, with the Democratic National Convention quickly approaching my dad has been busy traveling to and from Denver a lot. Well, this past weekend he was working in Denver and we decided to crash his hotel room. We took advantage of the facilities: jumped on the bed, played in the pool, and ate their food.


It was great. We took the opportunity to do some site-seeing in the Denver area. We went to a place called Tiny Town which is in the Denver foothills.

They have hundreds of these mini scaled replicas of buildings: houses, churches, mills, post office, stores etc. It was neat but I think it would have been cooler if the kids could go inside all of them. We rode the mini train and admired the craftsmanship. Some of the mini replicas have been their since the early 1900's when the place was established; can you believe it?


We also made a jaunt over to Golden Colorado where I lived as a little girl for a couple of years. It is amazing how things change. We went to the top of Lookout Mountain and visited Buffalo Bill's grave. Not terrible exciting but very beautiful.

Renaissance festival

Last month we went to the local Renaissance festival, one of my favorite past-times in Colorado. We went nearly every year for the precious 8 years we lived in Colorado. We went with some great friends and just walked around and enjoyed the shows...particularly the Dead Bob show. hee hee

Aunt Dani and Uncle Jason Visit

Aunt Dani and Uncle Jason were in town a couple of weeks ago for a wedding. It has been over a year since we have seen them so it was really nice to connect and catch up! The kids really loved hanging out with their aunt and uncle as well as their cousins...Terrance and Palmer (their dogs).





They went for a hike and got to ride in the cool jeep; here are a couple of my favorite pictures...

If you want to see more pictures from their hike, visit Dani and Jason's blog, linked at the left.

I think the highlight of their visit is when Skyler beat Aunt Dani at boxing on the wii hee hee...