Cabin Time

Brad got back from his SERVE trip with the high school students and was able to take a few days to recoup so we went to the cabin to get away. When we got there Cora almost immediately walked over to the woodburning stove, stopped about 2 feet in front of it and said "hot". When she is saying something is hot she puts her hand out in front of her, but not touching what she's referring to. Then she walked into the kitchen, approached the oven/stove and did the same thing! We were so surprised that she remembered this from being there a month ago.

One day we went to the Great Sandunes and played in the Medano Creek. It's hardly what most people think of when you hear "creek". It was fun to get a little wet and play with mud.

We also hiked to the top of the basin one day. I can't believe that it is only a 3.5 mile hike, round trip. It's so steep that it feels so much longer. We climbed from 9,500 feet to 11,500 feet in 1.75 miles. Actually, the hiking up wasn't the hard part. It was coming down that made my hips, knees and ankles ache horribly. Cora wasn't so happy about being in the backpack that long but overall she did OK. Last week was a little tough anyway...we think she's teething and she was cranky all last week. She seems to be doing better this week, so far.

Here's a link to more pictures loaded on Facebook.

A side note, Cora is "talking" so much! Her newest words are "baby", "poop", "cat", "orse" (horse), "wee" (either a slide or a swing), "hot" (for hot and hat), "na-nee" (goodnight), "tra-ter" (tractor), "choo-choo" (or more accurately "ch-ch" - for train), and "guk" (i have no idea why, but it seems to mean water or drink...).

She's also become fascinated with aircraft and always hears when one is flying overhead. She stops what she's doing, points in the air and says in a very high voice "ta-ta". I think the fascination started a month ago when I spent the night with Mom B. in Montrose while Brad and Dad B. went to get the Jetta from the cabin...Long story. Anyway, while we were there two airplanes and one helicopter flew really low right over their house and we could hear and see them very plainly (ha! no pun intended). Since then, Cora points out any aircraft she can hear even if she can't see it!

Cora is so animated and interactive; it's so much fun! She loves to give high-fives, blow kisses, wave and say "hi" or "bye", play peek-a-boo (but she cheats and looks through her fingers!). She is very active while reading books now, pointing at pictures of things she recognizes which are usually birds, cats, dogs, horses, babies, juice, tractors, ball. It's so amazing watching her grow!

Has it been two weeks already?

I guess we've been a little bit busy lately. Having a puppy around can really suck all your "free time" away with out you realizing it. Well, no worries anymore. Sadly, we decided that Zeke would be better off with a different family and that we would be better off with out a puppy for now. There were a lot of elements that brought us to that final decision and it was a very tough one for me. We had only had Zeke for about 5 or 6 weeks but I had gotten quite attached to him. I really felt like he was learning quickly and that each week got better and easier for me. The light at the end of the tunnel was continually getting brighter. I was enjoying training him and seeing him learning good behavior. He's going to be such a good dog when he's all grown up and I'm sad I won't be able to see him.

The simplest way to explain our decision is that we rebounded too quickly after Jack died and even though we thought we were ready to accept and love a new dog in the same way as Jack, we weren't. So Zeke is hopefully happily settled in with a new family and finding his new home more entertaining than ours! The family that took him has three school-aged children who understand how to play with a dog better than a 1 and a half year old. Best wishes, Zeke!

Gas and Cash

Gas prices are out of control. Anyone agree?
I'm curious what gas prices are around the country. Leave a comment with your location and average gas prices.

Grand Junction, CO $3.95

June Bug

Happy June! May was a such a busy month, but a fun one. Here's a recap of somethings that happened in May:
1. Trip to Mesquite, NV with the ARYP.
2. New sod laid in the backyard, the finishing of our Extreme Backyard Makeover.
3. Mothers' Day and Zeke's arrival to our family.
4. Piano Recital
5. Rafting trip with the high schoolers down the Colorado River.
6. High School girls' night at church
7. Cora's first circus
8. Memorial Day at the cabin with brad's parents and aunt and uncle.
9. A return trip to the cabin for Brad and dad to retrieve the temporarily broken Jetta, and Cora and I stayed with Mom in Montrose.
10. The opening of our pool! Yes, it's already been plenty warm to go swimming and the water is already at 75 degrees or higher.
11. JUCO! JUnior COllege World Series takes place every year in GJ and we went to a couple games this year. Even Cora went to a game - she loved watching the people in the stands more than anything.

I may be forgetting something, but that's the majority of it. It was a wonderful month in many ways. Here is a link to my Facebook album with updated pictures some of these things.


Memorial Day weekend through the end of the month was especially busy. Friday evening we had a girls' night at church for the high school girls and upcoming freshmen. It was a super fun night and everything went without a hitch. I only slept from about 3 am till 7:15, got home at 9, showered and flew over to the circus! It was a frigid morning - well, 55 degrees feels frigid after a week of 80 degrees! But as they say, the show must go on! It was Cora's first circus and she really got into it. She loved watching the animals the most and seemed quite enthralled with the other events for the first hour and a half. During the break they had a petting zoo that she enjoyed and after that she just wanted to walk around the stadium. We were pretty impressed how long she sat and paid attention to the show. The elephants stole the show for me. They did handstands! For real! It was amazing, I LOVED it! (I didn't get a picture because I was so stunned by it!)

After church on Sunday we drove out to the cabin. We haven't been there much at all this year and it was really good to spend some time relaxing with Mom and Dad and Uncle Harv and Aunt Millie. It was nice for me, too, to have so many people around willing to help with Cora and Zeke! Cora is at a very fun age for playing outdoors and she loved playing on Grandpa's tractors, pushing all the "buttons" and "pulling" levers and making tractor noises with grandma. She also got a kick out of throwing sticks and rocks in the stream near the cabin.

We drove home with Mom and Dad because the car seemed to be getting sick and we didn't want to kill it on the drive home. So Friday Brad and dad returned to get it and Mom and I hung out in Montrose. We went for a walk at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to see one of the dams overflowing. That was pretty spectacular. But even more exciting was that while we were walking a big yellow butterfly landed on Cora's sun hat! OF COURSE, I had decided that I didn't have to take my camera EVERYWHERE so I didn't have it along. Boy, do I regret that...not that I would have gotten the camera out fast enough for a picture, but it was so cool to see her expression at the butterfly on her hat!

One last little note: Cora is really starting to imitate our words and sounds. She tries to say "church" (ch-ch) and when I made the mistake of giving her a taste of my hot chocolate - which she wanted to drink all of - she tried to say "chocolate" (goclate). Mom and I could NOT believe it! We have so much fun with her!