Something New and Something Old

Besides having a great time in Colorado at the Women of Faith conference I drove back with a full truck.  About a month ago Emily started climbing out of her crib so we knew it was time to ditch the crib and find her a bed.   After a little searching I found a very cute and super fun playhouse bed on Craigslist in Fort Collins.  Thanks to my wonderful dad and sister they went and picked it up for us.   Emily just loves the bed and the small little playhouse has been a big hit with her and Caleb. 

Besides the new bed, I also brought back my parents piano.  We are planning to have Taylor and Brandon start piano lesson in January.

A Weekend of Fulfilling a Dream of Hope, Love and Remembrance

About six years ago my Mom expressed a desire that she would love to take all of her girls to the Women's of Faith Conference in Denver sometime. Unfortunately it was not long after she expressed her wish that we found out she had cancer which lead to her passing shortly after that. So this past March when my sister Bonnie called and proposed  the idea of having all of us girls go to Women of Faith the last week in September I was all over the idea.  The week finally arrived and thanks to my amazing husband for playing super daddy and managing all the chaos at home I got to spend an incredible weekend with my sisters in Colorado.    It was a weekend full of tears, praise, prayer, laughter, food, football and great fellowship!  I am so blessed to have two amazing sisters that are my best friends!

So it was fitting that my first stop in Fort Collins was to see mom.

The three girls - Me, Sheri and Bonnie getting ready to leave for Women of Faith



 Thanks to my awesome cousin and dear friend Darci, we had front row tickets to the Denver Bronco game.  Even though the Broncos lost it was tons of fun and an amazing experience.

The view from our seats!

 Tim Tebow

Buddy Walk 2010

 Since the Tri-State Down Syndrome group is kind-of small we only host a Buddy Walk every other year and since this was an off year we decided to attend the Sioux Falls, SD Buddy Walk.  It turned out to be an incredible day and lots of fun for the kids.  One of the great highlights was meeting Chris Burke, a famous actor from the 1980's TV show "Life Goes On".  Seeing Chris on TV as a kid helped me see beyond many of the false stereo types at are associated with people with Down syndrome.  Who would have known that this amazing little boy would change our hearts, lives and souls so much or that because of him we would make friends with some incredible families and build amazing friendships.  It was an honor to celebrate and spread awareness of these incredible individuals at the 2010 Buddy Walk! 

Brandon, Taylor, Caleb and Lori with Chris Burke

 Caleb and his friend Cheyenne

 Caleb and Daddy having fun

Chris Burke

Brandon and his buddy Tavian

Taylor, Caleb, Tavian, Brandon and Kadin

Emily and Caleb - A.K.A  Double Trouble

Emily

The whole family

Taylor and her friend Kadin



1st Day of Preschool

Today was Caleb's first day of 4 year old preschool. This year he will be attending a traditional preschool for 4 days a week in the morning without an aid. He was very excited to go to school and despite being a little nervous as we entered his classroom he had a great day. He has an amazing veteran teacher that is genuinely excited to have him and sees him as a benefit to the class. We can't wait to see all the new things he will learn this year. We love you and are so proud of you Caleb!

First Day of Preschool!

Took a few tries, but we finally got a good smile!

First Day of School

Taylor and Brandon went back to school last week and I think everybody was ready. Even though they were both a little nervous, they had a great day and loved their teachers. Taylor started 3rd grade and the big talk was having tarantula in her room. Brandon started 1st grade and was super excited about having a bearded dragon in his room. I'm just glad they had a great day, love their teachers and that the spider and lizard are both at school and not in our house.

Brandon being silly

Taylor saying she is a little nervous.

A Special Visit

Wow it has been a couple of very busy weeks for both Charlie and I so now it is time to play a little catch-up. At the beginning of August we were blessed with a visit from Charlie's brother Chris, his wife Sveta and their new baby Alex. This was this first time we had been able to meet baby Alex and the kids could not get enough of him. Being the great big brother and sister they are, Taylor and Brandon really enjoyed holding, playing and talking to Alex.

Sveta, Chris and Alex

The kids - with baby Alex

Baby Alex - it's he so cute!

The whole gang!

All the kids!

Mall of America

During Chris, Sveta and Alex's visit we all drove up to the Mall of America for a couple days of shopping and fun. It was a fun trip and both Taylor and Brandon surprised us by riding some pretty big roller coasters! The Mall of America
Taylor and Alex .

The roller coaster that Taylor went on twice!

The roller coaster that Brandon loved!

The bumper cars - Caleb, Taylor and Brandon loved these!

Taylor getting her dolls hair done at the American Girl doll store.

Caleb riding the Big Rigs - he could have rode this about 5 times and could have rode it all day!

Emily and Brandon with Cha Cha from the Rainforest Cafe

The bumper cars - round two or three?

Brandon and Alex

Brandon having with Alex