I blame Instagram....

I can not even believe that it has been over six months since I last posted!...time sure does fly!!! Every time I think about catching up it just seems so overwhelming that I don't do it, but I have decided to go for it.  So much has happened in the past six months and I have not documented it here.  I have sort of documented it on Instagram, but it's not quite the same.  So, in an attempt to catch up I will be "back-blogging" as well as posting current stuff.   Be patient with me, this is a HUGE job, and I will no doubt go slowly, but the good news is I'm baaaack!!!

When we go to Adam and Julia's house I'm not sure who Cole is more excited to see, Adam, Julia, or Frank, the backhoe.  No offense to Adam and Julia, but I think Frank wins!  Cole loves him/it, but it's no surprise since he is obsessed with all heavy machinery, and as you can see, Kate likes to support that obsession :0)  She makes sure to point out all machines to Cole, and has him very excited for a ride in Frank this spring...she may even tag along...

Leaves!

Fall is such a great time, the first cool down after the hot hot summer, the slight crispness of the air...I love it!  I love watching the leaves turn colors, and I really love when they fall to the ground and you can make a huge pile and jump in it over and over again!  Well, the kids love that too!  I got to raking and made a HUGE pile, and the kids ran up and down the hill yelling and laughing and just loving life:0) 

 

Don't you just love a good leaf pile?!  

I love the looks on their faces! 

Update: Month Fifty Four

Because it's Friday the 13th, you get a bonus Kate update!!  Kate is 54 months old today...some might say 4 1/2...whatever :0)  Since her birthday, Kate has continued  to have a thirst for knowledge and can count past 100 and has recently starting doing subtraction.  We decided not to put her in preschool this fall, but she is about to start dance class again and she says that she wants to play the piano.  I told her we'd need to get a piano, and they are hard to get, and she assured me that "Oh no mom, we could just put it in the back of dad's truck!"...not hard at all!  I love all the cute/funny things that she says, and I try to write them down so I can look back someday and smile :0)  I actually need it now to remind myself how cute she can be, as she is a sneaky little devil and she doesn't love listening...two things we are currently working on...I'll keep you posted on that!  She loves to hike, and is able to do our whole "trail" as she calls it with no problem.  She especially loves to guess what animal left certain tracks or poop, then we look it up when we get home.   

 

 

 Sort of a half smile.

 

 

I hope Kate doesn't lose her love of swimming over the winter!

 

 

Such a good big sister!

Science Center

We did an overnight in Holderness, and even though is was raining in the morning, we outfitted everyone in raincoats (a staple if you live in New England) and headed to the science center.  This was by far the coolest place I have been in a while!  It was like a zoo set in the forest, and I would love to have a season pass with Kristina and the girls!!

 

 

It was a great opportunity to use the umbrella we had got at the bookstore!! 

 

 

Cole was checking out the mountain lion...or trying to anyway, I'm pretty sure we didn't actually see him.

 

 

Kate at the same exhibit.

 

 

Marc and I had matching coats, as did Kate and Cole, so it only made sense to get a family photo :0)

Cutie Patuties



Here are a few pictures of Kate and Cole from the past few weeks.  We've been busy with work (me, not them), getting the house ready to sell, and other random errands.  I've had my camera with me more and I'm trying to be better at snapping some shots during the day :0)



 

Swimming at Kate and Tony's pool.  Cole looks so mature in this picture...and big!  I think it's the way Kate is leaning in.



 

A rare gem!  Both kids looking and smiling!!

Lunch in the park...good times!

Missy Fish

Somebody became a serious swimmer while we were in Vermont!  In fact the first thing she asked me when we got home was where she was going to swim!...  We have since purchased a year pass to Jordanelle and been going a few times a week.  Pretty soon she won't need her floaties!

 

 

I love how Indy enters near the end...in true Indy fashion...he always seems to sneak into the shot :0)

Sibling love

 

These two just love each other! Cole didn't mind that there was no room for Kate (who he calls "Tay-tee"), he let her slide him over and squish right next to him. I hope they always stay that close ;)

Seven year itch



Marc and I recently celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary, and our "7 year itch" took us to a new home.  We have been "itching" to get out of our house for a while, but the more we talked about it, we realized that we wanted to get out of Salt Lake too.  SO, sort of on a whim, and because somehow the stars aligned to make it so, we moved to Park City.  Honestly, BEST DECISION EVER!!!  I love that we live on a dirt road!  I love that there are about three cars that pass the house all day (if that).  And most of all I love that the kids can open the door and go outside, and I don't have to worry about running after them...I know they'll be ok if it takes me a few minutes to get out there with them.

 

 

It really doesn't get much better than that!  We have such amazing views here!  (I do miss Mt. Olympus though!)  I feel like I'm on vacation every time I'm on the back porch.  Don't worry, I don't let them climb the railing...this was the first weekend we were here, since then Marc and I have cracked down on that!!!

 

 

Kate has PLENTY of room to ride her Skuut now!!  And I don't have to worry about the traffic!

 

 

Cole likes to say "hi" instead of cheese when getting his picture taken.  I love that he adds the wave!

 

 

What's not to love?!



Last day

Well, this post (as most of them lately) has been a long time in the making!!  The last day at Brighton was back in April... I was hoping to be able to ski with Kate for the last day, but Cole was a little under the weather that day, so we stayed home and she and dad headed up to the mountains.  Although I am glad that winter has ended, I am excited for next year when I can ski with our little ski bug :0)

 

 

What a lucky girl!!



 

Having a little lunch after few runs.

YES!

Cole has a funny way of saying yes.  You would think the "uh uh" he says is no, but it's really yes.  He was doing it for Kate and I one night at dinner, but as soon as I got the camera out he WOULD NOT do it for us....at least we know "NNNOO!" is no :0)

 

Ski bug

Well, it took me long enough to figure the whole video thing out...like 4 years...  The good news is that you can expect to see more video of the kids from now on!!!  It's like the new and improved And Then There Were 3!

Enjoy!

 

 

Kate has become quite the little skier this season.  She and Marc have gone up to Brighton almost every weekend for the past month...lucky girl!  Marc's having a little trouble keeping up with her these days :0)  

A few birthday pics

I posted an update for Kate's birthday, but never got to the actual birthday pictures.  Kate had a busy day with school in the morning and gymnastics in the afternoon.  We celebrated with a pizza party and cake with just the four of us...it was a good time! 

 

 

Kate looking oh so stylish in her new birthday shades! 

 

 

Ooh la la!

 

 

This party was all about shades and hats :0)

 

 

Showing off her new shoes (they are not only rainbow colored and sparkly, but they light up with each step!...she walked into the basement the other morning and I though the cops had showed up... :0)) and new jammies.

 

 

Kate requested a rainbow cake this year...a change from her usual order of strawberry cake.  I picked up a delicious chocolate cake at Whole Foods and decorated it with sprinkles...she thought it was great!

 

 

Blowing out the candles!!

Jungle gym

This is the craziness that ensues most nights after bath time here at our house.  Kate, Cole, and dad wrestle...and mostly dad gets beat up on!  I think Cole looks forward to this all day :0)

 

How would you like to have Cole stand on your head?!



 

I didn't get the picture, but Cole ends up using Marc's back as a balance beam...

Update: Month Fourty Eight

...And one week...  Boy oh boy, 4 years old!  I can hardly stand it :0)  I believe that last year I wrote that Kate was turning into a little girl, and now it's pretty official that she is one!  Kate is so amazing!  We are constantly in awe of her.  She has been learning to read (she can read about 15 words, and she is always working on sounding out new ones!) and she is a wiz with numbers.  She is doing the Kindergarten Brainquest cards, and she knows them all!  She really has a hunger for knowledge and learning that I hope she never loses!  When she's not working on reading and math, she can be found singing, dancing, playing with Cole, and using her crazy imagination.  She is always up to something, like showering in the laundry basket or playing the mom (while I play Kate).  Kate has been asking for chores to do...her favorites being feeding Indy and unloading the silverware from the dishwasher, so we made a chore chart that she can go to check off her tasks as she does them.  I'm sure she'll want an allowance next :0)  Her newest "big deal" has been learning to swallow pills, and maybe it's just because I'm a nurse, but I think that's super cool!  On to the pictures :0)



Kate and Indy have been best friends for 4 years now. 



Fashionista Kate...she made this "outfit" herself :0)



 

I have a hard time getting Kate to look at the camera and not make a silly face.  This is usually what I get.



A sweet little smile.  

How?

How is it that in 23 short days my little girl will be 4 years old?!  I won't go into any sort of update now, you'll have to wait for that, but just know that this little one is busy!!



 

She will slow down for Indy though, these two still meet on the kitchen floor to sun bathe daily :0) 

Siblings

There was a time when Kate was about Cole's age that I thought I did not want any more kids...I just couldn't figure out how I would manage to care for more than one...  Well, we all know how that turned out, and as hard as it is sometimes, there are times like these that just melt my heart, and make me thank the lord that I didn't have an only child!

 

 

Kate was showing Cole a movie on her camera, and he was just sitting there quietly in her lap taking it all in.



 

I love that they are not looking at me here.



Kate is the best big sister!

Inversion

I mentioned before that for the past 2 weeks we hadn't really seen the sun in Salt Lake.  What that really meant was that the inversion was so bad that the nasty, smoggy, pollution thick air was almost unbreathable, so to get out of it we were driving up to Park City almost daily for some fresh air.  This was one such day when I loaded everyone up and we headed out. 

Didn't last long

This was one of the last blue bird days we had in Salt Lake, and that was a LONG two weeks ago!!  The kids loved going out after all that snow...it truly was a winter wonderland!

 

All Cole wants to do with snow is eat it...Kate is nice enought to help him out.



 

Stuffing his face :0)



 

Kate enjoyed walking around in the "paths" as she was calling them.  

Playing Catch Up

In an effort to get some pictures up for you, I am going back a month or so for some random shots that I took.  Unfortunately, I get so caught up in the daily routine that I don't take as many pictures as I would like...Maybe I should add picture taking to the resolution list!

 

 

Kate loved having this Christmas blanket out!  She always laid it out and invited Cole into "her house".  Then he would lay down on it and Kate would drag him around the house!

   

 

Just hanging out.  They love to play on this chair, Kate always takes the cushion off so Cole can climb up by himself.



 

I think they were having a wrestling match :0)

A whole lotta love

After spending five months in Vermont, Indy came home last month.  Not to humanize him, but I'm sure the first time we all left the house and he was alone he breathed a sigh of relief :0)  Being home is quite different for him than being with Carol and Urs, but what we lack in acres to roam, no kids, and a strict feeding schedule we make up for in love :0)  Kate and Cole especially love Indy, and they show him quite often!

 

 

He's always stays put for a hug.

 



 

Cole loves getting in on the action!  In fact Cole was more than excited the morning that he woke up and Indy was here!  He (Cole) didn't stop barking all morning, and still a month later when he sees Indy he says dog, dog, and sometimes gives a little woof!

 



 

He's such a good boy!