Catch-Up

Sorry for keeping all of our faithful followers in the dark over the past two weeks. We've been having loads of fun jet-setting across the country. Before we left, I had to snap this shot. John Thomas has really starting taking advantage of the rest and relaxation summer promises to bring. In fact, he's even sleeping past seven on most days.

In the past two weeks we've gotten to spend tons of time with the McAffry girls. We've gotten in lots of walks, a trip to the Powell water park and even an excursion to the zoo. Charlotte and John Thomas are both learning and growing so fast. We are really trying to work on sharing these days. Charlotte graciously shares her mom's lap and John Thomas willingly shares his goldfish crackers. Isn't this one of the sweetest pictures ever?

After our week of fun around town, we readied for our cross-country flight to Denver. John Thomas did awesome on the flight. People even complemented us about how well he behaved. I was just relieved that we didn't get banned from the airline and arrived in one piece.

We spent five days with the Vernon family in Denver, Colorado. Stella, Liz and Zach were the perfect hosts! They showed us lots of beautiful sites, grilled out yummy food and opened their home to our family. Thank you so much for an awesome weekend!

Thank goodness Liz's car has three rows of seats, because we were able to ride together all weekend long. Most of the time this was a great thing, but on our way home from hiking we had two incredibly tired irritable babies (mostly ours) who didn't want to take a nap. He actually went the whole day without a nap. I hope that doesn't happen again anytime in the near future.

We went to Boulder one day for browsing and dinner. Boulder is a very cool city. Neat shops, yummy restaurants and interesting street performers. This guy is actually wearing mirrors. Please notice the Windex and paper towels. I wonder how many times he's cut himself just putting his work clothes on. We ate at the Rio while we were there and it was fantastic Mexican cuisine.As you can tell from the picture, John Thomas loved it all - especially the black beans.This was the sunset we came home to after our evening in Boulder. It's like they live in a postcard everyday. Although a picture never does it justice, God's artistry was breathtaking.

We spent one day in the mountains. We were at nearly 10,000 feet above sea level. On our drive we saw elk and mule deer. There was even snow on the ground all around the hiking trail. What a beautiful place.

We capped off our stay with the Vernons with their annual fourth of July block party. There were tons of families, all the burgers and dogs you could eat and one of the best fireworks displays I've ever seen. Unfortunately John Thomas couldn't stay awake for the show, considering the two hour time difference. Maybe next year. We literally went out with a bang and couldn't have had a better visit.

When we got home, we had all sorts of garden goodies waiting on us. We have learned that John Thomas is a fan of fresh garden veggies. He eats a cucumber everyday and this was our first tomato. I was letting him hold it and the next thing I knew, he was stuffing it in his cheeks.

We ended our two week hiatus with a trip to the zoo with my girlfriends and their babes. All the kids did great. John Thomas loved the whole trip except for the up close encounter with the gorilla and the merry-go-round. Since "dog" is one of his favorite words, he called every animal at the zoo a "dog" no matter the shape or size. I can't wait to see what adventures we have waiting for us over the rest of the summer!