We had the paints out today, and I asked Chase to paint a picture of someone who was special to him. After a few minutes, I came back to find this......I asked who it was, and he said Landon. Oh so sweet!! Just melts my heart (especially since these moments w/Chase are rare). I just had to share his painting and his proud smile hiding behind his picture.

....and the thunder rolled!

The day started off slightly overcast, but eventually the sun came out. We went to karate this morning, and after that went to see the movie Earth. Later in the afternoon, the boys played outside, Dwight mowed the lawn and I went to the grocery store (the sun was out and it was a lovely 70 degrees). Next thing I know, the sky turns black, we hear thunder, and the rain comes a pourin'. It was so fun to watch the thunder storm.....probably the boys first. They ran a quick sprint to the tree, and then sat in the house and watched all the lightening.....it was amazing! It lasted about an hour and then it was gone as quickly as it came....we are supposed to have thunder storms all next week...

Landon is so proud of his rollie pollies...

Surprise!!!

Wednesday was the biggest birthday surprise I've ever had...my mom showed up for my birthday and planned on spending 5 days w/us. I was so shocked, and very excited! We have had an action packed last few days. It started with taking the boys to swim class Wed. afternoon. Then into Boulder on Wed. night for their Farmer's Market. Thursday we went to the Denver Zoo....that is the best zoo...as good as San Diego at about a quarter the cost. Friday, we took a trip to Super Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping, and picked up the $3 storm trooper costumes....the best $6 I ever spent. Saturday morning we woke up and went to the Erie town festival...lots of fun activities for the kids...pony rides, train rides, bounce houses, food, games, etc. It's been a whirlwind since she has been here. We've gone non-stop. She leaves tomorrow and we will all be sad, but we will be in CA in 3 weeks....woohoo!!!

Trampoline

Dwight put the trampoline together Monday night...the boys were 2 happy campers. Thanks dad!!

Rocky Mountain National Forest

On Sunday, we took a spur of the moment trip up to the Rocky Mountain National Forest. It should only take about an hour to get there, but we got a little turned around on the trip there, and it took almost 2 hours....we saw elk and deer right when we entered the park. We decided to drive back to one of the lakes to hike around it....the wind was blowing like crazy and there was still some snow on the ground....it was pretty cold (luckily I brought everyone's ski jackets). We hiked around Lake Sprague, the boys saw ducks, ate snow, and found all kinds of treasures. It was a fun adventure for our first weekend out of the house (b/c of weather).

This n' That

We've been hanging out around the house the past few days because the boys have been sick. So, I've been making our house more of a "home". I bought a new couch for upstairs.....I hung my pictures over it last night. We bought Abby a doggy door, and Landon get's more use out of it than Abby. I can't keep him out of it!! These pictures were from a few nights ago right after bath.......

Karate

We've been talking about signing Chase up for karate for awhile now. I found a really cool martial arts studio that offers a "ninja" program for his age. We go every Sat. morning at 9:30. Today was his first day, he really enjoyed it...if he looks a little unhappy, he was just unsure of what the class entailed. The studio is so kid friendly, while Chase did his class Landon got to play with the 2 huge tubs of Lego's they had....and when the weather warms up, there is a huge playground right outside the studio...so cool!! When we got home he a Landon were practicing their "t-ya" punches around the house.....let's just hope they don't practice on each other.