Welcome to Greeley

By the time we got here after traveling all week we were exhausted!  And its a lot of work to move, you would think I would know that by now, but I forget every time.  


We were really excited to see our house.  About a week before we left this house basically fell right into our laps.  It was a great deal and we felt blessed to get it.  It is spacious, beautiful, clean...and basically in a non-official retirement community.  You could hear a collective groan of "there goes the neighborhood" as we unloaded our trailer while our boys raced around wearing life jackets, helmets, spider masks, and slippers.  The neighbors that came over to say hello informed us there are no children living in this neighborhood.  Later another neighbor came by and had heard from his neighbors that Clark was a doctor.  He said, "good, you can help us in emergencies."  He then proceeded to give us a run down of all the people in the neighborhood that have had heart attacks in the last 6 months.  I told Clark he better pay attention this week as he re-certified in his basic life saving skills...I have a feeling we may be using a little CPR while we live here.  


The whole unpacking thing feels so overwhelming at the moment.  The boys make a mess faster than I can unpack one box.  They were so excited to find their treasures again that have been stored in the trailer all year.  My new quest is to find a washer ASAP.  With having accidents and a poopy diaper getting smeared all over everything...I need a washer!!!  Taking the boys to the laundromat tonight while Clark was at a meeting wasn't as fun as it sounds!

But don't get me wrong we are having our moments of fun.  Rex, Bekki and family all came, brought us their couches, and helped us move in, and then took us to frozen yogurt...my highlight of the whole week!!!

Ethan has on a different "costume" every hour that he finds in another box.  I found the boys like this yesterday:

Despite the work of moving...

I'm just GREELEY happy to have a home!!!

Our Travels to Destination J: (The End of the Road)

With lots of tears we left Boise, we traveled to Utah and were able to visit Weston and both Ericas on more time before the move!  

The next day we made it to Durango.  Ethan had the time of his life playing with his best buddy cousin Henry.    We had a sleep over, lots of family gatherings and lots of running outside!  It reminded me of my childhood with my cousins, running and playing until we fell asleep.  While we were playing with family, Clark drove our trailer to Greeley, and then came back to Durango.

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day.  When I asked Ethan what he wanted to get Clark for a present he said a tie.  So we went to TJ Maxx and I let him pick any tie off of a rack.  Of course he picked the lime green sparkly tie!  There was no changing his mind.  Clark looked great wearing his Father's Day tie to church, and Ethan was so proud of his gift.  I need a picture of that!

The main event we stayed in Durango for was the cattle drive on Monday.  The last time we were able to participate Ethan was just a few months old so we were excited to take the boys this year!

There were best buddy cousin cowboys:

And ninja cowboys: 

And slightly grumpy, tired cowboys: 

And a lot of human fence cowboys: 

 But no one was more excited than the little Caden cowboy:

He clapped, jumped and cheered for the mommas and the baby cows as they came off the trucks.  He loved it!   

Caden fell asleep on the four wheeler coming down the road.

  

 Both boys loved their horse rides, but Caden refused to get off.  He loves his neighs!

Thanks for letting us come Grandpa!

Final Week in Boise

We spent our last week in Boise celebrating Grammy's birthday.  The boys really wanted to make her a crocodile cake...so we did.

The boys helped Grandpa plant a few things in the garden.

They were very helpful...until later, when Caden stepped on a tomato plant, and Ethan picked the two not yet ripe peppers off of the other plant.  Oops!

We had our last Family Night together and made reverent raccoon masks.

The boys got their last motorcycle rides in and a trip to Fanci Freeze.

We are missing BOISE!!!

EE Says...

Ethan's outfit of choice all day Saturday.  The life jacket made him feel like a super hero.

This little four year old makes me laugh!  With him I really never know what to expect, the things that come out of his mouth...

It seems like the last couple of weeks we've found ourselves many times biting our lips trying not to laugh out loud while Ethan says his prayers. 

Today Ethan had to give the closing prayer in Sharing Time.  In the middle of his prayer he stopped, looked at a kid in the front row and loudly said, "you are supposed to close your eyes," never stopping to think maybe his eyes were open too.

The last few weeks Caden has really wanted to help say the prayers.  While we were at the cabin Ethan was saying the prayer for dinner and Caden started repeating everything he was saying.  Ethan paused and I could tell he was frustrated then he said in his prayer, "and please help Caden not to be a mocking bird."  We all busted up.

While the boys were left with Grammy while Clark and I were out of town they got into dance parties.  And my boys love to dance, especially Ethan with his signature booty shake and belly roll.  Once the music starts it is like he has no option but to move!  Caden now requests, "dance potty," quite frequently.  The other night during one of these dance parties, Clark saw Ethan go into the other room get down on his knees and say a quick prayer offered in a dramatic preacher voice which basically consisted of the four basic words, "help us to dance!"  Oh dear.

He's a ball of energy and always moving, so I love when he stops for a minute and says something sweet.

When I was out of town one night my Mom asked Ethan if he wanted to come snuggle with her on the couch.  Ethan said, "Caden can snuggle with anyone, but I can only snuggle with my mom, she's the softest."  The morning I got home he laid in bed with me and kept rubbing my arm saying "I missed you, you are the softest."  I don't know where the whole soft thing came from, but I think its pretty sweet, unless he's referring to the fact that I am literally "soft," and then maybe sweet isn't the right word.

In the car the other day the boys were having a discussion about who is the silliest.  Then Ethan chimed in and said, "well, mom's the nicest.  I want to marry someone like you someday."  Awww, I love my four year old EE.

Time with DAD!

We have loved having a few weeks with Clark since graduation where he doesn't have any tests to study for, and no hospital to be at in the morning.  The boys especially have been taking advantage of their Daddy time.  Thanks to a Groupon Clark was able to take Ethan golfing for the first time for $4.

Clark said Ethan loved playing the first 2 holes...

And by the third hole he was ready for a break in the shade.

Poor Caden knew they were going golfing, and knew he wasn't invited.  He tried desperately-he put on a shoe all by himself, and found a hat to wear that he put on backwards-but regardless of his efforts he had to stay home and play with Mom.

Peterson Family Reunion

Last week my parents rented a cabin in Cascade.  It was so fun to have everyone together for a few days!  It was perfect, we boated, fished, ate, golfed, ate, road motorcycles, ate, stayed up late every night playing games, and then we would eat a little more and go to bed.   

A nice self timer shot of the whole group.

Caden loves his Aunt Erica(s)

Ethan snoozing on Grammy, and Grammy holding his Star Wars fishing pole for him.

This next series of pictures cracks me up.  Ethan loves catching the fish, even eating them, but he will NOT touch them!  He has some quirks about things that are so similar to my brother James it cracks me up!  So Ethan reeling in the fish with Uncle James was totally anti-climatic compared to the dramatics that happened when my Dad tried to get Ethan to hold the fish for a picture.

Watching the fish be netted.

Looking a little nervous while Grandpa gets it ready to be held for the picture.

Grandpa picking up the fish after it wiggled and Ethan threw it.

Ethan cracking up after he threw it again when it wiggled near his hand.  After about 5 attempts, we settled without a picture of Ethan holding his fish.

Clark learned how to ride a motorcycle on this trip.  The boys enjoyed lots of rides.

Caden's pile of pine cones made while waiting for a motorcycle ride.

Even Erica fished for a perch off the dock, and caught one within 30 seconds.

Even though it was rainy Ethan couldn't resist getting in the water while we fished on the dock in his sweat pants.

Me looking rather pregnant with my little perch, caught with Caden Star Wars' fishing pole.

Another self timer shot of the whole group.

A self timer shot that didn't quite work out.

 

Such a fun trip!  We loved it!

Des Moines Trip

I had been looking forward to going back to Iowa this whole past year!  We were so excited to see our friends, our old neighbors, and our church family again.  A couple of weeks before it was time to go my parents offered to watch the boys...so we had a kids free trip!  I was pretty sad to say goodbye to the boys when they dropped us off at the airport, but by the time we got through security so easily I could smell the sweet freedom!
The boys did great with no parents.  When I would talk to Caden on the phone he would say "mommy home now," but then when I told him I was still gone, he would say, "airport," in a sad little voice and then be over it.
We played hard in Iowa, we went golfing, to movies, out to dinner, to picnics, to banquets and of course graduation.  The best part of course was seeing our friends again!  We were so blessed to have the best group of friends while we were in Des Moines.  It was hard to say goodbye again, I know I will always be friends with these girls!

Megan, Jessica and their adorable baby boys that were born during this crazy past year.

Us, Karulaks, and Butterfield family.

Me, Jessica and Carolyn (so excited to see Carolyn in Colorado this fall!)

Tyler, Clark and Bryce

When we visited DMU the boys showed us where they sat and where they "learned" during the first year.  Apparently there were a lot of naps taken.

On Friday night there was a banquet for all of the graduates and family members.  It was a fun night.

Beckett was such a good baby.  He came along on all of our adventures and was so sweet!

On our drive back to the airport in Omaha we took advantage of having no kids and stopped at a few little Iowa landmarks that we had never taken the time to visit before. 

All in all it was a perfect trip!  I wouldn't have been opposed to having graduation somewhere tropical, but it was good to see our beloved Iowa again!