Thanksgiving in Denver

Kyle, Abby, Derek and I traveled to Kyle's sister's in Denver - actually Centennial, for Thanksgiving.  Russ, Paige, and Neelly had to come separately since babies take up a lot more room proportionally than their size.  Jenna, Lori's daughter, and Neelly are getting acquainted. ( And 1/2 of Austin in the picture)

I didn't take a bunch of pictures and didn't realize it until we were getting ready to go to Austin's playoff football game.  He goes to Grandview High School which is really close to their house.  Grandview was playing Columbine in the semi-finals.  Below are Lori and Brad all decked out as Wolf parents.  Kyle got up at 5:30 that morning to help feed the team at 7am.  Their game started at 11am.  

I was impressed with the number of people at the game.  Brad said it was one of the bigger crowds he had seen at any game.  Usually the bigger the school, the smaller the following.  In Colorado, 5A is the largest classification.  I think Brad said there are 2600 in Austin's high school.

It was a great ballgame, but Grandview lost. 

The ballgame crowd.  Derek, Abby, Jenna, Lori.  Back row - Bradly, Brad, and Kyle.

We had a great time and even though we didn't go up into the mountains, there was a great view of the snow capped peaks from Lori's house.  The weather was warm enough to be outside without a jacket which is always good.  We did a little shopping on Friday, but mainly visited, played games, and watched ballgames.



Another Weekend

The weeks roll on fairly quickly.  This weekend I went to Manhattan on Saturday to keep Braden while Tamara was giving a horse riding lesson.  Blake was at his 151st bachelor party.  My goodness, surely his friends will all be married soon! 

Braden and I first went to Hobby Lobby to get fabric for stockings and some Christmas things.  He was a good boy in the cart.

Note to his parents, I did use the cart cover thing behind him until he had to get out for a bit and then it went behind him. 

Then we were going to go to the zoo in Manhattan, but they don't open until noon during the winter and I thought that was too late to have a good time and take a nap.  So we went to McDonalds for our treat.

Note to parents - he had milk instead of pop.  The downside was he wanted to hold it himself and that wasn't so successful.  Also you can still faintly see the mark on his cheek which is a bite from a boy at the babysitter's.  Better the bitten than the bitee I guess.

Then we went home for a little play time and nap. 

In the evening, I fixed soup and we went to Paige and Russ's for the KSU game.  Neelly was really excited even though she forgot to wear purple.  I told Paige I have a hundred pictures with this expression in different outfits.

Then Paige helped and the Wildcats had a good play, and we got these.

Not to worry.   One of her favorite things to play with is the infant Tylenol bottle you see.  Or the wipes wrapper on the left hand side. 

Weekend

Russ and I tag-teamed to keep Neelly this weekend while Paige was gone to Women of Faith.  We got along just fine, but I didn't get too much else done!  Neelly is showing off her new thing - lifting her arms so she will get picked up.  Even if I was sitting right next to her, she would do this to sit on my lap. 

She is facinated with the computer screen, just like her cousin.  Maybe I am too. 

Holy Cow

Our first trick-or-treaters were two farmers and a "Holy Cow".  That is the halo on her head.  Kyle guessed she was Dairy Queen which I thought was kind of clever.  They received the grand prize of a chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn dinner.  We thought about asking later trick-or-treaters if they would like a chicken fried steak, but decided to keep them for ourselves, and the crew pretty much wiped out the gravy and potatoes. 

Abby also came home for Halloween - actually for a haircut.  Unfortunately, after her haircut she looked like this.

She got her first speeding ticket ever by Garfield school during a school zone time.  She pulled over to let the flashing lights get to the place it needed to go, then they pulled in behind her.  So she was going 27 in the 20 and is $85 poorer.   The rest of us have spent quite a bit of time feeling really sorry for her. 

I'll be hopping tonight answering the door.  We usually have around 30 kids, but a brisk business so far this evening so we might have more with the nice weather.

Birthday - A Little Late

My birthday was the first of October and I am just late getting pictures downloaded to share.  Kyle fixed the meat, and everyone else brought the rest of the meal.  Abby and Derek brought the above Dairy Queen cake which is a favorite.

We were glad my parents could be here too, actually I think it is the draw of these two!

I got out the Little Tykes car that my parents gave Blake when he was almost 2.  We didn't ever take the car outside as there was plenty of room in the old house to ride in the car.  Braden is old enough to really enjoy getting in and out.  Neelly wasn't quite as sure.

Here is an old picture with the kids in the car.  I know it was in the fall of 1986 because Blake broke his arm the Sept. he was four. 

There is a reason this is blurry.  Hold on Neelly!  Actually don't send me concerned notes.  There was someone right beside her.

It was a great day with everyone there.

We're Growing

Neelly is needing a little assistance to sit up but is doing well for not quite 6 months old.  Braden isn't so sure about the whole sharing thing.  If I am holding Neelly, he crawls over and pushes his way on to my lap too.  His new thing is to say, "No, no, no."  What fun!

This Girl

This girl is engaged!  Wow, how did time go by so quickly.  She loved the Power Rangers, playing with any ball, and being outside.  But something happened and she grew up.

And got engaged!  Abby and Derek will both graduate from KSU in May.  She has applied to different physical therapy schools and will find out where she has been accepted in December or later.  Derek is in Industrial Engineering and will wait to see where she ends up.  He is from Yates Center and they have a lot in common.  He is a FarmHouse man which fits well in our family and an old 4-Her.  Welcome to Derek!  Hope he is ready for us.

But if you think all the outdoors is out of this girl, you are wrong.