Labor Day Trip to Missouri

We have made it a tradition to go visit Eric's Parents and Becky over labor day weekend. I was really bummed that I neglected to take more pictures, and don't have any with Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great time with lots of time to just relax.
Right at the end when Hope had had enough, Eric rolled down the window on the highway, and saved us from fussing for the 5 minutes that it worked.

First ride on the Gator, and the hat was definitely necessary. Hold on tight!


A couple of weeks before we were in Missouri, Hope decided that essentially mom wasn't allowed to do anything for her. I mean, change diapers, rock her before bed, give her a bath, make a sandwich. You get the idea? It definitely mad me feel bad, but a very wise husband pointed out that it was probably a good thing getting ready for a new baby in the house. Then I learned to enjoy an excessive amount of down time! This was the case when dad was gone and I tried getting Hope dressed. Once she realized that I was helping her do something, she ran upstairs, just like this to have grandma help.

Seth was so sweet to leave his tractor over at the McCains home so that Hope could have some fun. That was so nice, thanks Seth. Grandma and I learned the hard way that that was an activity strictly for dads to be in charge of. I don't think I have ever been so mad at Hope and laughing at myself at the same time, ever! Just picture a 2.5 year old on a moving tractor that thinks it is great fun to have Mom and Grandma running after her yelling for her to stop before she goes off into the brush, on 80 acres no less? The funniest thing was that she figured out right away how to move it into the faster gear. This girl has a need for speed!

Another highlight were the frogs. Eric and Hope had fun catching them out side and watching them from the inside catching bugs on the big windows in the family room.


Hope with Allie. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with Seth.

Our favorite trip to Jamesport for shopping. Then we drove to Kansas City to go to dinner at North, so good!

Abbie and Kyle knew a guy that has this huge farm with tons of animals. We had a lot of fun. I always say that Hope loves animals, but it might be more accurate to say she loves Dogs, cats and frogs. The rest she was a little nervous around.





The lama likes the smell of hair, so he just chased people around trying to smell their hair. One thing is for sure. I am totally out of place on a farm!

Thanks for all the fun!

Big Girl Bed

Well, I finally gave in to my fears and we changed Hope from her crib to her "big dirl bed", in her very own words. Yes, we bought the bed a year ago. Yes, she started climbing out of her bed two weeks before we went to Missouri to Erics family. Yes, we made her wait until we got back. So here is a picture of how I found her for a couple of weeks. There were a few places, like the floor in her room, that I didn't get pictures of but it kept us guessing every night where she would be when we checked on her.

First night in her bed.

The next morning when I checked on her. It took her about a week to roll out of bed for the first time. Ever since then she has slept wonderfully. I guess she knew what she wanted. Hmm I think I know where she got that from...

Colorado Cares Day

This year we helped during Colorado cares day at it was... well hot. I was fairly early on in my pregnancy and definitely very sick and tired. Hope and I walked along a fence and helped pick up garbage. Eric wasn't so lucky. He was put on the heavy duty, nasty job.

The highlight for Hope was riding in the bus. Well, actually it was a big van, but as far as she was concerned, it was a bus.

I felt like a total loser, by the end Hope was about as worn out as I was, so my friend Heather helped me carry her back. I swear I'm not usually that big of a wimp!

Random question...

As I have looked at the headstone pictures, I often wonder where the red heart that is on his headstone came from? Doesn't really matter I suppose, but I love having it there. Does anyone know where it came from?

Headstone

Sorry, I just realized that this has become a VERY long post. I haven't captured this in my journal, so I guess I am going to get it all written down here! Sorry one of the pictures is oriented the wrong way, but I don't know how to fix it!
I just realized that I never posted pictures from our first trip back to Estes. It was a pretty quick trip. We basically went to the Cemetery where we spent an hour or so and let Hope run around. Then we went to get lunch where Eric saw some old work buddies, then back home in time for naps! Every time we go, I am taken back by the beauty of the cemetery.

This is Hope hanging out, I am not very good at just letting her roam, but she was actually quite a bit further away then I would usually be comfortable with. About all I was worried about was wildlife that might think she looked like a delicious (Hopes new favorite word.) treat!


Okay, so we went back a week ago to see the finished headstone in place! It is really incredible. We are really so happy with it. It was hard to design, because it isn't like we knew enough about Gunner that would have any meaning. Just to share a little about the design process, it was quite interesting! I think usually the designer sends you 3-4 options, you say we like #2 and on to the next phase. Well, not in our case! We spent SO MUCH time trying different ideas, that I believe we became well known in the design office.

After dozens and dozens of ideas, we were getting so frustrated. I even asked Chelsea to help us come up with some ideas. Some of the components were from Chelsea's ideas and keen eye. One night we were standing in our kitchen with scissors and bits and pieces of all of the headstones spread out all over the counter. I decided I was too tired to think anymore, so I left and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth before bed. Eric came in and asked what I would think about a train. That was such a different idea than anything else that we had tried. I started to like the idea immediately. When I asked Eric about how he came up with the idea, he just said the idea came to him like most promptings that we have received over the last several months.

I have asked myself why we were blessed with a prompting over something that probably didn't have any eternal significance. Eric pointed out that Heavenly Father probably knew how important it was to us, so he wanted to lessen our burden. What an incredible blessing.

Once we came up with the final design, we went up to Fort Collins to sit down with the designer to make sure everything was perfect. We spent about an hour measuring every single square inch of that headstone multiple times. The designer, Dianne and I started chucking. I asked her if we were the "craziest" family she had worked with. Her reply, "No I had a family about 20 years ago that almost as particular!"

So, there it is we will forever be know as that "particular" family. I am sure that we were know as something else, more like crazy. When we walked into the office, it seemed like we were the main attraction of the day, and everyone wanted to see what this "particular" family looked like. I am hoping that we looked more normal than expected. After that we made one more trip to look at the final step before cutting into granite. Also a step that she has never asked anyone to come back for...


So, we were planning on going up for Memorial day, but decided to wait until the following week, 6-4-10. Eric took a half of a day off, so after nap time we headed up. We started out at the slides, where Hope had a blast and laughed the entire way down. She did a great job climbing all the stairs 3 times. The last time she decided she should go down the slide all by herself, and once Eric sat down, she took off running. Scared me to death! Thank goodness the attendant was fairly close and grabbed her before she took off DOWN the slide!


Then we stopped at Safeway to buy flowers.

A short drive later, we get to see the headstone at last!


Everything is so green around here because of all the rain we are getting, so beautiful!


Then we went and played at a little park by the restaurant we were going to, and walked along the river. The weather was so perfect that day as well.


On our way to dinner, it seemed like everyone was eating ice cream, so I politely informed Eric that I planned on having some after dinner! Hope loved it, we all chose the same flavor, Black Cherry. So good! As you an see some of us REALLY enjoyed it!

If I can also just say, when I looked at the headstone, the thing that touched me the most was the love and generosity that allowed us to get the headstone. Many sacrificed on our behalf so that we could purchase the headstone MUCH sooner than we would have been able to do on our own! I am overcome even today to think of it.

We had a truly incredible day. To me it felt like we were ALL together as a family one more time. Although it has only been 5 months, it feels like a life time ago, that we were asked to say goodbye to our beloved son. I am so sorry to feel like even though the pain has lessened, it is also harder to remember the sound of his cry and small of his hair. What I will never forget is the love that I feel and the ways that he has already made me a better person, more willing to do what it takes!

Thanks for enduring with this VERY LONG post!

Water FUN!

Last year Jordan gave Hope a flower sprinkler head, but it wasn't until this year that we really got to try it out. Right as we were headed out the door, we got a phone call that my Dad was on his way to the hospital with another heart attack. We only spent a few minutes before I decided to head to the hospital, even though we weren't sure what was going on yet. Hope had a great time and I still managed to take a few pictures. Probably because I already had the camera in hand!




There is a new park over by the office that has some really fun things. We were over that way this last Saturday, and we decided to go to the park. We didn't know that it has some really fun water features for the kids, so were weren't really prepared. We had a blast anyway, and just let Hope have fun in her clothes.





We were headed to the store, and didn't have a change of clothes. My brilliant husband had the idea to hang her clothes outside the window to try and get them to dry. We definitely had a few people pointing and laughing. I guess their Mothers never taught them it wasn't nice to point and laugh!

Getting caught up

Okay, so I haven't posted in a while, so I guess it is time to get caught up. I don't know why, but when I look at these pictures, I feel like my baby is growing into a little girl!


This night was really funny because it was a Sunday and Hope hadn't gotten a nap. She was so tired. She sat for an hour trying to build huge stacks from all of her puzzle pieces that she had collected. She definitely did not want any help, from anyone!

She dumped a whole bunch of OJ down the front of her and thought it was pretty funny.


It is so rare that I get a picture with her "real" smile, I just have to share.