That's a lot of dirt!

Four yards to be exact. It's for our raised bed vegetable garden. John moved most of the dirt, but we all pitched in. Aaron had a good time helping. He wanted to help shovel. Sometimes he wanted to shovel the dirt back out of the raised bed. We got some seeds planted. Mostly lettuce, beans, tomatoes, jalapenos, squash, pumpkins, peas etc. Hopefully we will be eating fresh veggies soon!

Aaron did a great job helping! I'm pretty sure he enjoyed playing in the dirt all day.

Home Improvements!

We are still finishing a few details, but our master bathroom is pretty much done! We did the remodel ourselves. When I say ourselves, I mean John remodeled it. I held stuff and picked things out :)

I still can't believe what an awesome job John did! It took a while, but it was worth the wait! He expanded the shower which makes a big difference. Eventually the white shelves will have a door. We would like to add a glass frame-less shower door to the shower stall. We still need to put the trim back up. The last step will be adding some decor!

It has been wonderful to have the extra bathroom. We especially appreciate it when we have company. This has been our biggest improvement to the house so far. We are quite pleased with how it turned out!

Before:

You can't see the sink in this picture. It was baby blue and absolutely filthy. The walls were really dirty as well. The flooring was very dirty and marred up. The smell was pretty bad too. We referred to it as "psycho killer bathroom".

We could not believe the shower. There was so much mold! On the side that the water was hitting, the owners tried various fix-it methods. There was a rubber mat glued to the wall, under that was a piece to wood, next was some foam. It was pretty bad!

After:

I love the slate deco!

Granite counter top. The deco is the same as the shower.

New cabinet!

John tiled the ceiling in a diamond pattern. It looks great. He also added a little shelf and ledge. The toilet is new. You can't see the floors, but they are slate as well.

Thanks John for all your hard work!

Memorial weekend

Memorial weekend turned out to be a four day weekend for us. John's RDO (regular day off) fell on this past Friday. We had to take advantage of it so we headed to Colorado Springs. Aaron got to hang out with his grandparents, great-grandparents and many of his aunts and uncles.

Saturday morning we went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It is such a pretty zoo, I always enjoy visiting. Aaron got to feed a giraffe! He was a little unsure of such a big animal. He finally got brave and fed the giraffe some lettuce and patted it's nose. The meerkats were a big hit. One was running along the enclosure. Aaron ran back and forth with the little creature. He is still talking about the meerkat!

Feeding the giraffe and watching the meerkat.

Having fun at the zoo!

We also went on a little hike. It was fairly warm out but very pretty. Towards the end we came across a little quartz quarry. All of those chunks of white rock almost looked out of place. Aaron had a blast hiking around and throwing rocks.

A big weekend!

This past weekend was a big milestone for our little family! John and I left Aaron with my parents and had a weekend away. This was our first trip with just the two of us in almost two years. It was the first time Aaron and I had ever spent a night apart. All three of us had a wonderful time!
Early Friday morning we drove to Grand Junction and dropped Aaron off at my parents house. Aaron absolutely adores his "Nan" and "Pops". He was thrilled to see them! Besides offering to keep Aaron for the weekend, my parents also let us take their truck and camper. Oh, and my mom's (really nice) mountain bike. Yeah, they are awesome! John and I loaded up the camper and said our goodbyes. Aaron wasn't upset at all. Instead he reached for Nan! It felt a little strange to drive away without our baby.

We headed west to Moab, Utah. It's just over an hour from Grand Junction. After much searching, we finally found a campsite. The Moab Half Marathon was that Saturday, so the town was busier than usual. We did end up with a nice little spot next to the river. It was so nice to just sit, relax and watch the sun go down.

Saturday morning we went into town to pick up bike tools and a guidebook for climbing. We decided to mountain bike one of the easier slick rock trails. Neither of us had mountain biked recently so it was a good warm up ride. Later in the afternoon we drove up Kane Rd for some rock climbing. We climbed a few routes and enjoyed the sun and the views. That evening we went back into to town for some pizza at a favorite restaurant.

After such a fun warm up ride, we decided it was time for a little more challenge. After asking around at Poison Spider bike shop we decided on "Sovereign". What a fun ride! Nice single track, but a little bit technical too. Both of us joked about being reminded how much fun mountain biking is! We don't get to ride together as much as we used to so it was quite a treat.

We are so blessed to be able to enjoy a weekend like this! It was just what we needed. I am so thankful that John and I love so many of the same things and enjoy spending time together. It was wonderful to get back to Grand Junction on Sunday and see Aaron. We definitely missed our little guy! Here are a few more pictures from our weekend.

Mother's Day

A couple of years ago I became a Mama! My son is amazing and I am FOREVER thankful and grateful.

Pregnant with Aaron!

Just hours into Motherhood...

Just days old. Oh man was I tired!

My sweet little guy!

I am also incredibly blessed to have an amazing Mother of my own. She raised me right, is an encouragement and a friend. She is beautiful in every way. I hope to be as good a Mother to my son as she was to me and my brother.

My mom and I!


Enjoying a ski together!



However, I can't help but think of those who have lost Mothers, pregnancies, children and those who battle infertility. I think my dear friend Jenn said it best: "May peace and hope be yours today".

John at work...

Alright, so this isn't what he does everyday!

Aaron 20 Months!

It has been a while since I posted an update on Aaron. He has become quite the sweet yet strong-willed toddler! He is a very gentle child. I typically do not worry much if there are babies nearby or if he is holding something breakable. Aaron is also very affectionate, quick to give hugs and kisses to me, daddy, the dog, the chickens and of course his stuffed toys! As most toddlers do, he certainly has a will! Discipline is a large part of our day, with time-outs becoming more frequent. I think he is getting it though. Just today he sent himself to time-out after hitting the dog. He sat still starring up at us with a sullen look on his face. What a funny little guy!

We continue to monitor his food allergies. Milk, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts and sesame are on the AVOID list. He will be re-tested when he turns two. We are hopeful that he will out-grow some of the allergies. It takes some creativity but it isn't too bad. We just roll with the benedryl and epi-pen in tow!

Anywhere Aaron goes he runs. He loves to run! The playground is a favorite place, he loves the slide. He now is putting two and three words together. He has an enormous vocabulary! Chasing Adah (the dog) is a common pastime. Adah is liking Aaron even more these days now that he can throw her ball! Taking care of the chickens is a top priority for Aaron. He loves to help feed them treats. Other favorite things include: Elmo, eggs (not eating them though!) instruments, baths, other kids and animals.

*The photo above was from our ski trip to Dillon a couple of months ago. (Photo courtesy of my mom!)