A little bit of the Northwest...

We recently had our friends Aris and Chris in town from Salem, OR. It was so great to see them! The last time they were with us was February 2007. The best part was that they finally got to meet Ian:) We had so much fun together and Ian warmed up to them nicely. The weekend Chris was here we cruised up to Estes Park on Saturday. It was sunny when we arrived, but by the time lunch was over the snow clouds had rolled in and it was about 10 degrees colder. Brrrr! We got a few inches of snow on Saturday night so that made for a great football Sunday! Plus, everyone was starting to get Casey's cold and didn't feel up to much. Funny story, well sorta - last time they came to visit I was sick and got Chris sick. This time Casey was sick and got Aris sick. We had to work during the week so Aris just hung out until we got home at night. I was able to take a Friday off to spend with Aris - it was so nice to have a girls day...the 3-day weekend was also a bonus!



Casey had Saturday off and it was gorgeous! Sunny and 65 degrees. Can't beat it. So we headed into Boulder and cruised down Pearl St. It was nice and Ian had fun being able to run all over the place. We had lunch at Pasta Jay's - yum! Ian was such a big boy sitting at the table with us in his travel seat. That thing is so handy! He enjoyed making faces at the people next to us and playing with his food:) It was a late lunch though, so we were stuffed and tired by the time we got back home. Ha! Ian helped us burn off some energy though...

Aris had to head home on Sunday night. We were sad to see her go - Ian really missed her on Monday morning and waited at the top of the stairs for a few minutes thinking she would be up any minute. It was the sweetest thing! I miss my friend and am so glad to have had that time with her. We got to just sit and talk about this and that, not worrying about getting off the phone to get the dishes done or do the laundry. It was so wonderful to see her smiling face each night when we came home from work and Ian loved having someone to show off his tricks to. I am not sure when we will see each other again, but I am just hoping it isn't 3 more years.

Ian got an early Christmas gift in the mail this week - a new hat from Grandma Andrews! It is a bigger version of the apple hat she made for him as a newborn. This one has a ladybug on the leaf though - it is too cute for words. Thank you, Grandma!

Music and More

Saturday AM we headed to music class - the kids were fabulous in their costumes! There was a black cat, a lion, a monkey, and a couple of fairies amongst the group. Of course, our favorites were the flower fairy and the garden gnome! Ella and Ian enjoyed the class, as usual. They love to sit in the middle when they break out the instruments and test all of them out. Ella was feelin' the beat and got her groove on during a couple of songs!


It is always fun to watch the kids when Miss Kelly brings out another box. They can hardly contain their excitement, eager to find out what is inside. This week it was drums!! Ian was so excited. He wanted to grab all of them, but was okay with settling on two.

Later that afternoon we invited a few friends over to help us celebrate Halloween. Kate and Colin brought Ella - Ian was so excited to have a playmate. It is wonderful that the kids are at an age where they can play together. So much fun! Maggie, John, Uncle Jon and Heather joined us later for some pizza and snacks. We had candy to pass out to the trick or treaters, but we didn't get many. No worries for us though - we got to enjoy the leftovers! We put the kids in their costumes again so Uncle Jon could see Ian as the little gnome. Isn't he the cutest? I just wanted to cuddle with him all night. I was shocked that he kept his hat on for most of music class and when we put the costume on him at home. I think the dry run helped - I'll make a note of that for the future!

After the costumes came off it was time for PJ's. The kids had a blast hanging out in the basement. Ella loved Ian's chair he got for his birthday. She just wanted to sit back and observe (probably the full belly of chips and cookies;)! The kids did a good job of sharing the toys. Ian and Ella both loved the truck Ian got for his birthday. Ian was such the gentleman and pushed Ella around since she can't quite master moving herself along. It was so cute!

I think Ian's favorite part of the day was the tunnel! Ella brought over her portable playset and Ian was in heaven. He loved it! I think we scored a great idea for Santa...