Easter in Colorado

We have been so SO busy these last few weeks. Busy in the best way. Keystone for Spring Break, hiking the Paint Mines to see 55 million year old hoodoos, and a quick trip home to Arkansas where I was a matron of honor, Harbor was a ring bearer, and David was an usher in a family wedding. I've got lots of updates and photos to document and journal. I look forward to preserving all these events in the next few weeks, but for now, I want to talk about Easter. This is our 2nd Easter here in Colorado. Last year at this time, I was pregnant with Hollin and had a broken foot. Seems like a long time ago - and then it seems like it just happened. {Click here to read about Easter last year in 2014} This Easter was much like last years: perfectly warm weather with a cool breeze off Pikes Peak, the Front Range covered in snow, but yellow Johnny flowers blooming down below, and a great day of reflecting on Christ's miraculous resurrection.  This year, we are so blessed to have Hollin with us. Her first Easter was as sunny as the hazy sky glinting off the peaks.

We hid eggs in the house after the kids went to bed the night before.

We made nests with Easter grass and told Harbor to kindly let Henry collect the eggs in the nests.

His job was to find the more strategic eggs!

: )

My family in Arkansas sent a very gracious Easter box full of goodies {Legos!} 

and we were very thankful!

We used our tripod for pictures and ended up with some really special shots. 

Henry, at 27 months, is just getting old enough to stand 

alone and smile for pictures without having to be held.

My Easter rabbits!

{I could eat them with a spoon!}

My big Harbor is such a delight.

He owns my heart and I find that he is my biggest helper.

He just has such a sweet little spirit.

I love little girls in blue!

: )

Things I want to remember:

-After pictures, we went to eat at Chilies for lunch.

-Harbor was enthralled with the new computer thingamabobs on the tables where you can request drink refills yourself.  

-Henry sat in my lap most of the lunch and helped himself to my salad.

- Hollin needed a diaper change, but we forgot her diapers in the hiking packs from the day before. 

-After lunch, we took the kids to a big wooden park that was packed with probably one hundred people.  It was so busy, but Harbor made fast friends with a boy who asked if he wanted to play "Light Saber" with him.

I hope your Easter was warm and glorious and filled 

with deviled eggs, egg hunts, and chocolate rabbits!

Hollin is SIX months!

My Hollin is six months old!

My goodness, how she has grown!

From a warm, flexible ball of sugar and spice

 to a long, lean greenbean full of gummy smiles.

Her first six months have been magical.

Holidays and every "days" have been full of  awe and wonder.

We decided to recreate her "coming home" pictures in the front yard and

 besides the obvious change of seasons {green grass and lush treetops,}

little Hollin herself has gotten heavier and sweeter with each passing month.

She is still nursing exclusively and eating cereal and baby foods,

but is now sitting up alone for several minutes and rocking on all fours.

She laughs out loud on occasion and smiles at most any friendly face.

She is a great long distance {12 + hours} road tripper,

a fierce Rocky Mountain hiker {3 + hikes and counting}

a deep sleeper {5 hour stretches}

a headbow wearing fanatic {36 bows and counting!}

and

passionately loved by many

{the whole world + a few more!}

: )

  

She is the little sister to two big brothers and an absolute baby doll to this mama.

I love her :

blue eyes, creamy skin, nursing coos, gummy kisses, clenched fists, and babbling conversations.

In the whole world over, no one could ever replace my Miss Hollin.

Happy SIX months, bigs!

Cheyenne Mountain State Park

This weekend was incredibly nice here in our part of Colorado.
After a very busy Saturday with a birthday party at a trampoline park, we decided some R & R was in order and began researching new hiking trails to explore.
We decided on Cheyenne Mountain State Park's Coyote Run Trail. We had never been to this area to hike before, so it was a great day of adventure for all of us.
I brought my tripod to capture a few family photos I hope to include in our family yearbook.
David wore Henry, I wore Hollin {who nursed only once during the hike}  and Harbor was fearlessly independent and enjoyed climbing rocks and carrying walking sticks.
With temps in the low 70s and a cool breeze blowing off Pikes Peak, it was glorious!
Small scatterings of Scrub Oaks and towering Ponderosa Pines offered little shade, but the mountain to our west gave us an easy landmark as we navigated the trail.

David and his two boys

We stopped at the crest of a bluff where a quaint little bench offered an overlook.

The kids are all accustomed to the tripod and are becoming pros at looking and smiling.

Even little Hollin opened her little peepers!

Love this family of five!

David hiked ahead and led the crew.

I love that depending on where we choose to hike, 

we can encounter lush vegetation, thick Aspen groves, and running water- 

or desert like conditions complete with cacti and warbler birds, like Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

David and Harbor put their Cub Scout skills to good use with several map reading lessons.

I'm thankful David enjoys photography.

He  offered many times to man the camera,

and I'm grateful to make an appearance in several photos.

I want the kids to see that I was there with them someday.

: )  

A funny from this hike that I want to remember:

Harbor wears velcro type shoes to school everyday,

 but they bit the dust the day before at the birthday party and

 he had no choice but to don his lace up shoes.

It was a big deal.

Harbor doesn't quite have the hang of tying them down and 

he was pretty anxious about having to hike in them.

What if they come undone? What if he can't figure them out?

They stayed on the entire hike and I think he forgot he was wearing them after a time.

He likes to be proficient at everything he does and for whatever reason, the shoe tying is a huge source of stress for him.

This picture of him, so big, drinking from his Camelbak, with his lace up shoes, makes me smile.

Every milestone means so much to me.

: )

I love this picture of my mountain man.

There is nothing more attractive than a loving father and husband

baby wearing a giant two year old shadowed by the Rockies.

Heaven!

Or should I say, "Mountain Men?"

: )

Me with my babies

Harbor {6 yrs.}, Henry {2 yrs.} and Hollin {6 mos.}

These brothers held hands and hiked together the entire last stretch of the way.

David's back was ready for a rest and Henry's feet were ready to run!

Henry made a big deal of climbing over the smallest of rocks.

He would grunt and exclaim and hop and climb over rocks no bigger than my purse.

We got a great laugh at his expense.

Kids in nature is the best!

David had the camera and captured this moment in time of me and Hollin.

It is hard to see, but she is fussing and sucking on my fingers, quite ready to be nursed.

I looked up at David and smiled anyway, despite her unhappiness.

Years from now, I want to remember this moment.

The brittle, dry grass poking into my leggings,

 the sounds of small warblers, singing off key to one another,

 and the feel of Hollin's gummy little mouth gnawing my knuckles,

feeling so far from home under the shadow of the mountain in the late afternoon sun,

but yet knowing that my family is just there, around the bend, toddling the dirt path ahead of me.

I love her so, my littlest of littles, my papoose of a baby.

Hiking with my family is my sweet spot. I hope we hit at least ten more new hiking trails this Spring!

Snow Days, Soul Days

At the current moment, the snow is falling hard and heavy outside, blanketing the mountains in thick white frosting, fogging up the windows with fluffy banks of crystalline glitter, and freezing our bare feet to the kitchen floor. Valentine's Day and its parties and festivities are long gone {and so are its chocolates and candies!} but we have still been celebrating the everyday things at our house. Harbor passed out his cards at school

and was excited to go through the little trinkets and stickers from friends in his box.

We made plenty of pink and red treats.

And our robot Valentine box has sadly been thrown away.

I wish I had unlimited space to store all of these sentimental items.

I'm very thankful for my camera and this blog to record the little moments.

His light-up hair entertained us in the dark for several nights around bedtime. 

We had a family Valentine party at home where I surprised my boys with a vintage Gameboy.

I know it can't compete with the games on even a simple cell phone,

but it has been a neat experience to share something I used to love as a kid!

The boys opened gifts from Arkansas and from their Dad and me.

We snapped a few pictures of the house one last time before cleaning up.

And said goodbye to another holiday for another year.

We said hello to the snow.

12 inches this past Sunday

and six inches expected over the next few days.

Hollin turned six months and had her first nap in her crib.

We've packed up the swings and put away the bassinet.

I just can't believe it.

I've been enjoying the snow and cold.

I love the winter.

I love wearing boots and scarves and photographing the mountains.

My little sugar plum makes every season sweet!

And just in the last few weeks has begun to sit up alone for a few seconds.

I am still nursing exclusively, but at six months have finally introduced cereal.

She hasn't really taken to it yet, but she recognizes the spoon and bowl and kicks her little feet.

Harbor and I recently drew "food" pictures from the movie, "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs."

He is such a fun kid!

We are hoping for a chance to go snowshoeing as a family in the next few weekends. We've never been, but how fun to have a little adventure this Winter before Spring arrives! Baby wearing two kids and teaching a six year old to snowshoe, with two adults who have never been themselves can't be too hard, right? : )