Quality Family Time | Fort Collins

We made it to Ft. Collins last night after saying goodbye to the Frey's in Denver. And while we were sad to say bye to them, we were excited and happy to get to spend some time with Ben's side of the family, many of whom we hadn't seen in quite some time.

Before we left the house to meet Marian and Sylas at their home and then go to lunch, Noah helped Grandma water her garden. He was quite the big helper and really just wanted to do it all himself.

After lunch we got to meet, hold, love on, kiss, and cuddle our newest nephew, Levi Christopher, born just this last Saturday. I'm not sure who was more pleased with him, me or Amanda and Eric, his parents! But I do already love this little guy to pieces!

In the mean time, the two older boy cousins were having epic Nerf gun battles outside with Daddy and Uncle Eric, dressing up, and just being boys.



While Ellie convinced Aunt Marian {and eventually Aunt Amanda also} to play "girls" {Strawberry Shortcake dolls} with her.

All in all, it was a day full of quality family time. ♥

Last Day with the Frey's | Colorado

It was a little bittersweet leaving the Frey's today. We love them dearly, are going to miss them bunches, and are extremely sad to see Greg having to deploy later this year. We had a fantastic time with them and the only redeeming thing about leaving them was that we were going to go finish up the rest of our trip by visiting family.

But before we left, we had to get a few shots in of the kids in their matching clothes! I had bought the girls the matching dresses before we left for our trip, but the boys' matching shirts were not nearly as well planned! When Noah came upstairs in his robot shirt, Angie exclaimed that Ethan had one too, so she dressed him in his also. I *loved* that they were all matching!

We ran a few errands in the morning and in the afternoon, we headed to Denver to meet Ben's Mom and Dad at Texas de Brazil for dinner. We got there with a little time to kill, so we walked around the shopping area. The kids were entranced by the water fountains... and I was a little nervous that one of mine would get soaked! ha!

Dinner was fabulous. But, then again, when has Texas de Brazil ever let us down?

Friends, we love you dearly! We'll keep you in our constant prayers as Greg's deployment approaches and we look forward to getting to see you all again REAL soon!! Thanks for all the fun!! ♥

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Daddys, Daddys-to-be, and Trying-to-Become-a-Daddy Daddys!

And a special Happy Father's Day to one of my favorite Daddys, my Daddy-Ben:

I love you Dear One. I couldn't imagine taking this journey with anyone but you - you love me, you love our kids, and best of all, you love our Lord. You. are. AMAZING! And you are such a fabulous Daddy to our kids.

And, to my other favorite Daddy, my Daddy-Man:

Happy {30th} Father's Day, Daddy-Man! I love you! Hope you are enjoying Europe and that the girls bought you a pint for us! ;)

{I really wanted to post the one of you holding me while I was holding BB when she had just come home from the hospital, but I couldn't find it don't have a copy. And Ben and I both liked your big grin in this one.}

***

This morning, we loaded our Sequoia back up and headed out to Shelly and Jeff's for a little more family time before we headed back home to Texas. We spent the morning and part of the afternoon out on the farm and then went out to eat with just the immediate family {minus Marian and Sylas} before starting the drive back home. Here's a few of the photos+words:

Marian and Sylas were enjoying their breakfast up on the hay bales and Noah, who couldn't be left out, joined them with help from Daddy.

But only to sit. Not to eat. {A recurring theme over the weekend.}

In another recurring theme for the weekend, Ellie ate his biscuit instead.
Out of his hat.

I ♥ these little stinkers.

Colorado is really pretty... during the summer! ;)

Poppa has been looking forward to taking Noah on the four-wheeler since he found out that we were coming. Noah was pretty excited about the "moto-sicle".

And willingly wore the helmet. {He probably knew that Mommy wouldn't let him go if he didn't.}

Carol said she wasn't worried about Noah... she wanted to know how I was. Umm, yep. My heart was beating a little faster. {Okay, A LOT faster.}

I sidetracked myself for a moment by giggling at my classy little niece... that's a piece of cake and a bag of brisket.

Oh, but wait. There goes my heart again.

As they were coming back up the road, all I could hear {over my heart that was slowing back down} was "Whooo!", "Ya-hoo!", and "Whee!" from Noah. Thanks Poppa Haze- I know he loved it!


Thanks for all the fun and we're so glad we got to see ya'll and celebrate with you!

Celebrating {Eric and Amanda}

{Just a forewarning... it's going to be a photo+words heavy post.}

***

Ben's brother, Eric married his long-time sweetheart Amanda on Thursday during a small ceremony. {Congrats again, you two!} Since the ceremony was really meant just for the parents, a family reception/party was planned for today - hence the reason why Ben, the kids, and I came to Colorado for the weekend! We had a really good time and got a chance to catch up with some family members that we hadn't seen {or in some cases, met!} in a while. Here's just a few of the {nearly 200} photos from the day:

Ellie got in some good conversation and time with Aunt Marian.

Noah spent plenty of time hanging out with {and, sometimes aggravating} his cousins.

He seriously needed a real nap. But he refused to sleep. He also refused to eat anything but chips, cake, and water.

Ben's Dad, Mike, and Brenda finally got to meet Ellie.

The cupcakes turned out beautifully {and were quite tasty too}.

The matriarchs, Belva and Grandma Lucy, kept a close watch on everyone.

Grandma Haze used her magic and got Ellie to take a little cat-nap.

If you had trouble finding Ben and Noah, they were most likely down feeding the horses.

Or petting the goats... also known as "sheep", by Noah.

The cake turned out pretty good too, I think.

Cake cutting time for the newly married couple. And, by the way, they kept it classy - no cake in the face. :)

Noah decided that he needed to help Poppa open his Father's Day card {a day early}.

The Cousins. {Chanel also took a few family photos - hopefully we'll get some soon.}

Ben with his Momma and the Little Ones.

I think one day out on the farm has turned my Little One into a Cowboy.

We Made It.

We made it to Colorado this afternoon... after driving all night and a good portion of the morning. The lack of photos from the drive itself and from the evening that we spent out at Ben's {second} cousin Shelly and Jeff's farm tonight points to how tired we were. We were glad to get to spend some time with Ben's Mom and Dad, and once we got back to the hotel with Ben's Dad and Brenda, but we were also glad to put the Little Ones to bed and get some rest ourselves {considering that we left last night at 11PM and arrived at our hotel after noon today!}.

Out at Shelly and Jeff's, Noah was completely fascinated with the pygmy goats and the miniature horses:

I think the pony even liked him a little too.

Shelly was even sweet enough to let Noah sit for a moment on the pony's back!

And Ellie? Well, she wasn't fascinated by much due to being a little tired and crabby.

On the Road Again

We're on the road again today, but we had to get a couple of pictures before we headed out the door...

Thank you! For everything. We had a blast and hope that you did too. We love you!!

Snow and Siblings

I love the snow. I take that back, I love looking at snow. Preferably while I'm inside, snuggled up with the Hubby or a kiddo, with a nice warm fire or blanket and no place to go. I'm starting to think that Noah is the same way. He loved looking out the big window and saying "sno!". But getting out in it and playing in it just made him a little whinny. {Though he was WAY excited to get to put his boots on!} Ben and Noah were probably outside for about three minutes. And me? I was out there long enough to snap these pictures and run back inside to the safety and warmth of the house!

If you look carefully in the photo below, you can see the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in the background - what a beautiful view to wake up to every morning, don't you think?

***

For our last dinner while we were there, Ben's Mom and Dad took us to eat at P.F. Chang's {YUM!}. Our waiter even brought Noah a set of children's chopsticks, but since he couldn't spear his Cheerios with them, Grandma Haze helped him out and fed him some Cheerios with them.

Noah thought it was the coolest thing and would even pull more Cheerios onto his place mat for her to "feed" him. haha!

***

Since we're leaving early tomorrow morning, Marian and Sylas and Eric came over to say their goodbyes.

We'll miss you guys and hope to see you again real soon!!!