New Family Fun

Check this out...
We are a bike riding family these days! Lucas is mastering his two-wheeler and Axel has graduated from the trailer to the Wee Rider. This all this equals FAMILY BIKE RIDES! It just makes me smile to see Lucas cruising around on his bike, Axel in his cute little seat and Daddy and Mommy taking photos while we all ride as a family. I love it!
Lucas also has a tag-a-long bike that joins up with Mike's bike. (photos coming soon) He can sit and pedal if he wants or just enjoy the ride. The other night, we rode 12 miles RT to Dewey's Pizza with our friends, Heidi and Eric. We enjoyed our pizza picnic style outside where the boys could be boys. It was a beautiful evening and we all had a blast. Oh, did I mention that we also discovered THE.BEST.PIZZA.EVER. You must check out Dewey's if your ever in Dayton, OH. It is delish!

We are biking manics now! :)

NOTE: Axel's helmet has been readjusted so it doesn't ride up on his forehead so high. Why don't they make kids helmets easy to adjust??? What a pain but he's good to go now.

Getting Reacquainted

Lucas & Sarah were both born in Colorado Springs a few months apart...almost 5 years ago! I will not dwell on how we have almost five year old's. I will, however, focus on the fact that not only did they get reacquainted, they got along beautifully.

One of my favorite moments: After putting sunscreen on Sarah's face, I had to brush her hair out of her eyes and as I did Lucas looked at me and said, "Mommy, she's beautiful. Sarah is a beautiful girl Mom!" Yes...Lucas...yes she is and so is her Mommy!

Here's a little view into the world of two four year olds.

Lessons in iPhone apps.Sprinkler tag.
Hmmm???
Umbrella walks on hot, hot days.
Climbing session complete with their very own rules:
Lucas' Rule -You get a second try before sharing turns
Sarah's Rule - You can't go to the top unless you're five years old

Perfect!
Little showin' off!"Suggling" for cute photos.
Little brother and popsicles!
Mist wars.
Drinking games!

(After putting Axel down for a nap, I came down to find out about the new "Super Why" drinking game! Each time a super hero appeared on their show, Lucas & Sarah would take a drink of their water. I have no idea who came up with what but it was pretty funny to watch. They were well hydrated to say the least!)
We are going to miss you Sarah. Thanks for spending so much time with us.

Photo Shoot

We were so excited to contribute to Ally's cause. Come take a look at some of the families who took part in the photo minisessions to raise $2000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society .

This is just a teaser so there are more on the way!

Erin Cobb Blog

Absolutely beautiful!

THANK YOU ERIN!!!

ALL for Ally

Ally is a beautiful little girl (now 8 years old), who one year ago, was diagnosed with Leukemia. Her mother, Janel, started a blog called: ALL for Ally to document their journey...the good, the bad, the ugly and the unexpected. Her blog and her story has touched so many hearts.

We saw proof on Saturday night when we attended a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Ally's name. There was dinner, drinks, a video of "A Day in the Life of Ally" (very touching), a live auction, a silent auction and tons of mingling. There were tears but mostly smiles and happiness all around. It was a wonderful celebration of Ally completing her first year of treatment. Way to go Ally!!!

The unexpected?

600 people attended!

$150,000 raised!!!!!!!!

Yahoooo!!!

Truly glorious!

Just warning, I did not capture the true feel of the evening with my photos. However, my friend had her camera so I'm sure she did a much better job. I will post a link when she gets them on her blog.

Here are a few photos to give you just a sneak peak of the big evening.
One year ago, I learned about Ally from my friend, Erin Cobb. She is a professional photographer and any opportunity to get her to take photos of the boys is a treasure in the making. On her annual trip to Dayton this month, she was on a mission. A mission to support Ally in a big way. She offered photo minisessions and 100% of the profit went straight to Ally's cause. When she contacted us about her plan, we jumped on the opportunity. All in all, she raised $2000 which is just awesome! Erin, thank you so much for doing this and giving us the opportunity to help out too. It was also so nice to catch up with you and your family.

Erin also photographed Ally & her family last year and last week. You can see her beautiful work and words here: One Year Ago (She truly has a heart of gold!)

Erin, Janelle, Mike & Brent. My, don't we look marvelous?
It's very rare when Erin is the one being photographed so we took advantage of having my little point and shoot camera ready to capture her last few days being in her 20's. (Happy Birthday Erin!)

Here are our sorry attempts to look as if we are in our mid-20's and not mid 30's...okay, my sorry attempt. Like Erin has any wrinkles to worry about?!?!?
Too fun. What a magical evening for Ally, her family, her friends and all those who have been touched by her. We're all pulling for you Ally!

Sushi

Sushi it was! I love having sushi for my birthday. It's my one time a year treat myself with one of my favorite foods. We took the family and joined our friends, Heidi & Eric.

Axel was crazy! We all took turns walking him around so he could see everything. He wanted nothing to do with his high chair and everything to do with everything else.

Lucas, fell asleep before we even left the house and slept the entire dinner.
Cupcakes -- of course! There's Eric too. :)
Great food, great friends, great time!

It's My Birthday!

34 years old...WOW! I have so much to be thankful for and you know what, I love 30's! :) Just look at my beautiful family. What a lucky birthday Mom I am.

We had a wonderful morning at the children museum with our friends, The Cobbs. They are here visiting and it's so fun to spend time with them. They have a 4 yr & 2 yr old so we had quite the crew going in all different directions at the museum.

Right now, it's QUIET TIME. Axel is napping (thanks for the birthday present Axel) and Lucas is watching Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon. Lucas made me some awesome birthday cards yesterday that I can't wait to share them with everyone. Thank you Lucas! I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY CARDS!

Tonight, sushi dinner with family and a few good friends. Happy Birthday to Me. :)

Here are a few random photos that I have not posted before. Birthday photos will be documented later.

The love of my life...although, take a look at the button he's wearing! He got a pretty funny card from my parents on his birthday and proudly totes the button around in his wallet. It think it says something about "I'm only related to them, I can't explain them!" :)
How can I say NO to these eyes?!?!?!?
Oh yeah, after he does this 6 times a day! You would think I would put a lock on that cabinet but that would be too easy.
Then he does something super cute like this and I forget about the messes all over the house.Then there's Mr. I-hate-the-camera-man. I did manage to get these shot but only with tickles and funny face criteria. I'll take what I can get! Thanks Jessica.
I like it!
Another try? More tickles?
Got it! Thanks Bentley.I love my family!

Mother's Day Weekend

We had an unseasonably cold weekend which was perfect for climbing. Mother's Day is traditionally spent climbing and what a treat to have non-hot, non-humid weather. It was also a treat that we had a cabin full of good friends. We had some Ohio friends from Cleveland and Columbus, a few from Knoxville, TN and even one from Lander, WY join in the Mother's Day weekend fun.

We decided to do a big dinner at our cabin on Saturday night to say Thank You to our friends who help belay and watch the boys. They are the reason climbing is possible. :) We had a wonderful time and the cabin was so cozy as the temperature continued to drop outside.

It was such a great weekend and Daddy climbed a really hard route he had been working on at the Motherlode. He made it look so easy and climbed so relaxed...I was so proud. I think it was the cool temps and having his good friend, Steve, on the other end of the rope. I really wish we lived closer to the Bechtels. For those of you who know how quiet Mike can be, you would not recognize him around Steve. Those two men can talk!!! And talk...and talk...and talk! It's so fun to see the relationship they have. I'm pretty sure that 90% of the conversation revolves around climbing/training mixed in with lots of jokes, movie quotes and sarcasm. Thanks for making Mike's day, it was great to see you Steve!

Okay, the photos I have for this post really do no good at showing the highlights of the weekend. The reason? I lost my camera (so sad) but luckily Steve found it in our driveway on Sunday evening. Ooops. Thank you Steve!

Mmmm...chocolate mustache.
This was serious business.
Daddy even broke out the nice camera to take pictures of this hot mama! He has some true talent with photography! Thank you honey...I love them!
Lucas working on his climbing skills. Hmmm...a little different photo quality with the old point and shoot camera. The light wasn't helping either but hey, he's looking at the camera and even smiling. :)
Back "roads" to our cabin. :)
Mike was lovin' it. I was happy to be on the river side taking photos.Phew, we made it! The back roads are not faster but they sure are more exciting.
Then I lost the camera. :(

Thank you so much for such a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Lucas, I absolutely love the card and pillow you made me. It made me soooo happy! I'm so lucky to be your mom! l love you Lucas. I love you Axel. I love you Mike. Thank you!