Mall of America (August 2009)

While in Minnesota we spent some time at the Mall of America; Julia and Michael went on a couple of rides, including the incredibly fast Dora-coaster; Michael was just a little scared. In the photo of the carousel, you may notice Michael is not near Julia... she insisted she be allowed to ride solo. Michael sat on a bench about 20 feet behind her and despite his excellent negotiation skills, the operator did not budge and insisted that he buckle himself in. Seeing Julia smile from ear to ear during the entire ride for this groundbreaking feat of independence, however, made it all worth while. Colton loved to watch but would rather have jumped right in with Sister and Daddy.

Deck building in Minnesota (August 2009)

These are pictures of Meagan and Elijah's new deck that Michael helped Elijah build during our vacation.

Sweet Utah nap... (June 2009)

Julia adored her cousin Brooklyn and thought she would just lay down and snuggle with her one day... five minutes later this is the picture we took.

Long overdue Utah post (June 2009)

In June Lia and the kids took a 3 week roadtrip/vacation to Utah via Colorado.
The kids were great in the car; "great" comes from the following equation:

Julia (excellent) + Colton (fair) = great

We spent time with family and friends and a great time was had by all. We stayed in Colorado with good friends Beth and her husband Clarendon and loved the scenery there. Beth and Lia even got some thrift-store shopping time squeezed in. While in Utah, Julia swam in the pool daily and helped pit cherries with Grandma. Colton ran around like a crazy man and made best friends with a stuffed, singing and dancing lobster (whom we now have in our posession as Grandparent's did not want to see Colton separated from it.)