On Sunday, Mother's Day, the kids and I took off for ND caravaning along with Mary, Jamie & Angie while Grandma Moni help me along the way. We stopped over night in Kearney, NE and then in Sioux Falls, SD. My girlfriend from college, Stacy and her family live there. Brooke and Brayden are the same age (she was born a week after Brayden) an they played together like they were best friends. It was so cute! It was so much fun catching up with them. Thanks for having us!!!

"Reunited and it feels so good!"- you know your are singing the song now

We arrived in ND on Tuesday around noon. I could tell that something was wrong with my little man. He didn't want to go outside and see the cows, tractor, nothing....just wanted to watch cartoons. That whole week he had a stuffy nose and a temp. So Sunday afternoon I took him to Fargo to the walk in clinic. It ended up that Brayden got a double ear infection and then to top that off Avery got her first cold (nasty) and was teething at the same time. My poor babies. Especially, Brayden who couldn't stop talking about going to the farm. We still did manage to have some fun in the mean time. The meds really did help, fast! We got to stay with Shanna, Ted, Sheyenne and Taylor for a night. Then Brayden got to stay with Grandma Moni and Pappa Paul and spend the afternoon in the Hankinson area with Pappa. They saw Uncle Mark's farm and Great Grandpa Allen's place.

Nana is teaching me how to play the piano

It feels great to be outside!

Brayden loved this singing Packer doll. It played the "Monday Night" song....it got a little old after the millionth time but he LOVED IT!
Outside again watching the horses and cows!
Love this picture! He would take the wagon around the farm to see the cows, tractors, to play in the sandbox, everywhere.
Me and Uncle B
My first bath sitting up on my own.....Mom you could have done this a long time ago!!
Brother thought he would join me!
Brayden and Sheyenne jumping on the trampoline. He was in heaven over this thing!
He loves Sheyenne! He was telling her that she looked so beautiful!! Romeo??!!
Taylor's got me, Mom!
Mom and Avery at Bryce's awards ceremony
Mom and her "not so little" brother!
Brayden wanted to snuggle his sissy
Am I looking Hot or What?!Auntie and Brayden with their sunnies.
We all had to get the sunnies on!

That Thursday night, 22nd, Joel flew into Fargo from Denver. He went right thru the Tornadic weather that affected us here in CO......and of course, on a prop plane. He didn't think they'd make it. His plane was late and he was in desperation for a drink! I don't blame him!
Friday we went back to Milnor and watched my brother's graduating class get spanked by the Milnor High faculty in a friendly game of softball. It was quiet fun to watch! My grandparents (Downs') came from Langdon for the night. They had 3 grandkids all graduating on the same day & same time! We all got to meet Bryce's girlfriend Lexi (Wahpeton) that night as well. Saturday we had big plans to have a bon fire but the weather wasn't so nice. We helped Mom and Dad get the school ready for the big Graduation.

What's going on, Nana and Papa?

The ladies; Me, Jen, Nana and Great Grandma Muggzy (and Little B is getting inthe shot too), enjoying some vino!

Loved this picture of Grandpa Ron and Avery, the same facial expression!
Going out to ride in "Crusty" and help Papa with chores, Mom!
Crusty is Dad's old silver pickup that he and Brayden named.
Avery and Auntie snuggling

Sunday-CONGRATULATIONS little Brother!! You finally did it & we are so proud of you! It seems like only yesterday we were going to Wapheton to the hospital to see our little New Years baby! 18 years flies by so fast....especially now once you have your own kids. The party went well and everyone had a good time. That evening my parents had their possy of friends over to the house. It was fun to see everyone. My sister, Nate and I ended up going to the graduation party. All I can say is that it was close to my parents' house and that I thought we'd be the oldest ones there..........no we were not. Thank goodness! Oh my, did that bring back memories of HS. We didn't stay too long b/c we were leaving for back home the next day.

Sweet Siblings, so proud of their little bro!

Randy Johnson (classmate of mine) and his daughter Cecila. The girls are exactly a week apart.The crew; Taylor & Avery, Brayden and Sheyenne and Bryce

We made it back in 1 day! We got to Valentine and tought we could handle another 4 hours in the car, it was late and the kids slept the whole way. It was a fun trip, tiring, but fun! Thanks to everyone!

A little man in a tux......melt my heart!

This past week was a lot of fun. Thursday 5/8 our friends Brian and Ginny from MPL came to visit us. They were in town for a graduation up in Boulder. We had so much fun catching up and visiting with them. The next morning, all of Joel's family came over. We had Andy and Heather's BIG Wedding over the weekend. Jamie, Angie, Moni and Mary all drove down while Paul flew in Friday morning and Mark, Tammy and Jerry all flew in on Saturday. The rehearsal and dinner went fabulous. Brayden and the flower girls, Lauren and Erika (Heather's nieces) all got a long so awesome. Saturday was a little long, Brayden was so excited for the wedding that he didn't nap nor did he want to eat. He did such a great job, they started to walk up the aisle a little early but they all made it down. I think Brayden started skipping ahead of the girls and then little Erika took a while because she didn't want to step on the flowers. The ceremony was beautiful, I think... it was a little hard to catch it when I was trying to contain Brayden. He was walking all over, telling me to leave him alone, and just being a toddler. He was quiet the dancing machine as well! He wanted to dance before it even started. Congratulations Andy and Heather!

All getting to know each other! Lauren (oldest), Erika, and Brayden bonding over Avery.

Hanging out by the alter, aren't we cute....wait until tomorrow!

Yeah! We did it!

At rehearsal dinner

Brayden just put on his tux and was so proud of how handsome he looked!

You lookin' at me?

Getting to see Andy for the first time.
Here we go!I don't want to step on the pretty flowers!

I'm not waiting for you guys.

All up there!

Will you dance with me miss?

A month of updates!

Well since we got back from ND we've had non-stop company, which is good but that is the reason for my slacking of the blogging.

The first weekend back (19th) my Grandma and Grandpa Downs stopped on their way through from AZ back to ND. They got here Friday late afternoon and left Sunday morning. We had a great time. We took them on a little scenic drive through Red Rocks, ate in Golden, and then up to Lookout Mountain where Buffalo Bill's grave site is and then back around the Lariat Loop. We had so much fun with them! It was hard to say goodbye.

Great Grandpa Ron and Brayden chilln'
Great Grandma Margaret Ann and Avery

Sunday was a busy day after they left. We had Izzi's (school friend) birthday party at 2pm and then cousin Katie's birthday at 3pm. We had a great time at the parties!

The following weekend we had our friends from Golden Valley (our old hood), Kim and Pete Lochner, come Friday for supper with their friend Gretchen and her baby Graycen. They were in town for a vacation. We had a great time seeing them and catching up! Then on Saturday we had a couple's (stock the bar) party for Joel's cousin Andy and his fiance Heather which was a lot of fun. Then Sunday we had a graduation party at Brayden's school for all the kids graduating from Pre-school to Kindergarten. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen! They had a little program and B was the loudest little singer. He was so funny. Ms. Rachael was so happy that he preformed well because he does at school and all the kids just look at him in awe. I need to get a little clip of it......next time, Joel can help me with that one.

He's singing his ABC's really well!

This Thursday morning the kiddos and I went to the airport to pick up my cousin Meagan. She flew in for a little visit. The morning she flew in......40 and snowing! The day before it was 80 and I got sun burnt!! We did a lot of fun things. We went to the Aquarium with the kids. Brayden was a little scared at first but then by the end he was talking away about his favorite things....the Shark named Bruce, Dori, Nemo, Crush the Sea Turtle (Finding Nemo). On Saturday Kim and Anthony (thanks again!) took our kiddos so we could go to the Coors Brewery tour. We went out to eat and then started our adventure. We thought we'd take the scenic route to Golden but somehow eventually ended up near Mt. Evans and came down by Idaho Springs. We went through the town and found the TommyKnocker brewery, even better since we love micro brews. So we went there instead of Coors. It was an adventure to say the least!! By Sunday morning it was back to warm weather. Meagan and I took a little walk in our neighborhood that leads to this awesome point where you can see for miles along the front range from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak. Monday came too quickly and we had to take Meagan back to the airport. We had so much fun it was hard to say goodbye.

Brayden and Meagan looking at the fish

Avery just observes the fish swimming by

Trying to get our picture taken on the bridge
Meagan and Avery hanging out
Our excursion up the mountain and we saw a lot of mules
Our View as we kept going up....up...up... is there a bar around here?As you look down from close to Mt Evans

TommyKnocker Brewery
Random waterfall outside of Idaho Springs, I love how Joel snuck his head into the shot!
On our walk, this is in our back yard basically, the whole front range

Now we are on to more company tomorrow. Our friends from MPL, Brian and Ginny, will be in town so they will stay with us for the night. We are looking forward to seeing them. Also, this weekend Joel's family will be in town for Andy and Heather's wedding. We can't wait. Brayden's a ringbearer in the wedding! Be looking for pictures! The kiddos and I are going to be heading back to the "Dakotas" (as they call it around here) for a few week and will be attending my brother Bryce's graduation. Looking forward to it!!

As for my little ones lets update you on them....

Brayden and Avery enjoying each other's company

Brayden is 2 1/2 years old already. I can't believe that my 1st born is growing up so fast. He's got such a great little personality. It amazes me the things he comes up with. He'll sit and talk with Avery and say "hey my baby girl, how are you doing?" in a high pitch voice (like I do), he loves to tell everyone that he's a "Big Boy, I am 2 1/2, My birthday is October 17th!" He knows his colors, counts to 10, his name and our names, where he lives, where his grandparents live,loves singing (You are my Sunshine is my favorite), and he loves playing with his cars. We have this brown fur blanket and he pretends it's the mountains and drives his car on it. He's always telling us "I love you so much", "Thank you so much", and"No, I can't do it"(when he doesn't want to do something). He's always full of energy and life. He's my little man. And to us he's cute to boot!

Hiding in his fur mountain

In the morning, he was hugging his milk because he was so happy to have milk again. We were out for a 1/2 day.

He got a kitchen set off of Craig's List, I didn't realize he knew we had it until Joel was out grilling and Brayden says to him " Dad go get my kitchen, it's in Mom's car".
Loving his sister, after he colored on her head!

Now little Avery, she's going to be 6 months old tomorrow!! I can't believe how fast time has flown. She's a great little girl. Always happy and smiling. She's really a dolly. She's been sleeping through the night now for a while but she's so good about it....just lay her down a 7:30 and she's down until the same time next day. She loves putting her little feet in her mouth....I guess right now everything is in her mouth. Teeth coming soon?? She has been rolling around for a while now but she is very determined to get things and she'll get there. So I suspect she'll be crawling soon. She can sit very well and is always looking to grab anything she sees. I need to start baby proofing again! She also has discovered her voice. Her nickname is "Squeakers" because she'll just be talking away and sticking her tongue out and blowing it. She's got the brightest little eye and smile. We love you so much baby girl!

Look at me, I can sit!!

These are my cute toes and they are tasty!

Happy to be with my Daddy!Yes, I realize I have brown marker on my head but my toes need my attention.

Just hanging out!