Family Visit

Last week we had a fun visit from my parents, Danny and Lou, and my aunt and uncle, Rhonda and Wayne Ausk.  I just love when people come to visit for their vacation...I feel like I'm kinda getting a vacation, too!  Rhonda was a trooper coming out here after an emergency Appendectomy the week before.  We just took it easy on Monday and went for a hike up to Adams Falls in Grand Lake and took Truett sledding.  

One day of rest was all they needed before they took to the mountain for 3 full days of skiing.  I was able to join them for halfdays....which was plenty for me!

Truett, of course, was completely spoiled and was having a ball with people to entertain him all day!  

Rhonda ended up with a knee injury on the last day of skiing, but was still up for shopping the last morning, crutches and all.

This week has been a little crazy, so I'm behind in updating about the Winter Chill Youth Retreat we took last weekend.  It was our first annual winter retreat and we had such a great time!  About 30 of us headed out to Sylvan Lake State Park near Eagle, CO to have a couple days of fun together and refocus on the Lord to start out the new year.  Below is a picture of the main cabin we all met in.  It was right by the frozen lake and had a beautiful view of the mountains beyond.

The space was small, but very cozy...perfect for the group dynamics.  Chad led worship and our friend Jason Ragan did the speaking.

Part of the fun time was a huge capture the flag game/snow ball fight.  Below is the winning team strutting their stuff.  Whenever I see this picture I think if the song, "The Leader of the Pack, Vroom....Vroom."

Truett wasn't really into snowball fighting, so we went sledding instead.  His face looked like this for about an hour.  Needless to say, he was loving life!

Here's the group picture.

We had such a great time!  Can't wait for next year!

Day at the Park

January in Fraser, CO is usually a month that I would just assume skip.  Sure there is an occasional great ski day, but it's usually unbelievably cold and windy.  Today however was an unseasonably beautiful day, so we decided to make the best of it!  And I get even more excited looking at the forecast for the week... low 40's for a high!  Yahoo!  We headed out to Hideaway Park to the sled hill/park so Truett could get some fresh air and enjoy the outdoors.

Truett being dragged back up the hill by Chad. Sitting was fun, but he soon toppled over wanting to touch the snow.

So he road the rest of the way on his back.  He mostly went sledding with dad, but had a few solo trips, too.  He LOVED it.

Umm...he really liked the slide, too!

After the park we went on a hike close to our home.  We discovered a great maintained trail that we are going to go cross-country skiing on tomorrow.

Christmas and Beyond

Once again, I didn't take near as many pictures as I should of during the Christmas season.  I guess I was around so many people with cameras, I didn't realize I wasn't getting any on my camera. The photo below is from Christmas afternoon.  We went to our friend's, the Lipke's home, with Brett and Sarah Payne.    We enjoyed cross country skiing on the lake by their home and the kiddos had a great time playing together.  Brecken(middle) and Truett had the same Christmas outfit that we had gotten at our baby showers, so we decided to get a picture of the matching babies.

We then arrived in Abilene, Texas on Saturday morning to spend the week with my family.  They, of course, have many more pictures from the week, but here are a couple from my camera.  The weather was soooo nice while we were there, so we enjoyed the great outdoors as much as we could.  Mom and Dad have a little swing for their grandbabies and Truett couldn't get enough of it.

The next weekend we drove to Midland, TX, for the wedding of Tim and Katherine Hird.  Tim is a friend of Chad's from Worldview Academy.  Chad had the privilege of officiating the wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony....but of course, I have no pictures...I'll try to track some down.  Sorry.

Truett's First Christmas

It's so fun having a little one around for Christmas, although I think it will be much more fun when Truett realizes he is actually getting gifts.  His favorite thing from the morning was definitely the wrapping paper...he just kept tearing it and trying to eat it. 

Truett with his favorite gift

The new LeapFrog Learn and Groove musical Table that I looked all over for!

He had to make sure everything passed the taste test

Mmmmm....the blocks are good!

So is the orange!

You may think it's wierd that we gave Truett an orange for Christmas.  It is actually a family tradition from Chad's family to always get an orange in the stocking.  His Grandma Bea, growing up on the farm in North Dakota, would always get an orange at Christmas.  Having 10 brothers and sisters, that was all their parents could afford.  In fact, it was the only fruit they got all year, and every kid looked forward to it with great anticipation.  So we here in the Warren home are keeping the tradition alive by remembering to be thankful for even the small pleasures in life.

Here's Truett unwrapping his gift.  We only got a short video, because as you can see, the unwrapping took quite awhile.

Worth it's weight in Gold, to Chad anyway.

Last week we got our first decent snow in our new home (meaning it had to be plowed so we could get out of the driveway). Chad had gotten up early that morning and spent 20 minutes just shoveling his path to the car. I went out a couple hours later and spent an hour just trying to clear the driveway, so I could meet him for lunch.  After that we decided it was definitely time to invest in a snowblower.  We got it just in time....another foot of snow on the ground this morning and the snowblower cut through it like butter.  Chad says it's worth it's weight in gold...I think I would much rather have it's weight in gold, though.

Spotters ready, Climb on!

Truett has entered a new phase of mobility.  He likes to climb until his is standing on just about anything he sees.  He has even started walking himself around the object.  It is great to see him moving right along in his development, but I must say, this stage requires much more supervision from me.  Spotters definitely have to be present at all times, because he loses his balance without warning and there's nothing stopping his head from banging on the ground.  We've had some close calls, but so far I don't think he's sustained brain damage.  

Truett loving the visit

I'm kicking myself for not getting more pictures of our Thanksgiving holidays.  One thing I did capture was Truett having fun with Mamaw Lou.  He loved sitting in her lap, playing with her jewelry and looking at her glasses.  He was definitely a little more fussy the day after she left.

Here's Truett with Aunt Kristi.  He's playing with his favorite thing...the stereo.  I really wish he liked playing with his own toys, or at least some less expensive things.

Search for the Christmas Tree

I apologize for the long absence since my last post.  This past week was super busy for us, but very enjoyable!  My parents, grandparents and sister Kristi came to Colorado last week to spend the holiday with us.  We all met at my Aunt Julie's in Colorado Springs for the day, then Mom, Dad, and Kristi came up to our house for the weekend.  After a long absence of snow, we finally got some snowy weather.  Great for the ski resort...  Not so great for my family who was feeling under the weather.  We did manage to get outside on Saturday and look for our Christmas tree.  It was so beautiful and fun to play in the snow.

Chad standing next to a potential tree (it was nice, but not the winner)
Dad and Kristi
Chad and Dad cutting down the tree.
Kristi making a snow angel
loading up

The Crawl?

Many of you have asked if Truett is crawling yet, and we're just not sure how to respond.  I guess it depends on what you mean by crawling.  If it means methodically alternating arms and knees to propel yourself forward, than the answer is "No."  However if you are satisfied with the fact that he can get himself wherever he wants to go, without textbook coordination, then the answer is "Yes".  You decide and let us know.  

Also notice that Truett crawls right past the toy that was specifically designed for children his age and goes for the only thing on the floor that was not designed for his enjoyment.  I don't think I'm going to invest in too many toys right now. 

Change of the Season

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted something new.  Honestly, I haven't been able to think of anything too exciting to write about.  The season is changing here, entering a time when nothing is as easy as it used to be.  Living in a ski town certainly has its perks, but here are a few things we daily encounter that you may not be familiar with:

-starting the car 20 min. before we go somewhere in the morning

-only entering the back entrance of our home, because the front will soon be blocked by snow.

-wearing layers to go everywhere

-putting studded snowtires on the car

-keeping lots of windshield wiper fluid on hand

I really had to adjust our first winter here, but now I just go with the flow.  Some of the perks are the views of the snow covered mountains (like those seen below from our back yard), and getting to ski!  The resort opens tomorrow, so Chad and I are going to try to make it out for a couple of hours.  

Yes, above is the view of Winter Park Ski Resort from my back deck.  It gets me so excited for tomorrow!
This is a picture of Perry's Peak, right next to the resort.  I love looking at it!

Happy Reformation Day

Each year our church celebrates Reformation Day, in honor of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Thesis to the door of All Saint's Church on October 31, 1517, giving steam to the reformation of the church.  Every year we take a look at the life of different reformers and this year it was a celebration of John Knox of Scotland.  Chad played a Scottish narrator in a skit tonight...hence the kilt.  Truett and I decided to go as the narrator's family, so we all had on our matching plaids.  At 3:00 today I had no idea what we were going to wear.  Chad went to Alco (a mini wal-mart) and picked up a block of plaid material.  2 hours later we all had kilts and were heading to the church.  Amazingly we took third place in the costume contest and won a scrabble game!

My mom will appreciate this, too...Chad and I both went to the cake walk throughout the evening and won on our first time in the circle!  Yahoo!  I love cake walks!

New Trick that makes all our lives easier

I couldn't figure out how to put this on the sidebar, so here you go.  I have been waiting for this newest trick.  So many times Truett will put himself on his stomach, which he doesn't like, and then have no idea how to get back over.   Now he can be in control of his own situation.  

As far as the rest of the family goes, we don't really have any updates right now.  Chad fought off a cold last week, and now Truett and I are struggling through it.  Chad is staying busy this month.  Our pastor is out of the country and Chad is preaching in his absence, as well as teaching school during the week.  Chad loves having the opportunities to teach, whereas I would be incredibly stressed.  We are enjoying the changing season.  The peaks are covered in snow and we have had a few snows here at our home.  The slopes open in less than a month, so I'm ready for the snow to come and make the skiing great!

Truett's Six Month Birthday

Today Truett is halfway to his one year birthday.  Since I have been eating my birthday goodies all week, I decided not to do the cake and ice cream in celebration.  We did however do the mini photo shoot to share this milestone with you all. (o.k., mostly for the Grandmas).

What Now?

O.k. , those of you who know me know that I'm new at the mom thing, and everyday I'm surprised by something new that Truett does. Yesterday I was doing the dishes and Truett was in the living room playing in his gym. Usually I hear constant movement, but I noticed that there had been silence for several minutes. I peeked around the corner and Truett was no longer in his gym, but right next to it on his hands and knees. This is the first time this has happened. I could tell he was really excited about this new trick, because he continued maneuvering himself around without fussing. So I need to know...are we close to crawling or do we still have several months? Right now my house isn't baby proofed, because he has always politely stayed where I left him, but I need to know if that's about to change. Help moms!

Getting Older Isn't So Bad

O.K.  I think I just had the best birthday I've had in a long time!  I woke up yesterday morning, knowing I was going to Denver for the day for a surprise. I had no idea what the plan was , but I was so excited!  When I rolled out of bed, Chad announced that he wanted to make breakfast...not just the cereal that we usually have.  He made a yummy egg, sausage, and potato skillet thing with some muffins.  Yummm....  Then we dropped off Truett with a friend for the day and headed to Denver.  On the way, Chad let me know we were having a mini shopping spree for winter clothes for me!  Shopping isn't readily available up here in the mountains, so I was so excited to update the wardrobe a little.  If that wasn't enough, the highschool girls in the youth group decided to clean my house and fix a wonderful dinner that was waiting for us when we got home.  It was such a great day!  It kinda took the edge off of getting another year older.   Below is the dinner spread the gals left for us:

Aspen Pictures

Here are the Aspen pictures we promised.  These were taken last weekend at the Solvista Ski Resort.  The colors have been so beautiful this fall.

2 Things I Didn't Read in Baby Wise

Being a new mom, and one who didn't spend much time babysitting before, I read many books to give me an idea of what to expect and what to do in raising a child.  You would think with all the books out there, they would warn you of a couple things:

1.  When you view your child being active enough to kick about 100 times a minute, it may be time to take the baby bath from the sink to the tub.  Truett's previous baths have been calm and peaceful, but yesterday he was so excited about his bath, that water ended up all over me, the kitchen counter, and the floor.  

2.  When you think your child might be teething, it is perfectly fine to pull a teething ring out of the refrigerator to give to him.  However, it is NOT o.k. to pull a popsicle (wrapped in paper, of course) out of the freezer to give to him to suck on.  The poor kid had  little chapped lips and looked like the Joker all day Tuesday, and even some yesterday.

Here's a picture of my happy, chapped face boy after his bathtime:

Fall Fun

This fall has turned out to be very beautiful so far.  I'm comparing this to the first year we were here when it snowed a foot on Sept. 15th.  Our friends, Emily and Ryan Roberts came to visit on Friday and Saturday.  The weather was beautiful and we were able to enjoy some burgers on the grill and some late night smores (well, late for people who have a 5 month and a 3 month old).  We love having visits from dear friends!  Our friends also wrote about the visit on their blogs The Roberts Portal and Cole Addict.

On Sunday we made our annual trip out to Rocky Mountain National Park to see the elk.  On the way we saw 3 moose on the side of the road.  I just love the wildlife here.  All the aspen leaves are changing, which provided a perfect backdrop for the viewing.

Also, on our weekend of fun, we went to the Solvista Ski Resort and took pictures of the aspen from the top of the mountain.  Those photos will be uploaded soon!