Visit from Aunt Amy...

We recently had a short but very nice visit with my sister Amy!! She came in on Thursday and left today. Here are a few pics from her visit.















This is at the Keystone Jazz & Wine Festival on Saturday. We kept having to find shelter due to rain coming and going throughout the afternoon.















On Sunday we took a little hike at the trails close to our house.















Here's Isabella in her favorite carrier for hikes. She really was happy. :-)















We couldn't resist trying on this Halloween outfit of a flower at the mall last night. We were there to celebrate our birthday at the Cheesecake Factory and had some time to stroll the mall. Isabella was a good sport. :-)















Some sweet pics with Aunt Amy!!

Another special visitor....

Today, we had a very special visit from Ms. Judy Barnes. Judy is the mother of our friend Lee who lives here in CO with his family, Monique and Connor. As you know from our previous posts, we hang out with them a lot. :-) We enjoyed a nice afternoon with them and also had a pre-birthday celebration for Connor while his Granny was in town. Isabella really took to Judy as you can see by the pics.






























































Here is a fun one with Connor and Isabella!! Connor was excited for his Granny to meet Isabella.















Isabella had just woken up from a nap here with Monique.

Friends from NC...

Last Saturday our friends, the Butler's (Sean, Kelly, Riley & Reece), from NC flew in for a week. We had such a great time with them. We tried to show them as much as possible in the 7 days they were here. One day we drove through Rocky Mountain National Forest and stopped in Estes Park on the way home. Another day, we went to the Nature & Science Museum. The day we took Isabella to her 9 month check up they went exploring on their own to one of our favorite places, Deer Creek Canyon. Here they are on the hike.



























On Thursday, Ben and Sean went to Georgetown to climb a 14,000 foot mountain, Mt. Bierstadt. They actually ended up doing 2 mountains that were connected together. To find out more about their hike, check out Ben's blog. Kelly and the kids and I all went to Georgetown as well to explore. We took a train called the Georgetown Loop and explored an old silver mine. We had a lot of fun.















We decided to sit in an open car as the weather looked like it was going to cooperate. It was a little chilly on Thursday and even a little more chilly at the higher altitude. However, once we started going, the rain decided to come along with some hail. Here I am trying to cover up Isabella as best I could.




















They eventually stopped the train so we could all get in an enclosed car to get out of the rain. Here she is all snug and ready for a nap as we are on our way to tour the silver mine.




















Here are Reece and Riley all ready for the tour in their hard hats. Unfortunately, the hats were a little big and Reece's kept falling off.




















Isabella slept through most of the tour; however, she woke up at the end of the tour just in time to get her picture taken. :-)














The weather was much nicer after the tour so we were able to enjoy the open car again.














This is the historic city of Georgetown. We walked up and down the little main street while we waited for Ben and Sean to finish up their hike.















By the end of the week, these three were stuck together like glue.

Our 9 month old....

My how time is just flying by. In just 3 months, Isabella will be a toddler. It still baffles us how much she changes each and every day. She is not crawling yet but she has started getting up on her knees and trying to scoot. She still rolls everywhere she wants to go and pushes off with her feet on her stomach to scoot some. She is very strong and wants to stand up all the time. She can hold onto the couch briefly but does really well when held in the standing position. She is eating very well now. Still has milk 3 times a day and is now eating more solids, 3 times a day with some snacks. She loves trying new foods as well. On her 9 month birthday (Tuesday, 8/12), we got a couple of pics of her sucking on a pickle, her new favorite food.





























On Wednesday, she went in for her 9 month checkup and again came out with flying colors. She is still really petite on the height and weight. She only had to get one shot this time and cried very briefly after the prick. Unfortunately, she also had to get a prick in her little finger to test her blood to make sure she is getting enough iron, which she is. Here are her current measurements.

Height - 26 5/8" (20th percentile)
Weight - 16.9 lbs (12th percentile)
Head Circumference - 18" (90th percentile) - so that brain is just a growing. :-)

The doctor said she is doing great and growing like she should. So he said we must be doing something right. :-)




















I just had to add this pic as well to show our sleeping beauty.

Play time....

We were enjoying some play time last night and took some cute pics. Hope you enjoy them...

Enjoying the great outdoors...

I'm a little past due in posting this but I do have my hands busy with a 8 1/2 month old. :-) Last Saturday we went and checked out Lee & Monique's campground just outside of Georgetown and then went for a short little hike near Mt. Bierstadt. Here are a few pics. (BTW, if you look at Ben's blog, you've probably seen these. :-)















Isabella checking out Connor.















I'm trying to show Connor how to roast marshmallows. He had never done that before.















My big strong lumberjack.















Our happy girl. She just loves being outside and she does so well in the backpack. As you can see, she is wearing Daddy's t-shirt. It was actually quite chilly and we had come ill prepared. Doesn't she look like a "Whosville" with that hair. :-) Daddy has dubbed her "Miss Crazy Hair".















Our happy family.















Our great friends, Lee, Monique & Connor