Happy Halloween!

With Halloween approaching and the costumes finished, we had a little impromptu photo shoot in our backyard yesterday (since work, daycare, naps and life might actually make getting good pictures on Halloween day an ideal we won't be able to achieve).

Boden was really excited about being a pilot (although in the past few days has started requesting dressing up as a ghost). With the help of my Mom and Dad and Uncle Brian who made the helmet. Boden is a fantastic Luke Skywalker Xwing Pilot.

Delilah (Yoda) and Milo (Wicket the Ewok) were less than enthused with their costumes. In fact, I really only was able to snap one or two photos before Milo tore off his hat and ran crawled away.

But how adorable is my little Starwars family? I do have an old Princess Leia costume. Now if I can only talk Steve into being Han Solo.

Have a safe an happy Halloween everyone!

Throwback Halloween pic of Princess Leia and ... German boy (when we could actually go to a Halloween Party!)

9 months!

Milo is 9 months old. Its incredible how quickly the days, weeks and months just fly by with these kids. Everyday is a little adventure. We had his checkup yesterday and he is 28.5 inches tall (50%) and 20 lbs 13.5 oz (50%). He eats just about anything, and loves to play with his big brother. Although, not officially walking, he has taken a step or two on his own before sitting down. Eak! 

We also had a good laugh a little while ago, when Boden spilled something all over his shirt, and had to borrow some clothes. He actually chose the one below, out of a few options - and LOVED the shirt. He said it was the hearts that he liked. I also enjoyed his teacher's response "Well, its Boulder, and we figured you and Steve wouldn't mind that he wanted to wear this.". True enough my friend. True enough. And we all had a good laugh at how adorable he looks in pink. 

Maryland Wedding

At the end of August we traveled to Maryland to celebrate Steve's Mom, Alexa's wedding to Elliott. We are so happy that they found each other, and it was a real treat to be able to spend time with Brenda and Marc and the rest of the Graveson/ Peterson Clan. 

There was sailing, crab feasts, swimming, playing, and general fun all around. Brenda and Marc took fantastic family photos (and I posted some of my favorites). To see more of their photography and read about the wedding from Brenda's point of view, visit their blog! 

Sailing on Stingray

Boden's first experience with crab legs

Naked bay swim

My handsome Milo

Wedding day Croquet

Nobody cooperating

Happy guy!

Dip in the bay after the wedding

Baseball - Rockies

While I am catching up on our summer and fall fun, Steve and I took Boden to the Rockies game. Somehow I was chosen to do those silly games during the innings. I won free tickets, and again Boden is a huge fan of sporting events.

I was on the jumbo tron! 

Winner Winner

Winning the CU contest at the doggie dash

At the beginning of September Steve, Boden, Milo, Deliah and I all ran in our annual local 5K Doggie Dash. The race raises money for the Boulder Humane Society where we adopted Delilah as a rescue when she was just a few months old. She turns 6 in a few weeks!

We had read online that the "team" that wore CU gear and had the best spirit won tickets to the game that evening. We didn't go all out, but were decked in our gear. Apparently the memo didn't make it to everyone because we ended up winning the tickets (or rather, Boden and Milo were so cute in their CU clothes). We immediately had to start calling friends and family. It was so exciting! We also won some cool CU Nike vests. Steve's Aunts Carla and Sue were able to join us, as well as Michelle and Alex and our friend Britt. It was Boden and Milo's first football game and first time to see Ralphie (the live Buffalo) run the field. It was a fantastic event and Boden keeps begging to go again. 

Boden with Aunt Carla and Aunt Sue

Up close and personal with Ralphie

The Great Flood

The boys in front of the window

It was all rather anti-climactic the first few days. Just rain. Sprinkles. More rain. More rain. Then, it turned biblical as the rain just kept coming down. Apparently, we received our annual rainfall total in just four days. When local weathercasters described the amount of rain, being from Colorado they had to put it in terms of “snow” so that people would understand. Had that precipitation been snow, it would have been a storm that dropped over 10-12 feet. FEET! It was the storm of the century.

This is our back fence

After the first few days the creeks started cresting. Flash floods started happening in the foothills. Our ground here was totally saturated and huge rivers started forming in backyards and streets. Thankfully my Mom was visiting and staying with us in our basement guest room and she is the one who noticed it was wet by the windows. Then, when I kept checking on it… it kept getting wetter. Originally we thought it was the window well filling up and leaking, but then we pulled back the carpet. And then it kept on coming in. Finally after staying up all night, taking turns sopping up the incoming water and trying to stay ahead of the influx, Steve tore out the drywall and we found the culprit. A pipe draining right into our wall. With some hindsight we now know that the pipe was used as structural support for the wall between the window wells, and apparently the builders never thought the water table would get so high.

our side yard 

In the aftermath, we were fortunate to have FEMA come out and assess our situation. We managed to salvage the carpet and all the furniture, and just this week have gotten the gaping hole repaired, and filled the pipe with expanding foam. It is unfortunate to pay so much money just to get things back to status quo.

Many of the trails around here (and most in the mountains and foothills) received heavy damage and erosion, but they are finally opening up for running and hiking. It was a very strange situation to be part of a natural disaster like this. Thankfully everything that is truly important in our lives (the kids, each other) were unharmed, and my mom was around to watch and help with the kids since daycare was cancelled and the water just kept on coming in the basement. Knock on wood we’ll never have an event like that again, for at least a hundred years.

That, is the story of our Flood.

Lake Fezler

Our attempt to keep the rain out.

Soaking up the water

We finally cut out the drywall

Boden soaked after helping out with flood prevention.

Enjoying the open space once the rains subsided

Bath Time

All the recent rains have inspired a water themed photo shoot with Milo (well, that and his baby book calls for some bath photos).