Busy Weekend

My Girls....

So November started off with a BANG! Samantha's Sweet 16th Birthday. She wanted something special so Chris and I gave her a budget and she planned it all.

She managed to get it all in - a Limo ride for 12 to downtown Denver. Overnight stay at the Marriott and dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant.

She made reservations - sent invites and decorated the hotel room. I got to stay in the room next door - a blessing and a curse.

The room was nice and for the most part the evening was semi-peaceful.

Here is Sam with one of her friends all dressed up to hit the town.

12 young men and women all loaded into a stretch limo and headed downtown. I followed in the minivan. :)

After a quick stop to unload their bags and gifts - they headed to Magianos - a fancy Italian restaurant. I wasn't invited to sit with them but the waitress let me know they were all perfectly mannered.

Samantha got a special desert and they all loved the food.

It was surprisingly peaceful eating alone at the bar. My meal was fantastic, the wine was smooth and I didn't have to share the tirimasu.

After dinner they all took a long walk back to the hotel. The evening was beautiful and warm.

Downtown Denver on the 16th street mall is full of very colorful folks at night and while the kids thought they were up for it - they decided against hanging out at the street mall.

Back at the room we had a few hours of giggling and running around, but things settled down around midnight.

I fell asleep at 1:30 am and the girls (boys left at 11 pm) told me they crashed around 2:30 am.

They got up around 9 am - had some cinnamon rolls and went swimming. Then cleaned up and hit the mall during the day - a lot more normal. :)

When Sam finally made it home - she went straight to bed and slept an hour or so. We had a nice quiet family dinner and the rest is history.

I didn't get any of my chores done but what are you going to do?

Friday evening I took the big kids to see the Broadway play Wicked. We had a fancy dinner together and the show was fantastic! I love that I can take them to experience plays and such.

The weekend flew by but all in all I think the kids had a blast. I have the rest of the week to get caught up right?

We are definitely looking forward to Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday). The big kids are with their dad this year and spending it in Spokane with their grandparents. We will have the usual folks hopefully plus Kelly and Rich - Yeah!

We are enjoying the mild weather and plugging along. Jeremy mentioned that the upcoming week seems lighter than usual - maybe I will get to see him a bit more.

Isabella has teacher conferences - man time is flying so fast. We have 7 weeks before Christmas - ugh. Actually I am looking forward to the holidays. I won't be wishing for a peaceful holiday - I am accepting that we really don't live a peaceful life. But life is good and I am happy.

Night and Love to everyone!

Fall and My 5 Year Old

My 5 year old! She is looking so sweet in her new princess pajamas and make shift crown. Even though her actual birthday was on Monday - we celebrated this weekend. She had many of her school friends come to a pink birthday party on Saturday. She asked for a pink princess crown cake.... The party was perfect. They all had so much fun!

Here is Isabella posing in her new Princess Jasmine costume.

Here is her cake - I was laughing so hard as I made it. The kitchen was a disaster and the cake caved in... Once a year I try to get creative with the kid's cakes - every year they barely turn out - but I keep trying!

The important thing was that Isabella LOVED her cake! All the girls got to take home a piece of the crown (it was made from sugar cookies).

After the girls headed home - the next wave arrived. I thought I was so smart planning both parties in the same day. It worked for the most part - the only lesson I need to remember is to plan more time between the 2. I was wrapping up the kids party as family was arriving for dinner. It was a mad rush to get all the food and munchies out on the table.

Cousin Kelly and Rich came and she made the best bruchetta I have every had. All in all it was another great night with family and friends. I love having a full house!

Jeremy has been working like a mad man to finish up the sun room. I finished painting the inside a couple of weekends ago and then last weekend we tiled the floor. I had the past week off from work and I was determined to get the house cleaned top to bottom and moved into my room. I was so excited to move into the sun room that I did it too soon. I had to keep moving the plants back out when Jeremy worked. I would move everything back in - only to find that he had something else to do and so it went - plants in ... plants out... plants in ... plants out...

But guess where I am now? In this beautiful room - happy as a clam! We have the sky light to finish up and the threshold to the room - everything else is done. Now I can start filling it with plants. I already have a couple of tomato plants - brought them in to save them from the frost.

Here are a few pictures.I think Reno loves this room just as much as I do. :)

Below is a the only picture I took of Isabella on her actual 5th birthday - she is such an Angel!

We had a small dinner on Monday night. She picked hot dogs and mac-n-cheese. She took carrot cake cupcakes to school (they request 'healthy' snacks and that is the best I can do...) and was really excited to share her birthday book with her class.

She had a great day - although now she when I ask her to take a rest she declares - "5 year olds do NOT takes rests!"




Now as promised - sorry for the delay - here are Samantha's pictures from Homecoming. As usual she is too beautiful. She danced the night away and had a great time. Next on my list is planning her Sweet 16 birthday party. (Man I am getting old!)

Daniel is loving his Art classes and so he doesn't complain about school too much right now. We turned in his Senior picture for the year book this past week and today we had a special breakfast meeting to discuss his college plans. He has a couple of ideas and we are just trying to get organized and make sure we meet all the deadlines. Of course he is applying for many many scholarships.

He has a pretty specific goal for his life, I am really proud of him. We will just have to wait and see if everything he is planning actually turns out for him.

Jeremy is doing great - he was battling a nasty cold (Sam and Daniel as well) but I think that is under control for now. He is feeling good again and has started working out with me at the fitness center.

Every day lately, I am smiling. Fall is my favorite time of year. I absolutely love all the colors and the crisp air. I am trying to prolong my tomato season until I get a few more ripe ones - but my pumpkins are bright orange and my mums are blooming. I am ready!

Until next time - Love to everyone!

Cone Head is back

So just a few things happening. We found out that the reason that Roxy was still hobbling around after surgery on her right knee was that her left knee had a torn ACL as well. Roxy came home from the surgery last night and she is sleeping with her cone again.





We have had a couple of really nice weeks (minus work of course). I watched a big orange moon rise over the city while I was listening and watching the Allman Brothers at Red Rocks. Then we headed up to the tipi with cousin Kelly and Rich. TG and his friend Katelyn came up for dinner. It was a bit cold but a lot of fun!



Kelly and Isabella are posing next to her forest princess house. Rich is relaxing by the campfire - and check out my great view.











Yesterday Samantha and Isabella decided to make some gourmet cupcakes. I should have taken a picture of the kitchen after but I think the chaos would have cracked the camera lens.












Here is Isabella's cupcake - just a few pink sprinkles...








Today we did some running around to get the makings of Samantha's costume for the Miracle party. This year's theme was super hero. It is always really nice to see all the kids we spent a year or so with from the hospital, but it is bitter sweet. A couple of the kids are in really scary situations - waiting in limbo to see what may happen. Some have passed and some are thriving like Samantha. We also had to say good bye to Dr. Ball tonight. That was much harder than anticipated - he is our Super Hero. He has finished his fellowship and is moving back to Alabama. I am sure we will get another great doctor but it won't be the same.





















Super Sam showing off her costume - Isabella celebrating that fact that she just ate 3 mini brownies. The meshy photo is Isabella jumping away in the princess jumpy house (we spent most of our time here).


The big golden 'S' for Super Sam!










I try so hard to keep the focus on living a normal life - going back and thinking about all this is hard - on Samantha as well. Maybe it will get easier - until then we will be grateful that the cancer is gone and try to promote childhood cancer awareness any way we can.


Just a note that my tomatoes are getting red and black (my black krim variety) and my pumpkins are vibrant orange. We have been eating yummy broccoli and zucchini squash as well; however, my watermelons were a bust. The bugs ate them before I had a chance...

I will be learning the art of canning soon - I hope! :)

Night and love to everyone!!!

First Day of School

So here are my kids. Daniel is a Senior, Sam is a Sophomore and Isabella started kindergarten today. She is so proud of her clipboard and blue folder. We all have been doing great. Last Thursday Samantha had her 3 month scans. She is still cancer free and her leg strength is improving by leaps and bounds.

Samantha has been working really hard - doing her exercises regularly and going to PT weekly. She recently added a water workout and it is helping. I bet she will be crutch free by Christmas!

Daniel finally got his school schedule dialed. We had a bit of a problem - it seems that no one checked his options last year and at first he didn't meet minimum requirements. He thought he was going to sail thru the last year only taking PE and Art classes. But now he has a full schedule including the Art, PE, gov't, speech and journalism. He is a good sport about it and is really happy that he could keep his Art classes.

Samantha's main concern now is to get her driver's permit so she can start driving. I am not too excited about it but it is something I know must happen. - UG

GrandBob just spent a week with us and Isabella had a blast. She prepared for school and when I dropped her there today - she was glowing. Pretty soon she will have homework like the big kids. I wish they could keep the excitement for school for all 12 years :)!

One really important note: September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It still is not getting a lot of attention - but everyone can help by letting other folks know. We will be going to the Miracle Party again this year. We will be thinking of all the kids who have been diagnosed this past year and some who have had their cancers come back. It has been a couple rough months. A son of one of my cancer mom's had his cancer come back and he has been going thru chemo again for a couple months now. Samantha also has a friend from her cancer camp that just started chemo when her cancer showed up again. Another boy who we know from treatment and cancer camps had a spot show up on his lung this past Thursday on scan day. All these stories are a constant reminder how lucky we are and how fast everything can change.

Until next time - Love to everyone!

Still Here - Just really Busy!

So let's see - the last blog was back in June - right? It seems like I just updated but it has been almost all summer and not a word. Sorry!

It is mainly work's fault (there ya go - I knew there was something to blame). Part of my job is to handle escalations and I had my very first BIG one. I can usually keep them under control for the most part, but this time it just was not in the cards. I worked thru June and July on this - sometimes up until Midnight, but this is what I get paid for. So I do it - but the blog doesn't get updated....

We had a great time back east - visiting family and celebrating Hannah's graduation. We got to visit the Statue of Liberty (in the poring rain) and show the kids some of Jeremy's old haunts.

Samantha and Daniel have been pretty busy all summer attending camps. Their first is Wapiyapi - their favorite. It is a cancer camp for patients and their siblings. Next year Daniel will be a volunteer!

Then Daniel did a Graphic Arts camp out of the Art institute here in Denver. It was an industrial art camp - he designed and created, from scratch, a pretty creative clock. Once he has it completely finished, I will post a picture. His design was a bit ambitious for a 4 day camp...

Sam got to go to another Jonas Brothers concert and then it was time for Sky High Hope camp, another cancer camp that also invites siblings. This one is a bit more structured but still A LOT of fun. Some of Daniel and Samantha's closest friends are from their camps.

We also did the Courage Classic again this year. Daniel did it too. The first day he had to ride alone and he kicked butt! Jeremy had a respectable finish in a 50 mile off road race while I recovered from working all night and a stomach bug. But we were all fresh and ready for day 2. It was a beautiful day riding the mountain trails from Copper to Frisco to Keystone over a small mountain down into Breckenridge and then back to Frisco and Copper. Samantha made a fantastic (garlic rich) Spaghetti and meatball dinner for us to top off a wonderful day. Day 3 is always the scary one for me - we climb to the highest elevation of the event from Copper and finish back in Leadville. I did better this year than last ( a bit quicker) and we all had a great time. Daniel and I crossed the finish line together which was the best feeling in the world. Samantha, Jeremy (who rode back after the climb and picked up Sam and Iz) and Isabella were there waiting for us!

Then we were off to Cody for a family visit. It is always nice to go back and get a chance to relax and see my Grandma and Grandpa Hedderman as well as everyone else. I wish I could hang out more with the cousins but such is life. I am super jealous of my mom - she is getting her dream greenhouse, but I came home with gobs of plant cuttings and some seeds to start myself.

We were home for a day and then off again to Leadville to cheer Jeremy over the finish line of a 100 mile off road mountain bike race. It was super crazy - Lance Armstrong competed last year and since he didn't win - came back again this year. Jeremy didn't beat Lance but he finished after battling hours of rain - then super high elevation sun - then more rain and sleet even... I am always amazed at the amount of people participating. It is such a great accomplishment.

Anyway we are home - for about 8 hours now. I have piles of wash to do and a house to clean - but that can all wait. I also have over 1000 emails to go thru from my week off - but instead of working I decided to update - am I forgiven? I know that I haven't added any pictures this time, but they are all loaded onto Facebook. Here is the link for those of you not on facebook currently - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015049&id=1247830976&l=6fe52ac425.

The kids all start school this week - Daniel is a Senior, Sam a Sophomore and Isabella starts kindergarten. I know that I will live thru all this but I anticipate many glasses of wine over the next school year. I had to order Daniel's cap and gown and I even have the graduation date.... (May 19th or so). Samantha is doing fantastic with walking, she is still on one crutch but is looking great! She will be able to handle full days this year. Daniel will probably cruise thru since he is only taking Art and PE classes to finish up his requirements.

Jeremy and I will continue to plug along with work and I almost forgot to mention.... We are adding onto the house. I am getting a Sun room! It will be a pseudo home office for me with a great view of my front garden. To save money we (mainly Jeremy) are doing most of the work ourselves. It is fantastic - in fact I am sitting in my unfinished room right now! :)

Well - I am off to bed - the first day back after a vacation is hell....
Wish me luck! :)

Love to everyone!

Off to Camp

The last few weeks have been unbelievably busy. My poor cousin Kelly called me Friday evening - just as Isabella and her friend let the dogs out into the backyard and Roxy proceeded to eat my squash plants. I coaxed her into the house with the promise of a dog treat only to have my front doorbell ring and have to prevent the dogs from tackling our guest.

I took care of the visitor (they were here to borrow something) and as soon as they left - Samantha made it very clear I was to leave and pick her up from dinner at her dad's house so we could do some shopping to prepare for her week at Camp Wapiyapi. I breathed a sigh of relief as I crawled into bed around 11pm - proud with myself that I made it thru the day.

Saturday morning - Isabella was off to tackle an adventure with Jeremy while Samantha and I again hit the malls to find some shoes that would fit over her new leg brace (zebra striped of course). I don't know where Samantha came from - she is so organized - a list for everything...

Sunday morning we wrapped up everything and after loading 3 bags, a sleeping bag and over sized pink pillow - we headed off to Camp Wapiyapi. It started out as a beautiful day but as we climbed higher into the foothills it actually started snowing! Can you believe it?

Oh well - camp drop off went smoothly - both Daniel and Samantha are there right now and probably having the time of their lives. They were so excited - I love the fact that this is something they can do together . It reminds Daniel how much Sam went thru and Samantha has a chance to feel normal.

It is a bit hard on Jeremy and myself - we work so hard to keep our family life normal - seeing children with no hair and boxes full of medications can be a bit overwhelming. But it also reminds us how far we have come and how wonderful it is that Sam is 15 months cancer free!

Anyway - we dropped off Sam at camp and headed back to the sunshine (sort of) at the lower elevations. We had a great lunch in Lyons. Jeremy promised to take Isabella fishing - she just got a brand new pink fishing pole. We found the perfect spot and I pulled out a book (yes a real book) to read.

Get this - Isabella's first time fishing - probably the 3rd cast - she actually caught a fish! She was super excited but as soon as Jeremy took out the hook to let her hold the fish - it started flipping and flopping. It jumped right out of her hands as she screamed like a little girl.

I was really lucky to get this picture.

Needless to say after all this excitement she decided it was time to go home. Just in time as the gray clouds rolled in...

We arrived home at to a dirty house (2 weeks in a row that I have not been able to do my regular cleaning). I was able to work a bit in my garden - do some weeding and set up a makeshift support for Isabella's peas. We also did a bit of rearranging to prepare for my new sun room. Yes you read right - we are adding an addition to the house. Since we can't afford to move any time soon - Jeremy decided that we can put on a sun room. We couldn't afford to have all of it contracted out but we have someone doing as much as we could afford and Jeremy and I will do the rest. I am more than excited - I am planning on moving my office into this room. I will actually be able to keep the kitchen table clear and have beautiful scenery to look at all day as I work.

Well - it is time for me to wrap this up. I am hoping to soak a bit in the jacuzzi tonight and mentally prepare for another 'fun' day at work.

Take care - Love to everyone!

Lovin Life

Sitting here listening to the rain outside - having a glass of wine and a piece of chocolate. We had a fantastic weekend.

Samantha has wanted a chance to get out of town for a long time now. We took her to Gunnison - but it wasn't the same. Thru Gold Ribbon Families (my cancer mom support group) we received an opportunity to stay at Keystone Ski Resort for free. It was perfect. The weather here in Denver was overcast and raining so we wouldn't have been able to do much outside anyway. The weather in the mountain was about the same but there is something about sitting in a jacuzzi in the rain that is really relaxing. The outdoor pool was heated so the kids pretty much lived there for 3 days straight. Jeremy and I got to read books and Daniel and I went for a couple of bike rides.

It was exactly what Samantha wanted. The best part was that all kids got along - Isabella was a bit cranky after no naps for 3 days straight - but for the most part is was a drama free weekend!

Life has been rolling along - Jeremy got a clean bill of health last week and now gets to ride his bike to his hearts content. Daniel and Samantha have only 1 more week of school (finals) and then they are off to Camp Wapiyapi. Isabella has her Cultural event marking the end of her school year on Friday. I hope summer goes well for her - a lot of her regular friends won't be going to the summer program. There is one little boy - just turned 6 - that likes Isabella. He walked up to Jeremy on day and handed his phone number to him and said, "Have her call me."

Every time Isabella refers to him - she says his whole name - Aidan Fransisco Carnivalli - never just Aidan. He is a line backer of a 6 year old who loves to play basket ball and chase the girls. Isabella finally gave him a call tonight and they talked for almost 20 minutes. Oh man....

Daniel was eyeing these 2 girls around the pool this weekend - they were young looking and well rounded. Later in the evening I was sitting in the jacuzzi watching the girls play in the pool when those same 2 girls slipped in. Two young boys also showed up and I was trying really hard to not listen to their conversation. I wasn't successful - however, I overheard them mention their age - 13! It was so fun to tell Daniel his 2 "hot" girls were only 13... Sometimes being a mom really pays off. :) Oh the love life of my children.

Work is interesting - busy as I try to justify my role to my customers. I was successful with one of them and I have until August to convince my other one. In the meantime we have Hannah's graduation in a couple of weeks, I am hoping to get to a girls weekend away to Austin and then the Courage Classic. Stay tuned for info on that - I will be asking for donations! I want to get to Cody for a bit and also go to Washington to visit Dianna at some point.

I have been spending most of my spare time working on my garden. Jeremy put in another garden for me on Mother's Day. I have cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, peas, onions and tomatoes in one garden. In the other one I have 2 kinds of squash, cucumbers, watermelon and pumpkins in the other. I also planted some raspberry and blackberry bushes. The yard is really coming along. I so love to walk thru my yard and look at all the new growth. I quite a bit of weeding to do - but it is definitely a labor of love.

We also got the ok ( well Jeremy GAVE the ok) to finally get started on an addition to the house. Jeremy and I are going to build a sun room off of the main living room of the house. Originally when we received quotes it was for the whole kit and kaboodle and totally out of our budget - but this time we are only hiring out the foundation. We will be doing the rest of the work. I am so excited - big windows and a space to grow even more plants. I am going to move my work area into there as well. We are thinking it should be done by October.

I hope everyone else is plugging along like us. Normal is wonderful!

I wish normal for everyone!

Love!

Another Near Miss

Jeremy is feeling alright today. Pain is being managed with Ibuprofen for the most part. We met with an Orthopedic surgeon today and found out that - once again - Jeremy is lucky. He has a medial clavicle break most likely. The doctor only sees this severe collarbone break every 10 years or so. It dislocated to the front of his chest which is really good, since if it would have gone the other way - Jeremy would not have made it. Usually (50% of the time) the heart or artery is punctured. I don't know about all of you, but hearing that my husband was so close to dying yet again is not getting any easier.

You can see the helmet damage from the first picture - the major scrapes, the clip is pretty much gone (my finger is pointing to it) and the protected chin flap has a good sized gash. He can be the poster child for wearing a helmet when skiing. That Natasha actress wasn't wearing hers and only took a minor fall. Jeremy would have been a goner...

Noah captured the next 2 pictures of the ski patrol loading him up. Jeremy has no memory of this part. Noah says he was pretty ashen and didn't open his eyes.

I have to confess I get a little bit angry when I look at these pictures. Not to make this about me, but I have been looking at major scars over my daughters body and then to see Jeremy in pain and his chest all malformed - I feel like puking. Jeremy is quite a stud - he handles all this with ease. He wasn't being reckless - this was just a freak accident. His odds are actually pretty good - he has been skiing 33 years and this is the worse thing that has happened. That actress was on the bunny hill and it turned out much worse for her.

I guess when you lead an active lifestyle things like this will happen. Thank God for good drugs and insurance. I believe I have now met our out of pocket for both Samantha and Jeremy now - probably even the family amount. LOL

The doctor tried to get an idea of what his condition was exactly, but the x-rays didn't help. His shoulder is pushed down near the ribs and there is too much confusion looking at all the bones overlapping in the x-ray. Tomorrow we go back to the hospital to have a CAT Scan done which will give the doctor a better idea of what is going on. We will then meet with the doc again on Monday afternoon to find out the exact plan of attack. He will definitely need surgery and the doctor said is it pretty neat (his exact words) repairing this type of injury. Once the bone is put back together you can see the chest go back to it original shape.

I tried to capture the extent of the injury - You can see from the profile picture how is pec is flat and his shoulder bone is pushed back and down. We joke that he is the hunchback of Westminster... The front picture shows the bruise and how much lower his left nipple is than his right. What you can't see is how that whole muscle is kind of slumped down. Picture a landslide - everything gathered in a pile at the bottom of the hill. That is sort of what it is like. His jaw is still pretty swollen and a bit black and blue on the left side. He has been eating soup all day today...

All in all - he is doing great. He feels ok and is taking it easy. I think the toughest part of this whole thing is the fact that he will be sitting on the couch for another weekend (at least). I suspect the surgery will be on Wednesday but I will post again when we have all the details on Monday.

This could have turned out so much worse - we are blessed. I hope my Papa is feeling better (he is battling pneumonia). Love to everyone!

Just when you think you are out

Just when I thought I was done with injured family members, doctor visits and hospitals - I get sucked backed in...

Jeremy broke his collarbone skiing today. He doesn't remember how it happened - his friend Noah saw him go into some rocks. Jeremy didn't just fall a little bit - he fell hard. Thank God for his helmet - which had the straps torn from it. I don't know if you can see from the pictures but he landed on the left side - his face is swollen and you can see the bruise where the collarbone is broken. It looks much better in the picture. You can't tell that it is thrust forward about an inch. He broke his bone all the way thru. We are meeting with an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow and I suspect that surgery will follow soon after.

He is doing ok now - comfortable for the most part. I will post again tomorrow to let everyone know how the doctors appointment goes.

Other than this latest drama, everyone else is doing well. Samantha went back to school on Monday and is happy to be back. She is pretty sharp and catching up on her class work like a pro.

Daniel was mad at me a bit today because he thought the news about Jeremy was an April Fool's joke and he thought it was a bad one. Isabella is glad to be back in school and hanging out with her friends. We signed her up for Kindergarten next year and she is getting really close to reading. She is still fighting it a bit - but I catch her sounding words out when she really wants to know what it says.

We are getting snow again - everything is white and crunchy. :)

Guess we are back in normal waters again - doctors appointments scheduled, prescription bottles on the counter and a glass of wine sitting next to my computer.

Stay tuned for Jeremy updates - until then...

Love to everyone!

It is about Time

Would you believe that every night I look at my computer and think I should post about today... But instead say - 'I will do it tomorrow'. Well tomorrow is finally here.

We are all doing great. Sam had a doctors appt last Thursday (the day of the BIG snow here in Denver). She was pretty apprehensive about getting her stitches out but Dr. Heare just said - DO IT! She was happy in the end. Since her stitches are out and the leg is looking fantastic, she was able to get a waterproof cast this time. That made her day - her month even. She went into the jacuzzi for the first time in 2 years. I cleared a path thru the snow. :)

Here you can see a picture of Sam' leg. I may look a bit frightening to some but to us it is absolutely beautiful. The main section there is her muscle flap. It is pink and healthy and the skin is filling in perfectly.

The scars look dramatic here but as a whole her leg looks so much better than before with the infection and uneven healing.

Once we got home, I cleaned up her toes a bit and painted them a perfect color of pink (what else?).

You may have heard we got some snow. I was actually going to post on Thursday night with the title "Dumb Ass". Daniel of course thought, 'what is a little snow - everyone is over reacting!'

Well here is my son looking so 'cool' meeting us at the van which he got stuck in the snow. He wasn't even wearing a coat. Jeremy and I had to dig out the van and bring him home.

Here is a picture of our front walk on Friday morning.

Last weekend Jeremy and Isabella went skiing - so I included a picture - so cute!

Saturday was a pretty fun and busy day as well. We visited the Denver Art Museum as a family. It always amazes me to see all that talent. Then later Samantha wanted to get her hair cut and colored. She chose a natural black color with red undertones. She feel fantastic and of course looks beautiful.

Isabella could not be left out - she used some of the money she earned to buy a pink hairpiece of all things. She wore it for 2 days straight. Jeremy just walked around shaking his head - but he was the one who gave her the money to spend. :)

Today was a great day as well. Jeremy is feeling healthy again - he spent the day skiing. I sent to kids to the movie (Monsters vs. Aliens) and I spent the day cleaning the house and making spaghetti and meatballs. My cousin Kelli and her boyfriend Rich came for a visit. We had a wonderful time - I am just hoping that the house full of kids didn't overwhelm them too much.

I know it will take her some time to get used to Colorado - but I am super happy she is here. She looks beautiful and it was a lot of fun talking with her and Rich.

Spring break is finally over and I for one am super happy. Samantha is going back to school tomorrow - she is a bit nervous but excited as well. Isabella will have an adjustment going back to school but I think she will be happy to see her friends regularly again.

Other than that - we are waiting for the snow to melt and the spring bulbs to bloom. I will try to do better on the updates...

Love to everyone!