Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

How close have you been to a giraffe? 

 Feeding the giraffes was the coolest part of our day. However, Ethan and I were more interested in looking rather than feeding or touching them. The rest of the family was more than happy to get up close.

For some reason this is the only picture we have with Mike and Tracey's kids. Their daughters are Brooke, who is on the left, and Lindsey, who is next to Ethan. The girl on the right was a friend of Brooke's.

 I'm still wearing a boot. My foot was bothering me while walking around so I sat down whenever I could.

 Riding the chair lift was a lot of fun. It was a great view of the city.

Rockies play the Cardinals

Doug, Mike and the boys drove up to Denver on Friday night to watch the Colorado Rockies play the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won which made the boys happy. They thought it was pretty cool seeing them play in Denver!

Trip to Colorado Springs

We had a last minute opportunity to go to Colorado Springs over Memorial Day weekend. However, it required me to drive 14 hours by myself with the kids, while Doug flew on a C-21. I drove through a storm that produced a tornado in Missouri and there was continuous rain and wind the first day. It really wasn't bad at all. I've gotten use to driving long distances by myself through storms and with kids. 

We stayed with Tracey and Mike Manor while we were there. For those of you who don't know, they were the ones who set us up on our blind date 16 years ago. 

 We couldn't go to Colorado Springs without visiting the Air Force Academy. The picture above has the chapel in the background. 

The kids were trying to avoid the wind by ducking below the guardrail. It was very cold and windy that day.

 In the chapel they have different areas of worship. Their main areas are Catholic and Protestant. The picture below is of the Catholic sanctuary. There was a wedding taking place in the Protestant sanctuary so we weren't able to go in there.

AWANA

We had a great year in AWANA this year. It was Audrey's last year as a Cubbie, Ethan's first year as a Sparkie and Jacob's last year as a Sparkie. They all did a phenomenal job memorizing scripture verses. Ethan finished his book and extra credit book by February, and Jacob finished his book and extra credit book by April. The boys memorized an amazing amount of scripture verses and it was so exciting to see them soak it up and learn them as well as they did.

Ethan was brought to the front during the rewards ceremony so the teacher could explain all of the stuff the kids could earn during their first year as a Sparkie.  

The  Four Amigos 

Ethan, Alex, Gracie and Shelby 

                            

 Look at all that stuff on Jacob's vest!

Over the last three years he earned everything he could possibly earn as a Sparkie. People were in awe of all the stuff on his vest. There were no other kids in Sparks that had earned all the patches, wings and jewels he had earned. We are very proud his hard work. It was a huge accomplishment. 

 Top: Shelby, Gracie and Audrey

Bottom: Audrey, Jacob, Ethan and Alex

Doug's Change of Command

 Doug's Change of Command for the

906th ARS was on May 10, 2011

It was a very proud day for those of us who have supported Doug throughout his career. 

We all know how much he deserved this honor and we know he will exceed everyones expectations as a commander in the United States Air Force.

After the ceremony the kids and I stood next to Doug in the receiving line to meet all the people who attended. The kids did an excellent job and had a lot of fun shaking everyones hand.

 Family that was able to attend from left to right:

Faith, Earl, Scott, Vivian, us, Jeanne, Dan, Elena, Kay

Audrey was a snuggle-puss the whole week. She loved giving everyone hugs and sitting on their lap.

These two pictures of Audrey with her aunts Elena and Jeanne are absolutely precious.

Audrey and Ethan's T-Ball Practice

                         

 Most of the family had flown in for Doug's Change of Command by Monday evening, so they all got a chance to see Audrey and Ethan play baseball. It was quite a show since Ethan likes to ham it up while he is at bat. 

Visiting the Arch

I wasn't able to go because of my foot, but Doug took Jeanne, Vivian and the kids to the St. Louis Arch. They weather was gorgeous and they had a great time. 

 Ethan loves astronomy, so this picture is so perfect!

Doug got a little artistic with taking pictures of the

 arch.

Audrey's Birthday Party

Audrey's Birthday Party was a lot of fun! We invited a few families over, blew up our jumpy castle, barbecued and had a nice time. Doug's parents and Jeanne were also there for the big day since we had it on the 4th. Audrey also loved the Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake I made for her, which I have to admit turned out better than I planned. 

Audrey's 5

Audrey turned 5 on May 2nd and I am in awe of the little lady she has become. Her strong will has softened and over this last year she has become so much more lovable. Her ability to find humor in all things, including being disciplined, usually makes us laugh. It's very tough to keep a straight face around her. She's such an amazing gift to this family and I love her so much.

 Since we didn't have her birthday party on her birthday Audrey and I went to get a manicure and pedicure to celebrate her big day. She loves getting her nails done and it was definitely the best part of her day. 

Our Family!!

Audrey had her dance class that afternoon and all the girls sang her Happy Birthday!! We also bought cupcakes and packaged them in individual boxes for her hand out to the class and she really enjoyed handing them out to all the girls.