The Grinch Can't Steal our Christmas!

Oldtown Hotel

Old Towne Georgetown's 6th Ave

Twin Santa's Helpers

Evan & Carter in Georgetown, Colorado

Today is December 13th! Officially 12 Days before Christmas! So in light of the miserable week we had, we decided to try & bring the Christmas spirit into our home. We drove to the mountain town of Georgetown. They were having an old Victorian Christmas Market. It was fun to see the mountain village. It seemed 20 degrees colder up there & it was snowing. We then came home and tried our best to teach the big boys the true meaning of Christmas with our first of twelve Christmas lessons & Christmas songs. We also began our Service Star!

This poem is attached to a metal star ornament:
Here's a Magical Christmas Star

With a tradition old and true

May it bring you warmth and love

Not only at Christmas, but all year through.

Now every day til'the New Year

Find someone in your home,

And secretly do a deed of love

So your identity won't be known.

And when the secret act is done,

Place the star upon their bed.

They in turn do a secret deed

For another it is said.

And like the star so long ago

Lit the sky for all the world to see,

May this star bring light and joy

To your wonderful family.

1st COLORADO SNOW!

110 Christmas cards isn't even enough! Which I guess is a good thing(too many friends to quantify), right? Anyhow, if you have not received a personal card in the mail I apologize. Consider this your Able Christmas greeting. And know we value each and everyone of you!

Dawsy Bossy Boo! Such a Trooper

So Dawson smashed his finger in the trundle bud nearly four weeks ago and just this last weekend (while we were otherwise occupied) it became very red & inflamed. Long story.....3 hours in the Urgent Care and an allergic reaction to an antibiotic, another MD visit by our new Pediatrician Joseph Smith, a referral to an orthopedic surgeon & a 4 1/2 hour visit w/ more x-rays culminating with a SURGERY all for a smashed finger! AY, AY, AY. Did I mention Matt is out of town this week & Dawson's Uncle Craig had just passed away under general anesthesia 2 weeks ago? I was a basket case, but Dawson was a rock, one would never know he was hurting. Official diagnosis, Osteomyelitis. We are awaiting culture results to find out whether or not he will need a PICC line and infusion therapy x 1 month.

38 Balloons, Seriously So Sad!

38 Balloons for 38 vibrant years were released by his beloved children.

We had a very tearful Thanksgiving to say the least. Unfortunately, we went home to give support to my sister & her family and bid farewell to their husband & father. In memory of Craig Andrew Oliver who left this earth way before his time. There is a time and season for everything including death. We may not understand why Heavenly Father chose this time for Craig to come home, we must believe it is for a divine purpose!

Anual Christmas Card Photos

We asked a friend to snap some Christmas card photos for us this afternoon. I have to say they turned out better than last year. Here are the 4 in the running for our Christmas card.

2 Thumbs Up! 4 STARS!

80 degrees in Denver!

Just as warm as Matt in Cancun( minus the scenery, ocean , pool, jacuzzi, room service & peace & quiet).

Brightened my Monday

I saw this bumper sticker & just couldn't help but chuckle. A funny take on such a serious & nasty beast as Breast Cancer. If everyone could have such a positive, funny take on cancer!

The Making of a Statue (dejavu)

CAUTION: not for weak stomachs!

So, two nights ago Carter awoke us way early in the morning crying b/c he didn't make it to the bathroom before throwing up. Needless to say he & Matt stayed home from church. We had a houseful of company so he was quarantined to the Master Bedroom for the day. Later in the day when our guests left I went up to get the babies out of bed & Dawson was covered from head to toe in vomit! I was not sure however if it were his or Declan's. It was on the bed & Declan as well. Dawson must have heard my wonderment and decided to prove to me that it was indeed his vomit. While I am undressing him for the bath, Declan had wondered off. All I heard was the heaving and then SPLAT! Declan had gone to the balcony and preceded to vomit between the spindles. Fortunately, most of it landed on the hardwood down below instead of on our NEW carpet. Don't get me wrong it was still a task to clean up. So to the tub they both went. A couple more rounds of vomiting ensue in the tub. But about the statue! Growing up I had a recurring dream when I would throw up in the night in my bed(I must have done it often, b/c I remember it so vividly). The dream was of myself becoming a statue. I stayed as still as possible b/c I was being covered with concrete (really vomit!). Is that soo disgusting or what? Evan woke this a.m. vomiting. Four down to two go! Matt left for Cancun first thing this morning, hopefully he will be able to get his work done before he gets hit w/this virus. And maybe I can escape this one! Who is gonna clean up after me? And care for the kids if I get it? Oh yeah, ME! HAPPY MONDAY!

No Theme Halloween!

Matt debuting his monstrous creation.

The babies refused their hoods on their costumes! Dawson was a skunk & Declan was a blue monster, Carter was a vampire bat and Evan was Commander Cody. Cosmo was an exorcist Dog!

I always thought it would be great to have coordinating costumes or a theme of some kind with our Halloween costumes. Maybe someday? This year our them was REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE! Yes, we just went through our Halloween tote & had to buy 1 out of 4, not bad. The kids were out of school, so we had an all-day celebration. We went to Chick-fil-A for lunch(free lunch if you were in costume)! Can't beat that! Then we went to a Halloween party of some friends that have also recently moved to Colorado. Good times! Then last but certainly not least we went trick-or treating! Matt stayed behind and manned the candy while the boys & I went down our cul de sac and then some. Fortunately the babies were quite content to ride in the stroller this year! I have a feeling next year will be a very different story!

What do you do on Sunday Evenings?

This is what we do.

ABC's first....

I was checking on the babies the other day and tis is what I found! First I checked to make sure Declan was breathing, then I ran and grabbed the camera! AIRWAY, BREATHING & CIRCULATION first always!

Republican Street!

We have apparently moved to a Republican street or neighborhood. Politics seems to bring out the worst in people. We had an officer knock on the door this past week asking if we were the home that reported their Obama signs stolen? We do not display our political preferences, but apparently of all the political signs on our street all of the Obama signs were stolen! The display was about 50/50 then 100% McCain for a short time! I guess that was the point!

FALL FUN!

While Matt was out of town the kids were on break for parent-teacher conferences. We got a little stir crazy and decided to check out Colorado's version of a pumpkin patch. We stumbled upon Fritzler's Acres. We were quite sad that our annual tradition of going to Nauvoo's Pumpkin Walk and our favorite pumpkin patch in Illinois would no longer be feasible and knew that we would be unable to find a comparable pumpkin patch. Fritzler's Acres was much more commercialized and pricey, but fun nonetheless.

Commander Cody claims he has a Magnifying Mask, so I challenged him to clean up all of the crumbs!

Carter driving the pedal go-karts.
Evan on the pedal go-kart.
Declan trying to figure out the pedal go-kart.
We rode this barrel train!
I don't know what I was thinking! This inflatable creature was a maze inside, nothing spooky, completely dark, supposedly stroller friendly. WRONG! Nothing about this thing was stroller
friendly and it was spooky. NOT for the claustrophobic. We were all a mess inside this THING. The emergency exits were not large enough for the stroller to fit through, although Evan kept jumping out the emergency exits I had to keep pulling him back in b/c I had no idea where he would be once we came out at the end. I could just see this whole thing deflating on us b/c I kept ramming into the sides w/the stroller just trying to make it through! After this fiasco I was very reluctant to try and navigate the corn maze w/o another adult to accompany us. We would have for sure gotten stuck in the dark in the middle of the corn field.

Dawson in the corn sand box.
Declan playing in the corn.
Carter making a corn angel.

Matt went on a Business trip & brought back........

A 100lb Boxer named COSMO. He is older at between 6-8 yrs old, quite geriatric in Boxer years. But b/c of his age he is EXTREMELY GENTLE and VERY PATIENT. The babies love on him constantly with no reaction on Cosmo's part.

Declan mounting Cosmo.
The babies trying to figure this thing out.
Dawson trying to hitch a ride, but going nowhere. Notice his fingers poking Cosmo in the eye, again with no reaction on Cosmo's behalf. GOOD BOY!
Hulk trying to catch a snooze with the big lug. Cosmo is not too into forced naps.

Random Pics of the Boys

Dawson

Evan & Carter debuting their new hair-cuts from the Able Barbiere!
Declan saying "cheese"!

Dawson saying "me"!

CLASS OF 2021 & 2025

A picture can elicit soo many emotions! One that came to my mind was HOLY COW! Especially when I realized the babies will be graduating in 2025! Carter doesn't have any concept of time yet, he has been going around saying he is 2021! And the other night he and Matt were playing the Wii, and Carter was legitimately beating Matt at whatever they were playing. I piped up and said, "Matt are you getting beat by a 5 year old?" And Carter chimed in saying," I am beating an 80 year old!" Matt was none to happy of Carter's assessment of his father's age. I guess I should stop calling Matt old, little ears are listening and they take everything so literally.

1st Week Down!

Tonight we will have officially been in our new home for 1 week! Lot's of changes, mostly good. We have yet to attend our new ward, but the kids love their new school and are finding that making friends is easier than they thought it would be. The new school schedule is kicking my butt! There is no bus service, meaning I walk or ride bikes to the school 3 round trips a day, yes 6 one way trips daily. Evan & I leave at 725 am, depending who is awake, they tag along. Next week Matt will be traveling so I am on my own,everyone must go at 725 am! Then after I return home from round 1, Carter and the babies & I eat breakfast and get ready for the day only to leave at 1125 to take Carter to Kindergarten. Then if the stars are aligned, the babies will nap when we return. Only to be woken up at 215 to run out the door for the final trip to pick the kids up! Shew! Who needs an eliptical? Oh and every Wednesday is early release day, school lets out at 115pm! Come on! it would be impossible to have a job around this schedule. However, I did start my new position this week thanks to Matt being able to work from home! I was able to drive down to Canon City(pronounced Canyon City). It was a 330 mile round trip adventure all by myself! I really enjoyed my first assignment!I said goodbye and closed the door to my labor & delivery saga. We are getting situated rather well, the house is really taking shape nicely. We have a million projects that we would like to do in time! We are adjusting well and enjoying our new surroundings! Next week is sure to bring new adventures!

Mouser for Hire!

You may laugh, but I am not! Growing up in the country surrounded by fields, I have had my fair share of mice. Moving into a filthy vacant home we naively thought being neat freaks as we are, we will just thoroughly clean the place and add new carpet and the mice will disappear. WRONG! So Matt & I joked that we just needed to put an add on Craigslist to borrow a cat to rid our home of mice. Well wouldn't you know I found an add for a temporary home for 2 cats! So we welcomed our mousers this afternoon, Puffy & Miagi. They are still freaked out about the move and have hidden all afternoon & evening. They will be busy tonight! I will post some pictures when the cats come out of their shells. Who could ask for anything more, no expense to us, no long-term committment of adopting a pet & we will rid our home of mice! Carter is in Heaven!

Children & Politics

We have had some very interesting conversations lately. Evan & Carter have both asked "which team I am on?" They don't know the names of the teams, only that Obama is the leader on one team and John McCain is the leader of the other team. Denver hosted the DNC, but we didn't really talk about that much. I wander how much they get in school about the election? Or more importantly on the bus? They both want McCain to win. Carter cannot tell you why, but Evan said, "Duh mom, Obama is African American." I then asked him what that meant to him. He rolled his eyes and said, "that means he was born in Africa and now he lives in America, get it AFRICAN AMERICAN. SO he cannot win because you cannot be President of the United States if you weren't born here." So simple in the eyes of an 8 year old.

Lunch-What A Bore!

New House

Fall Already?

Crazy Colorado weather! Yesterday it was 92 degrees, today the high is 63 degrees! Everyone woke up freezing this am. Don't get me wrong, I love the fall, it happens to be my favorite season. It just seems so early. We have been warned that it doesn't warm up here until after Memorial Day and it starts to get cool around Labor Day and that it always snows here on or before Halloween! Choose the Halloween costumes wisely, preferably warm. This is proving to be sound advise.

THE ROCK

On Labor Day we climbed "The Rock", the one our city is named after. We had great expectations and gave it a valient effort to climb to the top w/ all four kids, however 1/4 of the way into the hike we decided it best not to continue on w/ the babies. So Matt, Evan & Carter climbed to the top. It was all I could do to turn around and get back down w/the babies. The kids were very proud of themselves for this huge accomplishment.

Nursery, Here we come!

Oh Glorious Day! Declan & Dawson waiting at the front door for church. Declan has become our little Lynus, always carrying a blanket around. They did fabulous their first day in nursery, Matt & I did as well!