Christmas Day

Abby displaying her HSM Sing it for the Wii.


Abby after she conquered her presents.


Jim and Abby playing Mario Kart. I had to go
out and buy a second wheel today.

We had a great Christmas this year. It was a very relaxing day. Abby woke us up about 7:30 wanting to open her presents (a little early for me). She played with all of her gifts and we went to see a movie and our "traditional" Chinese Buffet for dinner.

Happy Birthday Jim

Happy Birthday Jim! We celebrated his birthday last Friday. Poor guy, I fixed dinner, fell asleep at 8:00 by the fire and he woke me up at midnight to go to bed. What a bad wife I am!!!

Happy Birthday

Abby celebrated her 9th birthday yesterday. She got a karoake machine, so she was singing Hannah Montana all night last night.

THE PONY

Here is the famous pony, Nick, that Abby always talks about. She loved him and rode him basically the whole time we were there.

Autumn Leaf Festival

My parents and I took Abby to the Autumn Leaf Festival this year. I hadn't been there since I graduated from college there. It was Abby's first big parade. She loved the marching bands. Later that day, we got to hang out with Abby's cousin (my niece), Kate.

Christy, Amie, and Tammy, I looked for you guys in case you where there, but I never did find you! Missed seeing you guys. Maybe the next trip in we can get together. I'll call next time.

Birthday Cake #1

Well, this was the first celebration for Abby's birthday. You know a little girl can never have too many birthday celebrations. Since we were going in to see my parents this weekend, we celebrated with my side of the family. Along with the pony cake, she also got a pair of cowboy boots. She is a regular cowgirl!!

Our New Abode

We are now residents in Kentucky again. Obviously everyone that knows Jim, knows why he picked this house. Jim and Abby love having the pool.

Moving Again

Jim got a new job! We are now moving back to the Northern Kentucky area. He starts his new job on September 15th. He is going to be a Systems Analyst. We just put our initial offer on a house in Burlington. Hoping to seal the deal tomorrow!

We'll keep everyone updated!!!

Good-bye Summer!

For this Labor day, a few of us headed down to the Taste of Colorado. It was in downtown Denver. We enjoyed some good (fattening) food like funnel cake, hot dogs, and some fresh ears of corn. We hate for summer to be ending and in another month or two the snow will be starting to fall here in Denver.

Happy Labor Day!!

3rd Grade

Abby had her first day of third grade today. She was excited to start again and see all of her friends. Abby was up nice and early to get ready. So at least for the first morning, we had a peaceful, uneventful morning. Mom was glad to have a day to herself. She got to have lunch with a friend and go shopping all by herself.

What a great trip!!

We just got home last night. We had such a great trip. It was so nice to spend time with old friends and family. The trip went so fast. We started in Northern Kentucky. With friends, we had a party, went canoeing, and a trip to King's Island. Abby felt like a superstar because all of the kids wanted to spend so much time with her. We miss all of you so dearly, so it meant so much for us to see you again. Next stop was Jim's parents. We went to "The Wilds" which is a place where you can take a safari ride and see endangered animals. We made a trip to see Abby's great grandmother. Last on the trip we went to see my side of the family. I don't have any pictures from the rest of my trip. I took a ton of pictures and then my memory card broke, so I lost all of them. We celebrated my parents 50th Anniversary. Next, we traveled down to Pittsburgh and went to Kennywood (which is an amusement park) with my sister and nephew. Abby once again loved all of the rides. She had a great time riding with her cousin, Tom. Finally, it was time to go back to Denver.

Thanks everyone for such a wonderful time. Can't wait til we see you again.

King's Island

What would a trip to Ohio/Kentucky be without a trip to King's Island? This is Abby's absolute favorite place. We met up with some good friends and had a great day. Abby rode some of her old time favorites along with some new rides. The weather was perfect. The humidity was a little rough for me on the trip, but at least there was no rain to stop our fun (well except during the canoe trip at the end).

Here we come!!

Jim, Abby, and I leave for Kentucky today. We will arrive at the Dayton Airport around 11:30 tonight. We will be driving down to KY tomorrow. Can't wait to see everyone!!

Happy 4th of July

Jim, Abby, and I went to the Howell's cabin for the 4th of July this year. The cabin was near Winter Park and Frasier (up in the mountains for the non-Colorado people). We had a great time watching a parade and then to Grand Lake to watch the fireworks. We were completely shocked to see how the people live in the mountains (very few restaurants, no Target, no malls). How do they survive?

North Pole, CO

We took Abby to Pike's Peak this weekend and took her to The North Pole. Abby got to visit Santa at his house. The park was very cute. There was the Candy Cane Coaster, a sky ride, and lots of smaller rides. Abby had a blast. It was a warm-up for the trip to King's Island in less than 2 weeks Yea!!

Hiking

We went for our first real hike two weekends ago. What I mean by a real hike is that it was just a dirt path, not paved. Abby had a great time, in fact her and I just did the same hike with some friends today.

Some Exercise

One Sunday afternoon, Jim and Abby decided they needed some exercise, so they decided to go for a run. Go Abby, beat your Dad!!

Kung Fu Panda!!

Abby is so excited to see Kung Fu Panda. The movie comes out June 6th if everyone didn't know. We were seeing another movie when Abby spotted the panda. The picture didn't come out very well but had to include it.

Go Rockies

We finally went to our first Rockies game. Thanks to Kenny and Wendy, we had awesome seats. Jim was nice enough to surprise me with my first foam finger. Unfortunately, the Rockies lost, but a good time was had by all. After the game, Abby had such a good time that she decided to collect baseball cards (well that lasted for about a couple of days).

Abby's last day of school

Abby finished her last day of 2nd grade last Friday. She was so sad for school to end. I picked her up and she cried and cried because school was out. I have to say that was the first time for that!! Now summer can begin!!

Karate

Here is my tough karate girl. Her and Jim have been taking classes since September. Nobody better mess with her!!!

Another trip to Aquarium

This time Abby and I took Jim. Abby has made a list of all of the things that she wants to do in the area. Many of her items are outside things, and Saturday was a little cool, so we went to the aquarium. In the picture above, the aquarium has a climbing tree and Abby loves to climb!!!!!!

Abby was baptized

A few weeks ago Abby asked about being baptized. We decided to study with her to make sure that she understood what she was doing. After 12 lessons of diligently studying, she decided today was the day. Obviously, Jim and I are very proud of her. Abby is pictured above with our preacher, Jim Reingrover.

Spring Break

Abby had this week off for Spring Break. Since we couldn't manage to come home for the week, we tried to get out a do a few things. The weather was beautiful this week. We went to the Denver Aquarium yesterday with one a Abby's friends from school. The aquarium was very comparable to Newport's except for one thing. They had 3 tigers. They were depicting a rainforest.

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

Rock Climber

Abby loves to climb the rock walls at Dick's Sporting Goods. Since this climb, Abby went to a birthday party at a place called Jungle Quest. This place had all kinds of rock walls, zip lines, etc... Abby, my little princess (not really anymore), is getting pretty good at climbing. She wants to head to the real mountains to climb. My answer is NO, let's wait til you get a little older. I think she could get into this Colorado living.

Just checking in

I know that it has been a while since my last post. There really is not anything new here in Colorado. It has been snowy and cold. We just got about 6 inches of snow last week. Now that I am staying home, I got to shovel all 6 inches. Abby came down with a stomach bug last night, so she is home today. So far, it has been a very mild bug. I am hoping that I don't come down with it, since my surgery is only 6 days away.



Jim is working hard at his job. Thank goodness he hasn't been traveling lately. He hasn't went out of town since about November. I think within the next couple of weeks the traveling will begin.



I am not sure if everyone knows, but I had quit my job at Charles Schwab. My manager had mentioned that when Abby was sick that I should think about hiring a nurse to come stay with her, so I could go to work. That was NOT going to happen. Other things had went on, so I thought it was best to resign. So far, I am enjoying the stay-at-home life again. I go into Abby's school every Friday for the Book Club.



I hope everyone is healthy this winter time and staying warm. We miss everyone, and hopefully soon we will be able to plan a trip home.

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 was a very snowy one in Denver this year. The weather was calling for a little dusting of snow, but we probably got around 8 inches of snow at our house. Above, Abby is playing Guitar Hero on the Wii at the Howell's house on Christmas Day. Neither of us (Abby nor I ) were very good at it. (Notice the new OSU sweatshirt that Abby is supporting thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Morgan.)

Abby received a big package from Mama and Papa Morgan in the mail. Lego's were one of the big hits of the package. Abby, my little princess, has turned into a little tomboy. She obsesses over Star Wars and loves building scenes from the movie with her Lego set.

Here Abby is on Christmas morning. She got her Wii thanks to her Grandma Neely standing in line at Wal-Mart for many days to get it for her. Along with the Wii, she got quite a few Star War items, and some games for her Nintendo.

Hopefully, everyone had a great holiday!