Where's your sense of adventure?

When we want to do something spontaneously and adventurous, Josh and I ask each other that question.  For the first time in a along time we asked each other that question today.  When we woke up this morning we really didn't have anything planned.  Then as I was fixing breakfast and the news was on the background, we overheard that it was free admission week for all of the National Parks.  We are so very fortunate that we live within a reasonable distance to one (Rocky Mountain National Park).  So we easily decided what our plans would be for the day!

We...

...took our first family hike as a foursome,..

...scaled some enormous boulders to get a better view,...

...watched Kyler climb on trees,...

...hiked Deer Mountain Trail for about an hour,...

...and saw some pretty fantastic views!

When we got finished in the park, we headed down into Estes Park for a delicious lunch at a local BBQ pit.  What a terrific way to spend Earth Day 2012!

Family Photos

A couple of weeks ago, we decided that it was time to update our family photos (the last ones that we had taken were when Blake was born). So we contacted Shannon, and once again she has done a fabulous job!

The Daddy

The Momma

Kyler Allan

Blake James

Brotherly love

Happy Family

The Bickfords

Cool Cousins

Adam, Allie, Cowboy and Kiaya

The whole gang!

Egg-cellent Easter

We started our Easter festivities on Saturday night with some egg dyeing. Kyler liked watching his eggs change different colors.

Then this morning, the Easter Bunny brought the boys sand pails filled with a few of their favorite things.  Kyler's had superheros galore and Blakes had animal crackers and and a sippy cup.

Then we headed on down to Uncles Adam's and Allie's for a wonderful brunch.  All of the kids got bunny ears. 

Do you know how hard it is to get four young children to look at the camera at the same time while keeping their rabbit ears on?

Cutie Cousins

Since Uncle Adam's yard isn't completely finished yet, we had to head over to the park for the Easter Egg-stravaganza Hunt.

"On your marks, get set, GO!"

They were everywhere!

Even Blake found a few!

We had wonderful weather, great company, and fantastic food!  What a great day!  Hoppy Easter!

Spring has sprUNG!

We have had many days of sunshine and new hope.  I love springtime for this very reason!  The grass is turning green, the trees are budding, our neighbor's tulips are blooming and our peonies are shooting up. 

At Debbie's Daycare (we appreciate her greatly), Kyler is learning about growing gardens.  He has planted grass, watched it shoot up, and can name all of the elements needed to grow things.  He has read his What do They Find? I can read! book (a book about what can be found in a garden) to me and has pretended to be a blooming flower. 

"I'm a sunflower...water me!"

Kyler astounds me each and everyday with his ability to remember things, vocabulary, compassion, and confidence.  We have Debbie to thank for much of that!  We LOVE Kyler Allan!

Daddy Date Day

Since Josh has switched school districts to teaching in Windsor, he and I have different Spring Breaks. This year his was a whole two weeks before mine. He had one day with each of his sons and then got the majority of his "honey-do list" completed. On Kyler's day he had planned to go down to the Denver Children's Museum. They had a BLAST, and Kyler told me all about it!

He got to play with trains, bubbles, work in a workshop, shop at a grocery store, pretend to be a veterinarian, design and fly rockets and dress up as a firefighter.

Then they topped a fabulous day of learning off with lunch at Casa Bonita.  Where they saw a crazy gorilla, and cliff divers.  What a fun day!

Happy Birthday Mr. Blake

Blake is ONE!  I just can't understand just how quickly this past year has gone by.  It truly seemed like just yesterday that we were going the the hospital to deliver the little man.  He is ONE - WOW!  We had a Hungry Caterpillar themed party and a ball was had by all!

I was looking on "Pinterest" and found this cute idea for the balloons, and then I added a little bit of my own flair.  I purchased 12 balloons and attached a picture of Blake at each month.  It was really neat to see just how he had changed over the course of one year.

We have Auntie Courtney to thank for the beautiful and delicious cake!

Opening gifts with a little help!

Yummy!  Blake definitely has a sweet tooth!

At age one, Blake LOVES lots of things.  Here is his top ten (in no particular order):

1. His Big Brother, Kyler

2. Oreo cookies

3. Mommy

4. Daddy

5. Mema

6. Dancing

7. Being tickled

8. His Blankie

9. Wresting with his brother

10. Bathtime

At Blake's one-year well-baby check-up he was in tip-top shape.  He is following along is growth curve quite nicely.  He measured 30.5 inches tall putting him into the 71st percentile for height.  He is a whopping 21.5 lbs. which puts him into the 30th percentile amongst his peers.  Not quite as big as Kyler, but like I have mentioned before, they are vastly different in many ways!  We are thankful for Blake James Urich!

Brothers

Although they are brothers, I don't think that Blake and Kyler could be much more different.  I knew they were going to differ vastly when I started to feel Blake move around in utero.  He was definitely the more active of the two and still is.  Blake is going to be the "dare devil" and Kyler will be the one who tries to talk him out of things with his smarts and rational.  I'm beginning to think that is just the difference between first and second born children.  Josh is first born and I am second born...that explains A LOT! 

Thinking back to when Kyler was Blake's age...Kyler was much more contented sitting in one spot with lots of playthings around him, whereas, Blake wants to be on the move and into EVERYTHING!  Blake wants to be in everybody's business and proves that to be true by following all of us around the house.  Kyler LOVES to eat; Blake is a lot more picky.  Kyler catches on quickly to new things; Blake likes to do things on his own time.  Kyler has dark hair and green eyes; Blake has blonde hair and blue eyes.  I am thankful that they are so different, for it keeps life a lot more interesting.

Even though Kyler and Blake are so different in so many ways, they do share some commonalities.  They ADORE each other!  They both LOVE Mommy, Daddy, and Lucy.  They both have a smile that can melt your heart.  They both make me feel extremely proud and lucky to be their mother!

Life

"That's life.  That's what all the people say, riding high in April and shot down in May..."

The creation of life is such a miraculous phenomena.  Having experienced it first-hand on two momentous occasions, I can say that it is simply amazing!  But then there is the opposite of life...death.  Death and grieving is such an interesting process.  Especially losing a loved one.  Dorothy "Nanna" Nestler (April 4, 1925), my maternal grandmother (the last grandparent I had) passed the evening of January 15.  She was the grandparent that I was closest to.  It is hard.  There we many, many very fond memories I had of her and with her. Visiting her New Jersey home, playing monkey in the cage, going on a road trip (just the two of us), and sharing all of my "milestones" even when she doubted she'd make them. But I can't say that the memories we shared she truly remembered.  Nanna was a victim to Alzheimer's Disease.  More recently I had called her and she had no idea who I was.  The converation ended quite abrutly when she said very firmly, "I don't know why you are calling me!"  I responded,  "I am calling to tell you that I LOVE YOU!"  She finished the converation with, "I love you too, whoever you are."  Stupid Alzheimer's!  Rest In Peace, Nanna.  You will be missed dearly!