Our first week in Golden

Our first impression after living in Golden for one week is, "Wow, we're not in Utah anymore." We went to the school for a welcome barbecue for Sam's graduate program and the secretary and dean were handing out beer to everyone. It was on campus in the middle of the week at 11:00 a.m., I was somewhat surprised and for just a second I was ready to put on my ruby slippers and wish my way back home. I don't know if it is because we live across the street from the largest brewery in the world or because there is a bar on every corner, but the place just smells like beer. Once you get past that somewhat unpleasant aroma however, there really is a lot to do here and the people are so nice. Because Sam had a light week at school we were able to spend a lot of time exploring. There are several parks within a couple miles of our home and Ollie and I averaged about three different parks a day during the past week. (Ollie has a lot of energy and it is much easier and cleaner if he can get it out at a park instead of in our tiny apartment). We also visited the Denver Zoo and spent some time wandering around a mall that would put anything Salt Lake has to shame.

On Friday we went to a family music and movie night that Golden puts on in one of the downtown parks. It was great for Ollie because he misses his grandparents dogs and everyone here has a dog so he just wandered throughout the crowd greeting all of the dogs. Like I said, everyone is super friendly and after Oliver tried to steal their little girl's popsicle we scooted our blanket over near some new friends and they filled us in on all kinds of things to do here.

Oliver caught on to the zoo thing really fast and as soon as we came to each new pen he would start looking around to see what kind of animal lived there. As soon as he spotted it he would point and then make either his dog or sheep sound (the two animal sounds that he knows) after that he would just start laughing. It was pretty darn cute.


After Oliver chased down a little girl with a popcicle we decided that we had better get him one of his own.



Here we are at Lion's Park, it is one of Oliver's favorites because of the big pond that is great for throwing rocks in and because of the very friendly squirrels.

First day at church

So, today was our first day of our new ward. Naturally we were a bit nervous, but once we got there it just felt awesome . It was a tiny ward and everyone was so kind. Sam found several people who had graduated from his same program so he got lots of tips on what professors to take and who to avoid. And of course everyone loved Ollie. Then, as we were walking out feeling elated the second counselor pulled us into the clerks office and showed us that we are across the street from the ward boundary and actually belong to a different ward in a different stake and a different town. So it looks like we will be doing the whole "first Sunday" thing again. The saddest part is that the chapel we were at today is around the corner and our new one is several miles from home.

Old game - New rules

I just had to add this because it makes me laugh so much. Oliver loves to play peek-a-boo. He has however modified the game to better suit him; rather than place his hands over his eyes and pulling them off to "peek" he covers his ears instead. I guess he just doesn't want to miss a second of what is going on around him.

Summer Summary

There may yet be several weeks of warm weather left, but Sam starts school on Monday and so for us this marks the end of summer vacation. We spent this summer living at my parents house while Sam (a.k.a Crowbar) worked out of town for B&K Construction. Some people complain about living with their parents once they are grown. In fact, a while ago I probably would have scoffed at the idea myself. However, after three months of being with my parents I'd have to conclude that it is actually quite wonderful. We had such a great time and my parents were so kind and generous. We are so grateful for the blessing of being with them for a short time, especially Oliver. He is soooooo attached to his grandma and grandpa. In fact by the end of our sojourn in Riverton he preferred grandma over mom (probably because grandma let him have all the fun he wanted). Of course, everyone took a backseat to Ollie's grandpa. From the second my dad would walk in the door from work Oliver insisted on being at his side. His most favorite activity in the world was to feed the mules and the dogs with his grandpa. As soon as he saw grandpa put on his leather gloves he would just start laughing with joy.

We are sad to be so far away from them now, but understand the importance of establishing our own family. We are just so glad for the time we had with them. Here are some pictures of our summer fun.

Oliver loves dogs. He is really brave around them and usually laughs when my dad's dog, Zip, tramples him to the ground. He didn't quite enjoy this puppy though.


Ollie likes to help grandpa drive.

There is nothing like a cold popsicle on a warm day.

Over the summer Oliver visited the strawberry patch at least four times every day. No one else at the house ever got to taste a single one, sometimes he wouldn't even wait for them to turn red. He would pick them white and pop them into his mouth, leaves and all.

Happy Birthday Oliver

Our precious little boy turned one year old on August 9th. We had a special party for him, including all of his favorite foods: pasta salad, watermelon and lots of berries. His cake was also covered with berries. (We figured that it was the only way to get him to dig into it.) I just can't believe it has been a whole year since he came into our lives. He is now the center our our lives and we love him so much. He is getting to be so big now. He walks, he loves to pick up sticks, and play with animals. He absolutely relishes being outside, sometimes when he is out playing he will just lie down in the grass (or gravel) and smile - he absolutely loves it!! The first thing he does every morning when you get him out of his crib is ask for his blanket and then point outside and say "go". His vocabulary includes : mom, dad, go, no, bye, he also makes dog and sheep sounds.

A day in the life

So, after spending some time with Oliver and I my sister suggested that I keep a tally, just for a day, of how many times I save Oliver's life. At first she suggested cataloging each different incident, but after watching Ollie in action she realized that it would take too much work to write them all down. Rather than keep a daily tally, I decided to pay attention for just a specified period of time, about twenty minutes. This is a list of Ollie's adventures:

(on the deck)

-Oliver tries to crawl off the high side of the deck where there are no stairs, I move him away
-Oliver tries to walk under the picnic table but he has grown too tall and keeps hitting his head, I pull him out from under the table
-Oliver crawls over and sits under the porch swing, I happen to be swinging on the swing so I get off and hold it out of the way
-Oliver puts the cat food in his mouth, I move the catfood to the top of the picnic table
-Oliver tries to drink the cat's water, I distract him with a stick
-Oliver attacks the cat with the stick, I take the stick away
-Oliver climbs into the cats' water dish, I just look the other way
-Oliver goes for the steep side of the deck again, I move him away, again
-Oliver tries to pull his uncles bike over on top of himself, I move the bike off the deck
-Oliver stands up and tries to push the lawn chair off the steep side of the deck, I move Ollie onto the grass
-Oliver makes a beeline for the rocks and begins stuffing them in his mouth, I pick him up and we move inside

(in the kitchen)

-Oliver pushes his walker towards the stairs at top speed, I point him in the other direction
-Oliver pounds on the glass patio door with a golf ball, I move him so that he is pounding on the wall instead
-Oliver opens the cupboard under the sink and plays with the chemical cleaners, I close the cupboard and stand in front of it
-Oliver moves toward the garbage can and removes the lid, I close the lid before he can begin to pull things out
-Oliver heads to the bathroom and unrolls all the toilet paper then closes the door behind him and sits in front of it, I coax him away from the door, open it and re-roll the toilet paper
-Oliver throws the dirt from the house plant all over the floor, I pick him up and we go back outside

(repeat)

This may sound like an exaggeration, but anyone at our house can attest to it's truth. My husband wonders why it now takes me a month to finish a book. Obviously, it is because I can't get through a single sentence without having to put it down and chase after my energetic baby. Can anyone out there relate?

Onward and Upward

My eleven month-old baby is getting so big and so grown up. His vocabulary has now expanded to four words: mama, dada, no, and go (meaning go outside). He has also discovered the joys of pointing. If you show him pictures he can pick out his mom, dad, grandma, grandpa and aunts and uncles. Just so there is no confusion he will also point to exactly where he wants to go and what he wants to eat. (Talk about demanding!) Another funny thing about Oliver is his diet. If you give him a choice between a cookie or a fruit he will pick the fruit every time. The kid is nuts for fruits and vegetables. Every time he finds himself in the front yard he makes a beeline for the strawberry patch and starts picking and stuffing anything that appears to be even remotely pink into his mouth, leaves and all. The other day he picked up a zucchini off the counter and just started to munch on it. It wasn't exactly tiny and he ate at least half of it. I wish I could get some of those healthy tastebuds to rub off on me!

Seven Peaks

Last Saturday we took a mini-vacation to Seven Peaks Water Park. We had a great time, but I was surprised by how different it was than I remembered it being as a child. It seemed a lot smaller and I was no longer completely preoccupied with getting on as many rides as possible. In fact the whole family seemed more interested in watching Oliver than in doing anything else. At one point we were all in the wave pool together and everyone was surrounding Ollie and going under the water and popping back up in unison to make him laugh. It was then that I realized just how ga-ga for Ollie we all are. Of course, our little water bug had a great time and he came home with a great tan line while the rest of us just got burned. Ouch!


Just check out that farmers' tan, Sam has been working pretty hard on that one this summer.

Happy 4th of July

Certain things seem to loose their sparkle as we grow older. Now that I am grown up I have been disappointed to find that I can actually sleep on Christmas Eve, my favorite childhood cartoons were actually really cheesy, and the 4th of July Carnival isn't that incredible after all. I guess one of the reasons we have kids is so we can enjoy all of that stuff again through their eyes. Yesterday we took Oliver to the park for the 4th of July celebrations. We loaded up on tickets and used them all up watching him go on rides (it was much more enjoyable than going ourselves). Although he was a little tentative about it at first he loved it and after a couple of rides he couldn't get enough.

Ready or not here we come...

So, it has been a while and we have a lot to catch up on. To begin with, Oliver took his first steps on Monday June 30th. He only seems to enjoy walking when no one is pressuring him to do it, but you can catch him venturing out on his own every once in a while (you just have to be content to watch out of the corner of your eye).

Aside from that exciting event, we also took a trip to Golden, Colorado last week to check out the school and search for an apartment. I have to say that my first look at Denver was certainly not "love at first sight". Fortunately, Golden is tucked behind some big hills so I never even have to look at Denver if I don't want to. We were super impressed with the school and while we were there Sam even decided to switch programs. He has now decided to study mineral and energy economics. This program is much more specific and the graduates get better jobs when they finish. Unfortunately, the apartment hunting was not so successful. We did find a place that we liked but they didn't want to hold it for us and we didn't want to pay July's rent. We have a place reserved in student housing but living there would only be a possibility if we sold all our furniture and lived with folding chairs and sleeping bags (I'm pretty certain that nothing more than that would fit into the apartment). As it is, I still came home and started selling things that we don't think we'll have room for out there. The first to go was our TV and some baby stuff. I imagine I will be selling even more stuff as our situation grows more desperate. The next things on my list are our treadmill and Love Sac.