Lee, Party of Five

The {Middle} Child

2011-03-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

"They were the best of times, they were the worst of times." This is how I feel about Mikaela, except it may actually be summed up as: It was the best of minutes, and it was the worst of minutes. You never really know when Mr. Hyde will emerge from Dr. Jekyll and turn the whole world upside down. Two-year-olds are like bipolars: one minute super happy and fun and so stinking cute, and the next minute some little monster you believe may have been spawned by Satan takes over.

Mikaela was infected with the terrible-twos syndrome about the time her younger brother made his debut - and with a vengeance. This syndrome peaked when the baby was about two months and has since leveled off. We are still experiencing quite high levels however, and do the best we can, attempting as best we can to avoid the temptation of sedation through drugs (although hot baths and long drives are never off limits).

Lately Miki has gotten quite professional at dictating what we should or shouldn't do or say. She loves to come up to you with a scowl on her face asking, "What are you doing?" She is also excellent at correcting improper usage. I asked her this morning "Are you my Miki-Me?" She replied, "No mom, I am just a child."

She has also developed some sweet catch phrases. Upon seeing fellow Homo sapiens, she calls out the greeting, "Hello, humans!" She also says "Ahoy" in case we only speak Pirate. If I ask her where something is, she will always reply, "Right there, to the left."

Each morning after we drop off Libby at pre-k we go to the gym where Mikaela goes to "gym school". The daycare at the gym is great and the workers there are so nice. Mikaela especially loves Miss Wobbin (Robin). Whenever she isn't there she says "Whey Mz. Wobbin doe?" Ms. Robin has taught her several songs and sometimes gives Miki her favorite thing in life: gum.

Mika is definitely a Daddy's girl, through and through. Whenever he gets more than three feet away from her she says, "Where you going?" She has a really hard time when he goes to work, and most every morning will sit by the stairs and cry for him to come back. It's very sad and I'm a little bit worried about how she will handle things when Denver deploys. We're working on recording some books for her with his voice so he can still read her a story every night before she goes to bed. We're all going to miss Daddy.

In the end, the highs definitely outweigh the lows, and we love our little middle child so much. It is fun watching her grow and change and I'm sure one day I will look back at all this craziness and laugh. For now I sometimes sneak into her room at night and watch her sweet little angelic face deep in slumber, dreaming sweet little dreams. No matter how hard the day was, I always leave feeling so grateful and blessed to be her parent.

It's okay Daddy, I got this...

2011-03-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

Five-year-olds are simply the best. They've moved beyond the temper tantrum throwing years and they're not quite prepubescent, so for the most part they carry on, relatively drama free, and lead happy little lives. We've been having a lot of fun with Libby lately because her personality is just really showing in all kinds of unexpected ways.

A few months ago she found out about an essay contest in which you could win a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble. The assignment was to write about what you like about winter. She decided it was for the best to enter this contest. So we sat down one night and created an outline, then she dictated to me what she wanted to say, and then she copied them down herself word for word. She also created a few pictures to go with it. Here is what she wrote:

The Magic World of Winter - by Liberty Ayn

My favorite thing in winter is snow. I like to build snowmen with CeCe, my best friend. I like to throw snow balls with CeCe too. Sometimes when the snow falls and it's not enough , I like to catch it with my tongue. I like to make snow angels with CeCe and mine was Happy :-). These are my words about tasty magic snow.

A few weeks later we got the call; she won! We promptly went and collected her winnings and took part in a photo shoot (see above). A few days later we went to Barnes and Noble and she picked out a few things she liked. She then went and purchased these items completely on her own (while I stood and watched from a distance with all the pride a mother can have). She had $2 left on the gift card, so we decided to go to the Starbucks inside B & N to get a raspberry steamer with the leftover money. We arrived just as Denver was ordering some coffee. We added her order to his, and the lady said "that will be $6." When Denver reached into his wallet to pull out his debit card, Libby very stealthily pushed her own card up on the counter and said, "Don't worry daddy, I got this." She was so proud. All in all, a great day and a very memorable experience.

Moving right along...

2011-02-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

This week we celebrated Denver's 30th birthday. He is officially in a different decade than I am, and has forever left behind his roaring twenties. It's sort of strange getting older; I don't really feel any different than I did when I was twenty, but I can look in the mirror and see the aging that has taken place. It's as though part of me is on fast-forward while the other part is stuck on pause. A great friend of ours offered to watch all three of our children for us so we could go on an actual date - the first one since the baby. It was very nice to get some alone time, although for the most part we just sort of enjoyed the sound of silence. This is what bliss is post-children.

Our Anniversary is also coming up next month, so to celebrate I signed Denver and I up for a 5k and 10k race. (I will be doing the 5k in case there was any confusion...) This will be my first competitive race since track in middle school, so I am pretty excited. Of course my last race involved me tearing my ACL on the hurdles, so I am a little nervous, but I think it will turn out all right. If nothing else, I get a free t-shirt!

Libby started a children's theater class which is so perfectly up her alley. She informed me after class she no longer wants to be an artist when she grows up: she wants to be an actor. She's been playing the dramatic part well at school by bossing everyone around (including her teacher) and at home bursting into tears over the tiniest inconvenience (i.e. little sister in her personal space). I'm not so sure this is actually something we want to encourage... on the other hand if she does become rich and famous I can have her buy me a mansion on a tropical island here in a few years. What a dilemma...

Mikaela will be starting her first dance class soon and has been practicing a lot at home in Libby's old ballet leotard and slippers. It mostly involves her wiggling her shoulders up and down and making up songs. Today she was holding up her kitty cat pajama pants singing "cat, I'm a kitty cat, and I dance, dance, dance..." from the youtube video. I'm not sure where she gets all this hilarity from, but I enjoy watching her.

Baby Jefferson is getting to the flirty stage; lots of smiles, coos, and little songs. I love watching him looking up at me with his adoring little blue eyes. I wish babies would stay babies foreverrrrrrrrrrrr.

2011 is gonna be heaven (or hell)

2011-01-31T21:40:00.000-08:00

Wow.

Almost a full year this time with no blog post. Does anyone still check this blog? I thought it had been a few months or so, but last March! I say this all the time, but this year I will be better. You'll find out why soon.

First I've selected a few bests of 2010 pictures:

That pretty much sums it up. I'm not going to dwell on it - out with the old, in with the new kind of thing.

We didn't end up going to Ft. Bragg, instead we are at Ft. Lewis, Washington. Our orders were changed a few weeks before the move which created a lot of havoc, but we made it.

The big news for this year... Denver is deploying to Afghanistan for 12 months. We're not sure when yet; it will be either April, May, or June. But we know for sure it's happening. We have about a million things to take care of between now and then and no time to do it. So, I'm procrastinating by blogging, hehehehehehehe.

Remember last July when I blogged like 3 times? It's because Denver was gone, and when he's gone I have a lot of free time, which is why I think I will be a better blogger this year. I would rather he were just here taking up all my time, but at least we have modern technology. I'm happy I don't have to send him a telegram to communicate. Or go 6 months with no communication. He will (hopefully) have internet access so we should be able to keep in touch pretty well. I honestly miss the bootcamp days a little bit - the days of handwritten letters. Those were fun.

So it looks like the kids and I are headed back to home-sweet-home-Boise-Idaho. I'm happy we'll be close to family, and beyond grateful to get out of the constant rain and lack of sunlight. I understand why the vampires all hang out in this state, there really is no sun.

Libby is in pre-kindergarten and starts real-kindergarten this next fall. We are trying to get her into an arts magnet school. It focuses on drama, music, and art, while still covering the basic math and science concepts. I think this is right up her ally, because she is just slightly dramatic and likes art a tiny little bit.

Mikaela has fully incorporated the terrible-two temperament. She can be the cutest little girl in the world, very loving, sweet, and cuddly, and two seconds later the demons come out and we are throwing holy water on the child. Is it possible for two-year-olds to be bi-polar? Just asking.

And last but not least, we added #3 to our family on November 24, making us a party of five. It also ended our all-girl running streak, that's right, Denver got his son. Jefferson Dante Lee is now two months old and trying to catch up with his sisters, he's already at 14 pounds. He looks just like his Daddy, but he is a momma's boy. And I love my little man.

That's all for this Lee family for now.

Spring Springing but not yet Sprung

2010-03-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

We FINALLY know where our permanent station is! We will be heading to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina sometime early July, and will be spending the next 2.5 years (or more) there. I know you all are dying to go see us there, so make travel plans now. We have a twin bed you can sleep in. Any takers? ANYONE???

It's been awhile since I've updated this blog (I'm not apologizing anymore, what's the point?) so I will catch you up on the past six months. Denver made it through OCS (yay!), he did amazing and got into Signal Corps, which is the IT/Communication branch of the Army. We are now in Augusta, GA for advanced branch training. I am loving being able to live with my own husband full-time again and feeling like a real family. We have an amazing apartment here with great neighbors and a pool which we are insanely excited about swimming in this summer. Augusta is a very old Southern city with lots of awesome old Civil War era houses and a sweet Riverwalk on the Savannah river. We are two hours away from everything here - Savannah, Charleston, Atlanta. We are planning on making a lot of weekend trips.

Last weekend we had four days off and decided to make a trip to Disneyworld. The military gets a great deal on tickets - free for service members and $100 four-day passes for up to 6 other people. We stayed at the Holiday Inn for only $31/night (gotta love Priceline!) and even got the room with the bunkbeds, which was one of Libby's favorite things about the whole trip! I was worried about the age of the kids, but this trip was truly a dream come true for Libby. She absolutely loved it. She got to meet a ton of princesses and got their autographs, and told me that at Disney "dreams really do come true!"

This trip affected me in an unexpected way - I have been to the parks a million times and after three years of working there I thought I had done it all and seen it all - but then I have never gone with kids before and got to see the park through "new eyes". We went on rides I have never been on before (spent a lot of time in Fantasyland - teacups, peter pan, dumbo, etc), spent a lot of time meeting characters, and other activities I wouldn't normally do. Seeing the parks though my kids eyes made me realize that this place really is magical for them. It was a very cool experience. Libby was the perfect age I think for going, I definitely want to go back when Mikaela is 4 years old. Anyway, enough of my Disney mushiness...

So Denver finishes class June 24, and then we're off to North Carolina. I am so tired of moving I am having trouble motivating myself to think about it. I am excited because we are only an hour away from Duke University, so I will be spending the rest of this year preparing an application for the PhD program at Duke, hopefully I will get in! If not, I am applying to the University of North Carolina as a backup.

I think we will be coming home sometime this summer, I hope we get to see everyone! I am a little homesick and missing my friends and family. I hope everyone is doing well.

Because I am blogtarded I am not going to upload all my pictures on here, so just follow the links below to see pictures if you're interested.

Disneyworld 2010 photos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=161133&id=538410939&l=b8ba46f8e2

OCS graduation/cruise photos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144197&id=538410939&l=149fc96f0f

Hawaii January 2010 photos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=155061&id=538410939&l=be04cd1243

The Army Life

2009-10-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been awhile since my last post, but I have said many times that I am not a very good blogger. You have been duly warned!

We made it down to Georgia on October 2 and are now happily situated here in Columbus. This city sits right on the Chattahoochee River and it's where the last land battle of the Civil War was fought. I love being somewhere with so much history. Not only have people been here since the Civil War, people were here during the American Revolution! We went to Savannah, Georgia recently and saw lots of historic monuments, including some cannons that were a gift from Mr. George Washington, the first President himself! I really enjoy it. (Pictures to come soon... hopefully!)

The best part about living here is being so close to Denver. We get to see him every weekend, and he gets to call me every night. I love being so close. Last weekend he got a four day pass for Columbus Day and it was so nice having all that time together. It makes the move and everything else totally worth it just to have those few days. He will have Halloween off and the weekend of Mikaela's first birthday off. Libby's birthday happens to fall on a Saturday so we'll be together for that as well.

Denver graduates from Officer Candidate School on December 10. After that we are going on a three day cruise, and then coming back to Idaho for a few weeks. After that we have no idea! We find out at the end of next week what branch Denver will be in and where we'll be living for his training. We should also find out where our first PCS (Permanent Change of Station) will be. I will blog again after next week to let you know!

All is well here! We miss our family and friends but will hopefully see everyone in December!!

Larissa :)

The August Rush

2009-08-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

August is halfway done and fall is officially in the air. We've been able to open the windows at night the past few nights which has truly been amazing. There is nothing like fresh air at night, I love it!

Denver is now in the second phase of bootcamp. There are three phases altogether: red, white, and blue. Red is the most difficult and it gets easier as the phases move along. He's one week into the white phase.

A few weeks ago he worked on administering and receiving IVs. He did well and got it the first time on his "subject". Unfortunately, the person giving him one went clear through the vein on BOTH arms! Poor Denver!

Last week Denver was able to work on Basic Rifle Marksmanship. He has an M-16 that he carries around everywhere and finally got to practice some shooting! He really enjoys this although the live fire from his platoon-mates can be frightening sometimes.

We get to hear from him today and are sitting by the phone waiting for the call. One week can really feel like a lifetime when you are away from your spouse :( but we are thankful we get the one call a week! The letter writing has been kind of fun and will be nice to have to look back on someday.

As for the rest of us, we are doing pretty well. Mikaela has a cold and a flu right now, but she is amazingly still a happy little 9 month old baby. She is trying so, so hard to walk. She can pull herself up to standing and walk around using a mixture of furniture for balance and crawling. She is so much fun!

Libby is having a blast still playing with her little Aunt CeCe. They entertain themselves all day long playing games, going outside, and everything else. I feel like I hardly see her anymore! She will be sad when the kids go back to school, but she will be going to preschool on Tuesdays and Fridays, so it shouldn't be too bad!

That's all for now. More to come, probably in September!

Oh, Oh those summer nights...

2009-07-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I apologize for not keeping up with my blog. For a few weeks we didn’t have the internet and then we moved so we haven’t had a lot of time. Before I forget, here is Denver’s bootcamp mailing address:

Lee, Denver
BTRY C 1st BN 19FA 3rd PLT
402 S Boundary Road
Ft. Sill, OK 73503-8012

This address will be effective through September 18th. We finally heard from Denver on Sunday. He called after he first arrived in Ft. Sill, but then I didn’t hear from him for a few weeks. He is doing well. He said it’s very HOT down there, especially in all the military attire. He was extremely excited at first about the food (Steaks, burgers, etc) but has since had to change his diet because of the heat. He said he now eats a lot of fruits and veggies and even has a SALAD with mealtime. I never thought that joining the military would give Denver healthy eating habits, but it has!

So far he has made it through Hell week, repelling, and the dreaded gas chamber. He hasn’t done any artillery training yet, just a lot of marches and not a lot of sleep. For his first PT (physical training) he had to get up at three in the morning and run two miles. At the end of it they told him his time and he was kind of discouraged because it was 16 minutes. He was later told that it was actually a lot longer than two miles, they just wanted to mess with them.

He has a battle buddy which is basically someone that you have to go everywhere with whose name is Mark Lee. He is from Arizona/New Mexico and related to Robert E. Lee. Denver thinks they may be related which would be pretty ironic. They get along pretty well.

As for the rest of us, we are doing great! We are all moved in to my parents’ house and slowly unpacking all of our stuff. Libby loves living at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and hanging out with her little Aunt CeCe all the time. She will be sad when school starts in the fall. Mikaela grows a little everyday and is very close to walking. She will be nine months next week.

That’s all for now, I’ll try to write more soon!

Larissa & Family

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye…

2009-07-10T10:58:00.000-07:00

We have made it to day 3. It has been quite an adventure so far. The first day Denver left, we went out to my Mom and Dad’s to drop Julia off and hang out. Chelsea was over and wanted to go to this drive-in in Emmett really bad. So we agreed and got some food and sat outside on a metal picnic bench to eat our food. Libby kept trying to run off and I kept getting after her. Well, we got all our food out and just started eating when Libby (who had been jumping on the bench) lost her footing and fell over the edge and fell right on the corner right smack on her face.

Immediately she had blood gushing from inside her mouth and her nose. It got all over the concrete, all over her clothes, and all over me. We took her into the little bathroom and used a whole roll of paper towels soaking up all the blood. I kept trying to look inside her mouth to see how bad the tear was but it was hard because her upper lip swelled up HUGE! Anyway, I confirmed there were no missing teeth at least, and her nose didn’t appear to be broken.

So we went back to Mom and Dad’s for a little while to get her cleaned up and put some ice on. I was debating taking her to the ER (it was too late to go anywhere else) but nothing seemed to be broken. So then we left the parent’s house and went and picked up Daynera at the airport. We took her home and got everything inside (Lib was asleep by this time) and it was 11:30 p.m. I had a very long day.

The next morning we got up early and called Primary Health Pediatrics and told them what happened. They said we better come in and get it looked at so we did. Dr. Overy (ha ha) said that she looked good, the cut in her mouth was healing well and wouldn’t need stitches (phew!) and her nose wasn’t broken. She still has a huge upper lip though. (See picture to the left… this was taken the next day!)

Anyway, so we took Libby to school yesterday (she still really wanted to go!) And then Daynera and I went home and cleaned up around the house. Then we ran some errands and picked up Libby, then went out to Mom and Dad’s again for some dinner and fun. By last night I was really, really emotionally and physically exhausted, and I am very happy to have such a great family to help me take care of the kids when I really just need some sleep. It is very hard having Denver away because he is such a great help and a great support for me.

So I woke up this morning early, feeling great and ready to go! We're not sure what we're going to do today... we are thinking of going swimming somewhere... it's a rough life, I know!!!

Larissa & Family

Death by Flu Virus

2009-06-27T22:19:00.000-07:00

What a crazy week! It all started on Monday... we went to Libby's swim lesson and life was normal. We came home, put her to bed, and two minutes later she called down to us "I threw up in my bed!" So we ran upstairs and sure enough there was puke everywhere. This was just the beginning of a week long crazy flu virus that I'm still not sure we're over! The first night she threw up really intensely all the way until 6 in the morning. Larissa also got sick later that night and describes it as the worst flu she's ever gotten... really bad stomach cramps, headache, and COMPLETE cleansing of the entire body! The next day Libby and Larissa felt better but then Denver got the flu and his lasted a complete 24 hours! Just when we thought we were all over it, bam Libby started feeling sick again and then began another round. This was a few days after the first episode. A few days later, Larissa started throwing up again... it never ends! (I actually downloaded a swine flu app for my phone because I was starting to think that maybe....? but no.)

Anyway, other than our crazy virus that keeps wreaking havoc on our plumbing (That's for you Natalie! :P) we are doing well. It has been a busy week and we submitted our 30 day notice today for our apartment so we will be out at the end of next month. Larissa and the girls will probably go stay with her parents for awhile. Denver leaves in just over one week and we are sad although we are looking forward to starting our great new adventure! That's about all to report.... good night!!

Summer has arrived! (Maybe?)

2009-06-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

Already June 18th! We've been busy getting Denver ready for bootcamp and the rest of us prepared for life without our man around! We've been trying to get into shape and eat healthier but of course summer is the time for BBQs and Roaring Springs so we haven't been doing as well as we would like... but we're getting there!

I got my haircut today! My first cut since last October, I was in desperate need! It feels so nice to have all that hair gone and off my neck, it will be nice and cool for summer. It's also nice to be blond again, it's been a few years!

Libby has been taking swim lessons, she is doing very well! The first few lessons she wasn't that into it, was being very crabby and wouldn't go under. Now she is like a little fish... she has confidence and will go under water and all kinds of things. It's really amazing!

Mikaela has been teething, it has not been exciting. She's gotten 4 new teeth in only 2 weeks with another right on the edge. She's been very grumpy and has been running a temperature and it really sucks. I can't wait for her to get over the teething crap!

Well that's about it... 2 blogs for the month, I am doing AWESOME!

What's in a year?

2009-06-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

It has been almost one year since I started this blog, and I've only done 4 posts! Shame on me... I would say I'll try to do better but usually I just get worse, so instead I'll say good job me for writing 4 whole posts in just one year!

Life once again has kept us busy. Keeping up with a three year old and a seven month old can do that to you. We are in the process of trying to get Mikaela to sleep through the night, so far the most we've gotten is six hours straight of sleep, but typically she is still up every three hours. Does anyone have any advice? The doctor told me her nightlife is unacceptable and that with sleep deprivation you really are no better than a drunk driver, but didn't really offer any sound advice in how to remedy the situation. So.... here we are.

We returned one week ago from Italy, we went over there for a friend's wedding and then traveled around a little bit to Venice, Florence, and Rome. It was very fun although very hot which didn't agree with Mikaela all that well. Libby got to stay home with Grandma & Grandpa, Tyler & Natalie, and Kristen & Joe. She had a blast getting to play the only child once again but is adjusting well back to life with her little sister.

Mikaela went from being a baby to a pre-toddler all on our trip. Italians adore babies and it was a little like being a movie star for the two weeks we were there. Everyone would say "Che bella bambina!" (what a beautiful baby!) They all wanted to touch her feet or her hands and some would ask to hold her. It was a lot of fun and Mika loved the attention. She started waving at people on the trip, and has also learned how to crawl (but only backwards!) She also says things like dadadada and mamamamam and bababababa. It's very cute!

We are getting ready for a summer of adventure... Denver joined the military and starts bootcamp July 7th. Immediately after that he goes to OCS (office training) for three months. He will be away until December 14th. We don't know what we'll do without him for five months, he is such a great daddy and hubby. After he gets done with that we will be moving but won't know until mid-October where to. We are hoping somewhere in Europe which is where we put our location preferences. There's a good chance we could go to Germany since there are several Army bases there. I think that would be a lot of fun, I need to start practicing my German since it is getting a little rusty, ja.

That's about all! I never was able to find a job in this crappy economy so I will be spending the summer playing with my little girls and enjoying the sun!

Insomniacs!

2008-12-21T23:31:00.000-08:00

It's 12:32 a.m. and I can't sleep! Time to write another post I guess. I have admittedly been terrible at this, but now that I am done with school I am hoping to do better!

We have been very busy. November 4th we were fortunate to finally meet our gorgeous daughter number 2 - Ms. Mikaela Jade Lee. She was 7 pounds, 10 ounces with lots of thick black hair. She has been such a good baby, very good natured just like her daddy and loves to be held all the time! We love her so much and Libby is adjusting to life as a big sister. It is fun having four of us around now.

I finished graduate school on Friday, December 19th. It was a beautiful day, I am still waiting for my grades but I'm pretty sure I did well in all my classes. Every semester had some challenges but this last semester was pretty tough with being pregnant, moving, and finishing up the program, but I made it through! I don't think it has sunk in that it is officially over!

We are very excited for another Christmas. Libby is old enough now to really understand and appreciate the holiday, she has been talking about Christmas for the last 3 months so I'm sure she will have a good day. Now that CeCe is out of school she has been staying at my parent's house the past few days and is having a blast! It will be fun having all the babies around for Christmas with Tyler and Chelsea's boys. We are staying at my parent's house on Christmas eve so that we can be there first thing in the morning to open up the presents, what fun!

Although it is kind of sad graduating and celebrating the holidays during such economic turbulence, I am so grateful for all that I have... my wonderful family, friends, my home, and even the fact that we always have food on our plates, how blessed we are. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a very Merry Christmas!

Love, The Lee's

Another Summer Come and Gone...

2008-08-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast summer has flown by! It didn't help taking 12 credits and working full-time, but it still went by unusually fast. We still managed to have a very fun time though. In July we went to Bear Lake for a few days and got to go swimming, boating, and golfing. It was my first time golfing and Denver was a great instructor. We had a lot of fun!

This month we have been hanging out around Boise, mostly going to Roaring Springs, the local waterpark. It has been awesome floating around the lazy river, especially at 7 months pregnant! I wish I could live in the water sometimes, especially since it has been 100+ degrees lately. I have to say I am a little bit excited for fall.

We've been thinking about baby names and are still unsure what this little girl's name will be. We like Elisabeth Jade, or Dagny Dominique, and some other ideas are Giada, Mikaela, and Kendall (middle names to be determined). Giada is Italian for Jade, and would be nice because it is a little bit longer and therefore wouldn't be as choppy - Jade Lee is a little bit short.

That's about all that's going on with us! Nothing too exciting. Fall semester starts Monday and begins the countdown of my last semester. I am only taking two classes this semester which should be nice since the baby will be come late October or early November. I graduate December 19th.

We've entered the land of the bloggers...

2008-06-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hello!

We've made it thus far in life with no blog, but alas... it is time. Life seems to keep getting busier rather than slowing down, which has really necessitated online communication. So... here we are!!

We have been moving along in fast forward now for quite awhile. We are living in some on-campus apartments across the street from Boise State, which has made it very easy to get back and forth.

Denver graduated in December with an Economics degree. He currently works for the State Controller's Office doing IT stuff (It's all a mystery to me!) Denver is doing a special project for work right now on disaster recovery for the state. He's also looking into doing a master's in agricultural economics at the University of Idaho. That's about 8 hours north of here, and in a little tiny town called Moscow. It would definitely be a change, and we are ready for a little adventure!

Larissa is going to graduate school to get a master's in business administration. She graduates in December. (Yes, she is speaking in the third person!) This will make it interesting for her because she is expecting a new baby girl arriving sometime beginning of November. Larissa also works for BSU as a graduate research assistant. Right now the professor she works for is working on a new book, so she gets to help interview massive amounts of people in different professsions. It has been very interesting and a great learning experience!

Liberty is now 2 1/2. She is at the most adorable, cutest stage of her entire life, but also the worst, craziest, and most emotional time of her life. Fortunately, the amazing ups definitely outweigh the few tantrums, outbursts, etc. She is now almost completely potty trained, and we're really proud of her for that. She is obsessed with every princess that ever lived (especially Disney ones) and any dress she ever wears she comes up with a princess name to match it. Example: "This is my Sleeping Beauty dress Mommy!" She calls me "Princess Mommy", and calls Denver "King Daddy". We have apparently become a royal family.

We've been going to Roaring Springs (the water park) a lot lately to stay cool, it has been lots of fun. We're hoping to get in a little bit of camping, boating, and river floating this summer as well.

That's all folks....