May 06, 2007

Kiet and I took a much need romantic getaway! Grandma Debbie kindly offered to take the kids and we spent what we thought would be a sunny weekend in Telluride! We were so surprised that it snowed all weekend. It was good to share some time together without our kids. We walked in the snow and took a drive to Ouray and enjoyed the hot springs in the snow.

April 07, 2007


My son and his best friend Justin Mestnik look so adorable dressed up like girls. They had so much fun this day. Olivia was of course the make-up artist.

The first of two spring breaks for my kids! Boy are they lucky....



What could be more fun than two weeks of spring break? One of those breaks with your favorite cousins, at least that is what my kids would say. All of the cousins from Alabama as well as the cousins from Wyoming all converged on Colorado for some fun in the Rockys.

We started off the week with a great hike up Dinosaur Ridge and checked out the tracks.

MARCH 2007

Olivia had a sleep over with her best friend Sydni and her brother Jerimiah. They had so much fun dressing up and pretending they were clowns.

I think that Olivia and Connor think that they are clown/pirates because they were both saying "Arghhhh".

Scotty's best friend James got Married on March 10th so we call go dressed up and went to the wedding. Do you think that it helped encourage Scotty's to take the big walk? Maybe.....

We had so much fun laughing at our table and dancing the night away (10pm we are so old).

Olivia and her buddy Braden Dobbs

My little darling was very upset that this post did not include as many pictures of her so her ya go. This is Olivia's new sweater dress and boy does she need it. It was 5 below this morning!





Where have I been?

It has been so long since I have posted and I can't believe it is already February. So instead of cleaning my house for our dinner party tomorrow I am posting. Are you surprised? Me either.
Well much has happened since my last post. Kiet traveled to Charlotte to visit his biological mother who is seriously ill with heart problems. I think that he was able to reconnect with her which is good.

He came home and I was off to visit my grandmother who fell and broke her hip. It was one of the hardest but best visits I have had with my granny. I was able to stay with her and my grandfather and help take care of them. It was a little reminiscent of having an infant again. She needed help going to the bathroom in the night. It was very hard to watch my grandfather struggle with the easiest of task because his mind is deteriorating. There were times when he would be trying to put away the silverware and stare at the drawer for an hour trying to figure out where everything goes. You always wonder how aware elderly with Alzheimers are. You hope that they are oblivous for their sakes. He used to be such a brillant and vibrant man.

I came home to lots of work with Connor's first submission into his school's Science Fair and he did such a great job. The M&M Survival Challenge (can a blue M&M survive better than any other color from being eated when it is on blue paper?) And then off to the mountains for a MOPs (mothers of preschoolers) steering retreat. What a blast to be up in the mountains with 9 amazingly talented and fun women. My poor hubby did an amazing job on his own for two weekends in a row. I love him so much!

As most of you know Colorado has had one of the snowiest winters ever and I am getting a little tired of it. The poor kids can no longer walk to school because there are no sidewalks and poor Jasper sinks a foot in the snow in the backyard to do his duty. I guess it will be easy to pick up all that frozen poop when we can see it. Sorry to keep rambling on but a lot has happened and I know my daddy loves to keep up on all the happenings.



I was the parent helper for Connor's field trip to the Stock Show! We had so much fun checking out the livestock.


Connor and Olivia had so much fun conducting and setting up for the science fair. We will definately continue to do this. Connor now wants to be a part of science club after school as well as the chess club! What busy boy! I wonder where he gets it from.

Olivia the Star

A star is born! Olivia loves to make up songs.

Dancing at the Traildust

Happy New Year!!!!


Well Oanh finally arrived (Kiet's sister) from Alabama and we decided to head back up to the cabin. We met mom and pop up there and they brought the nephews (Brad 9, David 4, and Jed 2). Needless to say, my kids were in heaven! They love these cousins and we all had a lot of fun greeting the new year together.


Jed and David enjoying some fun on the playstructure at the cabin.



Olivia got some make-up for Christmas and had captive audiences all weekend. She was applying make-up to everyone even Jeremy and her daddy. They looked so cute with blue eye shadow.


Even all the dogs (5) enjoyed theirselves. They are spoiled rotten by Kiet's mom! Oahn and Jed enjoyed some time sledding together.

We took the kids swimming and they had so much fun going down the big slide. Deb and her brother Allen enjoying a farwell meal of Pho to Oahn.



We took seven little ones up to A Basin for a ski day and Olivia and her best friend Sydni did great!!! I was so proud of her.


Connor and Brad were brave enough to ride the lift by themselves and ski down with their Grandma. She spent lots of time helping perfect their technique.

The Blizzard of 2006

Connor Skiing 12/25/06

Merry Christmas

What an amazing year and to be able to complete it with an amazing Christmas too! We celebrated Christmas with our usual mish mash of family and friends on Friday. Kiet made egg rolls and mom brought over turkey and ham. What a feast! The boys were all here with Allen but we will have to wait for Kiet's sister Oanh to arrive due the the blizzard. She was supposed to arrive on Wednesday.

Saturday morning everyone came back over for a little gift exchange. We all drew numbers and picked from a pile of presents. We stole presents and laughed alot. I must admit that mom got the best gift. It is a rear end preventer. A little deer that goes on the hitch of your truck and raises it's hands every time you stop. We then gathered up all our stuff and headed to the cabin. We played in the snow, watched a little football and relaxed. Christmas morning we headed to the slopes for our tradition of skiing. Kiet stayed at the cabin and enjoyed some one on one time with his daughter. Connor, Eugene and Jeremy ROCKED!!!! They all picked up skiing and snowboarding like pros! We couldn't get Connor off the mountain. He must of skiied non stop for 5 hours straight.

The night before the Sheppard left we hung out with their kids while the unpacked. Can I say that they had fun in our dress up trunk or what. We also had Connor's best friend Justin Mestinck spending the night.

We always let our kids open one gift before Christmas!



Connor could not resist making snow angels in our backyard first thing in the morning. He and Olivia also sprayed all of the snow with food coloring so it looks like a rainbow. Connor was so happy to get his first MP3 player. He loves music.

I think that Jeremy and Charlie had a good time hanging out with family this year. We miss Phuong but know that she is in not pain where she is now.

Allen, Kiet's brother-in-law, had not been on skis in 20 years but you could not tell. Connor was a mad man on the slopes.



Jeremy snowboarding down the hill. This was only his second time and by the end of the day he was racing down blues. Eugene boraded for a couple hours and then off course took a nap sitting up.

Let it Snow...Let it Snow...Let it Snow

Well we have officially been dumped on and will definitely have a white Christmas. Monday night our guests arrived. The Sheppards with their four children, dog and cat. They were supposed to close on their home on Wednesday. Of Course our storm rolled in on Wednesday and their closing was postponed. Not to worry though Kiet came home early and brought out the ATVs. Every kids in the neighborhood was here to take a ride on their sleds behind the ATVs. Sweet Linda invited all of us over for Pad Thai, Cream Cheese Wontons and Sweet Coconut Sticky rice. We had so much fun visiting and laughing. It snowed all night and we woke up completely snowed in. Not to worry - no school, no work and lots of fun. All the kids were back and we rode up and down the street for hours. I think at one time there was a pyramid of seven boys piled up on top of a small tube. Justin and Connor adorned the top!

Even Olivia had fun riding with her daddy! The Sheppards will close on Friday, we will have a lovely Christmas meal for 20 people on Friday and will head to the cabin Saturday morning. Connor and I will be skiing on Christmas day and thinking of all you.

Andra shoveling the first bit of snow and Jasper loves the snow!

Connor and Justin had a blast together sledding behind the ATVs and even Justins mom, Cathy, got into the action! Her and Lindsey make such a great team.

Baylee, Kip, Lela and Jodi preparing their Pad Thai bowls at the Hills and get a look at all of the snow gear that is piled up at the Hills. We all walked over. 12 kids and 6 adults.

We woke up in the morning to tons of snow! Then by 10am everyone in the neighborhood came over for some fun. Here is Baylee, Lela and Tessa waiting for a ride.

Andra waiting to be pulled and Kiet and Olivia at the wheel!

Here is Brad, Johnathon, BJ, Blake, Justin and Connor. This is how they were pulled for an hour behind the ATV. It was the hysterical watching them pile on, fall off, pile on and be pulled over small jumps. What a great day!