Fabulous Fall Festivities

On Saturday, we stopped by Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Patch to pick out some pumpkins on our way to the Wyoming Homecoming football game. We had a wonderful day!
Joe, Tara, Gabi, & Maya

On a Walk...

For some reason, I haven't taken very many pictures the last couple of weeks. I need to get back in the habit! Joe took these photos of Maya with his phone on one of our many walks/tricycle rides by the high school. On the weekends and evenings, there are miles of sidewalks for Gabi to ride her tricycle as fast as she can! We even spend some time playing on the turf football field.

Not much is new -- we've just been trucking along. Gabi has started preschool and LOVES it. They made applesauce the other day and she was proud that she already knew how (we made a whole batch the weekend before to can). She goes to school Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30-12:30 and has done suprisingly well. She also started swimming lessons two nights a week and she REALLY likes that! Gabi had her 3 year old check-up (the last time she went to the doctor was for her 2 year old check-up so she has stayed healthy!) She was 40.5 inches tall (99%ile) and weighed 34.2lbs (80th %ile). She pretty much talks and sings nonstop. A lot of people don't believe me when I say this, because she won't talk much at all around people she doesn't know well.

Maya is doing great as well. She has gotten into the habit of using expressions instead of words. I've heard her say lots of words, but she usually chooses not to talk. She knows how to say yes, but instead she will just nod her head "yes" instead of actually saying it. It is a little frustrating, but Gabi is more than happy to talk for her. :) Maya is one happy little girl and just a snuggle bug!

Hopefully I will have more pictures soon! Take care! Tara

3

We celebrated Gabi's 3rd birthday this afternoon with a party at Golden's "Discovery Park." It was a dinosaur-themed party because the park has a fossil dig sandbox, tall grass maze, rock climbing wall, and a play area with a turtle and dinosaur. The park is close to our house, so we frequent it often and Gabi loves it. Here is a picture of the party attendees and their dinosaur friends!

We also had a dinosaur egg hunt!

My first kid's birthday cake! Not bad for a rookie! :-) So glad Auntie Amanda will be able to make the girls' cakes from now on! ;-) She is way better!

Gabi was spoiled, spoiled, spoiled! It seemed like we were opening presents all week! She loves everything! Thank you to all of our wonderful family and friends for the wonderful gifts!

Grocery Cart:


Playing dress-up with her new dress-up box (she especially loves the shoes and gloves!):


Maya was in heaven too with all of Gabi's new toys (when she shares, that is!)


Here are a couple of other pictures from the past week or so. We've been out enjoying beautiful fall weather -- lots of walks to the park and playing Gabi's new favorite games in the backyard -- tag and hide-n-seek.


We've been enjoying produce from Grant Farms this summer. We belong to a CSA, so we get local, organic produce delivered every week. I made applesauce with the apples we received last week and the girls loved it! Here's a picture of them being silly eating it.

Lots of love! Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

Two Silly Girls....

Hello! Quite a bit has happened since the last time I posted, so I'll do my best to get you all up-to-date! :)

My Mom and I took the girls to the Butterfly Pavillion and they both thought it was great! They actually sat still long enough while they were watching all of the butteflies for me to take these pictures! The Buttefly Pavillion has many other insects on display, as well as an interactive aquatic section. The picture below is of Maya watching bees crawl from their hive to the outdoors.

Joe and I had a little getaway last weekend! We headed to Austin, TX to attend the Wyoming vs. Texas football game (rivalry of Joe's alma maters!). Since we left Austin 7 years ago, we had not been back, so it was fun to see where we worked, went to school, our apartment, and where we did most of our running around Town Lake. Most of all, we went for the FOOD! We dined at all of our favorites including Rudy's BBQ, Chuy's Tex-Mex, Amy's Ice Cream, and Fire Bowl.

The Cowboy Joe Club put on a tailgate before the game and we were really surprised to see so many Wyoming fans in attendance! We enjoyed visiting with everyone, seeing some old friends, and showing our Cowboy spirit! Glenn Templeton did a show at the tailgate and was pretty good! Here are some pictures from the tailgate and then our view from the stands. They sure stuck us in some crappy seats, but it was fun to be with all of the other Wyoming fans. The Texans were pretty nice to all of us and the band even played the Wyoming fight song, which surprised everyone. It was so hot and humid! After the game, we headed to 6th Street for some spirits and live music!

My Mom stayed with the girls and everyone had a blast! Thank you so much, Mom! It was really nice to get away and have some quality time with each other, but I really did miss our girls and was excited to get back home!

We went to a home Wyoming game over the Labor Day weekend. Here are some pictures of the girls from the game. Maya was really into it this year -- clapping and watching everyone! Gabi was pretty excited too and loved the band!

We decided to camp out in our backyard one night. Joe and Maya joined us for some stories and then just Gabi and I slept in the tent. Gabi had a great time. We read more stories by headlamp :-) and then listened to and identified all of the sounds we could hear as we fell asleep! She slept all night and awoke around 6:30 with the sun! She even slept through Rocky (our cat) jumping on top of our tent at some point during the night. It woke me up and freaked me out, but didn't even phase her. We're definitely planning another camp out before it gets too cold.

Here are some shots of the girls riding the train at the zoo a few weeks ago. The zoo is always a hit -- Maya is getting more and more into it every time we go!

My Grandma Genie passed away on August 23rd. It was so sad to see her go, but we are all comforted to know that she is now with her beloved husband, dancing the night away once again. We attended her funeral in Alliance. It was nice to see all of my family. Here is a picture that was taken of us after the funeral.

The summer flew by and now fall is upon us. My Earth Boxes and garden did great this year. We have had tomatoes and cucumbers coming out of our ears! I put a canteloupe plant in just for kicks, but it was fairly prolific! Here is a picture of the girls enjoying the first one. There are two more just about ready to pick!

Maya had her 15 month appointment last week. She weighed in at 23.5 pounds and was 30.5 inches tall (both 50th%ile). Her head is still in the 99th%ile (18 inches). Her personality is definitely developing and is very silly. She loves to dance, stack blocks, read books, give hugs and kisses (especially to Gabi), and giggle.

Gabi is almost 3 and is pretty pumped about it! She is going to start preschool 2 days a week after her birthday. Singing is still one of her favorite things to do -- most songs she has memorized, including "Shake Your Grove Thing" and "Hey There Delila." We can't belive how fast she picks things up. She knows most of her books by memory too and will "read" to us.

School is going fine for me. I have it pretty easy this year with only 2 small classes of AP Environmental Science. My students have been awesome so far and it has been nice getting off work at 10am. Joe has been busy with jobs and getting ready to open his office in Buffalo. He's headed to Jackson to meet with some Wyoming architects soon, so that should provide some good networking.

I decided to start a new blog: wyomingishome.blogspot.com. It won't replace this one, but will mostly be used to document our move to Wyoming, eventually building our house, and some of the lifestyle changes and goals that will occur as a result. Mostly, I am using it to force myself to see the "big picture." I've been getting pretty bummed lately because our house isn't selling, I don't want to say goodbye to friends, I don't want to leave my students in the middle of the year, not knowing how the move will affect all of us, etc., etc., etc.... So, I'm trying to focus on the positive and long-term! Hopefully it isn't too corny!

Take care! Thanks for checking up on us!

Tara

It's Been Awhile...

Hello! We hope this finds you all doing well. Here are some pictures from the last month or so.

Maya is now officially a walker. She just decided on my birthday (July 28) that it was time. She is soooo proud of herself and her new favorite thing to do is chase the cat! Gabi likes to ride her scooter or tricycle around the block and the neighbors get such a kick out of Maya toodling along behind her!

Maya is doing great -- almost 15 months old now! She can point to all of her body parts, including her "curly hair" and she especially loves to point out her "beebo!" She is saying more and more words everyday, but mostly just babbles to herself. We had to take the spices out of the spice drawer because she can already untwist the lids and proceed to dump out the contents. In fact, she is a little obsessed with lids and bottles -- trying to put the lid on and take it off. It keeps her busy forever! She likes to put beads on shoestrings as well. Both Joe and my brother Tom were this detail oriented as little kids -- do we have a little engineer in our future??

Joe & I celebrated our 8th Anniversary by attending a Colorado Rockies game. We had a great time just relaxing in the stadium. We don't realize how much work two little girls are until we go somewhere by ourselves. Ahhhhh..... Joe especially has had a fun time following the Rockies this year.

Our friends, Jason & Char Delaney had a new baby girl on August 4th. Her name is Quinn and she's a cutie! Gabi was so excited about the new baby and loved holding her. Thankfully she has not asked for a new baby brother or sister yet! ;-)

We went to Alliance, NE a couple of weekends ago to visit my Grandma Genie. My parents were there as well. It was great to see Grandma, but hard to realize that she is really struggling. We are keeping her in our prayers and hope you will do the same. I'm sure my Grandpa Joe is eagerly waiting in Heaven for her. She is such a great lady and still has her sense of humor! She loved seeing our girls play and be silly with each other!

My mom & I took the girls swimming in Alliance. It was a hot day, so it felt really good. Both girls take to water like little fishes! We've been swimming quite a bit this summer and Gabi even goes down the big slide at the rec center by herself!

My parents brought Gabi her birthday present a little early -- a little scooter that she LOVES!

Joe's parents came to visit last weekend! They even brought their horse trailer, so they could take a load of our stuff back to Buffalo with them! How nice is that!? We took in a really great Rockies game -- they won 6-5. It was pretty hot, but the girls did fine with all the cold treats we bought them! Of course, Gabi had her usual footlong hotdog as well. :)

Being the "nature nerd" that I am, I always seek out little things for the girls to study while we're outside. For over a week, we had a resident caterpillar on our deck. Every time we went outside, we would search for him and almost always Gabi would find him! He is gone now (in his cocoon according to Gabi), and hopefully we'll see him appear as a butterfly one day. Gabi named him Wilbur. We've had a resident elk harem in our neighborhood -- a great big bull with a few cows. It has been fun seeing them around. The beautiful rainbow was quite the sight as well!

Unfortunately, we're not having much luck selling our house. I'm getting really tired of keeping our house "show clean." A neighbor told me to start saying prayers to St. Joseph -- I'll try anything at this point!!

I started school last week. I'm only part-time this year, so I'll be done by 10am each day. It will be great to keep spending time with my girls. We're getting excited for football season -- fall is right around the corner!

Take care! Thanks for checking in on us!

Love, Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya