Halloween Costume Changes

Do you ever have a tough time figuring out what to wear on a regular day of work?  Remember those times you try on 15 outfits until you find the Perfect One?  Just imagine that feeling multiplied by 1,000 when it comes to Halloween!  This year, they were more excited then I have ever seen them!  I bought a couple of costumes for them, but then they found a box of stuff given to us by friends.  I wish I could tag everyone here to see the costumes!

First, we had a Lion and Dale Earnheart Jr.  Can you say, ROAR?

Wait, Kasey!  I have a Car Driver one too!  But, I kinda want to be a Cowboy too!

Nope, that isn't the perfect one.  Maybe Kasey is on the right track with the Super Hero theme.  I think being Superheros is the way to go!

A battle of superhero powers...Who will win?



I will just fly over the spider webs you throw at me

HIYA! Take that superman

Hey, Dad!  I got a good one!  Look at Me!  I'm a Sailor!

Hey, Mom!  Didn't you say you work for a Cheese Company?  I wanna Be a Happy Cow from California!  Can you Say, "Eat More CHEESE?"

Ok - dress up time is over - Lets get ready for Boo at the Zoo!

 Wait - Costume Change!

Wait!  Pile of Leaves!  Can't be a kid until you jump in a pile of leaves!  Ok, after we are done here, we think we are ready to go meet up with Luke and Julie at the Zoo!

Jim's Bday Celebration

Jim is growing up so fast... just seems like yesterday we celebrated his 21st birthday.  This year was extra fun as it was a Housewarming CSU Birthday!  Yup, Jim and Sarah purchased a new home in Acres Green.  And boy, what a home!  Amy was pretty jealous of the layout and both of us were in love with their backyard!

Just so happened that CSU played a game against Alabama on his birthday.  Before the game, we enjoyed their backyard...

And of course hung out in their front yard like the Good Ol' LXA days.

And then it was Game Time! Ok, the game turned out like we expected it to, but at least we had a great crew to watch with!

We even enjoyed a lovely post game chat on their back porch as we watched our kiddos create music with their new drumset.

Yup, I think it was considered a successful birthday!  Happy Birthday, Uncle Jimmy!

Coors Brewery Tour - Cannode Style

Ok, who is sick of the Coors Brewery Tours?  Not Us!  We realize we have posted a bunch of brewery pics, but I think this finally completes the Family Tours.  We have enjoyed each and every time we got to take the Mattsons, then the Woodard clan and now the Cannode crew!  Kasey and Karsten haven't always gotten to attend the tour and boy - were they Excited to find out how to make Beer! (seriously, they were Sooo Excited!)

On top of wearing some Super Cool gear ~ we got touch and smell things!  The kids favorite section of the tour.

Grandpa obviously got some cuddle time.  There are sure a lot of stairs on this tour - and too much walking for Karsten's taste.  I think he got bounced around between Grandma, David and Grandpa's arms the whole tour.

This is Amy's favorite part as it isn't on the normal tour for just 'regular folk'.  These are the Steeping tanks.  We got to learn about the Germinating, Malting, Steeping, Mashing and Fermenting processes.  I think we are truly ready to brew our own beer in our spare time.  Who are we kidding - you have seen this blog... What Spare Time? Ha!

Peyton the Town Orange and Blue

Broncos Mania has Begun!  We are excited for another great year (to where we hopefully go further in the playoffs this year).  We continue to enjoy watching Peyton show off for all of his fans.  It even made preseason more entertaining as he played more than most quarterbacks during preseason.

Here we are at our favorite tailgate spot (Formerly known as Robs Custom Stone).  He has moved on since last season, but we still enjoy the spot and the memories!

The first Home game was against the Ravens and had a lot of hype around it!  We were unable to park at our favorite tailgate spot, but found a Lovely park just around the corner and enjoyed popping a squat in the grass.

We were really excited about the game, but less than thrilled that it was on a Thursday night.  We were even Less thrilled with the 45 min rain delay.  Think we went to bed around 1:30 that night ... makes 4:45am come real early.  Was totally worth it though as it was a Great game to watch.  Exciting down to the last seconds and watched Peyton break some records!

The next home game, Amy was lucky enough to get to go with George!  It was the Raiders and we were both excited!  Again being a weeknight (Monday night game), parking was tough and we went back to the park.  Found a picnic table and enjoyed a few beverages before heading into the stadium.  I can't believe how fast the night went for me.  We never stopped telling stories and I even learned a few more football terms from dear ol' dad!  What a great night!

Until our next Game - Bah-Bye!

My Little Artists

It all started with a comment from Kasey's teacher.  Ms Angie told us how Great Kasey is at art projects.  We have known he is good, but can never seem to get him to finish a picture.  Here is his finished product.  Kasey told me this one was "Perfect".  I completely agree!

He is so meticulous that it takes a very long time to do a very small part of the picture.  Here is a dinosaur Kasey is working on.  I must tell you that this is night number three.  The first night was his eye, the 2nd was a couple of toenails and teeth and he finished the teeth on this particular night.

Recently, the art project was painting an Apple Tree. Ms Angie first pulled out a blank paper and painted an apple tree for the class. Then, she put hers out of sight and told each kid to paint the trunk of the tree. Then, the leaves, the apples and the sun. What do you think? Do we have a future Picasso on our hands?  All I can say is that his birth mother, Mallory, has passed an Amazing Trait onto Kasey that we will all enjoy the rest of his life.  I just love how happy it makes Kasey to work on art projects.  Ms Angie said if Kasey is having a rough day, she asks him to color for ten minutes and after that; he returns to being our normal, happy Kasey.

As we have stated; we can't seem to get him to finish any of his pictures.  We normally get a few very detailed areas colored, but no more.  We have had this discussion with his teacher and she has noticed it too.  She also noticed how hard he presses when he uses his crayons/pencils/etc.  He is now working on coloring with 'two fingers' and can be heard instructing his brother to do the same thing.  Yesterday was a FIRST!  Kasey came home from school with his Very First Fully Colored Picture! We are so proud of him!  The teacher's comments are the ones above the tree.  (As you can see; he is learning about Apples this month).

Karsten Really enjoys his art classes too!  Here is a photo of him coloring one night as well as one of his recent masterpieces.  Karsten not only painted it, but also placed his eyes on him and drew his mouth, nose and ears.  Great work!.  Nothing better than two smiling boys quietly enjoying expressing themselves through their art!  Who knows - Maybe they will own their own gallery together one day!

Carter's Appendage

Boy, Carter sure has had a tough couple of years.  January 2012, Carter was affected by FCE (Fibrocartilaginous Embolism).  This was described like a stroke to the brain, but instead it affected his nervous system and spine.  He recovered 95% of the way and you can only tell when he goes up/down stairs or if he is running.  Other than that ... he is his crazy self.

January 2013, we noticed lumps starting to form on his body (about a dozen).  We watched them the past 10 months and none were really progressing except for one.  He had a softball size benign tumor just under his armpit.  It got to where it was pulling down on him and started opening up due to the weight.  We wrapped him up to try to take the weight off, but knew surgery had to be soon. 

On Monday, Carter had surgery.  They removed a 14 oz tumor and put 5 inches of stitches on his chest.  We are now just recouping.  Kasey and Karsten are being very gentile with Carter and even Cam is concerned.

Are you Ok, Buddy? What is this crazy cone thing??

 We try to give Carter a break every now and again from his Cone of Shame. However, the cone never seems to hit the ground.  As soon as it is off; the boys feel it is there turn to play with "Carter's new toy".

We are not sure how fast he will recoup, but someone might have to break the news to Carter and Kris that we might be one dog short for pheasant hunting this year.  No Matter - Amy flushes birds better than Carter anyway.