Gregory's 1 year photo shoot

Last week Thursday we took Gregory to Target to get his one year photos taken. They turned out awesome. Sure helps to have such an adorable son. :-)

If you are interested in seeing them look here: www.thesmilestation.com and the user name is Roxanne Cook and here is the access code LTTT0982108323TAR

Our first visitors & first trip to Pike's Peak

So it's been a while since I've posted and what all have I been up to...getting our house ready for our first visitors. Sure, I've been up to other things, like taking Gregory to his 12 month check up, laundry, dishes, wishing I had time to scrapbook :-) among other things.

Our first visitors here in Colorado Springs were my parents.

The first day they were here we went to the Current Outlet Store (www.currentcatalog.com) and then we went and had lunch at Cracker Barrell. After we were all full we went over to Focus on the Family (www.fotf.org) and went through the welcome center as well as the Adventures in Odyssey area (Whit's End). http://www2.focusonthefamily.com/visitus/a000000482.cfm

The second day our original plans were to go to Manitou Springs and tour the Cliff Dwellings, but thanks to my navigating we took a wrong turn and were heading towards Pike's Peak, so we made that our destination instead. WOW! That was quite the adventure...crazy narrow mountain roads without guard rails. We all did good with Tom's driving. Since we weren't planning on going up to the Peak, Tom and I had shorts on...brrrrr was it chilly! We didn't go as far as you could go that day because we were told the snow was blowing and it was getting nasty up there, so we decided to stay where it was beautiful (and 54 degrees instead of 38).

Photo Remark: This photo was taken in front of one of the few reservoirs that we passed on the way up the mountain. Pike's Peak is in the background.


After we descended the Peak we stopped in Manitou Springs and had lunch at the best BBQ place I've ever eaten at. Charlie's Pit Bar-b-que. Good stuff. Then we just wandered around the town. We stumbled upon an old time arcade that also had lots of quarter rides. We couldn't resist giving Gregory some rides especially since Grandma had some quarters for Gregory :-)

Photo Remark: Here's one ride Gregory was on--it didn't do anything, but such a cute photo.

After all our fun in Manitou Springs, we came back and grilled some yummy burgers and ate some watermelon and more even though we were so stuffed still from lunch (and the funnel cake Tom HAD to have.) After dinner we played some UNO and had fun.

Then came Sunday and a normal Sunday for us--we all went to Sunday School and then to church and then enjoyed a meal from Sonic on the way up to the airport. After dropping my parents off at the airport we headed back and stopped at the Outlet stores which are about a half hour outside of the Springs.

We had a wonderful time with my parents. Thanks so much for coming to visit us and we look forward to seeing you in July in South Dakota!

P.S. Be sure to follow the link for the photos on the side of the page for even more beautiful photos. Maybe it will inspire more of you to come visit--there's so much to see and do here.

Gregory's First Haircut

Tonight we took Gregory to get his first "real" haircut. The one's mom did, do not count. He did awesome and now isn't so shaggy anymore :-)

Photo Remark: The before and after shot. In the after shot, Gregory is showing off his new grocery cart cover that Grandma Judy made for him.



It was pretty neat where Gregory got his hair cut, they even put a locket of his hair along with a polaroid photo in a little card for us to take with us.


You can also see a video that Tom took if you click on "Our videos" over on the right or follow this link: http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z273/rmcook75/Gregory/

It's Friday and I got to go to MOPS!

I know Friday is almost over, but I couldn't write about this if it was only beginning. Today I got to go to MOPS again. The highlight of my week. I don't think it's so much that I enjoy letting someone else watch Gregory, but I get to chat with other Christian women and enjoy food, crafts and fellowship--some of my favorite things. Today's theme was Spa Day. For the craft we made soap...that might sound boring, but it wasn't and it was sooo easy (and smelled yummy too, sorry I can't make the picture scratch-n-sniff). The soap has a spice fragrance (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and one other that I can't think of). It also has some oatmeal in it that makes it great for exfoliating. Now that I know how to do this and we were talking about all kinds of "recipes" for soap that you can find...who knows you may be getting soap for Christmas :-) We also enjoyed smoothies and gave ourselves manicures. It was a good time...I especially enjoyed being around some of the other gals a little more and getting to know them more.

Photo Remark: Here is a picture of the soap I made along with my beautiful manicure :-)

Happy Birthday Gregory! Part 2

Last night we had Gregory's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Wow that place gets crazy around 6 pm, glad we got there earlier to enjoy the rides before eating. Gregory seemed to have a lot of fun along with his friends, Jadon, Hannah and Joshua. He also loved all the presents he got. Thanks Kirk, Chrystine, Kira & Brinley for the books and the awesome ball.

Here are some highlights from the party.

The birthday boy riding with Chuck E Cheese.



Jadon having fun.


Hannah chatting with Chuck E Cheese on the phone.


Joshua riding with Bob the Builder (who you can't see).


Gregory with his Mickey Mouse birthday cake.

Enjoying eating his cake.

Lot's of help to open his presents.

I LOVE Mickey Mouse!

I'm ready to go home.

Happy Birthday Gregory! Part 1

Yesterday we celebrated Gregory's FIRST birthday. Wow, hard to believe it's been a year ago since he was born. I remember that day very well...and I am glad for this...even though I remember that day very well, unfortunately I don't remember holding Gregory for the first time or feeding him for the first time. Kind of a sad thing for me that I don't remember moments very well. This is why I capture as much as I can with photos, but photos don't really capture feelings very well, so I think that is why those things get foggy in my memory.

Tuesday night we will finish celebrating Gregory's birthday at Chuck E Cheese's with our friends (and youth pastor), Scott & Ruth and their three kids. So there will more pictures later from this celebration. Until then here are the pictures from Gregory's ACTUAL birthday.

Photo Remark: Below Gregory is intently reading his birthday card from Grandma Betty.

Photo Remark: Gregory is enjoying his TWO new phones from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Oscar.

Photo Remark: Here Gregory is getting acquainted with his Tickle Me Elmo. We weren't sure if he'd be afraid of him or not...he wasn't as you'll see from the video below the photo.

Video of Gregory with Elmo.

Date Night

So the picture below probably doesn't make YOU think of a "date night", but for us it was!


Last Thursday night we got a babysitter (one of our youth group girls--Lauren), and Tom and I went to Supper Solutions, Inc. What a multi-purpose date! We prepared EIGHT meals in an hour! Enjoyed some fun time together in someone else's kitchen--that meant no clean up for us :-) And I got to learn some new recipes I probably wouldn't have tried at home. It was also a learning experience for me. I learned a little more about myself. As strange as this sounds, yes, I learned what I enjoy most about cooking. It's the preparation and the act of putting a meal together. So I learned that what I've been wanting to do for so long...go to a meal preparation place...is not for me. It was nice having everything so prepared for us...all cut up, measurements out and everything all laid out, but that is also what I enjoy about cooking, so I will be doing more of it at home. Now what I've got to come up with now are more recipes for making and freezing at home rather than going out to prepare them and then freeze them. Even though I probably won't have this experience again, it was a wonderful time together with my husband, just chatting as we were working and just working together (yes, we can do this when we want to) :-)

So some of you might be wondering what did we prepare together...here's what we made to put in the freezer: Calzones, Cheddar Bacon Burgers w/Smokey BBQ, Crusted Parmesan Chicken, French Dip Sandwiches, Parmesan Fillet, Santa Fe Steak Tortillas, Stuffed Pork Chops, Summer Catfish with Corn Relish.