Family Time, trip to Colorado

More pictures as promised....Here are a few of the first moments I got to hold Lexie.

Clayton loved holding her. He also learned how to say "baby" while we were in CO.

Grandma let the kids put the two frogs in the bath tub to swim. It was so fun to see them stretch their legs. Clayton get grabbing them out of the water and then dropping them back in. We had to be careful when trying to get a frog out of his hand because he would start to squeeze and we didn't want him to hurt them accidentally.

Clayton is a Man's man still. He loved uncle Ryan and would prefer him over Mommy whenever he got hurt. He also liked the shoulder peak-a-boo game they were playing in this picture.

Blake and Jaden in a serious game of Mario-kart.

For Mother's Day, Blake, Brody, Jaden, (and Copper) helped me clean Grandma's car inside and out to surprise Grandma. When she came out to see her surprise, the kids cried, "Happy Mother's Day!"

We enjoyed a nice BBQ Mother's Day dinner at Grandma's house. Brian did most of the cooking, with leftovers from Brody's Spiderman party the day before. I was surprised to find a package of Godiva chocolates from my cute husband for Mother's Day with a sweet card. His thoughtfulness brought me to tears. I was surprised that he went so out of his way to make my Mother's Day special when he was SO busy with finals, school, and work.

We fed the kids ice-cream cones after dinner one night and locked them outside...mostly to keep Clayton from leaving slime all over the house. Since it was bright outside, we could see him, but it made it hard for him to see us inside. He came to the window and held out his messy hands and said, "Mama! Handa?" It was such a classic, funny moment, I grabbed my camera to capture it forever.

Dayne, Jaden, Blake, Shayla, Clayton

Blake and I snuggled a bit before heading to the airport for our ATTEMPT home. Due to an unexpected snowstorm (May 11th!!) the flight was delayed for hours. When we finally boarded, we had to wait about two hours before we could be de-iced. In the process of deicing, the machine hit the side of the plane and we could no longer take off. We were promised another plane to take us to Phoenix, but by the time we de-boarded, the flight crew had expired. I was left with hungry and tired boys at 3:30 in the morning. My mom came to get us and we made it back to her house by 5:30 am. What an awful night. Thank goodness I have such sweet boys.

Our extra day in Castle Rock was spend letting the kids play outside in the freezing snow because I was too tired to fight it, and laying around, exhausted from the night's endeavors. Warren was sweet enough to stay on the phone with Customer Service for over an hour to book a flight home for me Friday morning.

Blake was a good helper with Clayton. When Claydog realized that he had the choice to sit with Blake, he never wanted to come back with me.

We were VERY excited to see Daddy and all the family waiting for us in AZ.

Good show

Clayton is a Man's Man. He will choose any uncle over me, any day. He calls them all "Daddy" because he knows they are someone's daddy, but he knows they are not HIS daddy.

Uncle Brian and Claydog

Beautiful Lexie Reese is already 9 lbs!

She really likes her baths

Look at that face! She sure hates getting out though.

Uncle Bri took the kids out in the battery powered jeep and tractor. These photos make me laugh.

Brian managed to get all the kids to enter quietly for dinner, with arms folded. Even Clayton. Such good manners!

Bath-time with Daddy.

She has such long fingers

I noticed this basket on Jaden's dresser while the kids were playing. I was surprised to see this friendly snake so well cared for. The kids had created a comfy little environment with a blanket, rocks and even some water. They told me his name is LIZ and he is very friendly. I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture.

There has also been many homes created for rolly-pollies lately. We found out that they will eat banana slices and can live happily in a container for a few days.

Cute cousins

Blake's first FUN-dip. He loved it of course.

Brody and Blake have become good little buddies this trip.

It has been nice to see them play so well together.

Oh, he makes me laugh!

All their shirts are stuffed with stuffed animals. They were all expecting litters of puppies and kittens soon.