Finally.. An Update. Catching up from December 2015

Wow- has it really been 6 months since my last post? I really suck at blogging lately. I’ve thought about it, but again, if I wait too long I get overwhelmed!

Anyway- here’s what’s been happening.  For Christmas, Santa brought AJ a new dog! He is a Boston Terrier and he used to be an elf at the North Pole. He was 4 ½ years old when he came; he had finished his elf duties and needed a new home. Santa thought our home was perfect! Burt has been a WONDERFUL addition to our family. He and AJ have this amazing bond. They sleep together, cuddle together all the time and just are best friends. Burt has been to Camp Bow Wow (Doggie daycare) a number of times and has done great there too! We really love our Burt-Burt! 

Sweet Burt is such a snuggler!

In January, Grandma had both knees replaced so I went out to California for a week to help her. I was happy to help her but also dreading being gone for an entire week. It wasn’t so bad- thank you FaceTime and she did AMAZINGLY well. It was good to be out there and I was able to see Matt, Kristin, Dad and Cory too!

We continued our tradition of skiing a lot. Our pass this year allowed us to go to Breckenridge, Keystone and A-Basin. We went to Breck the most and really loved the mountain, but it’s just not an easy mountain to get to.  There’s a lot of walking involved and it seemed like each time we’d go, we would leave the house and 6 and not be on the actual runs until almost 10! Too much.. So, this year we’ve decided to go back to Copper Mountain. We love it there. And we will also be able to go to Winter Park and Eldora. We haven’t skiing Eldora before, but it’s A LOT closer to us and there’s very little traffic. It’s also a smaller mountain, but we’ll give it a try. Also, this was AJ’s first year using poles! He rocked it! He’s such a great skier. He was out looking for jumps every time we skied this year. 

Uncle Matt and AJ at Breck

AJ, Dax and Skylar

LOVING the crepes we got for breakfast. So worth the hour long wait!

In March, Jason went with a bunch of guys to Spring Training in Arizona. He had a lot of fun, watching baseball and hanging with his buddies. He never goes on guy trips, so I was happy he was able to. Lord only knows what else they did there… haha!

AJ did some fun after school activities this spring. He signed up for Spotlight Theatre at school and rehearsed for 12 weeks for the play Annie, Jr. He played the Ward and President Roosevelt along with an orphan. I was really surprised he was happy to do it and also a little worried about how he would be on stage. In the end, he was great! He said he was so nervous his hands were sweating and his stomach hurt, but he still pushed through! 

AJ at the end of the play

The cast of Annie Jr.

AJ's class put together a "living wax museum". He decided to be Nicola Tesla. He got to read his biography (below) to all the students and parents.

AJ also did a fun thing at the library called Reading Buddies. He did it for 2 sessions and really enjoyed it. Each week, he would meet with a teenager (Hannah) and they would read to each other and play games. She was great with him and always gave him candy and treats. I think it helped him enjoy reading a little more which is a good thing. 

Football was also happening. AJ joined the Dolphins team through our local rec center with his buddy Dax. The great thing about this was it was only once a week on Sundays! They would practice for an hour, and then have a game after. Somehow Jason got recruited to be a coach, which I think he really enjoyed.  Jason and AJ practiced football all the time in the backyard and we found out AJ really has an arm on him! The boy can throw!

The Dophins

Also in March (I think), Jason got a new job with Microsoft. After a few jobs that just weren’t the right fit, Microsoft has been wonderful. It’s a lot of work and a lot of stress, but he has a fantastic boss and is really doing well in sales. I’m VERY happy that he’s happy. 

Speaking of jobs, I spent 5 weeks in Oklahoma, thanks to Verizon. Our Union workers went on strike and the company sent 1000’s of non-union workers to do their jobs for an undetermined amount of time. I was given 2 days’ notice that I was going to Oklahoma and was told they didn’t know when I’d come back. This made going to California for a week seem pretty easy. I was devastated. It was incredibly hard to leave. We all said, if we just knew when we’d be back, it wouldn’t be so hard. But of course, we didn’t know when the Union and Verizon would come to an agreement. 

Shout out to Colorado from Oklahoma!

I spent Mothers Day in OK, so Jason and AJ sent me some gifts and a very sweet card.

I was out there for 3 weeks in a row, before I came home for my 40^th birthday weekend. It seemed like an eternity to be without AJ and Jason. I was working 12 hour days, 6 days week and living in a hotel. It was VERY tough.  It was incredibly hard to miss AJ’s Annie Jr. Play and his football games, but I was so thankful that my mom flew out for a quick trip to see his play. That made me feel so much better. 

When I came home that weekend, Jason had planned a birthday party for me with a ton of friends and had flown Matt & Kristin out as a surprise. It was really such a nice weekend and so good to be home! But, I had to go back that Monday. While I was there, there were so many rumors about how long the strike would last. First we heard, end of June.. then possibly OCTOBER! Thank God, they came to an agreement just before Memorial Day. I had been home that weekend because of a pre-planned camping trip (after 10 days in OK) and didn’t have to go back. I was THRILLED to be released. 

Some friends in OK, decorated my desk for my bday.. so nice.. and MESSY!

The trip wasn’t all bad though. I made a lot of friends and new work connections. I made a ton of money working all that overtime. And I found myself becoming more confident in myself with regards to work. I was mad at Verizon for making me do this and that anger made me realize it was time to find something else to do for work. So, now I’m working on that.. 

In May, AJ ended 2^nd grade (HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!) and I was lucky enough to be there for his last day of school. He had a great year and got excellent grades! The only thing he didn’t do that well with was listening which wasn’t too big of a surprise. He also started a swim team called Cruisers. I begged him to do this last year, but he put his foot down. He was too scared. This year, I didn’t give him a choice, and he has LOVED IT! He has been swimming 4-5 times week with his buddies. This has been AJ’s summer to really learn new things and take chances. His bravery has completely shocked me! Within a week of swim team, he was swimming across the pool without stopping. Two weeks in, he was diving off the block and now he’s doing flip turns and practicing the butterfly stroke! I am incredibly impressed. 

HEAT WINNER!!!

In early June, Dad and Cory came to visit for a long weekend. We had THE BEST time! They are so easy going and we just do what we want to do. No over planning. We spent a bunch of time working in the yard- like we always do. They were so generous and bought us all these flowers and baskets and Cory planted it all. My dad took out these ugly, dead bushes from our backyard which was so great! They’ve been dead in our yard for too many years. We also went to this super fun wool festival in Estes Park. I had no idea it would be as fun as it was. We watched people spin yarn and walked around all these cute little booths. Then we also saw tons of livestock. Fun day! We also celebrated AJ's and my Dad's birthdays while they were here (a little early). 

8 and 73! Looking good!

Dad and Cory also got to go to one of AJ’s swim meets! Oh my gosh, these are so fun! They remind me so much of when I was a kid and we’d go to soccer weekends with friends. He gets to play and run around and has a ton of freedom, and then he swims a few heats. He has improved so much each week; he continues to beat his time and he even won his heat last week! It’s been amazing for his confidence. 

Just this past weekend we celebrated AJ turning EIGHT! Really? I have an 8 year old?! How did this happen?? We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with about 7 of his buddies and had a blast. They put on a great party with pizza, cake and ice cream and they all got to hold an armadillo and get a little lesson on the red river hog. We decided it was the perfect amount of kids and almost no work for me. In the past I always try to go above and beyond; this year, I didn’t have the energy. So, it all worked out great. We got AJ and new bike with gears and our hope is we can do some fun family bike rides this summer. 

He is 8!!

Speaking of summer, AJ has had the summer of a lifetime this year! We hired his babysitter to be his nanny 3 days a week and some of those days, he is being watched with his good friends Caleigh and Cooper. They all swim together for Cruisers and then they spend the day either at the Rec Center or at the Grange pool swimming. He’s exhausted every night but having a blast!