We love Colorado

We have been loving the Colorado weather.  It has been in the 60's and we have been taking advantage!  Porter and Sidney playing with the neighbor kids.  

Enjoying a picnic in the back yard.  And we are looking forward to another few days of this great weather.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours!

and a Happy New Year!

Splish Splash, they were takin a bath!

Oh, we love to bath!  One of my favorite things are clean, baby-lotioned kids.  Rylee loves to bath so we had a little fun in the tub!  She is so funny, she thinks she can wash her own hair.  What a big girl, and what a big cheese face!

Sidney had to get in on the action. Her hair is too long to spike up, so we just tied it in a knot up on her head!  What a cutie.

"Jingle Bell Rock"

We are loving Christmas time at our house.  Rylee is really into dancing, and today she learned how to spin around.  (Which is apparently is a prerequisite to being a girl in our family, since Sidney spins all day!)  She thinks she is so big.  Now every time she hears this song she just starts spinning. 

I couldn't resist posting this one with the "break dancing spidy's"!!

Yes, I know that 2 of our children are dressed up as spiderman which is in itself not very "Christmasy".  Sidney loves to play with Porter and sometimes he can talk her into doing what he wants to do.  Which is a good change that involves a lot less high heels and earrings on our 7 year old son.  So let's hear it for Spiderman and Spidergirl!  Don't worry she had a tutu on over the top about 5 min later, and she kept checking her lipgloss.  Oh, Sidney.  

What, no posts for awhile? What are you talking about?

So bear with me as I attempt to catch up on my blogging of family fun and events.  Things have been busy around here.  All good things, but busy!  So I am going back to add a few things in, and yes, I am changing the dates accordingly.  I know that some consider this "blog cheating", but I am over it.  One day my posterity will look back and think that I didn't miss a thing, and that my friends is what it's all about.  So I am good with it :)  The Welch's in review..........

Christmas is coming to Town!!

We are all excited about Christmas around here.  Who doesn't love to snuggle and watch Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer?  Yes, that is a bowl of jingle bells that Rylee won't let go of.  They started out on the kids christmas tree, but she just can't bring herself to leave them there!  She pulls them off and carries them around in anything she can get her hands on. A bowl, a bag, her little purse, her pockets, her hands, and even a small drawer from the play kitchen (the girl can make it work).  I have decided she is a packer, like me.  Let's just admit it I am an over-packer.  You should see my diaper bag.  I have everything anyone might ever need in there.  Ever.  Just in case you need a little sunscreen in December, or plastic bags or clorox wipes for an emergency (Yes, I said clorox wipes), or in case you need medicine, to color a picture, or comb unruly hair, or just snacks and drinks and diapers to last you if you get stuck somewhere for a week or two.  Hey don't judge, we should be prepared for anything.  So, I just say, "That's my girl!"

Here we are breaking out all the Christmas decorations.  Rylee was in heaven, lights, jingle bells, singing and dancing santas!  What more could a 16 month old want?

The "Kid Tree"!  Magnifico!  Wow, look how sophisticated I am.  Good job, Rand.

Just so you know that little tree looks completely different every day.  Because it gets re-decorated every day.  We like to keep you guessing if you stop by!

A Great Thanksgiving (but with no pictures)

I know, no pictures!  I had my camera and everything, but we just relaxed and enjoyed the company.  It was nice to have some days off, apparently also from documenting family memories with pictures !  We had a really nice Thanksgiving.  My sister and her husband and my brother and our family went to my parents house.  We stayed for 3 days, a fun little mini vacation!  Madagascar 2, James Bond, games, great food, family, and friends!  It was great!  There were all of my family, and my sister's husband, Paul's Family for Thanksgiving.  My mom is a great cook, so like always the food was great.  Jean made some yummy pies and appetizers, and Maxine made her delicious orange rolls.  Allen had a good time playing football that morning, Brrrrrrr.  Porter and Sidney love spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's, and Rylee loves to explore all the fun (and non-Rylee proof) things to play with! 

I love this time of year and look forward to enjoying our kids this Holiday season.  We only wish we could spend more time with our "California" family.  We miss you guys!

What a Trophy Weekend!

We had a fun packed weekend with the end of soccer for Sidney and football for Porter.  These are Sid's team pictures.  She did such a great job and had a lot of fun.

That is her first trophy and it is a very prized possession.  Sidney, "Look, it is SO beautiful!  I will be super careful with it because it is glass."  Me, "It is beautiful, but I don't think it is made of glass."  Sidney, "Look closer!  You didn't see how bea-u-ti-ful it is.  It must be glass!"  I think you can even see her white knuckles locked onto that glass beauty :)

Porter loved flag football this year.  He was totally into it.  He did a great job and learned a lot about being part of a team.  He had interceptions, touch-downs, great catches, great blocks, tackles (pulling of the flags), was a super fast runner, and had some great plays and passes as quarter-back.  Allen helped to coach for a good amount of the season and they had a great time together.   We made it through the season with only one torn bloody fingernail. I doctored that right up and continued to thank my lucky stars that this is Flag Football.  I have been informed by Porter that Dad said he could play tackle football next year and that I am the only hold-up.  Get it together, Mom!  Wow, we ended up with over 300 pictures with this round of soccer and football.  Let's just call that good parenting, O.K.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

What a fun day of great weather, parties, singing, scary music, and good old trick or treating.  Poor Porter wasn't feeling very well today.  I know, Halloween and Christmas have got to be the saddest day for kids to not feel good!  So he missed his school party :(  He is such a sweet kid, he relaxed and slept most of the afternoon and felt a lot better for the evening festivities!  He was able to get some great trick or treating in!

Here they are ready to head out for the great candy round-up.  They weather was great!  I think it got up to 78 degrees today.  I can't remember a Halloween that nice in Colorado.  We are usually bundled in so many layers no one knows what your costume is.  It was fun to enjoy walking around the neighborhood without freezing.  Porter was a great pirate this year, Captain Jack.  Sidney was a princess of course, Belle.  Except when she wanted to be cool like Porter, then she was "Captain Belle"!  And Rylee was our little cow!  What a great costume, we got it for Porter then Sidney wore it and now Rylee has worn it for two years!

She was so funny today.

Sidney had a Halloween Party at preschool today.  These are some of the cute girls in her class.

Her class has been learning Halloween songs and they had a program and sang them to all the parents today.  So cute, she had so much fun.  We have all had a lot of fun with Halloween this year.  Porter and Sidney both had Halloween birthday parties with costumes and the Ward Fall Festival of course, along with so many other fun activities!  Here's to a great Halloween!

More Fall Fun at the Corn Maze

We braved the cold a week ago and went out to the corn maze.  The kids loved it.

Rylee was all bundled up and enjoyed watching everyone!  
There were carnival rides there so Porter and Sidney decided they wanted to ride the "Tornado"!  Sidney was a little nervous at first, but was soon begging to ride again!  Fun times as a family!

Pumpkin Carving!

Porter and Sidney were so excited to carve pumpkins this year!  They have been talking about it all weekend.  Here they are ready to get started.

Last year we couldn't get either of them to touch the inside of their pumpkin!  We even tried bribery :)  This year they both cleaned out the inside of their own pumpkin, and they were excited about it.  Bring on the pumpkin goo!

Rylee and her baby pumpkin.  She enjoyed watching everyone and trying to sneak a stray pumpkin seed or two!  And trying to pull out the pacifier in her pumpkin, she was not sure she wanted it there!

Sidney and her scary pumpkin.  She knew exactly what kind of face she wanted. (Right after Porter decided what kind of face he wanted, She wants to be just like her big brother!)  

She drew her own face and helped to carve it out!

Porter and his scary pumpkin.  Porter drew his own face and carved it out, all by himself!  Wow, I can't believe he is that old!  Thank goodness for very small carving tools, not the big huge knives we used to use.  Made Mom a little less nervous.  Good job, Porter!

All ready for Halloween!

Halloween Party

Allen and I went to a fun Halloween party on Saturday.  We had a great dinner with yummy soups, salad, and bread!  Check out that awsome pumpkin cake, gotta give a shout out to Michelle for that one!!  It was as tastey as it was pretty.  Jenni just happened to make my favorite M & M cookies, and frosted sugar cookies!  Did I mention the food was great?

Then each couple carved their pumpkin, something Allen and I haven't done just the two of us in Forever!  We took the kids to pick out pumpkins a couple days ago and found this "special pumpkin".  We thought it had potential and had to try it out!  Luckily it happened to have the same shape as a skull so we went that direction!  Turned out pretty good.

Everyone's pumpkins!  We also played a fun game that involved a lot of laughing!  I think my cheeks are still sore!!  Thanks Chris and Jenni, Nate and Michelle, Derek and Mina, and Mark and Tiffany for a fun night with friends.  

Big Thanks for the pictures Jenni :)

Laundry Day with Our "Little Pumpkin"

It was Laundry Day at the Welch's house.  Rylee thinks she is such a big helper.  She helped me "unload" (throw all the clothes out of the basket that were already folded).  Then she decided she would sit and have a little break!  She is so cute.

Rylee is loving the Halloween decorations, she carries this pumpkin around and fills it with random things all day.  If anyone is looking for anything we all know to check Rylee's pumpkin, it has likely been stashed!

Estes Park

Allen and I went to Estes Park for the Elk Festival!  Just kidding, we went for the wedding of some friends that Allen works with.  But it was a busy weekend in Estes Park, they take the Elk Festival very seriously!!  My parents came and stayed with the kids.  We had a great time, it was so nice to get away and enjoy some time together.  This is the beautiful Church Andy and Liza were married in.

We saw a lot of Elk!  They must have been in town for the festival!  :)

We went to dinner, hiking, shopping, walking, and enjoyed the wedding and reception.  Our hike was beautiful, these are some of our favorite pictures.

Sidney's 5th Birthday!

Our little Sidney turned 5 years old today!  I can't believe it!  Five just seems so much older than 4, I know that sounds lame, but it seems like a big jump!  She had a great couple of days.  Yesterday we had a party for her friends.  We did a cooking party.  We made aprons, decorated cakes (tiered, no less), and had treats and presents!  Everyone had fun and was so sweet to her.  Here are all the girls in their aprons!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Welch!  Sid loves the walkie talkies!  She and Porter are loving using them all over the house!  She thought the princess kitty card was "SO beautiful, I will save it forever!"  
Today Sidney wanted to go swimming, so we hit up the rec center this morning.  Then we had lunch and got ready for preschool.  She took sugar cookies for treats.  In true Sidney fashion she wore her "birthday crown" all day so everyone would know it was her special day!  Then we had a little party with my parents tonight.

I had fun with her cake this year.  I did a princess castle cake.  She was so excited it made all the hard work worth it!  Sidney is such a sweet heart, she is all girl and drama and she loves her brother and sister.  She still loves to dress up, color, watch movies, and ride her bike.  She is a great helper and friend.  I have enjoyed the extra time with her not starting kindergarden this year.  She is my little sweetheart.  In her own words, "I am SO happy to be 5!  Now my bones are 5 years old!"  Happy Birthday Sidney!  We love you!