First day of school

Well, we are off to school!

Porter and Sidney were very excited to start school, I am never very excited and would rather have them home with me forever! :) A Mom can hope.

Porter is starting 3rd grade and my little Sidney is a Kindergardner. I can't believe it.

Porter lining up for school.

Sidney lining up and excited to see her friend Lily.

One last hug. They had to pry her from my white knuckled fingers...., just kidding, but it felt like that. I always try to keep my anxiety quietly to myself and help them to be excited to go, they are growing up way too fast. Rylee and I try to keep busy but man do we miss those kids, and we really look forward to getting them back!

Back to School Dinner

The invitations were sent out.......

and everyone showed up dressed nicely with their hair combed and best manners in the kitchen at 6 pm for the Welch's back to school dinner!

Holy Pumpkins!

This is our garden 7 weeks after planting! Holy pumpkins, they are the ones growing completely out of the garden box. They are just as big and down the other side too. We have pumpkins, corn, green onions, lettuce, green beans, peas, strawberries, tomatoes, cilantro, and some experimental broccoli! We have already eaten some green onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and peas! We have really enjoyed taking care of our garden and watching it grow.

California Trip-Zoo

We have been looking forward to our trip to California since.....well since we said goodbye to these guys last summer!! We had a fabulous time visiting all of our cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents in sunny California! This is Rylee with her good buddy and closest partner in crime (cousin) to her age! They had a great time together. We went to the Oakland Zoo for a fun day out.

Sidney and Luke.

It didn't take Rylee long to warm up to her Aunts! Aunt Keri and Rylee.

Luke was such a cute turtle!

Porter, Raegan, and Zac.

Cute girls! Sidney, Rylee, Raegan, and Aunt Shauna.

I love this picture of Allen! There was a little lily pad crossing that the KIDS could walk across. We are all watching the kids having a great time going back and forth across the little stream. Well, Allen notices that from the far left bank, where you are not supposed to be, there is a very long space to a lily pad. He couldn't help but sneak over to try it out! Luckily he made it and Shauna caught this great picture. I was so busy laughing that I didn't see that Sidney had slipped on one of the lily pads and fell part way into the water! We quickly snatched her up and continued on our way, paying no attention to the dirty looks the other mom's were giving us for our bad example!

California Trip-Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Rylee and Raegan hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Aunt Keri and Sidney having fun in the back yard.

Porter can always talk someone into a little football!

California Trip-Camping

We all got together and camped at the Lake in California. The kids had a blast. We missed you Sanchez family!


Sidney spent hours collecting these shells around the beach. She had an entire bucket full! She filled a water bottle full to bring home!

The kids playing on Grandpa's boat.

On the way back we stopped at Aunt Lauren's house to swim in their pool and have lunch. Allen got sick half way through camping and might not remember it as fondly as the rest of our family, but he was a trooper and kept on going.

Cub Scout Day Camp

Porter had his first cub scout day camp adventure!

He was very excited and is really loving cub scouts. I was able to go and help out, which really helped his over protective Mom get excited about this new adventure!

I think it is hilarious that their cub scout hats started out normal and soon after Porter found out you can turn it inside out and tuck in the back and sides to make a much cooler "baseball" style hat. What a cute boy!

They had relays, crafts, singing, games, exploring owl poop, science experiments, and the all favorite ARCHERY!

Sidney's Preschool Graduation

What a fun day! Sidney graduated from Preschool. She was excited, but worried about not getting to see her friends and her beloved "Miss Julie"!

Sidney had a great year. She loved having such good friends at school. She learned a lot and always looked forward to school days. She is so fun and such a good friend to everyone. We are so proud of you, Sidney!

Moab Biking Trip

May 2009 Guys Trip to Moab

Thanks to Bill, Flash, Kevin and the Bearded Pig for the personalized tour. And thanks to Dave, Doug, and the Bearded Pig for some quality crashes-- good times.

Our "Staycation"

We had our own little staycation. Allen took the week off and we went to the zoo, children's museum, hiking, skiing, out to dinner, to a movie, swimming, and just had an all around good time!

Sidney the Ballerina

Sidney just finished her ballet class.  This is Sidney and her good friend, Lily.  They are so cute and were so excited to have all the Moms come in to class today to show us their routines.  

I was totally cracking up because the parents usually sit outside the room and watch through a one way window.  I just always assumed that they were dancing to beautiful, classical, ballet music.  Apparently, not so much.........You will have to pause my blog music on the side to get the full effect!

But they were SO cute and did a great job!  Man, I love this girl!

Trouble

Our sweet Rylee girl.  She was all too quite yesterday while I was making dinner.  I went up the stairs and found her very focused on tearing and unrolling the new toilet paper rolls.

She was startled, that "oh no, I am so guilty" surprise!  Right away she started saying, "Mess, mess."  I just found this mess, Mom.  Yeah, right!  She was super cute, but was not happy to have to sit by her mess and get her picture taken.  I will take a mess like this anyday!  Cheap and easy to clean up!

She's a funny girl, we sure love her a lot!

Spring Snow Storm

You gotta love Colorado weather.  At least we never get bored.  We had been enjoying the 70 degree winter days, and then spring came.  Easter was cold, and then today this......

We loved it.  20 inches!  And the best part is, today is Saturday and by Wednesday it is supposed to be 78 degrees!

Happy Easter

We had a fun Easter this year.  Apparently our camera was missing in action for most of the festivities!  The kids love to color eggs, they look forward to it all year.

Everyone colored their own dozen eggs.

Sorry no "Easter clothes" pictures.  I will update with a new picture as soon as they wear them again!  We enjoyed an indoor Easter egg hunt since it was freezing out side.  My Mom and Dad came up for dinner and we had a great time.

Green Lightning

Porter and Allen have been hard at work on Porter's first Pinewood Derby car.  Well tonight their hard work payed off!

Our very own "Green Lightning" won 1st place! There was yelling, cheering, picture taking, high fives, ........and that was just me!  

Porter was so excited and just kept saying how proud of himself he was.  

This is the final results board.

Sidney was a very proud little sister.  She gave me a run for my money on cheering the loudest!

Sidney made a car too.  She loved helping and painted her car pink, believe it or not.  They let her race it at the end, she was so proud!

We have to give a BIG thanks to Jean for all the tips and great supplies!  We followed her advice and let me tell you, she really knows what she is talking about!

Thanks Jean!