Sometimes Mommy's Need a Break...

Sunday, August 23, 2009
Dear Max,
I have so much to be grateful for as I sit here tonight and tell you about how sometimes Mommy's need a little break. Well, this break came in the form of a girls weekend with some of your Auntie's. Friday morning, we woke up early and I dropped you off at Mrs. Jaime's and Auntie Julie, Auntie Patti and I headed over to pick up Auntie Andrea so we could hit the road. Well, we stopped about a mile from Auntie Andrea's house to get some soda's before we left. As we pulled out of the gas station headed on our adventure to southern California.... BOOM!
What was that?!?!
We look over to our left and their was a corvette under Auntie Andrea's Acura MDX! How did that happen? Before we had even been gone for 5 minutes we were T-Boned! I called 911 and the next thing you know... 3 police vehicles, 1 fire truck, 2 ambulances and a police helicopter are on the scene. Now, obviously I'm writing this to you - so you can guess that none of us were seriously injured, which we are so grateful for! After calling 911, my next call was to your daddy, who was our hero and immediatly left work to come to the scene of the accident to make sure that we were all ok. It seems strange, but their were so many things to be grateful for:

• I'm grateful for the officer's who responded to the accident. They were AWESOME! Never thought I would say that - but they seriously were so great! The accident was your Auntie Andrea's fault, but the officer's kept reminding us that this is why it's called an "accident" and that it would all be ok. Their sense of humor to keep things in perspective were so appreciated!
  
• I know you don't want to hear this... but one of the fire fighters/EMT that responded was a cutie pie! He was headed over towards our car to see your Auntie Julie, who we were worried about. She started to feel funny and we didn't want to take any chances. So when the EMT showed up, I, in my most serious voice told your Auntie Julie to pull it together, cause Mr. EMT was a cutie! She couldn't believe that I was saying that - but she looked!
  
• I'm grateful for the cutie EMT's ability to cope with our inability to make a decision! We couldn't decide if we should send Auntie Julie to the hospital or not. He was patient with us girls and just sat in the car with us and said "I feel like we are in a huddle...k- girls, what are we going to do!?"
• I'm grateful for your Auntie Patti's mommy abilities. I will say that mommy mode kicked right in for Auntie Patti. Now when I say that Auntie Julie took the brunt of the impact, that caused Auntie Patti to take the brunt of Auntie Julie's diet coke and open can of smoked almonds. They spilt all over her! And as soon as we determined that none of us were seriously hurt, Auntie Patti was out of the car, sweeping out the almonds and cleaning up the diet coke. Now, this goes on. Since Auntie Patti had swept all the almonds out on the street, each individual that came to our car to check on us (the police officers, the fire fighters, the EMT's, the ambulance driver, the tow truck driver, your daddy) all asked... How did these almonds get here!
  
• I'm grateful for kind hearted tow truck boys. Auntie Andrea's car wouldn't start, and instead of just towing us, he took the time to jump start her car and then when he discovered that her front tire had slip off the rim, he took the time to put her spare tire on and we were able to drive Auntie Andrea's car away from the accident. This little tow truck boy did not have to do that for us, he could have just towed the car away and then Auntie Andrea would have had to pay to get it out. So kind of him!
• I'm grateful that the driver of the corvette's car door was jammed. She was a "bit upset" about the accident, and she was using very "colorful" language. And I was grateful that she had to use that language from a far!
• I'm grateful that the accident happened when we were still in Las Vegas, and not on the freeway or in California! We were able to quickly get Auntie Andrea's tire fixed and were close enough to Auntie Andrea's house to go back and get Auntie Julie's car to complete our adventure. I don't know what we would have done if we would have been further away!
• I'm grateful for your daddy and his patience and love for me and my friends. He is a steady, reliable and calm influence and we needed his strength. And it was good he was there to lift the spare tire out at the tire shop after wards!
• I'm grateful for understanding friends.
  
• Mostly I'm grateful for the protection that we received in the accident. It is hard to believe that none of us are suffering from whiplash or any ailments from the accident. I think this is due to the fact that none of us saw it coming, so we were not tensed when the impact happened. I was actually staring at the Internet print out of the beach that we were intending on spending the weekend staring at!
  

Now, I will tell you, we were shook up, but strange enough we all had a calm about us. We went back to your Aunt Andrea's and together we hit our knee's and thanked our Heavenly Father for protecting us that day and ensuring that Carter, Abby, Blake and You all had mommies and our families still had us sweet 4 ladies in their lives! We also wanted to ask for guidance on a decision if we should continue on our adventure or not. We learned that accident's happen and we can't linger in them, we must move forward and that is what we did! We knew that the best therapy for us was waiting in the form of retail stores and beaches!

What a great day spent on the beach!

As I told Abby (Auntie Patti's daughter) when talking to her on the cell phone on the beach:
Abby: "Are you sleeping in a tent with my mommy"
(Auntie Patti, went to girls camp a couple of weeks ago)
Me: "No Abby, we are staying in a Fancy Hotel!"
Abby: "REALLY!"
Me: "Yeah, and now we are at a Fancy Beach! and tonight we are going to get all Fancy and go to a Fancy dinner!"
Abby: "Wow! That is just like Fancy Nancy!"
Me: "Yup! Just like Fancy Nancy!"

You're Growing Up!

Thursday, August 20, 2009
Dear Max,
Just like that - Now that your 9 month's old, you have decided to grow up on me! I could hardly believe it when we saw you holding your own bottle tonight! Now, I will admit this was short lived, you did not hold it the entire time. But it's a good start.

Nice Form

That's Better

Now I know the order of this might seem cruel, but it's reality. Yup, after you were in your p.j.'s, had your night bottle and were all snuggled in to go upstairs for prayers and bed...your daddy and I decided to ask your Auntie Julie to cut your hair! Yup, your Auntie Julie is in town tonight - cause tomorrow your mommy and your Auntie's are going on a little get away. I'll tell you all about it when we get back. But we thought, no better time than now, to trim up your hair... And then... we decided to give you a BIG BOY HAIR CUT!

Faux Hawk Down
Faux Hawk Down

We call it the "Mini Hawk"
I love your big boy hair cut. You look very sophisticated!

Thanks for putting up with us Max - you are good little dude and we love you!!!

9 Month's Old!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Dear Max,
It seems like every day your doing something new, we kept saying when you were a newborn, "we love this stage, your so cuddly". Then you would grow and we would say, "we love this stage cause your smiling and interacting more". Then you grew more and now we are saying, "we LOVE this stage! You are full of personality, lot's of fun to play with and even though we are trying to encourage you to crawl... I must admit it is still nice to have you some what immobile. This by far is our favorite stage! So here are some of the fun things you've been up to:

• You love giving Kisses. The kisses are getting more frequent and more messy. I think you learned to give kisses from your puppy, open mouth and with your tongue out. The best is when you and Cooper share a kiss... eww!

• You can clearly say: da da, ma ma, and pooper (were guessing that your saying cooper, your puppy) and you will pretty much mimic the pitch of the things we say. This does not work to our advantage when in the store and your daddy chooses to say "Dam'it" and we hear you say "Um'it" What will we do with your daddy :) Glad it wasn't me...he he he

• Your Paddy Cake skills are growing... the roll it, roll it is actually a rolling versus a mess of hands

• Your clothes are fitting you longer. It's feeling a little more normal to be putting a 9 month old in 12 month old clothes... versus a 6 month old in 18 month clothes!

• You love to have your hands and feet kissed - it makes you giggle.... the really good giggle that comes from your gut!
  

• You love to play peek-a-boo and play "where's mommy" or "where's daddy" or "where's Cooper" or "where's Max"... you pretty much like to play the "where's anything" game!

• You are still have such a good and calm nature about you. And trust us, we push your limits all the time and you are still always so happy! When I say "push your limits" meaning sometime we are to busy to nap, eat, change diapers... not to say it doesn't happen, just sometimes it doesn't happen at the exact time it should. And still you remain a chill, happy little dude.

• You love smiling at strangers in the store. You sure make an entrance. Every where we go people comment on how cute you are, and then you flash that million dollar smile. I hope you use your charisma for good when you get older and that you will still be smiling at the cute little ladies in the grocery store when your 16, it makes their day!
  

• Like I said before crawling has not entered your little world yet - you are very close, however, you find that rolling and pivoting gets you wherever you need to go to!

• You have discovered Tile versus Carpet and you prefer Tile. Weird kid! It's hilarious to watch you explore the tile. You will lay on the tile and move your head from side to side to feel the surface on your skull and then roll over and rub the tile with your arms and hands. Maybe you learned that from Cooper. On these hot summer day's the cool tile sure does feel good!
  

• And finally, your toothless grin is more than our hearts can handle! Only two bottom teeth and no sign of any others to follow as of yet.

Thanks Auntie Emilie for taking my 9 month pictures! I love you!!

This one is by special request of me, Max, I can not get enough of your
little toes! And your toes in flip flops! I mean - come on! Seriously! The cutest thing
I have ever seen! So Thank you Auntie Emilie for capturing this for me. I will cherish
these little toes until the day I die.

Happy 9 Month Birthday Max!
We love you and are so glad you are here!

Who Takes Care of You? Your Daddy!

Saturday, August 16, 2009
Dear Max,
I couldn't let this go un noticed. Not sure if you realized as you look at these pictures this summer of you swimming. You will notice in May we went swimming and you had a great time in your cool Yellow and Purple car. I thought it was great. Well, truth be known, I didn't notice on the box that it said "Girls Swim Toy" - But you better believe that your daddy noticed...

Flash Forward to August 16, 2009
Your daddy all summer has looked every time we went into Wal-Mart, Target, Babies R Us, any store that he thought would carry swim toys, in a desperate attempt to find a replacement "vehicle" for you. Well, here it is the very end of the summer... maybe we will get 2 or 3 more swims in before the season is over and your daddy finds the "Boy's Swim Toy" version of the car. He was so excited. Immediately made the purchase to ensure that you would have your manhood back when swimming. Who takes care of you? Your Daddy!

Saying Good Bye to Jaden for two years...

Saturday, August 15, 2009
Dear Max,
Today was a busy day! We got up bright and early this morning (6 am!), and along with your Auntie Andrea we headed up to St. George. We went up to St. George to spend our last bit of time with Jaden before he leaves for his mission to Portland, Oregon. We are so proud of him, but will miss him a ton while he is away. It's hard to believe that you will be almost 3 years old when he gets home. We had a fun and busy day planned!
As soon as we arrived in St. George we went swimming! You still love the water. We met Grammie, Grampie, Jaden, Auntie Julie, Janice Rogers, Richard Rogers, Teri Leavitt with Austin and Kamryn, and lot's of Jaden's cousins. It was a bunch of fun!

Swimming with Grampie

Hanging in the water


Hanging with Papa Rogers
This is Auntie Julie's Daddy, and you two sure do have a special bond. You
are so lucky to be loved by such amazing people. Papa Roger's is another example of
your sweet spirit not only being a blessing for your daddy and I, but to so many people
around us. You and your sweet spirit give us all faith, that our Heavenly Father hears our prayers. We love you Max!

After swimming we all got cleaned up and went to the opening of Brick Oven Pizza. It was super yummy! We were able to meet Auntie Julie's "special" new friend and enjoy yummy pizza. As soon as we were done eating we were off to Auntie Emilie's bridal shower. Well, all the girls were off to the shower (since your still a little guy - you go with the girls!). We had so much fun laughing and celebrating Auntie Emilie and Brian's upcoming wedding.

Mommy with all your Auntie's!
Auntie Julie, Mommy, Auntie Emilie, Auntie Andrea and Auntie Teri

After Auntie Emilie's wedding shower we headed back over to Auntie Julie's house to say our final good-bye's to Jaden. I am so proud of him and his decision to serve a mission. I'm grateful for his example to you and hope that you will some day serve a mission as well. I'm looking forward to supporting Jaden on his mission and hopefully you will have some memories along the way.

We love you Jaden!
See you in two years. We can't wait to take a
picture in two years and compare how the two of you have grown!
Lot's of love and Good Luck!!

Rocky Mountain High!

Sunday, August 9, 2009
Dear Max,
Never a dull moment in this family! On Wednesday, August 5th I left really early in the morning to go on a business trip to Denver, Colorado. Daddy and I had decided earlier that we would extend my business trip a few day's and spend some time in the Denver area. Daddy was born and grew up in Boulder and he has always wanted to take me back to visit, and we had never made it. So we were so grateful that this opportunity came up and that you could come with us.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Your daddy is one brave dad! He actually flew all by himself with you for the first time. Now, I wouldn't admit this to your daddy, but I will say, that I was kind of grateful that your daddy was taking you on the plane for the first time. I was super nervous about it, but knew that if your daddy could do it first, then it would be a breeze for us. As usual you were a good little baby on the plane and your daddy said that everyone thought you were so cute! You left Las Vegas really late, so that you could sleep on the plane. The real adventure came when daddy and you landed and he had to get his luggage, you, the stroller and your diaper bag all on the car rental shuttle bus. But once he was back on the ground you were all good and met up with me at the hotel. It was the best feeling to see you and daddy at our hotel door at midnight that night!

Thursday, August 6, 2009
Today you and daddy hung out at the Hotel during the morning and then that afternoon, drove up to Fort Collins to spend the evening with Uncle Mark, Aunt Jill and Jacob. I was still working, so had a full day on the road meeting with my customers. We met back at the Hotel that night and that is when the "vacation" portion officially began!

Friday, August 7, 2009
Today we left the hotel early and drove out to Boulder. When we got to Boulder, your daddy could barely contain his excitement to show us all the places where he has memories in Boulder. We first drove past your daddy's old neighborhood and went up to INCAR it is a big research center on the top of the mountain behind daddy's old neighborhood. Daddy use to go with the neighbor boys and hike up there!

Our Family on top of the mountain at INCAR
Behind us is your daddy's old neighborhood.
This is the hill that your daddy would hike when he was a boy.

As we drove down the hill we went by your daddy's old elementary school. This is the school that your daddy went to Kindergarten at. He was so embarrassed that I had him stand out in front of the school for his picture.

Daddy at his old Elementary School

We then met up with the Joseph's. David, Diane and their daughter Beth live in the house next door to the house daddy grew up in. They still live there and were so excited to see your daddy. When your daddy was a little boy he would always go over to the Joseph's and entertain Beth. Diane would always take the two of them to the Park, Museum and Zoo during the summers to keep them entertained. It was so fun to see them and for them to meet you! The 6 of us (Diane, David, Beth, Daddy, You and Me) all went out to lunch and then came back to the Joseph's to visit. Uncle Mark, Aunt Jill and Jacob met up with us then.

Diane, Beth, David, Uncle Mark, Jacob, Aunt Jill, Daddy and You
Standing on the Joseph's Balcony looking over into your Daddy's old backyard

Daddy, You, Mommy, Jacob, Aunt Jill and Uncle Mark
Standing in front of your Daddy's old house

You and your daddy standing by one of the tree's that your daddy
says was a little baby tree when he lived there!

It was so great to spend time with the Joseph's and see the old house. After we left the Joseph's we went on a driving tour of Boulder, we saw...

The first McDonald's your daddy ever ate at...
It's not a McDonald's anymore, it's a coffee shop called Vic's
(only your dad would feel that this is a place of significance!)



This is the church house that your daddy went to church at.
Your Grandpa Charlie was not a member of the church, but every
Sunday he would load up all the kids and your Grandma and drive them
to Church and drop them off and pick them back up. This is also the Church that
your daddy was blessed in.



This was your Daddy's Dentist Office



"King Super" This is the Grocery Store that they would shop at.


Daddy's favorite Pizza place - it's not a pizza place anymore...their seemed to be a theme to the places that your daddy use to love to eat at... they were all out of business!

After our driving tour of Boulder we went down to a place called Pearl Street Mall. It was the cutest place. It was streets and streets, all tree lined, with all sorts of stores, street performers and restaurants. It was a really fun place to see. We found you a really rock in' t-shirt that says "Boulder" on it. I hope you like it. We bought it in a bigger size, so maybe it will make an appearance next summer.

Daddy at Pearl Street Mall

Look at this! We saw the cutest puppies riding in the side car with goggle on!
Don't tell Cooper - but it seems like the puppies in Boulder get some great treatment!

You were not overly impressed by the street performer.
He actually scared you. You started to cry, so we swooped you up
real quick. He was just juggling swords, I can't understand why you were so nervous?

After our visit to Pearl Street Mall we went to Jacob's favorite restaurant for dinner. You may wonder why we went to Jacob's pick? Well, it was his birthday! Isn't that cool of a 10 year old to spend his birthday with us!! We went to this fun Italian Restaurant that was buffet style. All the pasta, pizza, salad and entrees you could eat. It was really yummy! After dinner we headed back to Uncle Mark and Aunt Jill's in Fort Collins to open Jacob's birthday presents, eat yummy cake and go to bed!

Saturday, August 8, 2009
Today we went up to Estes Park. It was about an hour and 1/2 drive outside of Fort Collins. On the way up we stopped at a road side market to get some Cider. I had never had cold cider before! Apparently it has been around for a long time - but all the Cider I have ever had was always warm. I will admit it was yummy stuff!

Mommy and Daddy drinking their cold cider

When we got to Estes Park we went to the Stanly Hotel. It is a famous Hotel that the Stanley Brother built so he would have a place to stay when he visited the area. It is claimed to be haunted. Even in one of the rooms Stephen King wrote the Shining, which is a really scary book. We enjoyed exploring the hotel grounds. It was really pretty and spooky all the same!

Our Family in front of the Stanley Hotel

Daddy throwing money away in the pond
Actually he was making a wish!

This is the door to the room that Stephen King stayed in when
he wrote the Shining.

These are the guest room elevators. Do I need to say more...
we took the stairs!

Stanley Steamer Car!

Your daddy and Uncle Mark then agreed that the best way for us to get the greatest view of Estes Park was to ride the "Aerial Tramway" to the top of Prospect Mountain, which is at 8900 feet. You can see Long's Peak, the Continental Divide and feed the squirrels. What more would a mom want then to ride an open air gondola, 8900 feet into the air holding onto her baby! Let's do it!

Oh Heaven help us! You seem a little bit like a dare devil Max.
Look at you holding onto the window!

It's a long ride up to the top!

But once we got to the top we:

Fed the Squirrels

Had a snack with John Wayne


And then back down the mountain we went!


I was not sure if your daddy was going to get back on or not.
I was all for getting back on, mearly for the fact that hiking back down
was NOT an option!


Jacob was being really brave standing at the front of the car...
Your daddy wouldn't even stand in front. After being such a big
talker when our feet were on the ground he was a big chicken in the air!

You on the other hand, found a comfortable spot with Aunt Jill
to take an afternoon nap. That makes the ride down
much easier!

When we got done we went to a park and had some lunch. After eating we spotted these Elk. I couldn't believe how big they were, just walking through the little town.

Daddy and Mommy Elk with their two babies

Look at those long legs!

We then went up to Bear Lake in the National Forest Portion of Estes Park. It was BEAUTIFUL! The elevation is at 9475. It cooled down really quick up there. We walked all along the park and took in the beautiful scenery. It was the perfect day! Family, Fun and Memories created.

That Rocky Mountian Aire makes for a happy little man!

Trenholm Boy's (minus you)

Our Family at Bear Lake.
We walked clear around the entire lake.

Sunday, August 9th
We spent the day relaxing with Uncle Mark, Aunt Jill and Jacob. We enjoyed taking a Sunday afternoon nap, eating a yummy Sunday dinner and talking. It was a great way to end our vacation. On our way back to the airport we swung into the Bronco's Stadium to take a picture.

Bronco's Fan



Riding in the car rental shuttle!



Max - You sure do love to fly! Happy little man!

We are so grateful that we were able to go to Denver together as a family. It was so fun for your daddy to show us all the places he remembers growing up and spending time at with his family. It was a fun time together! We love you Max!