2012 In Review

I’ve been pretty terrible about posting for the last few years so thought I would do a quick summary of what we did in 2012. Feel free to walk away at any point as this could get long….

When Seth turned 29 in January, we went to Vegas with our neighbors, Dallas and Nancy, to celebrate. I got strep throat the first day, but the four of us still had a lot of fun. Hopefully we can go back soon!

Jackson turned 6 on March 6th and we celebrated the weekend before by visiting the Children’s Museum in Denver with his cousins. The kids loved it! I pulled the ultimate Mommy fail by completely forgetting to get or make him a birthday cake and not even realizing it until we were on our way home at the end of the day so we went to Menchie’s and let him fill up on frozen yogurt and all the toppings he wanted. Jackson didn’t mind but I felt like a total loser; especially since I was gone on a work trip the next week on the real day of his birthday. Again, he didn’t mind, but I felt like the worst mom ever, especially since it was his golden birthday.

Ruger spent most of his time sleeping and relaxing when he wasn’t spying on the neighborhood from his perch on the back of the couch. He blends in with our couches and his dog bed which is great for masking dog hair, but it’s hard to find him in a dark room! He is constantly moving to new sleeping spots, but no one ever sees him move. He just appears in a new place….sound asleep.

Some neighbors gave us their old play set this summer so Seth and his dad took it apart and rebuilt it complete with a climbing wall and a shed underneath the fort. It instantly turned into the new neighborhood hot spot.

Seth and I went for an overnight hike in Rocky Mountain National Park which was one of the most beautiful hikes we have been on. We were so sore and blistered by the time we hobbled to the end that Seth swore he would never do it again. A couple of days later we started talking about re-doing the hike, so one of our plans for this summer is to go back with day packs and get it done right. Here’s to hoping we don’t regret it!

Both boys took swimming lessons this summer and rocked them, of course. Okay, the first few days they weren’t too excited, but by the end, Seth couldn’t get them out of the water.

They also had their first experience with bungee jumping. I hope they never realize that there are more extreme ways to bungee jump or I might have a heart attack.

A friend from work invited us to a roller derby match so we brought the boys who, of course, couldn’t stop running out onto the track as soon as their pizza and bug juice was gone…It was a very family friendly event with kids everywhere and no one seemed to mind the boys’ antics which was nice for a change.

Watching the horror on Seth’s face as we drove up to what looked like an abandoned pet food plant in one of the sketchiest parts of one of the stinkiest, sketchiest towns in Colorado, were waved to the back of the building, parked near some homeless people, and then entered what appeared to be a dark hole at the back of the building was priceless. I doubt that we’ll be making any more appearances at the roller derby, but the experience was…memorable.

My parents and Andy, one of my brothers, visited this summer and brought their bikes so we took them on a 16 mile bike ride. Jackson rode his own bike, Tucker rode the tagalong, and they both did great.

Having a stay at home dad instead of stay at home mom has its perks for the boys who got to spend a majority of their summer days out at the grasslands practicing their shooting skills or in the mountains scouting out new fishing spots. What little boy wouldn’t love doing that sort of thing every day?

We didn’t do as much camping with the boys as we wanted to, but were still able to spend a couple of weekends in the mountains. We finally got a bigger tent which was badly needed since the boys somehow take up more room than me and Seth. Auntie Erin came with us one weekend and got to have her first experience sleeping in a tent. It was a lot of fun and nice to have another girl along for once, even if we were still outnumbered by the guys! The Poudre Canyon was closed due to a forest fire, so we drove north and then west to our camping spot. The next day we took the long way home by driving further west and then south through Granby and back east again through Rocky Mountain National Park. We try to camp in a different area every time so that we can see something new each time. Our favorite camping spot last year was north of Steamboat Springs. We will definitely try to go back this summer to the area and might even break our own rule by camping in the same spot.

The only time we didn’t camp this summer was on a weekend trip to Frisco when we stayed at a hotel and spent time hanging out with the boys, watching movies and eating pizza in our hotel room and swimming in the pool. The boys loved swimming, eating pizza on a bed, and drinking pop. There was a homeless family that was escorted out of the pool area while we were swimming the next morning before checkout. Apparently they had walked into the pool area through a door that was propped open and were using the hot tub as a bathtub. Hey, I guess desperate times call for desperate measures…

We actually made it further south than Denver this year with a day trip to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. A devastating fire swept through the area the day after we were there. So many homes were destroyed due to the fires this summer that hotels all along the Front Range were full for months.

Jackson started 1st grade this year and Tucker went to preschool. Seth started college as well, so all three of my boys are going to school!

We went to Chuck E Cheese for Tucker’s 5th birthday party. The kids had so much fun that they are begging to go for Jackson’s 7th birthday this year. Hopefully I don’t forget Jackson’s cake this time…..

With me and Jackson gone during the day and Seth and Tucker gone three days a week, Ruger has been able to put in even more time napping. I’m pretty sure the couches will start to sag soon from all the time he spends laying on them. He is the most laid back 1-year-old dog I have ever met, at least when he’s inside. Once he sees me pull my running shoes out of the closet or gets outside it’s a different story. He has even done a couple of 10 mile runs with me easily.

I posted a while ago that we were moving, but the person who made the offer on our house lied to his lender about how much he made so, even though he had been pre-qualified when we accepted his offer, he could not get financed and waited until the last possible day to back out. It was extremely frustrating as Erin had already moved into her new apartment and we were packed and all set to close on our new house. We decided to keep the house on the market but didn’t get any showings over the holidays. Things are picking up though, and we have had three showings in the last week. One couple was going to make an offer but couldn’t get financing. They did ask about moving in and renting from us until their credit was good enough to qualify for a loan. You can probably guess how well that went over….However, my favorite feedback was from the couple who said the house was “immaculate and they couldn’t believe that a family actually lived there”. I guess all of my nagging at Seth to do his stay at home duty by keeping a clean house worked!

Thankfully, it snowed yesterday so the dirt patch in our backyard is covered along with the weedy, patchy lawns of the four neighbors surrounding us (just to be clear: Dallas and Nancy are definitely not among these four neighbors). It’s a pity that these four are such poops about not caring for their homes and parking what seems like a million vehicles (some working, some not) on their driveways, the street in front of our houses, and sometimes even on their lawns because the rest of the neighborhood is not bad. If only we could pick up our house and move it with us or somehow convince the neighbors to clean up their act….

If the house doesn’t sell soon, we will probably take it off the market and stay for a few more years. There are still a lot of updates that need to be done to the basement and bathrooms and one side of our backyard still has a chain link fence. Once we replace that, Ruger won’t be able to jump the fence and we can get rid of the dirt patch caused by his tie-out. We will also get the added bonus of only being able to smell our neighbors when they go out to smoke instead of having to both see and smell them. Is it obvious that I don’t have a lot of love for them?

It doesn’t really matter where we live though; I’m just thankful to have such a happy, healthy, sweet little family. The boys are a joy to be around and although they may drive us crazy with their constant noise, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Here’s to a happy 2013!