Big Boys Part 2

Josh requested "the hug" so here it is! Enjoy!

~Rose

Big Boys

This pic was taken awhile back, but I forgot to post it. Josh and Desi were complaning that they didn't have nice warm zip-up jammies like the kids, so while at Target, Lori and Josh picked up 2 XL sleepers. They BARELY fit, but were so funny on the guys. Enjoy.
~Rose
Chilling in Denver (literally) it's so cold today!

My Baby is 5 Months Old!

Well, I just cannot believe how fast time has flown the past 5 months! Levi is now a BIG 5 month old. His new skills include rolling from front to back and vise versa, eating rice cereal, grabbing his naked toes and pulling them into his mouth and sucking his two middle fingers (see photo). He is getting more verbal all the time...I think he's trying to make himself be heard amist the noise of our household! What a joy he is each and every day. I love going into his room and seeing his smiling face every morning :)
~Rose

Is It Cozy Under There?

After decorating the tree, Bedhead made himself right at home underneath. The kids found him quickly and chased him out promptly.

What a good kitty we have!
~Rose

Thanksgiving 2006 ~I've Been Blogging For A Year Now!

I just realized that it's been a year since I started blogging...quite an accomplishment...sticking with something for a whole year! I think blogging is therapeutic for me though. Maybe writing about things helps me slow down and think about my life more. My computer is right in the living room, so it's easy to quickly post something. Well, here are a few pics from our Thanksgiving at the Duell's house. My folks and brother came. We enjoyed a tasty feast, football, and a rousing game of ghetto Monopoly. The Christmas lights are up, just decorated the tree and we're listening to the Blind Boys of Alabama -Go Tell It On The mountain (thanks again Des-we love this album)!

What I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving:
T-That I'm saved by Grace through Faith because of the blood shed by my Savior Jesus Christ!
H-Hope, my daughter and the HOPE I have in God, despite my circumstances.
A-All my other wonderful kiddos-with their unique, God given personalities.
N-Not having any diseases, severe illnesses or handicaps-being healthy is a blessing!
K-Kisses from my Husband.
S-Sweet friendships.
G-God actually WANTING a relationship with me when I was lost in my sins.
I-Internet-it's something that keeps me close to friends and family!
V-Vents in my house that blow warm air all winter long, and God's provision to pay the bills.
I-Ice cream-especially chocolate fudge with peanut butter swirl ;)
N-Nice people that inspire me to be nice as well.
G-God preparing a place in heaven for me!
~Rose

Two More First's For Levi

Levi has seemed really interested in my food lately, so I decided we'd try some rice cereal. Well, he loved it. Two tablespoons were gone in a few minutes! The kids all had to try some rice cereal as well and they said they loved it! I'm starting out feeding him 1-2 times a day. It's nice to have him in the high chair while we eat dinner.

Lori found this at a garage sale for me. Levi LOVES his johnny jump up! I put him in it today near the kitchen while I was doing laundry and then moved it to between the living and dining rooms. I think he liked being in the middle of all the action. He was moving his feet all over and bouncing a bit...too cute!

Thanks Lori!
~Rose

Pepper

It's high time I write about our neighbor Pepper. Her real name is Marilyn and she lives with her brother John (who's a really nice guy). There is a long confusing story about her nick-name that I don't really remember. She has grown children and many grandchildren, but she's still pretty young herself. She took to us right away and watches out for us. She has a drinking problem, althought I doubt she'd admit that. She stays home all the time and loves to watch tv and look out her window. She is a sweet heart and I try to take food over to them when I can...usually leftovers from large meals. She and John love it and always comment on how good it is...now I am not writing this to brag...just to set up this story.

I took over some caramel apple cake the other day (John was just getting home) and gave it to Pepper...we chatted for awhile and the kids looked at all her nick-nacks...lots of nick-nacks! She calls me the next day and says, "Now Rose, I don't want you to think I'm greedy. I started eating that caramel cake and I just couldn't stop. I ate the whole thing and John asked me where that cake that Rose brought over was and I told him I ate it all. Rose, that was so good, you could start your own business and people would pay for your cake. And don't you tell Martha Stewart, cuz if you did, I'd have to call the police on her....mmm, mmm, it's just too good."

I told her thanks and I'd bring some more of the cake over for John. She told me to wait till he got home, or she'd eat it all again! She then asked me if she got the ingredients, would I make one for her to take to her family's Thanksgiving? I told her no problem-I'd get the ingredients. So, I ask her today, when would she like me to bring her the cake on Thursday and she said whenever, that she'd keep it herself and eat it all-she didn't want to share it with her family! I told her I'd bring it by before lunch! She just cracks me up and I'm so glad to have her as a neighbor and friend.

I also saw Aunt Debi today. We had just put up the Christmas lights on the porch and she told me I could have waited till her birthday (the 27th). I told her happy early birthday and she told me that maybe we could make her a cup cake and I said sure. She said chocolate was her favorite. So, the kids and I'll be baking chocolate cupcakes on Sunday for Aunt Debi! At least she doesn't beat around the bush...just comes right out and asks for what she wants...I love it!

~Rose

Random pics from this past week...

We had dinner at Carrie's last week. The kids love "Miss Carrie" and she makes some yummie chili!

I got wild and took the kids to the park all by myself last Friday. The weather was so lovely, that I thought we should take advantage of it. Emma almost got eaten up by this fish!

There are trolley tracks by this playground (the trolley runs in the summer)...the kids wanted to walk down them so bad, so down we went.

Emma and Ginger. The Duell's own the best dog in the world...our kids love Ginger...especially Emma-she'll lay down and use Ginger as a pillow.

My mom came over this afternoon and wouldn't you know it, she and Levi were matching in their Broncos duds. Our team couldn't pull it off tonight against those Chargers. We'll get Kansas on Thursday though! Thanks again Eberts for the clothes for Levi-this one was a bit large, but I just rolled the sleeves...it's so cute!

~Rose

We'll Be Home For Christmas!

Well, not our home, but Desi's folks. We haven't been out for about 18 months and Desi's Nana Daphne from Illnoise has yet to meet Emma Bear or Levi. We considered driving to save money, but the long way is 1200 miles and we'd take 3 days each way to get there...factoring in gas, lodging and food the total was getting up there but was no where near the cost of buying 5 plane tickets. I decided to check again -what if we left on Christmas, could we get a cheap flight? Well, we sure could! I got us 5 tickets (both ways have layovers, but who cares) for $813.50! I just have to say -Thank You Lord! The cost of driving would be close to that and take so so so so much longer. So, we'll get to spend Christmas morning with my family and our plane leaves Denver at 6pm on Christmas day. We'll be in Temecula until January 4th, so if you can stop on by the Starr Srs we'd love to see as many of our Cali friends as possible :) We are really looking forward to seeing Desi's 3 grandparents as well and just getting together with family and friends. Hope to see you...we'll have my cell if you need to call us -720-220-1873.
~Rose

This is from last year...Owen looks the same (in fact, he can still fit in those jammies!)

Heaven Help Us!

Well, Emma's withdrawal symptoms are worse that I would have thought! Pray for us! She's having some ups and downs and asks for her fixed pacis. I tell her pacis are for babies and she's a little girl now, so her pacis broke, but sometimes that just doesn't do the trick. We have to distract her with something else to get her mind off. She awoke at 6am and had to join us in bed for awhile this morning. A warning: for those of you who are thinking of starting, beware: pacis are very addictive and hard to get out of your life!
~Rose

It Finally Died!

Those of you who know us well know that Emma is totally addicted to her pacifier. We're planning on going out to So Cal for Christmas this year and I really REALLY didn't want to worry about losing an Emma paci on the trip. Besides that, her paci's (she has 2 or 3) are gross...just old and gross. About a week ago I secretly snipped each paci with scissors to create a "break". Emma noticed right away and I said, "Oh, how sad! Your pacis are breaking! I guess you are getting too old for them! You know, when a little girl grows up to be a big girl, her paci's break...so you must be a big girl now!" Today she had one in her mouth and the nipple broke all the way off! I was so glad it happened :) She said she wanted a new paci, and I told her new pacis are for babies. She accepted that and went on to play. At nap time, she wanted her paci and I told her she could hold the ring but we didn't have any pacis for her. She had to be put to bed twice and shown her baby pictures to convince her that she was a big girl. She kept saying, "No, I a little girl!" She finally went to bed and took a great nap. Thank you Lord! Now we just have to get through bed time tonight!
~Rose

Oh Yeah!

Priceless!
~Rose

The Hair Cut

What took us over a year with our first child only took 4 months with our 4th! Levi's hair was thinning, so we decided he needed a hair cut. I like the new look. He looks older, wiser, more mature! He fell asleep in the bouncy seat in the kitchen and looked so cute! Enjoy...I sure am!
~Rose

Lookout Mountain

We had unbelievable warm weather on Wednesday (record breaking in fact). It was exploration day, so we headed up to Lookout mountain above Golden, CO. I had heard about a nature center there and found online that there was a short hike from the nature center. We left after lunch and enjoyed a beautiful mile hike with great views of Denver. On the way down we saw a grey fox and 6 deer real close to the van! Even in the "dead" of fall, it's just beautiful up in the mountains and we are blessed to live so close (20 min) to such beauty and peaceful solitude.
~Rose

Thanks so much to my parents and Des & Jan for taking care of our kids while we were gone!
Here's a few cute pics from Monday.



~Rose

So That's What They Do In The Winter...

We had some free time on Sunday before going to the airport. We decided going to Mall Of America was a good idea. Did you know you can't bring your guns in? Here's the sign to remind all of us who usually carry our guns with us to shop.

There's a theme park in the middle of the mall...Levi was too short to ride the rides.

We rode 3 rides each...the log ride (Paul Bunyon ride) was the best...reminded me of the Log Ride at Knott's. We didn't want to pay to get these ride pics, so we just snapped a shot with the digital. Josh & Desi were really terrified.

I was pretty scared too!

The view from 7 stories up on the ferris wheel. Did you know the first Ferris wheel had cars that held 50 people each? This one only held 4 people each...bummer.

We stopped in Stillwater for coffee Sunday morning. Desi took a spill down the stairs...when will he grow up?

A view of the St.Croix River from the top of those stairs.

~Rose

Brent & Lisa's Wedding

Thanks to our wonderful parents, Desi and I were able to fly out to Minneapolis for Brent & Lisa's wedding. We arrived Friday around noon and after lunch headed over to the church for the rehearsal. Despite Desi not feeling well, we had a good rehearsal and great dinner.
~The cute couple

~My 3 traveling companions

~Isn't the church beautiful?

~Josh, Brent and Desi on the big day. Desi did a great job officiating the ceremony.

~Haven't been "dressed up" in quite awhile...you can't see it, but I am wearing a skirt and fun shoes!

The reception was at an apple orchard about 11 miles from the church. We had a wonderful dinner, watched the engagement movie and a slide show and after dinner...big bondfire and hayrides through the apple orchard! It was pretty warm in the reception hall and Levi was so fussy until we went outside on got on the hayride. He fell asleep at once. It was so fun we went around a 2nd time. Even though it was dark, the moon was full so we could see quite a bit.

~Thanks Brent & Lisa...we were blessed to be a part of your special day. We miss and love you so much. May you grow together basking in God's love for you.
~Rose & Desi

Free Candy!

We survived a hellish hour drive up to Thornton to have dinner with the Kylander's. The traffic on Halloween was ridiculous. The kids had fun and despite the cold temp, we headed out to get some free candy!
Princess, Princess, Spiderman, Frog, Princess, Winnie The Pooh

Nice smiles from E & E!

Three of the 12 dancing princesses.

Levi and I had spider shirts. His shirt is new and now he finally has something to wear with his Vans! Thanks again Lori...those are such cute shoes :)

~Rose