APC Fall Retreat 2007

Last weekend we celebrated Hope's 7th birthday up in the mountains with our church family. She had asked to invite everyone from church so it made sense to celebrate on our retreat. Click here to see all the pics from our fantastic weekend.

I'm 97% packed and totally pumped that I found some new bras today. It's amazing how great a nice new bra can make a mom of 4 feel ;) Looking forward to seeing some of you very soon!

~Rose

"Independence"... [is] middle-class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.
~G.B. Shaw, Pygmalion, 1912

Happy Birthday Hope!

Our oldest turned 7 today...SEVEN! Where oh where has the time gone?! We celebrated with breakfast of her choice...oatmeal (because Grandma Kate made her pancakes yesterday, Hope reasoned). We still had to do school, but not much. We skipped math today. We took off for an early dinner of Hope's choosing. Those Olive Garden commercials did the trick, so Olive Garden it was! Once home, Hope opened a few gifts and we are currently watching Meet The Robinsons. It's a great movie about the value of family (no matter what your family looks like or how God brought it together). Here are a few pics from the evening. Thanks to Nana Daphne for the savings bond and $7, Grandma Jan for the cabbage patch doll and the Garvey Grandparents for the check!

I thank God daily for Hope and the beautiful, smart and gifted girl that she is. She is a true joy in my life and helps to keep me sane in this noisy house! Hope loves art, babies, kittens and playing make believe. I am blessed to be her momma and excited to see what God has in store for her in the future.

We are getting ready for our church retreat this weekend in the Dillon area. We'll have a little party for Hope up there on Saturday with cake and family and friends. Once we get back from that on Sunday I have two days to get us packed and ready for our California trip. We'll be gone from the 7th to the 28th. Our friends Micah and Mark are moving in, so the house will not be empty, which is always nice. They are looking to rent a bigger place and hopefully will have found something by the time we get back ;)

~Rose

Owen's 5th Birthday Photos

Here they are finally. The pics from Owen's party. We had such a great day and are blessed with wonderful friends and family. I took a LOT of photos (mostly for the family who couldn't make it)...good thing I figured out how to use this Picasa album thing!



~Rose

Happy 5th Birthday Owen!

Our little man Owen turned 5 today. Where has the time gone? I laid in bed with him tonight and told him the story of his birth.

I remember Desi had a bunch of Jr. Highers to take to summer camp the day I was due. The church we were at was going to give him a cell phone that he would have so I could reach him. I wasn't too excited about it, so I took things into my own hands...and drank caster oil mixed with Coke. I'll spare you the details, but a few hours later I was in hard labor and early Sunday morning I was on my way to the hospital (in hard labor). Sparing you even more details, Owen was born about an hour after getting to the hospital (naturally-which is REALLY PAINFUL).

I recalled to Owen how excited daddy and I were to meet him and how healthy and wonderful he was. Many people came to visit him and his big sister Hope could not get enough of him. I told him how God wanted him in our family and how special he is and that God has a wonderful and exciting plan for his life. I asked for a big hug and kiss. I was denied the kiss. For the past 6 months or so, he does not want kisses (he's a germ-a-phobe...scared of germs). This is why I kiss Levi about a 100 times a day! After I got up, he complained that I heated up his mattress, so I offered that he use my bed for a little bit till his mattress got cool again. He's still in my bed. We had a great party for him today with friends, family and neighbors. He got a lot of nice gifts...mostly car stuff which is his favorite. Thanks to all who came and all who sent gifts. We are blessed. Here are a few pics from back in the day.
Owen at 2.5 months old.

Hope 2, Owen 5.5 months.

Owen 1 year old.

Owen last month with his sisters on a camping trip with our church.

Happy Birthday Owen! You are a kind, sensitive and generous boy. God has gifted you with many words, a wonderful story telling ability, and a joyful zest for life. You love playing with Hot Wheels cars, watching movies, playing computer games (which you are very skilled at), camping, playing outside, and playing with your swords. You are a good brother who protects your sisters and watches out for his baby brother. You really love playing with Emma and get really silly with her sometimes. I look forward to seeing you mature over the next year and am excited to start teaching you Kindergarten soon! I love you and am blessed to be your momma!

~Rose
Pictures from the party will be posted soon!

A Little Of This And A Little Of That

Starting Thursday we began ripping tile off the kitchen countertops. As of tonight (Sat) Josh and Desi have pulled up all the old flooring and it's down to the origional floors. We're deciding if we want to re-finish or tile. If we re-finish, we need someone to come repair some holes and pull up some bad boards. Here's a pic where our front door is behind me. Notice the many layers of flooring! Here's our kitchen sink and yuckkie tiles. I found little bugs under the tiles to the left of the sink! Sooooo gross! This room is empty now (save the cupboards on the wall).
The next three pics Micah took of Levi on his birthday. They are amazing.


Opening gifts with the help of siblings of course!

The snake cake...yum!


I'll post more pics as I have time. We'll be staying at my parents for awhile since our house is a mess! Thanks to the great-grandparents for the gifts for Levi. He loves his new toothbrush and toothpaste from Nana, new piggy bank toy and car toy from the Nelsons, new jammies and cups from the Garvey's and a new farm animals fridge toy from the Gillis'. Des and Jan will be out Monday to help us with the kitchen adventure. We look forward to spending a wonderful week with them!
~Rose

Happy 1st Birthday Levi!

Levi turned 1 today! We had my parents over for dinner, cake and presents. Levi loved the gifts and especially the cake. I had to take him directly to the bathtub to wash him off! I cannot believe he is one already! He is such a JOY in my life. Yes, he slows the family down a bit, but I am thankful for that. All too soon I know he'll be grown up and gone!

He is not walking yet. That will come when he's ready. He is pulling up on everything and every once in awhile stands without holding onto anything. He loves to "brush his teeth" and throw balls. He can spot a dog across the street and point it out with gestures. He has stopped nursing and doesn't ask for it. His appetite is huge and his favorite food is bananas and organic animal crackers from Costco. He goes to bed very easily and still takes one long nap every day. I'll post pics from tonight soon. The cake pics are too cute. I have to be at the courthouse at 8am (usually am still in jammies at that time) so it'll be a few days!

~Rose

Happy Birthday to Desi, Micah and Jason!

Here is a pic taken at 11:20pm of Micah and Desi studying up Tuesday night before their 2 day motorcycle class. They had one afternoon to answer over 100 questions in this "booklet" before class at 7am the next morning. They had a great time, are totally wiped out and both passed with flying colors. They had to take a written test yesterday and a driving test today. They are now liscensed to RIDE!

In honor of their birthdays (Micah -May 30, Desi and Jason -May 31) the kids and I made this really rich cake and decorated it in a motorcycle theme.




We enjoyed a nice dinner, yummie cake and good conversation after the kiddos went to bed. I love the above pics. Check out Emma's face in the middle shot and Levi in the bottom one!
~Rose
P.S. Desi, you are an amazing man. I thank God daily for your love, encouragment and guidance. You are such an involved father and that makes you so attractive! You make me want to be a better woman and I cannot imagine life with out you. God has truly blessed me with a man who "dwells with me with understanding"! I pray your 32nd year on this planet is the best yet. I am so enjoying this journey we are on together! I love you! ~Rose

Motorcycle Gang

This pic was in the card that Micah made for Desi.

Micah and I went in together to get Desi motorcycle lessons for his birthday. Micah's bday is tomorrow and Desi's is Thursday. They will both be in motorcycle school all day the next two days. Once we re-do our kitchen floor, I'd like to take motorcylce lessons...Desi's not going to have all that fun without me!!!!
~Rose

Happy 30th Tim!

Joshua Tree, CA ~1999?

Wish we could be there to celebrate with you Tim.
May this year be blessed beyond measure for you!
We love you!
Love, Desi, Rose, Hope, Owen, Emmaline and Levi

Happy Birthday Grandma Kate!

My mom's birthday was last Sunday. We wanted to go to the free day at the Denver Botanic Gardens but alas, it was raining. Our plan B went into action. Mom and my brother Jason came over (dad's back was out) for lunch and then we headed over to the Denver Puppet Theater. It's not far from our house, a few miles on the other side of I25. Once inside we decorated our "tickets" which were little paper puppets and played with the numerous puppets in and near the little theaters. The kids had so much fun. The show was Rumplestiltskin. One lady did it all herself...different marionetts, voices, ect... The show lasted about an hour and Hope and Owen LOVED it. Emma was a bit too young I think. The theater was a sort of muesum with all sorts of puppets from all over the world. After the show we drove through Sonic to get a treat and came home to eat them. All in all it was a fun day. Enjoy the pics.


























































~Rose

Emma's Birthday Dinner @ Gunther Toody's

We like to take the kids out to dinner for their birthdays. Gunther Toody's is a 50's diner where kids eat free Monday nights...so the choice was easy. Fun music, good food and free kiddo dinners.
Me and my little Emma Bear...

Three sillies...

All the employees came over to sing for Emma...she was ready to get out on the floor with them and realized what was happening and promptly began to cry!

They sang anyway...and ended up liking it...a little bit!

Personalized hat...complete with a kiss...

On the way home we came down through City Park. Desi pulled into the golf course and drove us around it a bit. The view of downtown was beautiful...

~Rose

Happy 3rd Birthday Emma!

We had Emma's birthday party last Saturday evening. We had a bunch of friends and neighbors over and enjoyed pizza, cake and ice cream.
Emma had to have a purple castle cake...

Our little princess and prince...

Grandma Kate...thanks for the cool castle!

Friends...

The other Starr Princess...

Blowing out the candles...

Opening gifts...

Thanks for the pretty new dress Grandma Jan and Grandpa Des!

~Rose