A White Christmas...

Yep, we had a 'white Christmas' here in Denver. Apparently it was the first true one in more than 40 years! It was a beautiful day...a great day for a birthday!

Here's some pics of Christmas at the Borchert's....

I'm not sure what it is...but it's all mine!!!

Gotta train them early. :)

Torreys' favorite gift. I think it lasted about 20 minutes...

Trying out the new sled with Daddy.

Yummy!

My Little Gymnast

Colby and I have been taking a tumbling class at one of the local rec centers and since yesterday was the last class we decided to take a few pictures. He LOVES the class...although he now uses the couch arm as a pummel horse to practice his flips, so I'm not sure it was the smartest idea on my part...

He loves the mini tramp...although he doesn't get the 'jumping' part...he just runs around it!

He's showing off his balancing skills here...next class we'll work on the arms out part.

Just hanging out...

Quality Time with Daddy

Since Colby has been doing so well with his signs, daddy decided to teach him one of his own. See if you can figure out what it is...

Hint: He doesn't get to use it very much during Broncos games this year...at least not when the Broncos have the ball...

Who IS this guy??!

As you can see, Santa wasn't really a big hit this year! Maybe next year he'll realize he's the guy that's going to bring him all the toys...

We did manage to get a halfway decent family shot though.

Giving Thanks

During this holiday we are reminded how truly blessed we are to have such great family around us. Both Steve's family and mine are so important to us...




This year we went down to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with my family. (In case you were wondering...yes, 4 hours on a plane with a 14.5 month old is a true test of patience!) We had a great time visiting with family, including Colby's great-grandmother, and even caught up with a couple friends that live down there. Here's a few pics from our trip...

Sophie trying to teach Colby how to share...

Colby with his cousins Jamie and Hunter.

Fun with daddy at the park.

Spontaneity

Since Steve has been working really hard finishing up his audits for the year and is about to get really busy until the end of the year with his new Supervisor position, we decided at the last minute to head up to Vail over the weekend.

It was so great to get away and a perfect time of year to be in the mountains. Chilly, but not too cold, and since the slopes (the Vail ones at least) haven't opened yet it was empty and very cheap. Colby loved walking around the village but insisted on being the leader...so we just followed him around most of the time! 14 months is such a fun age!

At dinner Saturday night, Colby wanted one of my french fries and out of the blue signed "please". We thought it was a fluke at first, but he did it a ton that night and has been consistently signing it since. It really amazed us, because we had tried in vain to teach him signs since he was 6 months old and had given up about a month ago. So, I guess he was just storing it away in his mind for whenever he was ready to do it! We're so proud of him. :)

Vail was so beautiful and we would have had soooo many great pictures to share, except that the camera was sitting at home on the kitchen counter. So, since I can't have a post without some kind of picture, here's just a recent one of Colby.

Dinger!

He's not just any purple dinosaur, he's Dinger the Colorado Rockies mascot! Yes they got swept in the World Series, and yes we weren't able to use our Game 5 tickets (thus crushing Steve's life-long dream to see his team at a World Series game)...but there's always next year. :)

Colby had fun Trick or Treating with his cousins...that is, he had fun running up and down the street while his cousins got candy!

Happy Halloween!!

'Tis the Season!

Here's why I love Colorado...yesterday was a high of 80 degrees and this morning we woke up to this:

And. believe it or not, the snow will be gone tomorrow and it'll be in the 70s by Tuesday or Wednesday. Gotta love it!

...But Keep The Old...

It's fall break out here for the high schools, so since I had a week off nannying Colby and I decided to go visit my friend Sheryl in Washington for a few days.

Sheryl and I were roommates in college and have remained close since...despite living thousands of miles apart. Her son Jackson is 6 months older than Colby and is amazingly advanced. (He walked at 9 months, and now at 1.5 can talk in sentences and eats off real plates...and doesn't break them!) Jackson is going to have a little brother, Rhett, next month...so as you can imagine we did a lot of chilling at home, which was exactly what I was looking for.

Happy Birthday!

Despite what everyone told us, Torreys is still our first baby. Today is her 3rd birthday and she got a present (new femur bone) and a cupcake (the only people food she gets...well, besides what Colby gives her now). Couldn't resist a few pics of her growing up. Although she's not perfect, she's a great dog and is wonderful with Colby.

Happy birthday Torreys!!!

Can we play now??

I'm not sure who's more terrified...

Ahh - my arm, my arm!! ;)

Daddy Duty...

So this morning Steve got up with Colby and let me sleep in a little (aww, so sweet). While I was laying in bed I heard some screaming, but didn't think too much of it (little tantrums aren't abnormal these days). When I got up, Steve told me what happened...apparently Colby was digging around in the wicker chest and got his head and arms stuck inside! Daddy, of course, decided he had time to capture the moment on film before rescuing our baby. The picture doesn't really do it justice b/c you can't hear the screams that go along with it, but Steve was afraid of the repercussions of having it on video...


And a side note: Thanks to all who prayed for Patty...her mastectomy went as well as expected and her pathology report came back clear - no chemo or radiation needed!!

The big "C"

It seems like every week Steve and I are learning a new friend or family member has cancer. It's really crazy how long that section of my prayer list is right now...

Tomorrow, my dad's cousin Patty (who's also my godmother) is getting rid of her cancer. She's having a double mastectomy along with reconstruction. Thank God she caught it early enough that it doesn't seem to have spread. I can't imagine the emotional and physical pain she'll be going through the next few weeks, but we know how strong of a woman she is and that she'll get through this with the help of all her family and friends & the multitude of prayers being sent her way.

Coincidentally, the Race for the Cure is this weekend here in Denver. I think I should make it a goal to participate in it next year...

We love you Patty!

A pic of me & Patty at my wedding.

Ahhh Fall...

My favorite season of the year. I have to say my favorite seasonal day is the first bloom in Spring (Steve can attest to how happy I get), but Fall is by far my favorite over-all season. The leaves changing color, the absolutely perfect weather and football on tv...what more could you ask for?? I think growing up in the land of 1 season (aka Florida) has made me really appreciate how amazing the changing seasons are here in Colorado.

Since Steve is in DC for a few days, I took Colby and Torreys (our Golden Retriever who will be 3 on Sunday!) on a walk down to the neighborhood park tonight. Colby loves to just watch all the 'big' kids on the playground and playing soccer...he likes the swing and slide, but I really think he'd be just as happy sitting in his stroller people watching. Then again, I'm a big people watcher myself, so I guess that's where he gets it from!

Caught on Film...

Here's a little footage from last night...he's getting a lot more stable and sure of himself. It's so cute to see how proud he is!

I have to mention before you watch this, he's a little cranky since I skipped his afternoon nap for a playdate...bad mommy! He had fun at the playdate though...

We have a walker!!

Well, we almost have a walker. Colby took his first steps a few weeks ago, and now...the day before his 13 month birthday...he's become quite the adventurer. While just a few days ago he was still doing the 2 step lunge, he can now walk across the room in what we lovingly refer to as the 'one glass too many' stumble. He still prefers to crawl the majority of the time, but our toddler is emerging a little more each day. (sniff, sniff)

Since this is my first entry, I figured some pictures were in order. Here's a couple from the past and some from the present.

Colby on his 0th birthday!

Our happy boy at 5 months.
Isn't he cute when he's sleeping? (12 months) I'm ready to go for a ride! (12 months)