Road Trip 2012

Our vacation this year took us road tripping to Yellowstone National Park.  We started out in the wee hours of the morning...

Had lots of this...

and this...

 

but not so much of this...

The kids did much better than we could have hoped during the drive, so we rewarded them (well, 2 of them!) with a trip down the alpine slide in Jackson Hole.  Colby's a pro at these now, but it was Brogan's first time and he loved it!

 

Then we walked around downtown Jackson and tried to attend their nightly mock shoot-out show, but the boys were both near tears a couple minutes in.  Not as tough as they seem apparently!

 

Let me help you get a drink buddy...just lean over a little closer...

Ahh, brotherly love at it's finest! 

The cutest brewmaster ever!

Finally in Yellowstone!  Enjoying the gorgeous hot spring "pools",

stinky mud pots,

and of course geysers!

We decided to walk up the path to Morning Glory pool...which I did a hundred times back when I worked there...but somehow forgot it's about 3 miles roundtrip.  Cora didn't complain, but the other 4 weren't too happy with me.  ;)

THIS is what we walked all that way to see??!

On the way back to our house in West Yellowstone we met up with some bison (and a wolf!).  While we waited the 45 minutes for them to cross the road Steve got artistic and took this pic.  He's very proud of it, so make sure you tell him how cool it is...

Ahh...home sweet home!

The beautiful canyon area...

Cousins...

We saw a bear too!  (Okay, it was at the grizzly zoo in West, but the kids still thought it was cool...)

And of course, vacation wouldn't be complete with out ice cream.  Every day!

Goodbye beautiful views!  We'll miss you (though not your incredibly narrow, super steep mountain road!).

Look who's T-W-O!

Hard to believe it's been 2 years already since this tiny little guy came into the world!  We were so happy to finally meet you and hold you in our arms (and I was so happy to finally leave the hospital after 6 weeks!).

No one was more excited to meet you than big brother!  (Though he was a little disappointed you couldn't play cars together quite yet.)

You were the easiest, happiest, most lovable baby ever (seriously).

Did I mention cute too?  Those huge blue eyes and lashes any woman would pay serious money for...

Never got in any trouble...

And always having a good time...

Then 16 months hit.  Hard.  Tantrums became common place...

And a meal isn't complete without 3/4 of it covering the kitchen walls and floor (giving me a new found love for our Golden Retriever aka the clean up committee).

But amidst all the attempts to drive mommy batty, your goofy personality shines through and makes us laugh every day!

You love your wawas...and when they disappear in a couple weeks, please know it was daddy, not me, that hid them from you.  (Mommy would never do something so cruel.)  ;)

It's times like these that keep me from fearing the "terrible twos".  (After all, the way I see it, it started at 16 months so I only have a few months left!)  Through it all, you've captured our hearts and made our family bond stronger than ever.

And so, Brogan Tice, always know we love you and pray that you will never lose your zeal for life, that you will be a man of great integrity who goes hard after God, that you will be a leader rather than a follower and that you will be blessed with a son that is as amazing to you as you are to us.

A Winter Escape

 We just got back from a much needed trip to Florida to visit family, Shamu, Mickey and an old college friend and her beautiful, itty bitty little girl.  Once we finally got there (a freak snow storm in Housten messed with our initial flight) it was a wonderful, relaxing vacation.  Knowing that we were missing out on 10+ inches of snow back home made it all the more sweet.  ;)

Going for a walk at Grandma and Poppy's house. 

Brogan's first bike ride...followed by his first post-bike ride hissy-fit when we said he was all done.

Helping Poppy drive the boat. 

Little Man in a Big Jacket (my ode to Chris Farley...)

A beautiful, albeit very windy day at the beach!

Definitely has Florida in his blood...I've never seen him sit in one spot for so long!



Sandy baby and hot chocolate...great idea!  ;)

Brogan's first ride at Sea World...he was soooo excited to ride with his big brother!  The ride went way up in the sky then dropped up and down for a few minutes.

  The pre-pic...big smile.

The post-pic...

Hunting Zurg with Grandma blue car...

Brogan and I on the carousel...apparently still a little traumatized from the Sea World ride, because he refused to ride the horses!

After saying "I don't know about this" over and over, Thunder Mountain was probably Colby's favorite ride

Though it was a close second to the cars...

He tried as hard as he could to stay awake, but the eyelids finally won.

Bye bye Mickey, hope we meet again soon!