We are here! We are here!

That scene in Horton Hears A Who when they are all chanting, "We are here!" totally made me cry. In case you were wondering. It still stirs up emotion when I think about it.

I know that your life has felt a little less full this past month without a post from me and since this is the season of giving I thought that I should finally give you a new post to balance out your life and fill that tiny void in your heart. :) Just kidding. I know that I miss blogging and documenting my thoughts and funny things my kids say way more than anyone who reads this little blog o' mine misses when I don't post. Thanks for reading all the same!

***Our camera is on the fritz, so our fancy-pants iphones did the trick...though they don't have a flash. Just thought you'd want to know.***

We went to Colorado! We were going to make the trek by car, but the week we were leaving my generous father-in-law called and offered a ton of frequent flyer miles so that my little fam could fly for a few hours instead of drive for a few days. So nice! I have to note that we took almost every mode of transportation to get there - we drove (car) to the ferry, took the ferry(boat) to Seattle, walked (foot) with three kids - a stroller - 4 pieces of luggage - two carry-on bags to the light rail, got on the light rail (train) and rode it to the airport, rode the tram to our gate, boarded the plane, and finished off with another car ride to my in-laws. It was pretty darn smooth. But don't ask about the trip back which took the same path. Not so smooth. I still have bitter feelings in my heart, I think. It's too early to talk about it. :) I've been contemplating writing a letter to Frontier Airlines and I'm not a "write the company" kind of girl. And then the leg of the trip where we walked from the light rail station to the ferry turned into RUNNING through the wet streets of Seattle with all of the aforementioned luggage and children so that we could make the stinkin' ferry. But make it we did! Hot, sweaty, and exhausted, but we made it. I knew those races would come in handy sometime. I was training for that moment.

Okay, on to the trip. It was fabulous. I really, really love my in-laws...all of them. I love Colorado too. Except running in Colorado, not sure I love that - something about making the transition from sea level. I felt like I hardly saw my two older kids all week because they were playing hard with cousins. I love not breaking up fights because they get along perfectly and watching them use their imaginations together and build friendships. It's a beautiful thing. Max and Kelly LOVE their cousins. It was a sad, sad scene when Max had to say goodbye to his amazing cousin, Joy. Oh, that tender-hearted little boy. Here are some snippets...

Max to the Max and his awesome cousin, Callahan, on a walk at dusk

Walking with Grandma Maggie

Fussy girl on a walk leads to a sleeping girl in Daddy's arms

Max, Cal, Monica, Kelly, Grant, Everett and Joy in the front watching cartoons

On Monday we found ourselves with some time and Everett was down for a nap, so braved the cold and headed to Red Rocks Amphitheater and spent some time in the visitor's center. Pretty amazing place!

My children are NOT into normal poses these days

No flash on the iphone 3 camera...maybe it's not so fancy-pants :)

It looks like Kelly was smiling cute, but my arms just don't reach long enough

This elk was just meandering down the road

We celebrated my handsome husby's 33rd birthday while we were there! Started off the day with decorations and german pancakes, then Tyler and I headed out to do a session at the Denver Temple, got some lunch, headed home for presents, Max and Kelly took their Dad on a date to Fun City for a few hours, left the kids with Megan while we went with Mickey and Margaret (mother & father-in-law) to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, came back home for cake and ice cream with the whole Foster Fam! Such a wonderful day! I love that man of mine. I am so blessed to be his wife.

....aaaand this is all we have to show for the day in pictures. Pretty sad.

We also went swimming for a few hours one afternoon. That was super fun. Ev was in splashing heaven.

Isn't my mother-in-law beautiful? And she is the NICEST woman ever. I love her.

The rest of the week was a whole lot of hanging out and spending time with each family. We did family pictures on Friday and then did our Thanksgiving Dinner later that afternoon. Delish! The following pictures are hanging out before the family photo session.

Joy (a.k.a. BEST oldest cousin ever) walking with Kelly

Gorgeous!

I look kind of like a giraffe with sleepy eyes

And, folks, this is what happens when you stick a camera in my face. Even if I have gum in my mouth. You've been warned.

What a great trip. I am so thankful for family and for holidays that bring us together. Thanks to Jeff and Angie for coming back early so that we could spend time with you as well! Looking forward to running the Wasatch Back Ragnar with the fam in June...