In Loving Memory of Papa Bob

Papa Bob, Robert Reynolds, died Friday night April 25, 2008. He was a wonderful grandpa and a very well respected member of the Fort Collins community. We will all miss him and his way of doing things. I was just discussing with Nana that the next time I buy a car it will be the first car that I will have to pick out for myself. Of all the vehicles that I have owned (Trevor's too for the past 12 years), Papa found all of them. It has been a busy, crazy few weeks with our unexpectedly long trip down here. The kids have been champs, but it has been challenging being away from everything at home and in such a sad and stressful situation. Colter is always trying to make people smile by telling his jokes and singing little songs. He wants Papa to still be alive and everyone to be happy. That poor little guy has seen and understands more about death than most adults. Dylan is cutting his top two teeth and has been letting me know about that --alot-- for the last three days. Papa's service in on Saturday May 3rd at 3pm at the First United Methodist Church in Fort Collins for those in the area.

Spring in Moab

Rafting and hiking in Moab with all my boys! Yes, sometimes I let Trevor take pictures with me in them.

Back in Colorado

We did go to Indiana for a few days and despite the reason for the journey, we enjoyed ourselves. The church service and trip to the cemetary in Odon were very nice. We were able to see many relatives that we haven't seen in years and the boys got to play, play, play. Colter had two new friends to play with--Clark and Danny. He was the little guy, but he got right in there with a great friendly attitude. We stayed with Bill and Linda Todd, Trevor's aunt and uncle, at their cabin. It is a beautiful home that they have been working on for the past couple of years, located on 50+ wooded acres in southern Indiana. Colter had so much fun hunting bugs and making dirt tracks for his cars. Dylan was all over the place all the time and he had may smiles to share. We went on nice walks and enjoyed some down time. Unfortunately, we were not able to go see Marilyn and Denny in Dayton. Dylan and Colter had the sniffles and we didn't want to bring any germs into their somewhat fragile situation. Hopefully we will see them soon and Aunt Marilyn will be feeling better! Both boys were champion travellers. We were 4 for 4 on plane flights with no melt downs. This go round some other parents got to have "that kid" on the airplane. I hope the trend continues when we go to Bonaire in June. Papa is still the same. Things aren't looking good, but for now he is stable in ICU with all kinds of tubes. We are taking it a day at a time.

Taxes and .......

Ok, not funny. We have gone from a lovely, calm and fun offseason to some not so good news. On Sunday, Trevor's uncle Jim Wilson died after a long battle with cancer. We made plans to go out to Indiana and be with Trevor's family for the end of the week. About a half hour after booking flights to Indianapolis, I got a call that my Papa is in ICU. He too has been battling cancer for years and has had very bad downward spiralling month of back surgeries, infections etc. We are all in Fort Collins now and trying to decide if we are going to the midwest or not. Not sure what to do at this point.
On a cute note, Dylan and Colter have been wonderful. They made an epic straight through car ride on Monday and have been entertaining everyone at the hospital. Colter has been showing everyone his poor man's wind up toy. More on that later, that may have to be a video clip of it's own.
More to follow....

Last Turns and Rafting in Moab

Rafting----finally!

After a long winter here in the San Juans, we escaped to Moab for a few days of warmer temps and sunshine. Actually it is our second trip down there this spring, but who's counting. Last weekend we enjoyed some bike riding around town, playing at the music park and time in the yard. Dylan was discovering grass, rocks and dirt. We went down this week and went on a wonderful hike. Colter hiked the entire time! We are excited that he is big enough to run along the trails ahead of us, climb rocks and trees. He likes to play Colter the Explorer and save Mommy from all of the bugs and monsters. Dylan mostly slept through that time of the day-also a good quality at for his age. Colter learned to ride his scooter. His new favorite girlfriend Kendahl taught him everything she knows, he told her she was "Beautiful". Next day gave us a break in the weather, it was sunny with no wind, so we went rafting. It was our PERFECT day for the month. Too bad we used it up so early, but that's OK we can have others. Both boys were happy and relaxed, rigging and shuttles went smoothly and we enjoyed some much needed quiet, fun family time. Big smiles all around for that one!
We are now back to the raging snow storm that we have become accostumed to this winter and we will wait for the sun again. The mountain is closed for the season, so no more easy turns down the mountain. We would have to earn them and that is more Rob's style than ours, we like for the chair lifts to do the work. Speaking of, Colter is a champion skiier these days. He skiied by himself down a few blues this year and loves to ski up and down the walls of snow on the sides of the runs. We are so proud of his positive attitude toward trying new things and his slight fear of hurting himself. We were afraid he would have no fear at all, but he takes his time, figures things out and then goes for it. It is such a joy to watch and listen as he learns new things. Dylan is happy crawling around and pulling up on everything. I think he will be walking way too soon. He is a fantastic eater and will try anything. He has the best smile and giggle and loves to be outside or in the water. Yeah!
Pictures later this week----

Picture Practice

Yeah.