Silverton and Durango again :)

What can I say? We LOVE it there. We found an awesome NEW place to stay too. It's clean and NEW and comfortable. Did I mention it's NEW?? Not 100 years old. Not that I don't LOVE sleeping in old brothels, but hey...something new and comfortable. I'll take it. It's called Lola's Place and I HIGHLY recommend them. Tell them we sent you. Tommy is very nice and will talk to you forever and his wife is super sweet as well.
Anyway, before we headed up, we stopped at the Durango Fish Hatchery. I was trying to take pictures while keeping Maddie from swimming with the fish. The ugly fish. Ew.

Here are some pictures. They are straight out of the camera, and I wasn't really going for "great photography". Sometimes, on vacation you can't stop to mess with settings or you'll completely miss the vacation. So I just tried to get some decent shots.

Trying my hand at photography...

As much as I love my little point and shoot camera, I wanted to try it the hard way. With a digital SLR and in manual mode. I'm still new (only at this for a week) but so far I'm pretty pleased. Of course in a year I'll come back and laugh that I ever thought these were worth putting up, but hey...for now I like them :)

Moved in...almost!

95% of our stuff is now at the house and put away. The other 5% is still over at the apartment. I have another week to get it out and clean up. I've been picking up a load or two when I drop off/pick up Dallin from school since it's right around the corner and I have to pick up the mail there anyway.
It's amazing how wonderful having extra space is. Dallin is SO happy to have his own room and lots of floor space to set up his train tracks.
Here are a few pictures for anyone wondering. I'm not showing the front because I don't want any weirdos coming to my house ;)

I know you all missed me...

To all my 3 readers out there, I'm sorry about the couple days I haven't posted. Well, no I'm not. We've been gone with my parents and youngest brother Cody (who will be 13 in about a week). We spent some time in Silverton, CO and Durango, CO for the last few days. This included staying at the historic (and kind of crooked) Teller Hotel. I think it threw Maddie off a little because she kept laying down in the hallway like it was making her dizzy. We were the only ones there that night so we got the whole place to ourselves. It was an adventure. Let's just say I was SO grateful for the king size fluffy bed at the Hampton in Durango the next night!
We walked around a little bit, ate at the Brown Bear cafe for both dinner and breakfast because in the winter just about everything in Silverton is closed. We went sledding at Kendall Mountain which was REALLY fun, but Maddie wasn't sure what to think of the snow.
We went to the Venture snowboard shop and I stayed out in front with the kids while the rest of the family went "backstage" to see the factory. The kids LOVED the resident cats that live in the shop. They were fat and friendly.

We left Silverton after our sledding adventure and returned to Durango where we walked around on Main street, ran through the train museum because it was closing, saw one of the steam trains pull in (and run over some pennies).

We returned to the Hampton a wee bit early because really, we were all exhausted.
This morning we got up and puttered around for awhile. We ate the complimentary breakfast that the Hampton provided, and went to the Durango Museum.

We walked along the river, went to the health food store and decided that because Maddie, because she is the royal princess in charge of everything was throwing a fit, we should return to Farmington and let her sleep in the car. It worked out well and no sooner had we started out of town when we heard her snoring from the back seat. *phew*
We ate a late lunch at Red Lobster before they returned to Taylor.
It was SO wonderful spending time with the family, I wish everyone could have come. It's kind of weird only having ONE of my siblings with us, but it was still really really fun. I hope they come back soon.
And if anyone else wants to come visit, we are 45 minutes from Durango, about an hour and 45 from Silverton. We love visitors! Oh and we'll have a HOUSE in about 2 weeks! Woohooo!!

Happy Easter (a day late)

Sorry for the day later post but I was SO sick yesterday. I got to sing in church, but because 90% of our ward was out of town (it's Spring Break this week) I couldn't find ANYONE to play for me. So I sang acapella. Fun. To add insult to injury, I have a sinus infection and singing with a stuffy nose and sore throat is a challenge. So I started the song about 4 notes lower than written. LOL!

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of the kids. It was AWFUL lighting but you get the idea.

And today's update:
Maddie had her 2 year appointment (yes, I know we're a little late) and the doctor is recommending a celiac panel test so see if Maddie's growth issues are because of celiac or if she's just small. I'm hoping it's just genetics. She's already wheat, egg, soy and peanut free. I don't really want to have to do completely gluten free as well.
Her stats:
22 pounds WITH clothes
31 inches WITH shoes
He said she's about the size of an average 16 month old!
She says more than the "50 words" that they are looking for. She can tell you where ALL her body parts are (including her armpit and elbow), she knows most of her colors, can count to 10 (but skips 6) and can sing her ABCs. She gets herself dressed and undressed, puts her shoes on (usually the right feet) and can color. So she's above average mentally, but significantly under average for her size.
But look at Grammie Mimi (my mom). At a 5 foot even and a whopping 100 pounds, I think Maddie's just going to be "mimi size" :)

Park fun! Great weather!

We really couldn't ask for better park weather these last few days. We took advantage of Dallin being out of school to have a picnic at the park with our friends. The kids had a wonderful time and it made Maddie tired enough that she had a GREAT nap!

We spent the afternoon grocery shopping (which I HATE doing with two kids!!) and picking up the house because tomorrow Todd and I are headed back to Purgatory one last time to ski/snowboard. Unless an awesome storm comes in, we're guessing this will be the last week with decent snow.

Here are a few pictures at the park. Sorry, no pictures of the grocery shopping. I'm sure you're so disappointed!

And HELLO, I'm getting 20+hits a day and no comments. No one has anything to say? *sad face*

Maddie, What's your name?

Ever since Maddie arrived 6 weeks early and weighed in at just over 5 pounds, she has been known as "Peanut". At 26 months she is still my Peanut. And in this short video you'll hear her tell you her name. We're trying to teach her her "real name" which she also says. The mess on her face is a gluten-free cookie. And she was trying to watch Noggin so she wasn't paying total attention to me.

Oh, and she'll also tell you what a frog, cow and elephant say, but listen close and turn your volume up all the way or you'll miss it.

Uncle Adam, the letter is in the mail. Dallin wrote his name REALLY big on the front of the envelope so you'll know it's from him. He sure loves you!

And hey, if you read my blog, please post a comment...I'd love to know who's peeking in on us!