Jackisms

Daddy picked up Jack just before Christmas from Preschool. Jack marched out of school with his latest accomplishment in hand and presented it to Garry. Jack proceeded to tell daddy "I made you and mommy a Christmas present" Daddy said "thanks, we will wait until Christmas to open it" Jack smiled and said "it's a green Christmas tree, but you can't look!"

2008 Christmas Letter

December 17th, 2008

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas! I hope this letter finds you in good health and good spirits this holiday season. 2008 has been a challenging and rewarding year for us. First was the arrival of our beautiful boy, Griffin Brahm, who is now 7 months old! He is a sweet and happy boy, he loves to laugh out loud, he loves to be rough housed and he ADORES his big brother Jack. Jack seems to have taken to Griffin just as well. Many commented that Jack was in for a real “shocker” but that has not been the case. Jack is very loving towards Griffin, he sings for Griffin when he cries, brings him toys, climbs into his crib and often asks if I can bring Griffin to wherever he is, just to play! It makes both Garry and I very proud. Jack is attending preschool at St. Luke’s in town, his class consists of 5 kids and he looks forward to his days there! His Christmas concert is this Friday and we are all excited, he is getting so big.

So then came the big move! Garry was promoted and we decided to take the offer. Garry spent many nights here in Ogallala, while we were back in Fort Collins, which couldn’t have been at a more difficult time, with a 4 month old that had decided night time was not his favorite time to sleep. So, Garry found a furnished rental home by Lake Maconaughey and off we went.

Now we practice patience. We have found our new home, signed a purchase agreement and are working with the relocation company to finalize the move. We hope to close on the house early next year. We love our potential new home and have named it “The Golden Peacock”. It was built in 1956 and has all the original fixtures including an enormous Gold Peacock on the brick fireplace. Needless, to say we plan to remodel the entire house and are looking forward to getting our hands dirty.

I took this year off from school to be home with the boys and plan to finish my last year in the fall. I am looking forward to getting back into school and hope that we will be settled by the time fall classes roll around.

So, that is our scoop. We are looking forward to what 2009 will bring and hope that we will have many visitors at the Golden Peacock.

Fondly, Maura, Garry, Jack and Griffin

Visitors...

So, I have been doing a terrible job of updating our blog lately and have wanted to post some pictures of recent visitors. Melissa and Maya were the first to make the trek out to our new place. It was a great visit and we were even able to spend some time down at the beach. Then came Garry's folks, a very relaxing weekend which Jack enjoyed immensely. Our next visitors were Elexa and Patrick, oh and don't forget Quinn (their enormous dog). Needless to say Flynn did not enjoy their visit since he spent most of the time under our bed. Patrick did a little pheasant hunting while Lex and I did our usual ~ talked and just were content to be together. Our most recent arrival was "The Phil", he moved to Iowa just over a year ago after a promotion with Deere (he does something with computers). Anyways, Phil came during our first snow storm, we enjoyed his stay which was short but sweet.

Jack and Griffin

Halloween

Heaven!!!

Getting ready for Halloween!

We took Jack and Griffin to a local pumpkin farm, they had all different types of pumpkins and gourds in the fields, it was huge. Jack especially loved riding on the trunk of the car with daddy as we drove through the fields. Griffin was happy as usual just to be hangin with the family.

Our new digs..

Garry found this rental unit that is furnished out by the Lake. It's great, it's nice to be together and getting settled into Ogallala.

Griffin's first tooth plus more..

I took the boys to Fossil Creek Park on Tuesday, as we were walking around I happened to feel something sharp in Griffin's mouth - his first tooth!! How exciting... We had noticed him drooling a lot and constantly putting his fist in his mouth, well now we know why.

Griffin has also started sleeping through the night! I finally feel like I am getting some sleep and am feeling better throughout the day. He is more regular throughout the day as well, as far as naps and eating. I recently started him on rice cereal as well, which I might add was not the reason he started sleeping through the night! That is an old wise tale. Anyways, he rejected the cereal for a while but yesterday and today he has been devouring it, I did mash a bit of banana in it and he loves it! Yeah - finally a child that seems to get the idea that eating can be enjoyable.

We are off to Ogallala tomorrow. Garry rented a house on the lake for the month. We were tired of being alone in Fort Collins and he was tired of being alone in a hotel in Ogallala, so he found a furnished house to rent. Garry drove out tonight with the Passat packed full and tomorrow evening the boys and I will make the journey. I downloaded the movie "Cars" to my iTouch for Jack to watch on the ride and hopefully Griffin will sleep the entire way since we will leave at his bedtime, 7 pm. My girlfriend, Melissa is coming over in the afternoon to help with packing and kids, but mostly my sanity. Thanks Melissa.

I am feeling sad and excited about what lies ahead. The actual thought of leaving our beautiful home in Fort Collins, the home I brought my boys home to and the many memories Garry and I have shared here makes me nostalgic. But, on the other hand I welcome the change.

5239 Cornerstone Drive

long lost friends...

So, I am slow at updating the blog lately. My days go by so quickly and I find it hard to find time to sit at the computer. Anyways, we had a great trip home to New York. During our visit I was able to reconnect with some close High School friends, Jessica Fonte and Jamie Clinton... Of course now they are married with kids. One of the highlights of the night was when Jamie's son Conner took this picture... How sweet!

Curious George at Strong Museum

Griffin had a fun day at the curious George exhibit... and Jack too.. We went with Aunt Sarah and Kate. Jack did go up to get his photo taken but by the time I was ready he was gone! Aunt Sarah was a good sport and climbed into this tiny rocket with Griffin to get this photo. Thanks Aunt Sarah. The museum has wonderful activities and adventures. I think Jack's favorite was the grocery store he just seemed to love to bake the bread and weigh the vegetables. It was fun.

Homeward bound...

Well, we made it to NY pretty smoothly ~ that is mommy, Jack and Griffin. Garry is working hard in Ogallala, so I decided to pack up the boys and spend some time with my family in NY. Jack was so excited that he packed his backpack the day before we left with some essential toys and walked around the house with it on and telling me that he was ready to go to grandma chickie's. I kept telling him it was for tomorrow and Jack would say "no, today not tomorrow." Anyways, the two flights were good. Jack was outstanding. He gave me a bit of a time going through security ~ refusing to take his shoes off. You have to know Jack but something about taking his shoes off probably made him nervous. Other than that he was great, he slept on the first flight to the point that I had to nudge him awake. On the second flight he had a window seat and was in heaven. He has been on quite a few flights but now he gets it. It was one of those moments that you lock in your memory to remember the innocence of being three. Griffin is a true ham ~ smiling at anyone that will look his way. Walking with the flight attendant and just enjoying being on mommy's lap. He did get fussy on the decents but I think his ears were bothering him. Of course, I was exhausted but pleasantly surprised at how well everything went. Now that we are here we are all enjoying having grandma chickie's love and attention. Mom is even fixing meals! Anyone that knows my mom knows that that is a stretch. Aunt Sarah and the kids came over today which was great as well. The kids (Alex, Hudson and Ethan) are getting sooo big! It makes me crazy. Jack looks up to his big cousins and had a great time playing with them and all the toys that Ethan brought over to share with Jack. Thanks cousin Ethan. Tomorrow we will pack up and spend the day with Aunt Sarah. Uncle Justin will be home Thursday and we are excited to see him as well. I will post some photos later.

1st trip golfing with daddy..

Nebraska... Here we come!

So for those of you who haven't heard we are moving... to Ogallala, Nebraska, or as my dear friend Melissa says Oga-wawa. Garry has been promoted as Manager or sort of, he still has a few hoops to jump through, a test and an interview which happen in mid-September. He will go out tomorrow for a week and act as interim Manager until then. Then Safeway will come in and put our house on the market, move us, help with buying the new home and if need be buy our current home if it doesn't sell right away... We are excited and nervous all in one. It is a good step forward for our family and the positives outway the negatives - so off we go.

Jack and Maya

Jack and Maya had a fun day at inspirational park...

Happy Griffin...

Griffin is growing and with that he has begun to sleep better. He is snoozing longer stretches which makes me happy. Last night he went down around 6:45 and slept til 3:30am, of course I couldn't sleep, my body is so use to being up at all hours but that is okay. Griffin has started rolling both ways. He was only rolling from his tummy to his back but in the last few days he has started rolling from his back to his tummy. He's continues to be pretty easy going except when he is hungry or ready to go to sleep - he lets us know. Otherwise, he smiles a lot, loves being with anyone that will look him in the eyes or hold him. He loves his hands and his tongue! He thinks it's pretty funny when you stick your tongue out at him. We are enjoying him everyday and still can't believe he is already 3 months old.

Jack's 3rd Birthday!

Jack's birthday was fun, we invited a bunch of friends and grandpa and grandma, of course. We filled the kids up with sugar, let them run wild and then sent them home with their parents... Oh, the joy of being 3! Jack loved it and can't wait for his next birthday. Here are some photos of the big day.

Griffin

Harvest with the Moore's

Thanks Ken and Mary for sharing your little piece of heaven with our tractor lover...

Jackisms...

"Mommy, the bolt is gone." "Where did the bolt go, Jack?" Jack points to his mouth and then down to his tummy...

Can you tell the difference?

Jack or Griffin???