He is Home!

My little brother David returned from his mission to Peru this month and so  Annabelle and I went home for 10 days. Mike, Adam (my older brother) and his wife Trudy  {who is pregnant - hip hip hurray} were all able to join us for the weekend that David spoke in church. We had a great trip, spent lots of time with family and it was cool enough I even put on my sweatshirt a few times (rain in 60 degree weather). Here are some highlights:

David coming home of course was the main event of my time spent in Colorado. At first he seemed to be a little uncomfortable around us, I think because we are a lot louder and rowdier than the polite Peruvians he has been living with but he got used to us and caught up on sleep (due to layovers and canceled flights I think he traveled for about 30 hours). 

Annabelle warmed up to him after a few days and asked me a few times if he was going back to Peru or not. I was glad to inform her that he was not, his plans now are to return to BYU and work on a degree in Bio-informatics (sp?).

My grandma, Nona if you have met her, came up with the idea of taking Annabelle to the North Pole. The North Pole is a little amusement park up in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. It is perfect for younger kids with fun rides and no lines. And because it is in the mountains the temperatures are nice in the summer and not too crowded. 

Although Annabelle wasn't afraid of the crazy fast and twirling rides or even the ferris wheel (the world's highest, by the way) She wouldn't sit on Santa's lap! And they had a really good, white bearded, blue twinkling eyed Santa available. Oh well!

Over the weekend that the ENTIRE McKean family was in town we went on a hike to a spot we have hiked to since I was probably only a year old. And of course had to take the opportunity to get some professional family pictures taken.

Went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo . . .

And of course we had some good down time to play with Grandparents. At the McKean house that meant eating ALL of the raspberries out of the garden each morning. And at the Sherwood's that meant either reading dozens of books or taking a quick little dip in the fountain with Papa Zeke.

Arches National Park

Hurray for camping at Arches National Park with our friends the Lees! This post is so much easier to write about than saying goodbye. This camping trip we took 'on our way' to Arizona actually eased the leaving process since we didn't have to say goodbye to absolutely everyone before we left! We camped just outside of Arches for a few days and enjoyed all sorts of weather :) but best of all we did some amazing hikes . . . with THREE kids. Way to to go Chris and Sara for putting up with us. 

So here are some highlights of the trip - there are tons of pictures, so enjoy - or just scroll past if you aren't really all that interested.

(If my slide shows aren't showing up - just close the them with the 'x' in the corner)

These are my Favorites of Annabelle and Benny

On our last day of the trip we had rain so we decide to take to explore Moab a little bit and found this amazing Park just as the weather began to clear. It was a Rotary Park but in one section there were all these GIANT percussion instruments. It was so much fun.

 

We all (adults and kids) just kept playing and playing on them. It was so much fun it was hard to stop yourself from running from instrument to instrument to try them all out. I seriously think it was the absolute BEST public park I have ever been to! Sara noticed a little plaque on one of the instruments that gave this website - check it out! Seriously - if I ever have funding for a public park at my disposal, I will be installing these.

Our last adventure in Utah was awesome. Check back later this week and I'll have an update with how the move has gone on the Arizona side of things!

Outdated? Here is the Update

IF you don't really want to read what we have been up to, I made and abreviated version in a slide show. You can simply skip down and watch that - it won't hurt my feelings.

Starbucks: An older event, Matt is a good friend and he and Annabelle really do get along. He'll be a great dad (THIS FALL) Congrats again Matt and Jordyn. We took a little day trip with them and I never got around to posting these pictures but don't worry - Annabelle was really having hot chocolate.
Best Hair Day: I have no idea what happened, I just washed her hair and brushed it out and look it turned out in gorgeous little golden ringlets! So for any of you who know Annabelle only as 'that Sherwood kid with bed head' . . . hair miracles do happen :)
Rex Lee Run: Well for our walking group it was the Rex Lee WALK, but a brisk pace at that. We aimed at finishing the 5 k in under an hour and ended up just over 54 mins. Woo HOo!(And yes it was freezing cold). Thanks for pushing me to try something new Keri-Anne!
Happy Birthday Mike: Mike turned 25 last month. To celebrate we went up in the mountains and he made some delicious dutch oven goodness. We set up his new tent, ate cheesecake and even longboarded around a bit. A fun night for sure!
Easter: We dyed eggs, ate deviled eggs, tried to get Annabelle to pose in her new Easter dress.
Girls Week in Colorado: The Sherwood girls (My mother-in-law, Jessi, Kristin and I) and all the grandkids spent a week together in Colorado. We had a blast with the kids and enjoyed scrapbooking when they were all asleep. Annica, Annabelle and Isaac are all within 5 months of each other in age and they seemed to get along really well. Thanks to Shauna for flying us out and spending the whole week playing with us!
Tantrums: Between the week long trip away from Daddy followed 4 days later by a house hunting trip to Arizona, Annabelle's 'Italian' temper seemed make it's presence known on a regular basis. I thought we were hitting a new phase and had a few breakdowns myself. Luckily it has dissipated and we are back to 'normal'.
House Hunting: We traveled to Arizona for a few days to find an apartment. After 2 days of looking we were really excited about several places but we narrowed it down, signed a lease and feel good about our decision. We'll be in Phoenix, the neighborhood seems really safe, we are excited about the ward (A family ward, that'll be a new experience for us) swimming pools, playgrounds, shopping within walking distance, IKEA not to far away . . . newly remodled, TWICE the space we are living in now - Come visit! Mike says he'd love to have all our friends and family down for a big 4th of July celebration!
Hiking the Y: Couldn't leave Provo without doing this! We enjoyed hiking with a few families from our ward. We made it up, caught our breath and headed down so that the husbands could return to finals! Another great idea of Keri-Anne's. THANKS!
END OF SEMESTER: Mike will be done here in just 2 more days! We've been looking forward to this for a while now. He has done an exceptional job balancing school, work, callings, crazy daughter, demanding wife and has done it all LOVING LIFE. He's done great and to me seems confident and ready to start working. Congrats to graduate Mike (who is now asleep on the couch since this post is taking so long). Our friend's the Lee's threw a suprise "Going Away/Graduation" Party for Mike and another friend of ours this last weekend. I wish I had taken some better pictures to post. It was a fun suprise and great to catch up. THANKS SARA!

Looking Forward: We have several weeks to play before we move. We have decided there is a lot here in Utah we haven't seen/done yet. We want to go to Zion's and Arches and maybe Dinosaur Land. We'll visit Mike's Grandparents in Arkansas and our families in Colorado. Any suggestions?

Sorry again for the long update, but as you can see . . . I have been running around a bit more than usual.

An Illustrated Family History