Frontier, Frank, & Finalization

Frank

See that tough guy on the left there? That would be Uncle Frank. Vet, vetrinarian, motorcycle man, and all around teddy-bear-of-a-guy. What better way to show him how great FoCo is (he was in town for a conference) than to meet him for Thai food? Hilarious that, only in a college town, there would be TWO Thai restaurants within half a block of each other. Would you believe that we were in one while he waited patiently in the other?

We had a blast. The twins were holding his hands and skipping across the street with him by the time the night was over. Great stories, great catching up. Great fun.

Frontier

Like true westerners, we headed to Cheyenne Frontier Days this week. Summer and Sage braved the heat with us.

Isabel and Kennedy riding the "Bimbo Ride". Um, Isabel? That would be DUMBO. Aaaaah, that girl. Never ceases to make us laugh.

Milo trying to snug Porter in the ride. They were both a little uncertain. Two uncertainties made for one good time in the end.

All of the big kids sat on the log benches and watched the Native American dancers. Isabel was in heaven. She loves anything dance-related and anything Native American. Heaven.

Cute Beckett watching the parade. Well, mostly drooling and eating but still.

Porter "watching" the parade. The intense heat did interesting things to our children. There was, literally, one child having a meltdown every single minute of the outing. Literally.

Summer with all the kiddos watching the good, the bizarre, and the downright risque floats go by. See those adorable redheaded girls? Go anywhere with her and you will feel like a celeb. Summer gets stopped ALL THE TIME by red-hair-admirers.

Finalization

And this guy. Honestly, how cute is he? Two things you should know--actually three.

1. He has two teeth!!

2. He is going to see his birthmom next week. We are very excited but nervous for her.

3. We have court date for our finalization hearing!!!! Sept. 4th we will go before the family court judge, assure him that all is well and that this is a good fit and then...TADA!!! He will be ours for good. :) (Like he isn't already. We realize it is just a formality but it really is a very, very big deal for us. :) )

Camping...er. Um. "Camping"

Foolishly optimistic. That's what you may call us.

We have these lovely (fun, funny, adventerous, hilarious--I could go on) friends, Mike and Summer. They have FINALLY made their way back to CO after spending two months abroad (read: Utah and Kentucky) and we could not wait to get outdoors with them! So, we devised a lovely plan to take them camping with us.

Friday we headed up the Poudre Canyon hoping to snag all of us a first-come-first-served campsite at one of the, oh, 5 bajillion campgrounds. Well, we were FOOLISHLY optimistic. Weeks and weeks of rainy weekends have, apparently, made the entire state of Colorado anxious to get out and get their camp on!

After driving for what felt like days with no campsites to be found, we (Spencer and I) decided to call off the Voorhies fam (who were supposed to meet us at the appointed campsite) and hit them up with a much more appealing plan...BACKYARD CAMPING!!!

(A sidenote here--I used a payphone to call them since I had no cell reception. No joke, I haven't used one of those in YEARS. It felt so strange. But, I digress.)

We set up a tent in the backyard, grilled hot dogs for the kids, watched the dads eat entire sides of beef (because "if I'm camping in somebody's backyard, I'm at least having a steak!"), gorged ourselves on smores and chips and guac, and had an all around fabulous time. The dads slept in the tent with the kids and us moms stayed up until the wee hours talking and catching up. It was just like ol' times (Summer and I have been friends since we were 12!). We almost went out streaking in our undies for old times sake but...we decided to restrain ourselves.

The next day we took the kids up to Picnic Rock, the dads went rock climbing, and we still had the time/energy to walk Old Town a bit and get some gelato. Yum.

Milo, Isabel, and Kennedy with their lanterns and flashlights. Once it was dark out, Summer and I took them on a walk around the block so they could maximize their light fun. They could not have cared less that we weren't actually camping!

Isabel showing off her "jack-o-lantern", as she calls it, and her missing tooth!

Milo doing his best to look scary. :)

Isabel and Sophie playing away in the river. Keeler took some mini-naps in the jogging stroller and had a few dips in the river. Let's just say he is not so much a fan--yet.

The kids all had so much fun splashing and wading around--even when the river started to fill up with quite the variety of people there to support the River Fest.

Sunscreen on the scalp? Check. Love Sophie's sunscreen-induced-mohawk. :)

Let this be a lesson to you all. If the Mostly Andersons invite you to go camping, please ask to see proof of their reservations.

Doesn't take much.

Me with Allyson (coworker and friend) at the end of the Slacker Half Marathon in Georgetown

Transitions and change. Transitions and more transitions. I realize that, to some degree, it is a no brainer. We've had our lives turned upside down and our stress level tolerance maxed in the last few months. New baby. Adoption process. A few bumps in the adoption road. New baby's questionable hearing deficit. Twins graduated preschool. I took three months off work. Largely unpaid. Because adoptive parents are treated unfairly in comparison to those who give birth to their children. (Not that I am bitter.) Not being able to stick a fussy (which he really was--more than my others) on the boob to comfort them is a serious mind bender for a mom who exclusively breastfed for as long as I did. Running wasn't really feasible or fun (tired much?). I found out I'm allergic to nearly everything around me. I returned to work. Work is busy. Work is stressful (but I love my job). There are several big transitions at work. Can't ride my bike anywhere because a.) Keeler is too small and b.) it keeps RAINING!!!

*Stick with me here folks. I swear this is not a poor-me-pity-party. Believe me, I am blessed. I am well aware of all life has given me and all that I wake up to each day. I. AM.BLESSED. Now, stick with me.

All of this has left me, at different points, feeling very...unlike myself. Spencer and I have lived our marriage and our lives with a sort of, live it now or live it never attitude. He climbs. I run. We all get outside. We just do it. (Sorry, Nike.) My yard's barely passable. My house is only semi-clean. My clothes are out of date and more than a bit worn. We rarely host a dinner party. But, that's fine by us. That's not where we choose to put our energy at this point in our lives. We want to enjoy every day that we have. We want to experience the outdoors and take so much joy from being physically active. Running and climbing are our therapy (individual and marital!). There aren't other hobbies or shows or books (okay that one's not so true for me) or games or anything that take our time or our energy. Just climbing, running, and being outdoors with the kids.

When our reality changed so quickly (and so drastically) with the addition of beautiful crazy Keeler, we muddled through. The added stressors and changes in the subsequent months piled up. The day to day reality of caring for a newborn was there. As was all of the other "stuff" that we had going on. And suddenly. I wasn't sure who this grumpy, frumpy gal was looking back at me in the mirror. I had stopped taking care of myself and my mind. I was struggling to make this transition and to find us a new "normal" where we were back to the life that we strive to live.

Slowly, but surely, it's happened. It doesn't take much really. When we went to Utah to see family, I was dreading being indoors there too. I felt like I'd been indoors for months with the new baby and the rain in CO. So, we just didn't. Isn't that simple?! We planned a hike instead. And it was a blast. We went to the park with all the kids. We went to the splash park with everyone. And I felt like myself.

In May, with no consistent training under my belt, I ran the Bolder Boulder. Because that's what I do. That's what makes me happy. And I wanted to feel like happy me again. And you know what? It was AWESOME. It felt so good to be out again and to push myself again and to see my kids at a finish line again.

Then, there was Moab. At small points, I wondered if we were crazy to attempt camping in the desert with a newborn (two really--the Pierce's baby is a month younger than ours). But, camping is what we do. It's what makes us feel joy and helps us to feel peace and to appreciate this wonderful earth. So, we just went. And it was crazy. But fun crazy. It was hot and beautiful and wonderful to see the kids just play and play and get covered in red dirt.

Two weeks ago, a friend and I ran the Slacker Half Marathon in Georgetown. And it was incredible. We trained together after work (yes after night shifts!). We got up at 4:45 am. And we just did it. We ran all the way down that darn mountain together. And we laughed and we talked and we passed loud-mouthed men who trash talked us. Two moms. Just getting out and taking care of ourselves and our sanity together.

After we walked back to the car, we opened the back of her Jeep and just sat and chatted and looked out across the lake and up at the mountain peaks. We talked about our kids and our husbands and our jobs and running and why we run. And I felt like myself.

I have realized that, to be a good mom, I have to take care of myself. I have to put some things first for me. For my sanity. For my patience. For my outlook. For my ability to survive major transitions and stress. Running is what I do. Being outdoors is what we do. All it takes for me is 40 minutes in the morning. Even better if it's an hour. And I'm a new woman. I'm a better mom. I'm a better wife. I'm a better friend. All of those stressors and changes? So much more manageable when I give myself the time and the value of a run (or some yoga or a bike ride).

I love life. I love my family. I want us to live a life where we fully participate in each day. We do our best to make choices that afford us those opportunities. But still. Sometimes, change and transition get in the way. And things stop or slow down or get a little muddled. (I feel a little like Oprah right now...) But, I still have to take care of myself. I know that I still have to put myself first in some ways so that I can continue to care for and provide for the rest of these little lovelies. Aaaaahhhhh. Makes me want to go for a run. :)

Better Late Than Not At All

Big twins and little twins on the twin slide at one of those handy dandy parks in Daybreak.

Whew. Well, sure it was weeks ago. But it happened darn it. And I must document it. Because this is as close to a journal or scrapbook as I'm gonna get!

Spencer's youngest (biological) sister, Abbie came to Utah from Texas for a visit. Her husband, Forrest, is super smart and super amazing and got into Columbia Med School! So, they will be vanishing to the east coast for a few years starting this August. Sniffle. Texas was too far. NYC? We're in denial really.

So, we met them in Utah for a few jam-packed-cousin-filled days. The trip was an interesting one--traveling with a baby interesting, in and of itself. Traveling with sort-of-sick big kids is interesting too. 'Nuff said.

Splash Parkin'

Cutie pie Eli on the bench at the Splash Park. He thought it was pretty cool that your clothes actually dry off in Utah. You know, as opposed to the humidity of good ol' Dallas.

Cutie Audrie with her long-legged momma, Abbie. I want a bathing suit to match hers.


Isabel and the "little twins", Lyla and Olivia, at the splash park. Issy was in love. With having so many small children to boss around. Sort of. They mostly ignored her.

Milo's hero, his cousin Royan. When we told Milo that Royan wouldn't be there for most of our trip, he cried BIG HUGE tears. So cute. Such adoration.

Magna Farmin'

Great Grandpa Manuel's farm. Everything was so green--and completely flooded. We could only check the animals out from the road. The pasture and barn were both inches deep in water.

Feeding goast with Great Grandpa. I love my Grandpa so much. He's always keepin' it real. Pointing out which ones are next up for dinner. (Anyone wonder why I have "issues" with meat?)

Hikin'

Checking out the stream at the end of our hike. Everything was so green, so wet, and so beautiful.

Starting off on the trek with Grandma Cathryn. The umbrellas we bought served as entertainment, protection from the elements and, of course, walking sticks. Albeit, very short walking sticks.

Daybreak Parkin'

Lyla cracking herself (and me) up with the fake binoculars.

Olivia showing off her almost forked tongue. Glad Isabel isn't the only one in the family to inherit that gem. ;)