Welcome Home!

Last week we welcomed home Mark's brother Brad, his wife Jayne, and our newest little nephew Cohen Mark! Brad recently accepted a teaching position at Arapahoe High School so within just a few short weeks they had a baby and packed up their things and moved across the country! We are so excited to have them back in Colorado! And better yet, they are buying a house that is just a 10 minute walk from ours! It will be so fun to have them here to be a part of our daily lives and to have the boys grow up together!

Here are a bunch of pictures from the past couple of weeks! Between school, fun in the sun, and spending as much time as possible with Cohen, we have been busy!

Dancing outside in the sun! He LOVES music and has some really interesting moves. When he hears his favorite song he says, "this is my jam!"

Heath really enjoys playing outside with us!

Heath has a blast with this flag! And Nolan loves the song "You're a Grand Ol' Flag"! I love my little patriotic boys! Just like their Mommy!

Look at that sweet profile! He's all red and sweaty from playing in the pool!

Finally getting to meet Cohen! He is so tiny and cute! Oh, how I miss the stage when they just sleep all the time!

Uncle Marky with his namesake!

Nolan L-O-V-E-D their moving truck...

and his little cousin too!

Uncle Wes and our little fishy!

And here's what they were up to later...only a glimpse into their future relationship!

A little Brotherly Love (or torture?)!

Swinging at the park

Pretending he's Woody riding Bullseye!

My creative little dude... turning his Crocs into a creature with Mr. Potato head pieces!

Looking a little sleepy, but if only he could lift that big belly up!

And that's what we've been up to around here! Next week we are off to Chicago! Yay!

Party Time!

We partied hard last weekend! Saturday at our family Minute to Win it competition and Sunday at the Bosch Family Diva Dinner! A "Ladies Only" function which for me meant...a much needed evening without kids!!! Woo hoo! Meanwhile, Mark and Bruce took the boys to see "Despicable Me"! Nolan had seen previews for this movie during his first ever movie theatre experience at "Toy Story 3". And ever since every time he sees a commercial or a picture of those little yellow one eyed monsters he shouts, "DESPICABLE ME!" We have no idea how he remembered the name of the movie or that long word, but he was determined to see that movie! And thanks to Mark's job perk- free tickets, Nolan will grow up pretty much getting to see every movie he wants in the theater instead of having to wait until it comes out on DVD!

The first pictures are from Minute to Win It! We had played all of these fun games at our friend Rick's 30th birthday party and we just knew we had to try them again with Mark's fam! Cara blogged about our attempts here! So I will just show ya'll a few more pics from the night!

Sue hosted Minute to Win it at her house and I ran the games. We had a delicious KFC feast before the competition commenced!

My happy little guy! How can you resist that smile!

Nolan loved exploring Auntie Sue's "barn" as he called it!

And he loved patting her deer! My little animal lover!

Here he is again wanting to be in on the action! Playing Walla-Balla!

P.R. is Nolan's true love right now...little does he know how wrong this will be someday! But Payton is such a good sport with him and lets him tackle her over and over again! She even taught him how to play TAG this weekend, which he now thinks is SUPER fun and wants to play all day long. I can't even begin to tell you how many times today I've been swatted by this big boy shouting "TAG"!

Mark is also one of Nolan's favorites to "TACKLE"!!!!! He even gives smooches after the attack!

Here are all the Bosch "Divas" modeling Oma's old hats! They were so neat and added a fun touch to the feminine festivities!

Our 3 little divas who are usually WAY outnumbered by all of our rambunctious boys! Who knows...maybe in December Cara will add one more girl into the mix! We can't wait to find out!

These pictures aren't the best because Mark took them on his phone, but I still think it's cute to see Nolan in the big theatre seat with a bag of popcorn half his size! He loves movies and tries his best not to talk through them with excitement! Heath came along too. He slept, pooped, had a bottle, squaked a bit, and also watched a bit of the action on the big screen!

And here he is with his favorite "Despicable Me's" as he calls them! Silly face boy!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Last night we went to the Rockies game with my team mates their husbands/boyfriends. It was a perfect night with good weather, a great game, lots of laughs, yummy food and drinks, and a Rockies win! I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of the girls I work with and can't imagine working in any other school with anybody else! (Well, maybe with Jill...that would be pretty sweet!) But every day I go to work I know that despite how challenging the job is, I know that I am going to have amazing support, listening ears, caring hearts, and so much fun! Here are some pics that my friend Nikki took from the night.

Paige, Tara, and Laura

Me, Rebecca, and My Job Share Partner- Brooke

Nikki, Tara, and Laura again

Tara's husband Adam and Mark

Some of the other husbands and boyfriends didn't make it into the pics. and we were also missing Nancy and Jay.

We were so thankful for a kid free, fun night out with awesome friends!

July Joy

Can it really be July already?! Once again we had a busy weekend and start to the week! We were visited by some wonderful friends, the Dykhouses, spent a rainy 4th of July at the cabin, and I started my 8th year of teaching! Here are just a few of the MANY pictures I took during all of our fun!

The Indian Hills 4th of July Parade- Dave drove us in his truck this year. We missed Uncle Ken, but I think he would have been proud we represented BO-ZO Farms in the festivities!

We had a great time waving at people, avoiding get doused with water, checking out horses, naming every vehicle we saw- motor bikes, fire trucks, and Nolan's favorite- "MONSTER TRUCK", and throwing candy. (Well everyone except Nolan- he was pretty puzzled by the thought of throwing away candy- why would you ever want to do that? Instead he threw about 3 pieces and ate double that!)

my sweet guys

Just a glimpse of cabin fun. It's perfect for little boys! Nolan was absolutely filthy from playing in the sandbox, walking in the tall grass, and running through mud puddles. Thanks for this picture Gwen...I just LOVE it!

Daddy and Nolan doing a popper! We left the bigger fireworks to the bigger boys (a.k.a. "my big boy friends" as Nolan calls them. He LOVES playing with Josh and Jake!)

This is Betsy. My beautiful college roomie. We met freshman year and both lived on 2nd Heyns. We were Activities Coordinators in B.H.T. our sophomore year and moved into our good ol' Giddings house for our junior and senior years. We did life together for 4 years. She has a huge heart and fun spirit! Since moving to California and Colorado we have tried to see each other as much as possible meeting up in Michigan, California, and Colorado with our families! It was so nice to be together for 3+ days to catch up, chat, laugh, eat, chase our kids, rest, and reconnect.

And one of Mark's favorite things about Betsy is her awesome husband Ben! Ben and Mark played baseball together at Calvin and were good friends. Betsy would come with me to all the baseball games and had her eyes set on catcher with the cute butt! Too bad they didn't start dating until the end of our last year at Calvin! But we are so glad they did! They are such a great match!

Ben, Mark, and their boys! Oh, what a long way away from their Calvin Baseball days they are! Jack is 15 months and just the sweetest thing. We had so much fun getting to know him better! We already miss his "Mombie", wide stance walk, and high pitched scream! Thanks for stopping by to see us friends! We love you!

Brady taking care of Heath at their Daddy's softball game.

Nolan cheering for his Dad- "Go Daddy Go!"

We've had so many fun visitors and lots of eventful days...but we are looking forward to life slowing down a bit & getting back into a routine!

Life Could be a Dream

Yes Mom (and Dad too),

"Life Could be a Dream" if only you moved here!

Look how much fun we have when we're together!

(All of the music in the video just happens to be from Nolan's very favorite movie: CARS! He makes us listen to it all the time!)

And just think...we could have that all the time!

No pressure or anything!

Grandma & Uncle T.,

Thank you for a fun visit!

We love you SO much!

Come again soon...or just move here!

Winner, Winner, Cheesesteak Dinner!

Last month our college pal Pat called to offer me a friendly wager. It was the race to the Stanley Cup for two teams- Pat's Philadelphia Flyers and my home team the Chicago Blackhawks.

His first suggestion for our bet was that if the Flyers won we would have to name our next child: Pat or Patricia. And if the Blackhawks won, he would then have to bestow his first born daughter with my namesake- Abigail. I wasn't too sure I wanted to take that risk- being that I'm not the hugest hockey fan, Patricia just didn't seem worth it!

So instead, we bet on the next best thing- FOOD! Pat would receive Chicago style pizza or Italian beef if the Flyers took home the cup. And we would be chowing down on Philly cheesesteaks if the Blackhawks pulled out a win!

Lucky for us...THE BLACKHAWKS WON!

And we enjoyed some delicious cheesesteaks to celebrate! Thanks Pat!!!

Lost in the Shuffle

Here are a few pictures from the last month that sort of got lost in the shuffle...but are totally blog worthy in their own right!

Look out Steve Urkel...you've met your match!

Nolan is learning to pull up his pants by himself after going potty- this is what happens when left on his own!

Heath LOVES food! He wants everything he sees.

Too bad he's stuck mostly with mushy fruits and veggies and these messy biter biscuits!

Just a little nakie brotherly love!

Nolan has been very into Heath lately! He'll say, "He's so cute!" and "I love his little feet!" And Heath loves watching Nolan play and laughs at him all the time! It's so fun to see their friendship forming...I'm sure things might change a bit when Heath is on the move and wanting all of Nolan's toys!