Daybreak Gardens

Celebrating Cultures at School

2010-09-24T13:32:00.001-07:00

Robbie and Elly both attend a great school. Today was reserved for celebrating diverse cultures at school. The celebration included eating various foods, learning songs, making costumes and marching in a parade.

Primrose Culture Parade

Cedar Ridge Preserve

2010-09-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Abigail surprised me with a hike on Sunday morning. We dropped off the kids at Rob and Linda's house and drove down to the south suburbs to a nature preserve called Cedar Ridge. It is maintained by the Audubon Society. It is one of the last wild spaces left in Dallas County and was a pleasant surprise to find so close to the city. It was by no means the Rocky Mountains or even a major state or national park, but it was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise over developed and manicured metropolitan area. We are loving being so close to family in Dallas, but it definitely leaves a lot to be desired in terms of natural settings and people's respect for the environment. It is probably the biggest adjustment I am having to make. Colorado is not easy to compete with on this issue. However, mornings like this one at Cedar Ridge seem to help a bit.

Winona

2010-09-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

I have been traveling to Winona, MN for work and got the opportunity to see the valley from Garvin Heights, a park with a lookout area over the town and Mississippi river. I've been a bit spoiled while visiting. It is that perfect crisp fall weather and the leaves on the trees were just starting to turn. I go back this next week and am hoping to see a very colorful valley.

Texas Rangers

2010-09-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

Rob hosted a guys night at the ballpark. So, Robbie, Stephen, Rob and I headed out to watch the Texas Rangers take on the New York Yankees. We had a really good time. Robbie learned a new chant, "Lets Go Rangers!" Clap, Clap. Clap, Clap Clap. And he played a bit in the kid area too. The game went into extra innings and lasted until after midnight, so we headed out in the 7th. It was a great game though and the Rangers won in the end. It looks like both teams are playoff bound, so they could meet again soon. Unfortanetly, the battery in my phone died in the 2nd inning, so I didn't get very many pictures.

July is Crazy....

2010-07-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

In addition to the 4th of July, we had Robbie's birthday on the 6th, Elly's on the 16th, mine on the 21st and Rob's on the 23rd. So, the past few weekends have been a bit hectic. I've already posted Robbie's and Elly's birthday pics. I forgot to take pictures of my birthday. Abigail and I went to Top Golf. However, it just so happened that our CRV hit a milestone as well that day. 100,000 miles. I found it an unsettling coincidence that it rolled over on my birthday. Due to a wedding on Rob's birthday weekend, we celebrated his birthday today. Stephen and Lauren joined us at Rob and Linda's for lunch. They brought over these really good "nachos" and we finished with homemade cherry and apple pies. We even got to take some home! This evening was a members only night at the Dallas Zoo, so we joined Rob and Linda for a nice evening at the zoo. It honestly felt like we had the zoo to ourselves. It was pretty neat. The new safari exhibit was one of the better ones I have seen. The animals have plenty of room to roam around.

Elly's 2nd Birthday

2010-07-18T17:09:00.001-07:00

This past Friday was Elly's turn to celebrate a birthday. July birthdays are really common in our family. Once again, Rob and Linda played host. We had a Dora themed party and Elly was smiling all night. It is really hard to believe our little girl is now two years old.

Robbie's 4th Birthday Party

2010-07-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Robbie's 4th birthday on Monday. Rob and Linda were kind enough to host a Toy Story themed pool party. Robbie had a great day swimming, eating cake and opening presents. Robbie's big gift was a pair of in-line roller blades. Stephen, Lauren, David, Shannon and Terry all joined us as well. It was a fun day and Robbie had a great time. Robbie also opened presents later with Grammee and Grandpa (via Skype) and he went with Abigail and I to see Toy Story 3 as well.

Lifting David's Bronco

2010-07-08T11:30:00.001-07:00

I spent most of last Saturday helping Abigail's Dad and brother David put a lift on David's Ford Bronco. I had done a few lifts over the years, but do not consider myself an expert. It was a team effort and we learned a lot about how cars are held together along the way. We installed a 3 inch body lift. Put simply, we raised the body of the truck three inches up from the frame. I have posted a few pics from my camera phone. David is in college at Texas A&M, so we don't get to see him very often. It was good spending the day with him. He added some new tires and was ready by the end of the weekend for the bumpy ride back to campus.

New Car

2010-06-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

With both Abigail and I working, we needed another car. We researched until the Consumer Reports Auto Edition was pretty well worn out. Our decision was to buy Abigail a brand new Honda Fit. I lobbied for a Silverado, but even I wasn't excited about driving a truck on Dallas highways. So, Abigail gets the Fit and I get the CRV.

There is no denying that the Fit is a small car, but it "fits" Abigail perfectly. There is just enough room for all her needs. The kids car seats fit well in the back, the cargo area is big enough for groceries, and it gets great safety and MPG ratings. It has this meter that shows second by second MPG based on how the person is driving and then it also tracks MPG over the lifetime of the car. I got an excited message from Abigail when she broke the 30 MPG average mark. I have a feeling it will continue climbing. She had to make up for those 30+ miles that were already on the car at under 20 mpg.

Here are the pics. The back seats are pretty neat and the thing has two glove compartments and 10 cup holders. A bit overkill, but they truly made use of about every inch of the car. We are pretty happy.

Bring On The Heat!

2010-05-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

We kicked off the unofficial beginning of summer with a Memorial Day BBQ at Rob and Linda's House. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures, but the swimming was fun and the food even better. Linda made a really great guacamole hamburger and Rob grilled them and spicy bratwurst to perfection. The kids played literally for hours in the pool. Robbie is getting better each day at swimming with a little help from a floaty and Elly is getting bolder too. It is a cute age. Stephen came by with Bo, his black lab. The kids really love playing with Pops and Uncle Stephen. It is nice to live so close.

Indigo Girls

2010-05-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

Abigail has been a huge fan of the Indigo Girls for the past decade. They played last night at the House of Blues in Dallas and her parents gave us tickets and a night of watching the kids. Terri Hendrix and Loyd Maines opened the evening and the Indigo Girls rocked out the rest of the night. It is always fun crowd watching the Indigo Girls concerts. Their music speaks to such a diverse group of people. It was a very fun night. (Thanks Rob and Linda!) Sorry about the pics below. I forgot our camera again and had to use the phone camera.

May Visit to Iowa

2010-05-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

We made the drive to Iowa last week. It was nice to not have to drive through Nebraska for once. Eastern Oklahoma and Missouri are actually quite beautiful. Overall, it took a few hours longer, (actually a day longer because our alternator went out in Lebanon, MO so we spent the night)

We had a fun time hanging out with the parents. We spent time at the cabin and added another place to our Parkathon at the Oakland Mills Nature center. Robbie and Elly planted gourds in Grammee and Grandpa's garden with the hope to pick them in the fall.

Cabin

Oakland Mills

Backyard Garden Boxes

2010-04-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

We had some leftover fencing from the back yard, so we decided to make matching multileveled garden boxes. It was a fun weekend project. We used the same layover pattern as the fence and we will eventually stain it the same color as well. Abigail cut out all the fence boards and Mike nailed them together after digging trenches to level out the site. Abigail already has her vegi/flower layout ready.

Howdy

2010-04-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, I really need to get better at this. It has been over 7 months since my last post. And boy have things changed. These past seven months were a roller coaster with more downs than ups. I won't go into details here, but a lot happened. The good news is that things are starting to get better. We now live in Richardson, TX which is a suburb of Dallas. We have a great house, (see slide show below) we live about 10 minutes from Abigail's parents and are three minutes from her brother and sister-n-law. It is nice having family close by. I am now working from home and Abigail is getting involved with the homeless outreach and social services community. Anyway, I promise to do a better job of updating this blog for family and friends.

Countertops

2010-01-31T15:42:00.000-08:00

To get our house ready to sell, Mike retiled the kitchen counters. It was hit first tile project, but he got lots of advice and the finished product was loads better than the original counters.

2009-08-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Barr Lake State Park, The Parkathon Continues

2009-08-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

Mike received a Colorado State Parks Pass for his birthday from Linda and Rob. Eager to make the most out of it this year, we headed over the Barr Lake State Park. It is really more of a bird sanctuary and has a beautiful view of the mountains. The highlight was a elevated boardwalk that takes hikers out over the lake itself. The park reminded us of the reservoir state parks on the plains. (but with the obvious difference of mountains in the distance) This made for a great morning.

Elly's First Birthday

2009-07-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, our little baby girl is no longer a little baby. Elly marked the end of year one with a handful of words and proudly walking everywhere she went. It seems like yesterday that we were in the hospital meeting her for the very first time.

Robbie's 3rd Birthday

2009-07-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

Robbie celebrated birthday number 3 on Monday. It is hard to believe how old and big he is already. He was excited to receive a new t-ball set as well as cool computer.

Father's Day; Alderfer 3 Sisters Park

2009-06-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day 2009 we hit the trails up at Adlerfer 3-Sisters Park near Evergreen, CO. As a JeffCo Open Space park, it is another check off our Parkathon list. It was a beautiful day!

Anderson's Last Visit to Colorado Before Heading to NZ

2009-05-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

The Andersons made one final trip to Colorado to visit before heading to New Zealand. We all had a great time. We visited the Museum of Science and Nature, White Fence Farm, Tiny Town, the top of Pike's Peak via cog rail, the Garden of the Gods and ancient dwellings. It was a packed few days and we will miss our friends dearly as they begin their new adventure on the other side of the world.

Trip to Iowa

2009-05-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip back to visit friends and family in Iowa. We stopped in Kearney, Nebraska overnight on the way out, visited the Andersons in Des Moines, and hung out with family the rest of the time. Robbie even drove a bulldozer with uncle Chris!

New Roof Rack

2009-04-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

Finally got a roof rack on the CRV. I've been gunning for one of these for a while and with the upcoming trip to Iowa and our need to bring back a fairly large ladder, we decided it was time.

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

Robbie is at that perfect age to enjoy finding Easter eggs. We had a great time watching him find them. Afterward, he decided it would be fun to hide some eggs himself and let us find them. He, of course, showed us where he hid them all before we ever really had a chance to look. ;)

The Heaton vs. Van Sickel Disc Golf Marathon

2009-03-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

Chris Van Sickle and I spend a lot of time on the disc golf course. Last year we started keeping a continuous score for the entire year. We played normal rounds of disc golf, but our real score was how far ahead or behind the other person we were. I spent the better portion of 2008 way behind. After our last round of 2008 and some 50+ rounds of disc golf, I was 63 strokes worse than Chris. He has been very proactive in reminding me since our last round of 2008.

Well, it took us until the 2nd of March to play our first round of 2009 and with the new year came a clean slate. I had a few rounds under my belt already this year and it was Chris’s first round of the year. Chris was very rusty. In contrast, I probably had one the best rounds of my life. In the end I had ten birdies and one bogey for a nine under par. Chris had two devastating bogeys and only four birdies. The result is a seven stroke lead after just one round this season. (Ouch!).

I realize that I may sound a bit cocky, but after enduring last year’s humiliation in a sport that I basically taught Chris to play, I am enjoying my moment while I can.

I have added a feature on the right hand column that will track our totals throughout the year(s).

Van Bibber Open Space

2009-01-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, it does get cold in Colorado, but its days like today that make living here so nice. 65 degrees and sunshine. It was the perfect opportunity to check off another park for the Parkathon. Today we visited Van Bibber Open Space. This is one of the newest converted open spaces in Jefferson County and makes for a nice retreat in the middle of Arvada. It basically consists of a bike path that meanders through a nice wide valley between subdivisions. There is also a "parallel" horse/hike/bike trail. It is simple, but pretty long nonetheless. Robbie enjoyed seeing the horses, playing with sticks and sitting on big rocks. Elly rode along in the stoller and enjoyed the sunshine.

Sand Box and Zoo Lights

2008-12-28T21:27:00.000-08:00

Pops and Grandma asked us to save one of their Christmas presents to Robbie for the next warm day. It turns out that only took until December 28th. So, Robbie was really excited when we brought the huge wrapped box upstairs and said he still had one more present to open. Robbie knew what is was right away and before long he was playing in sand on a warm December afternoon.

That evening we met up with Ashley, Patrick and Joseph at Zoo Lights. Once the sun went down it was quite a bit colder. But we all had fun nonetheless.

Sand Box

Zoo Lights

Elly's First Solids

2008-12-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

Elly really enjoyed her first attempt a "solid" food as she tried rice cereal. If nothing else, she had fun getting messy!

Chirstmas Time 2008

2008-12-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas time really seemed meaningful this year. It really started with Linda and Rob's visit in early December. They helped us get a tree and decorate it. In addition, we got our first really good snow that week, so it we had our winter wonderland as well. Abigail and Robbie made a paper chain to count down the days to Christmas and on Christmas Eve, Robbie and Elly set out cookies for Santa, which we are pretty sure he really enjoyed. Robbie had a lot of fun opening gifts on Christmas Day and Elly's favorite part was all the wrapping paper. Later, Rachel and Jamie hosted a Christmas meal for family and we had a great time. While it is difficult not being home in Iowa or Texas for Christmas, it was a nice Christmas time nonetheless.

Welcome Keegan Miles Heaton!

2008-12-21T17:36:00.001-08:00

Congratulations Chris and Erin! Welcome to the world Keegan Miles Heaton.
9:48pm, December 21, 2008
8lbs 6oz
21 3/4"

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

Robbie the Dragon and Elly the Mummy had a great time visiting the neighbors and finding out how easy it is to get candy. (Well Robbie did at least)
Look cute, say "Trick or Treat" and be sure to say "Thanks!!"

Grammee and Grandpa Visit

2008-10-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

Well, having an infant and 2 year old in the house has pretty eliminated free time for things like posting to this blog. This post is extremely late, but important nevertheless. Grammee and Grandpa came to visit just after Abigail's parents left in early August. We rode the Georgetown Loop, visited Red Rocks, checked out Summit County and went to the zoo. It was great to have them here.

Tornado

2008-08-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

We have a lot more updating to do, but I couldn’t resist posting this one right away. We went to visit Ashley, Patrick and little Joseph on Sunday night in Parker, CO. We pulled into the driveway about 5:30pm and Ashley came out of the garage and told us that we better get inside because there was a tornado warning for the area. Abigail turned around and wouldn’t you know it, there it was, swirling its way across the field to the west of the subdivision. We all went inside, but I couldn’t resist the urge to come back out and take a few pictures. When I finally saw actual bushes being torn up on the ridge, I decided I better get inside too. I’ve seen funnel clouds in the sky and once had a tornado pass in front of my car during a downpour, but I’ve never actually seen a full one like this from top to bottom. It moved very slowly and eventually went back up in the clouds, so no harm done.

Keystone Vacation

2008-08-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

Abigail's family came to Colorado for their summer vacation. We all went up to Keystone Resort in Summit County. It was a great time with biking, hiking, golf, kayaking, river rafting and other fun things. We didn't have the camera accessible for a lot of the activities and we regret one instance in particular during the round of golf. On number 17, a huge black bear wander out right in front of us and gave us a memory of a lifetime.

Huge thanks to Rob and Linda for a such a great vacation!

Elizabeth Louise

2008-07-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth (Elly) Louise joined the family on July 16th, 2008 at 3:56am. She weighed in at 6lbs. 13oz. and measured 19 3/4 inches long. Abigail did awesome (no epidural even) and both she and Elly are in great health. The hospital accommodations and staff were excellent. As the pictures show, Robbie is doing really well with the transition. Having Linda (Abigail's Mom) here has been a huge help, especially with Robbie.

Heaton/Yeast Cabin Skunk River Flood '08

2008-06-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

Click the link below to see pictures of the Heaton/Yeast cabin and the Skunk River flooding. Latest reports say that it is close to or higher than the '93 levels.

http://picasaweb.google.com/daybreakgardens/Flood08?authkey=GhJxsWXnfsE

Thank heaven the new cabin was built higher up. The old cabin's floor was level with the lower deck which is now well under water. The new cabin is a full two stories above the regular flood line and three stories above the level that the river normal runs. The water was still rising at the time these pictures were taken and is expected to crest today or tomorrow. However, there are more isolated storms today, so that could change things.

For those of you that have never been to the cabin, the "lake" in front of the cabin is normally a corn field. They boated across it to get to the cabin. The trailers on the high strip of land between the river and the field we pulled out via tractor, but their decks, overhangs and sheds are not looking to good right now.

Our sad news is that the garden, flowers, etc... are well under water and it may be too late to start up again. However, as my mom states over and over again, it will be a lot of work, but she feels blessed compared to those who have lost their homes and businesses in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City etc...

Robbie Videos

2008-06-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

We caught Robbie on video hamming it up for the camera. Double click on the slide show below to watch the videos.

Castlewood Canyon

2008-05-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

Robbie got to visit Castlewood Canyon twice this week as we met up with Ashley and Joseph on Saturday and then went back with Jane, Ken, Eva and Elizabeth, who visited from Iowa. Castlewood Canyone State Park is basically this large canyon that is cuts a mile through classic eastern Colorado Plains. It makes for a great short hike and is beautiful geological feature not normally associated with the plains. It is a great park for families with a play ground, stroller paths, running water and more. The canyon hiking trails are beautiful and relatively easy to navigate.

Eric's Graduation Party

2008-05-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

Jamie and Rachel hosted a graduation party on Saturday for Eric. Congrats to Eric for sticking with in and getting the degree! A big congrats to Mary as well (Eric's partner in crime). Uncle Jim and JoEllen made the trip as well. Add John to the mix and it seemed a bit like old times.

Hillside Park

2008-05-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, this park was random. I had driven by a huge park the other day and thought we might picnic there for Mother's Day. However, upon arriving, we found that the huge park, Faversham Park, was actually a City of Westminster Park and decided to look for another one. (Nothing against Westminster, but we want to visit our own city parks first because they use our tax dollars) Ironically, Arvada's Hillside Park is actually on top of a hill overlooking Faversham Park. I had never seen it listed on an Arvada Map, but we just happend to stumble on it while driving away from Faversham Park.

It is probably a good thing its not on a map. Its small, very peaceful and has a great southern view of the front range and the city skyline. Too many people would like ruin the setting. It has a playground, one picnic tabel and some really neat gnarly old trees. It sits hidden from, but adjacent to, Faversham Park which has baseball fields, basketball courts, a huge playground, a fishing lake etc...

Memorial Park

2008-05-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday was meant to be the day the hardwood floors were installed in the living room and hallway. However, I messed up and forgot to acclimate the flooring before the day arrived. Failure to do so can cause it to buckle or shrink. So, instead, we met Jon and Liz at Memorial Park for some disc golf, an evening picnic and a fun Swedish yard game called Kubb which they had just built.

Arvada Volunteer Fire Fighters Park

2008-05-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

Well, for some reason, April flew by and we forgot to take our camera with us along the way. May, however, has brought with it warm weather and plenty of opportunities to snap some photos. So, we will try to keep up.

When we moved back to Colorado, one of the primary motivations was to get outdoors. Colorado has some of the best open spaces in the world.
So, with this update comes the start of the Parkathon. The idea is simple. We pay taxes for our city, county, state and federal parks. So, we are going to enjoy them! Our goal is to visit as many City of Arvada, Jefferson County, State of Colorado, United States parks as possible before either we (or the parks themselves) disappear from this beautiful planet.

As we visit each park, we will post it on this blog. However, to view all the parks we have visited without having to look through our archives, simple click on the "Parkathon" link to the right. It will lead you to a map that has each park marked with links to pictures and a general description.

Our first city park was the Arvada Volunteer Fire Fighters Park last week. It was an older park with one small playground, a basketball court, baseball field, a few picnic tables and a grill. The highlight was the trees. There were many old, tall hardwood trees on the property along with many ornamental trees in full bloom.

Nick's Visit

2008-03-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Nick visited this past weekend from Iowa. He came in by train on Saturday morning and headed to Utah on Monday night via plane to visit anther friend in Provo. On Saturday we headed up to Boulder and did an urban geocache with Chris Van Sickel. It was one of the more interesting ones I've done. Tthe given set of coordinates led us to an outdoor art display which we had to use to decipher the actual coordinates of the final cache. Robbie even had fun pointing at dogs and the stream we walked along. Unfortunately I forgot the camera, so when I get Nick's camera phone photos, I will post them here. On Sunday, Nick and I made the most of the few hours of sunshine we had and headed up to Buffalo Bill's grave and museum and hit Red Rock Amphitheater. We spent most the rest of his visit jamming on the Wii playing Guitar Hero, bowling and Tiger Woods Golf. Thanks for the visit Nick! It was great to have you here!

The Big Move

2008-03-03T17:54:00.000-08:00

Well, we are finally in! We loaded up our stuff for one last time and made the journey to our new place last Sunday. A HUGE thanks to Rena, Jeff, Jon, Liz, Jamie E., Doug, Jamie Y., Quinton, Eric, Ashley, Patrick, Joseph and Chris. Having so many people willing to help made the move go extremely quick. We couldn't have done it without them. Saturday was 74 degrees and beautiful. But, of course, we moved on Sunday after the temperature dropped below freezing and our house had 4-6 inches of snow on it. Nevertheless, things went smoothly. We started at 1pm and were loaded, unloaded, unpacked and assembled by 3:30pm. We finished the day off with hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.

A Great Weekend with Gramee and Grandpa

2008-02-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

Grammee and Grandpa flew in from Iowa for a three day President's Day weekend. It was a spring like day on Saturday, so we spend most of the day at the Denver Zoo. That evening we went to Mass at the Cathedral downtown and followed it with one of my favorite Italian meals ever at Gaetanos Italian restaurant. On Sunday we headed up to the mountains and visited Fatty's Pizzeria in Breckenridge and the Silverthorn Outlets. It was a bit snowy, but we still had some good mountain views. Robbie got to hang out with Grammee and Grandpa on Sunday night as Abigail and I went with Jon and Liz Reberry to see Tom Wilson perform at the Denver Improv at Stapleton Northfield. Tom Wilson was "Biff" from the Back to the Future trilogy. He was one of the more refreshing comedians we have heard because he was very funny without the crudeness of many other comedians.

On Monday, we hit the Bass Pro Shop and took of tour of our new house. That evening we had Eric, Rachel, Jamie and the kids over for dinner. It was a bit like a classic Yeast family gathering from 20 + years ago, except this time it was our kids running around and playing games.

Overall it was great weekend and we are extremely thankful to have had my parents in town.

The Zoo

Mountains

Improv

Family Night

Our New Home

2008-01-26T07:52:00.001-08:00

Abigail, Robbie and I have spent the past 7 months looking for a home in the Denver area. This past week we finally found one, made an offer and are scheduled to close on February 27th. Its a 3 bed, 2 bath in the northwest metro Denver area between Boulder and Denver. It has a great back yard for gardening and a nice deck. Its within walking distance of great schools, a park, lake, community pool, grocery stores, future light rail station and good restaurants. The basement is unfinished but has a lot of potential. Here are some pictures from our inspection:

Chef Boy R' obbie

2008-01-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas "Morning"

2007-12-24T13:33:00.001-08:00

We decided to celebrate Christmas a day early because we wanted to open gifts in our pajamas with hot chocolate, cinnamon rolls etc... Abigail works overnight and won't we home until 9ish on Christmas morning. Robbie had a fun time. He would say, "oooohhhh" with about every gift he opened and was exhausted by the time we finished. Thank you to everyone who shared gifts, cards, e-mails and their love with us this Christmas season. We miss you and hope you all have a joyous holiday season as well.

Zoo Lights

2007-12-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

Zoo Lights in Denver is a pretty big thing. Put simply, they put up holiday lights all over the zoo and open up at night for visitors. It is a really neat experience and lot of people turned out on the 23rd. We were especially glad we bought tickets on-line as the ticket window had hundreds of families waiting in line.

A Weekend of Fun with Grandmee and Grandpa Heaton.

2007-12-14T21:55:00.000-08:00

We will be staying in Colorado this year for the holidays as Abigail will be working on Christmas Eve and Day. So, Robbie and I headed to Iowa this past weekend to spend some time with family in lieu of the traditional family gathering. On Friday we headed to Iowa City to visit the Children's Museum. Robbie really enjoyed the mini-grocery store, the farm and especially the "Motion" room that had golf balls everywhere. We spent the afternoon and the next day back at the cabin and had a fun time watching movies and staying cozy and warm inside with family while outside remained icy, but beautiful. I got some good shots of birds outside. On Sunday, Chris and Erin came by to visit before we headed to the airport for home.

Snow, Grandpa, Museums, Trees and more snow...

2007-12-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

It was an exciting weekend as Grandpa Graham flew into town. Robbie got to hang out with his namesake and they had a great time laughing, reading and goofing around. As the pictures show, Robbie had a blast playing in the snow and so did I. Our plan for Sunday was to drive up to the mountains with the Reberry's to cut down our own Christmas tree from one of the National Forests. The Forest Service sponsors this every year to raise some money and help thin the overgrown forests. However, the temperature was forcasted to be bitterly cold in the mountains, so we felt it was bit too cold for Robbie. So, Rob, Abigail and Robbie went to the Museum of Science and Nature while I went trampling through the forest with Jon, Liz and Kim to find the perfect tree. Kim was the only one who picked a normal, solid traditional Christmas tree. Under orders from Abigail, I found a nice short tree, which was really just a branch from another nearby tree. Jon and Liz, however, went the complete opposite direction. UP. Their tree measured 34 feet. They are going to the use the top 18 feet as a christmas tree and the rest for various woodworking projects. We had to saw it into three pieces to get it back to car. I brought our much smaller version home and Robbie had a fun time helping to decorate and undecorate "the branch."

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T12:42:00.000-08:00

Abigail had to work on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so we were not able to head home for the holiday. But, we still had a great time because our good friends Ken and Jane came to visit from Iowa with their little girls, Eva and Elizabeth. On Thanksgiving Day we had a traditional meal as I (Mike) cooked and carved my first turkey. The following day we went to the downtown aquarium then visited our friends Kevin and Jill who also have two little girls. They just moved back to Denver from Iowa about two months ago as well. On Saturday we headed to mountains and visited Georgetown, Breckenridge, South Park (Fairplay), and even stopped by Camp Santa Maria. Abigail worked all day, so I took advantage of her lack of veto power and talked Ken and Jane into visiting Casa Bonita for dinner. It is a Denver tradition to visit Case Bonita at least one time. ;) We missed our families, but overall we had a great Thanksgiving.

Linda's Trip to Denver

2007-11-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

Linda drove up to Denver to visit the week before Thanksgiving. Robbie had a great time hanging out with Grandma as they played at home, visited the zoo and a numerous parks.

Geocaching with Liz and Jon

2007-11-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

Liz and Jon took us on our first real geocaching experience on Sunday. Geocaching is like a scavenger hunt using a GPS. Its a bit like orienteering except with much better technology. The GPS uses satellites to pinpoint our exact location (within a few feet). Then Jon enters the target's longitude and latitude coordinates into his GPS. The screen on the GPS shows us our location and the target(cache) location. We then hiked along the trails at Matthews Winters Open Space just west of Denver. We took the trails that led in the general direction of the target and eventually found the caches. Caches are usually weather proof containers that house small random objects. People that find caches generally sign and date a small notebook inside and then take one of the small random objects and replace it with one of their own. The two caches we found had everything from children's toys to compasses. Overall, it was an absolutely beautiful day.

Halloween 2007

2007-11-04T20:30:00.000-08:00

We did not take Robbie out trick-or-treating this year due to that fact that he was recovering from a cold and he is proving that 16 months is the peak of stranger anxiety. But, undeterred, we still dressed him up as a cowboy (horse and all) and he trick-or-treated at home. The Jack-o-lantern was carved by Abigail at a Halloween/Guitar Hero party hosted by the Reberry's.

Playground Fun

2007-10-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Despite the first real fall cold front moving through the area on Sunday, Robbie was itching to get outside and play. We put on some layers and found a neat little playground on the edge of Golden. We had the place to ourselves and had a fun time.

Pumpkin Festival

2007-10-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

We headed to Four Mile Historical Park in Cherry Creek for their annual Pumpkin Festival. Robbie liked the smaller white pumpkins that he could pick up.

The Children's Museum

2007-10-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Abigail and Robbie toured the Denver Children's Museum for the first time. Robbie's favorite part was the "chaulkboard" cow on which he enjoyed scribbling.

The Zoo with Jon and Liz

2007-09-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

We spent Sunday at the Zoo with Jon and Liz. We bought a family pass a few weeks ago, so Abigail and Robbie have been quite a few times already. But, the Denver Zoo is so big that they still saw new things and we all had a great time. Robbie really got a kick out of the polar bears this time around. Jon seemed equally as fascinated with the monkeys and the mongoose. (mongeese?) A big thanks for Jon and Liz for taking pictures and letting us copy them.

A Drive to See the Aspen Trees Turn Color

2007-09-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

We headed up to the mountain on Saturday to see the Aspen trees which were all turning golden. It was Robbie's first time in the mountains. It was cold and bit windy, but Robbie was giddy the entire time. At one point he even started hiking on his own up a really steep trail. He really likes the outdoors. Unfortunately, Mike left our camera at work, so the pictures were taken with his cell phone. Thus the poorer quality.

Robbie and Abigail's Visit to Dallas

2007-09-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

Robbie and Abigail visited Dallas in late August. Robbie had a great time with Grandma, Pop, David, Stephen, Lauren, Mary Beth and Beverly. He even got to go visit College Station.

Visit to Mount Pleasant

2007-08-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

Our visit to Mount Pleasant before heading out west included seeing Mary, Ben and Sofie. We also made a visit out to the Old Threshers grounds where Chris was getting things set up for the big event.

Robbie's First Birthday

2007-08-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

Robbie had two birthday celebrations, one in Davenport with Abigail's family and the other in Mount Pleasant with Mike's family. He had a great time!

Robbie is Growing Fast....

2006-12-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that Robbie is six months old already. Here are some highlights from months 3-6.

Door County Vacation

2006-09-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to Door County, Wisconsin with Ken, Jane and Eva. We somehow managed to get two families worth of luggage into a rental van. We never knew how much added luggage is required with a baby. Wow! But, we managed it and had a great time touring Door County.

Robbie's First Old Threshers Reunion

2006-09-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

We headed down to Mount Pleasant with Ken, Jane and Eva to visit the Mike's family and see Old Threshers. Robbie just looked around a lot and Eva really seemed to enjoy herself this year. We caught up with Chris and Erin by the steam engines.

Robert Ward - Born July 6th, 2006

2006-08-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world Robert Ward!
Robbie was born on July 6th, 2006.
Everyone is happy and healthly!

Garage Demolition

2006-04-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

With the help of Chris Van Sickel, we took the garage in our back yard out. We tore apart the entire thing with a couple of crow bars and had to use a recipricating saw on the roof. We worked through a tornado, but got it all into a U-Haul trailer and to the landfill in under 24 hours.

Christmas '05 in Dallas

2005-12-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas 2005 in Dallas with Abigail's Family. It was great time. We saw a Dallas Stars game, visited a huge ice sculpture display and still enjoyed warm weather.

Halloween 2005

2005-10-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

Claire H. hosted a great Halloween Party on the 29th. Here are some pictures. We went as W. and his daughter Jenna.

Graham Family Visit

2005-07-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Abigail parents and her brother David came for a visit. We visited Living History Farms and the Bridges of Madison County. We even got in a little disc golf.

Great Northwest Adventure 2005

2005-07-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

We travelled through Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho on our way to visit our friend Chris in Washington State. It was a great trip with many great memories.

Decorating for Christmas 2004

2004-12-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

Ozarks 2004

2004-07-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

Summer Vacation to Colorado with the Graham Family

2004-07-04T11:05:00.000-07:00