Family visit to CO

Carl and Samantha rode with Tatum and I back to Colorado for the short 17 hour drive. The Great Plains are SO exciting! (THANK YOU BOTH for riding/driving with us... I think I drove for a total of 4 hours- Carl drove the rest) We left Indiana Thursday morning and arrived in Denver around 2:30 a.m... just in time to go to sleep! Friday morning I headed to Denver International Airport and picked up my friend, Kristy, and her daughter, Kay.

Friday, we rented a mini-van and headed to Rocky Mountain National Park, we watched Elk fight and listed to them bugle- it's mating season. That was definitely awesome. The fall colors in Colorado are beautiful right now- not so many oranges and reds, but the yellows are so bright! Later, we stopped and had a picnic. Saturday, Kristy worked, so Carl, Sam, Liz, Kay, Tatum, and I hung out most of the day, then I took Kay and Tatum to the park. When Kristy got back, we headed to downtown Denver and checked out 16th Street Mall where we enjoyed a little chocolate at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory...mmmmm.... Kristy, Sam, and I hung out in the kitchen and made some Grandma's chicken and chili dip... mmm...

Kristy and Kay headed back to Indy Sunday morning, and Carl, Sam, and I headed to Boulder to relax at Boulder Falls, and do a little driving in the mountains. While up in the mountains, a car was pulled over, so we slowed down to see what it was, and we saw a BEAR!!! I was driving, so I didn't get to look too much, but we still got to see it. :) We headed back to the house, grilled out some Brats, and relaxed.

It was a very busy weekend, but it was so nice to see everyone and let them see where we live. I wish they all could have stayed longer, but perhaps another time!

Visit with Cousin Jen

While in Indiana, we visited with my cousin Jen, up in Chesterton/Porter. She has a little boy, Ben, and we took the kiddos to the Indiana Dunes and the Chelburg Farm. Behind Chelburg Farm are woods with a beautiful walkway through a ravine. We walked back there, enjoyed being a snack for the mosquitos, and Jen took many pictures of the kiddos. Each picture was just wonderful, but I am only going to put a few on here. If you would like to see more, please email me and I'll send you a link to see them!

She would NOT get off of my lap to touch the sand! Is she really my daughter???

Here are a couple of pics I took...

Mom's Slacking....

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month already since I wrote on here last... It's been a little crazy! Tatum and I took a trip to Indiana in September and had a chance to visit many friends and family. Of course, it is difficult to visit everyone we want to, but we did what we could. Here are some pictures from our trip.

She'll do it when she wants

So, since about Aug. 3 Tatum has been taking steps here and there. As I said in the post last night, she was excited that dad was home and walked about 6/7 steps to me... well, today, she let go of Dad's hand and walked from our bedroom to the kitchen table... those of you who have seen our house, know how far that is! She had walked to me from Dad and then back to Dad earlier, but this was amazing!

Aunt Liz came home from work, and Tatum was showing off on her pony... then she went to meet Auntie at the stairs... came to the kitchen with Auntie and walked to me (at the stove)... well, the rest is history! Check out the video- Dad was the camera man after Tatum walked to him a few times... This only shows a couple of 'wind sprints' we were having her do, but she 'ran' about 20 sprints (like the Energizer Bunny... she kept going and going and going...) lol... just watch! :)

New Pony one.... lol... too funny

Crazy Girl

Tatum is an absolute riot right now. Along with rolling around on the floor, which she is still doing... today, she put her forehead to the floor, stuck her butt up... and scooted around on her head... it was hilarious! We are thinking that she does it when she is waaaaay tired, but it is still funny! She has been enjoying her pony lately and I can not keep her out of her Tonka truck! Everytime I turn around, she is either climbing in or climbing out... or we are just driving around the house in it!

She has been taking steps like crazy, but likes to laugh at me when she knows what I'm up to! She'll just plop down on her butt and laugh! Today, we were up in her room and I was busy putting a picture in a frame, and there she goes, walking a few steps from her dresser to her foot stool... then I heard the garage opening, so I said.. Tatum, let's go see dad! And she booked it to me... probably taking about 6/7 steps very sturdy! She wasn't wobbly at all! But when we get downstairs, she does not want to walk anymore! So, she just plopped down and acted like she was falling... it was hilarious!

Tatum likes to put on our shoes...

I thought shoes were supposed to come in these boxes:
HA HA, MOM! You can't get me and I'm going up the stairs!!! (she was laughing hysterically while going up to the second step)
We are ready for football season around here, although we were quite disappointed with the first Colts' game... but Tatum's still a fan!

Enjoy the video, and I apologize for Hunter's commentating... there was a bunny in our backyard! lol... good thing he's here to protect us from those vicious bunnies!