Teresa is ALWAYS wearing a pair of sunglasses. Even when it's 9:00 at night & we're driving home from Colorado she has to have them on. If that weren't enough, a good 90% of the time they are upside down on her head. When they get in the way of actual vision, she just pushes them onto her forehead "like Auntie Cara".
We were reading "Baby's First Nativity Story" the other night. Teresa initially wanted me to read, but then wasn't really into it. So, I was asking her to identify the animals on the pages. Without hesitation she identified a kitty, puppy, & mouse. Then I changed gears & pointed to Angel Gabriel. She wasn't getting it, so I traced his wings with my fingers. She looked at me quizzically & asked, "Duck?
While perusing the Kohl's clearance section, Teresa spotted a purse that she just loved. It's complete with lace, pinkness, Cinderella, & a castle on the front. Since it was only $1 (& because it kept her IN the cart without squealing for the rest of the trip) we brought it home. Now she sticks random treasures in there: her "tiny baby" fetal model, Little People, kleenex, & the occasional dirty sock. She's a little mixed up on the vocab though, because when she can't find it, she asks, "Where my princess PERSON?" Pretty close to purse, I guess.
We saw these Turkey Pops in the last issue of Family Fun & just had to make them for a Mom's group snack. They looked so cute & easy. Cute, yes. Easy, NO. Start with warm Rice Krispie balls, cool them, heat them up again when you dip in hot chocolate so they fall apart, insert candy corns into chocolate while still hot but Rice Krispie is already in pieces, cool again, then insert popsicle stick to make it once again break in half. Argh! Turns out I'm really glad we had a small showing for Mom's group that day... there were 10 left over so that Rebecca can still bring them for her preschool snack (which I promised preemptively) without having to go through that again!
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Teresa is very aware of changes in weather. Still anytime it rains or she sees a picture with rain or there's even just water on the windshield she starts singing, "It's raining, it's pouring, Dada snoring." Follow a good case of the giggles of course. Lately, she's really been noticing the wind. She'll look out the window & say, "It's windy outside. Brr." But I've caught her a few times on a completely calm day running just as fast as she can with her hair flying all around her face exclaiming, "I windy outside!"
I have always LOVED the mountains. I remember countless family vacations for camping, hiking, fishing, & skiing in the mountains. So, everytime that I looked out the window it made me catch my breath & smile. It was a fabulous place to spend my birthday. :) It was obviously a unique one... complete with red velvet cupcakes for breakfast & elevator birthday serenades... not to mention a brand new sister.
After a morning full of fun at the hotel with all of our relatives, we grabbed a quick lunch at Taco Bell, fancied ourselves up, & took the drive to the wedding. We were all exhausted, so I was glad it was a 40 minute ride. After we arrived Darren stayed with the snoozers in the van until it was time for the Mass. 
It was in a beautiful Church in Greeley with gorgeous stained glass windows.
Mom looked gorgeous & held it together amazingly well. She is so happy for Doug. 
Doug & Diane were so kind by having a lot of the grandkids play a part in the wedding. Julia & Clara were the lovely candlelighters.
Joseph was an usher & got to bring in my Mom. 
Maria, Veronica, & Lucy were the flower girls. 
Matthias was the ringbearer. 
Here comes the bride...
Fr. Jon, two other priest friends from college, & Diane's grandpa who is a permanent deacon all witnessed the ceremony. Augustine, Micheal, & Samuel were the servers.
Andrew was so honored to bring up the gifts with cousin John. This was only his second time ever & he was very focussed. 
My Dad was the best man & Diane's sisters were the maids of honor. Doesn't he look handsome?
Here's our crowd! Diane puts our immediate family count up to 38!
The biggest surprise of the weekend was walking into the Church & seeing Darren's parents! They drove all the way that morning just to be part of the fun. We really enjoyed having them there.
My brother Doug gave us a fabulous reason to make the trek out to Colorado this weekend: his wedding. :) I'm so very happy for him & Diane! We had a great trip, too; even the drive went well. Thanks to my brother-in-law Dave's suggestion, we stopped at the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles on the way out. So cool!
But there was so much more! We saw dozens of tanks, helicopters, jeeps, ambulances, uniforms, artillery, medals, flags... you name it, they had it. Most thrilling for the kids was getting to sit in a helicopter
Rebecca delighted in collecting feathers dropped by the hundreds of geese on the nearby pond. We will definitely be stopping there again in the future!
While packing for my brother Doug's wedding, Rebecca decided that she wanted to draw a picture for him & Diane. But, she's only ever been to 3 or 4 weddings, so we did a little internet browsing to find some pictures to look at for inspiration. She decided that this one was perfect both because bears are cute & because they were wearing PINK. 
I think her rendition turned out pretty well! She decided not to color in the dress so that Diane could do that for fun. ;)
