Christmas in Dallas

Although we weren't in Colorado or Minnesota we did have a white Christmas! The plan was that Josh and a guy from Ft. Worth would leave right after Spanish on Thursday, Christmas Eve, and drive the 8 hours to Dallas, arriving around 1 AM. Well...it snowed in Texas! The interstate was closed at Abilene so the guys tried another route, but the road was really icy and it just ended up being a 2 hour detour. Once they got back onto I-20 it was still slow going. I picked Josh up around 5:30 and we were at the Bonus's by 6:30 AM on Christmas Day. Not exactly what we had planned, but it worked. We (especially me) were SOOO excited to see him!!! The Bonus kids slept in a bit, which was nice, and we started our Christmas morning with cinnamon rolls. The present opening took almost 2 hours as each present the kids opened they wanted to play with. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures. We failed to take pictures of the snow and pictures of us as a family. Oops.

Emily, Shelby, and Abigail all dressed up for the church Christmas party.

Shelby with the books from Uncle I. Mostly Shelby liked the ribbons. :) But we like the books, thanks I!

Grandma Mary sent some fun clothes!

Thank you Uncle Russel & Aunt Z for the great robes! The kids loved them.

Shelby rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time completely on her own on December 1st. It has been fun to watch her. I am trying not to hurry her, but I am excited for her to roll from her back to her tummy and for her to crawl. All in good time, I know.

Shelby still has her rash and it looks more and more like dry skin / eczema each day. So I am putting lots of lotion on her. Josh had lots of dry skin when he was a baby as well - so that combined with my sensitive skin doesn't give Shelby much hope. Next week we'll have her 6 month check up and shots so I am sure the doctor will tell us what he thinks. I am so glad that it doesn't bother her!

As the song goes, Shelby decided that all she wanted for Christmas was her two front teeth! She has her two front bottom teeth, but for the past 3 weeks she has been working on her two front top teeth. They are just about to poke through. This time around she has a runny nose - she is getting sick of me wiping her nose. I will say, the booger sucker works great! :)

Josh and I are SOOOO ready to be done with living apart! This weekend Josh plans to head down to Sanderson. Hopefully he'll find a place to rent. If not then we'll be looking into buying a house and fixing it up. No, our condo here in Greeley hasn't sold yet. If you think of us, please do pray for us!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Thank you for all the Christmas cards and pictures. One of these days we'll do a letter for ya'll. For now this blog will do. :)

Happy New Year!

Happy belated Birthday, Grandma Mary!! We are glad you had a nice day yesterday!! We love you!

Next is Dallas

November 30th Shelby & I drove to Adam & Kim's in Dallas to stay with them for the month. Shelby got a rash that has lasted a month, but it doesn't seem to bother her much. We are pretty sure it is Eczema.

Shelby enjoyed Nathan and the girls playing with her all the time. It was so nice for her to get to know them.

Shelby loves being outside and she enjoyed her first ride in the swing.

Shelby had lots of new toys to play with. Here she is "holding" a baby doll and giving her quite the ride in her bouncy seat!

Shelby played in the exersaucer (sp?) and loved it! It cracked me up that she was holding this dolls hand.

Emily had some fun making these glasses and we just had to try them on Shelby.

A huge THANK YOU to the Bonus family for having us at your house for a month! I know it was trying at times, for all of us, but we made it and enjoyed it!

Kim started working the week before we got there so it was an adjustment for the kids to be without mommy and to have us there. After Shelby got to where she could sleep with some noise and after I relaxed a bit (that all took two weeks) we really started having fun! We tickled lots and played Webkinz. The girls went to the American Girl store while the guys went to the LEGO store. We ate at Chick-fil-a a lot! (Check this sweet song out!) We went to Emily's dance lessons. We took the kids to AWANA. And towards Christmas we had a lot of fun baking and shoping and decorating and watching movies. Of course there were things that we didn't get to, but it was such a special time for me to spend with them.

Next...Christmas!

It's been...

Ok, we are back in Colorado so I can share some pictures with you! It's been over a month since I've been able to put up pictures of Shelby! I'll try to remember and share all that has happened. Here we go...

We can't post pictures from graduation and the BP Academy, but here are some pictures of Thanksgiving. We celebrated with the Thomas's (left) and the Drakes (right). The Holiday Inn let us use their breakfast room which was great. All of the food was cooked in the microwave and all but the turkey turned out pretty well.

Thank you to Cheryl and Traci for making all of our food! We had a great time with you all!

The weekend after Thanksgiving we went up to Cloudcroft, NM. Josh was so glad to be out of the flatlands! We all enjoyed the cabin in the mountains and the SNOW!

So many things...

I don't have pictures, but at least wanted to update everyone on the last three weeks.

Shelby and I made it to Artesia the 20th of November. Graduation was great! Josh got two awards - one for "1st place" in driving and one for getting the second best "grade" overall. We had a great week with Josh - November 20th through November 29th.

Thanksgiving was interesting...and fun! We were going to spend it with a family from Josh's church, but decided to spend it with some guys from the BP. The Thomas family and the Drake family and us had a microwave Thanksgiving in the breakfast room of the Holiday Inn. :) We really did have a good time and were amazed at how well everything (but the turkey) turned out.

The weekend after Thanksgiving Josh, Shelby and I headed up to Cloudcroft to stay in a cabin in the mountains of NM. It was a great little place and it snowed six inches while we were there! What a nice break from the flatlands of Artesia for Josh.

Monday Shelby and I took off for Dallas. It was a long trek, but went well and we arrived before dinner time. Then Shelby got sick for her first time. :( She has had bumps all over her body and a runny and stuffy nose. Not sure what the bumps are, but she hasn't had a fever and the seem to be going away.

Shelby rolled over by herself for the first time on Tuesday, December 1st. She was on her tummy and rolled over to her back. It was so great! She has done it several times since then, but today she must have forgot how to do it because she just kept fussing while on her tummy.

She is six months old today!!! I'll try to post pictures sometime soon.

Our current plan is to stay in Dallas until after Christmas. Josh and one of the other guys may be able to borrow a car and drive to Dallas on Christmas Eve arriving around 1 or 2 AM. We'd have Christmas Day and Saturday together, then they would drive back on Sunday. Still working out some details, but that is the plan. Fun times!

Still praying our condo will sell soon. We had an offer, but it didn't go through. Josh hopes to go to Sanderson next weekend to check out where we can rent. So much to do in "just" seven weeks! We are all so glad that the time of being apart is almost over. PTL!

Thankful for...(almost) rolling over

So, Shelby will roll back once I roll her over, but she doesn't yet have the initiative to do it herself. She is super sweet none-the-less. Enjoy!


And she fell asleep on my bed the other day. When I went to take a picture she smiled!

Thankful for...Cousins, Sitting, and Spitting

We had a nice "normal" Sunday yesterday before we take our long trip to NM and TX. Keziah (2 1/2 years old) was playing with Shelby so we put Rizpah down with them as well. Believe it or not...Rizpah is 11 months and weighs 17 pounds where Shelby is 5 months and weighs 18 pounds!! Shelby is a big girl! And Rizpah is very petite. Happy 1st Birthday to Rizpah next month, on December 4th. And Shelby will be SIX MONTHS OLD! Crazy how much she has grown and how big she is getting.

We are so excited to go see Daddy! He'll graduate from the Academy a week from today. Yippee!! (Then eight weeks of Spanish, but we try not to think about that.) With Thanksgiving and Christmas we are hoping that the next two months will fly by. It will be so nice to be living under the same roof again.

Shelby is doing a very good job of sitting up by herself. Here she is sitting in her crib looking at me in the mirror. She is so sweet! We are loving her laughing and giggling.

And her spitting is so much fun! Last night she was hungry and tired and she just kept spitting to keep herself from crying I guess. Try to ignore my voice - I was on the phone with Josh at the time. :)

Thank you to my grandpas and so many others...

Thank You Grandpa Ron and Grandpa Wink for serving our country!!! I am so glad to be living in a free country. And I am so proud of you, Daddy, that you are protecting our borders. I am so glad that I am your daughter.
Love,
Shelby Elaine

Thank You to the countless other men and women who have served our country and those who are serving now. To the families that support these men and women - Thank You! Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy 30th Birthday, Daddy!!!

Sorry you had to get sprayed with OC today...but we hope besides that you have had a great day!! We wish we could be with you. Less than 2 weeks and we will be with you - and you'll be finished with the Academy. Mommy and I are so proud of you. And we love you so much! Did you have a candle to blow out today? :)

Thank you to all who sent my daddy a card and/or an e-mail for this big birthday!

Ok, two teeth!

Well, Shelby actually has two teeth coming in! Can you see them? :) She is five months old today and is such a big girl! Her spirit continues to be sweet and I am really enjoying that.

Just two weeks until we head to NM for Josh's graduation from the Academy!! We are very excited for graduation, but not looking forward to the eight weeks of Spanish. God has brought us this far and He is in control, so we keep pressing on. We still aren't sure what we'll be doing for Christmas and New Years but we have some time to plan that.

Our condo is staged and our Realtor held an Open House today so we are praying that something will come from it. Please pray with us that our condo will sell this month...closing before 11/19 would be great!

Keep serving Jesus!

Less than 5 months old...

Can you believe that Shelby got her first tooth!?!?!? Monday, November 2nd Shelby Elaine cut a tooth on the bottom. I could hardly believe it as she bit down on my finger as she usually does and this time it hurt!

Shelby has been in 5 states already...Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. Colorado is obviously where we live. Nebraska - we took her there back in July to see Josh's grandma and extended family. New Mexico - where we got to see Josh while he is in training, as well as a visit to Los Alamos to see my grandparents on the way to and from seeing Josh. Texas - we visited Sanderson, then we visited Luke and Alexa in Lubbock (and we hope to go to Dallas soon!). Oklahoma - we just drove through Oklahoma as we went from Lubbock to Eaton but that still counts!

And she loves to watch other kids play. I have noticed it on Sundays when she watches Aislyn, Keziah and Rizpah. As we packed the condo she loved watching Vivian dance around.

At the Howard's she loved watching Emmalyn and Oliver jump from the couch to the Love Sac. Such sweet laughter! And then we found out that she'll laugh at anyone who is being silly. Luke kept making a funny noise and then danced around a bit and she giggled and giggled and giggled. It was so precious! Another funny thing was that I would say to the kids that Shelby really liked them and Emmalyn would say "But she likes me more than Oliver, right?" So cute!!!
(I can't figure out how to load the video onto my parents Mac, so here is just a picture of Shelby with the Howard's for now.)

Oliver, Luke, Shelby, Alexa & Emmalyn

We're back :(

Well...the trip down on Saturday was great! And we had a wonderful time with Josh on Saturday evening and Sunday. We went to church with Josh on Sunday morning which was fun. Shelby and I left for Lubbock around 3.

Then...I talked with Kim and found out that her kids have been sick with some sort of flu bug. So we continued on to Lubbock to stay with Luke and Alexa. Monday morning we talked with doctors and determined that it would be best for us to come back to Colorado instead of going to Dallas. We are so sad to not be with the Bonuses right now!!!

We left Lubbock Tuesday morning and made it home in 9.5 hours - Shelby is such an amazing traveler!!! And she is such a sweetheart!!! She slept all night last night and after a bath this morning she is taking her morning nap.

So...we'll head down to Artesia for graduation and Thanksgiving, then head to Dallas for the month of December as originally planned. We continue to pray about Kim's job and where the Lord might be leading. And we are so thankful for a wonderful time with Daddy and with the Howards...more to come on that later. For now we'll enjoy the Fall in Colorado and finish packing up the condo.

Thank you Luke and Alexa and family for letting us stay with you for two nights! It was wonderful!!!

Crazy change in plans...

I was planning on spending the month of December with the Bonus's in Dallas, but it turns out that Kim may be working full time for a few weeks in December at a new job so we switched things up! We will be in Dallas from 11/1 through 11/20. Then we'll be with Josh from 11/20 through 11/30 for graduation and Thanksgiving. Then we'll be back in CO around December 1st. Whew!

We did get a lot of snow over the past two days...so much fun! I do hope that the roads dry up for our drive to New Mexico on Saturday. We'll be able to spend a little bit of time with Josh, then stay the night with Luke & Alexa Sunday night and finish the drive to Dallas on Monday. Pray for Shelby as she'll have a LOT of car seat time over the three days. :( She is a trooper, though, and I am sure it will be great! But still pray for me...that I won't go insane listening to crying in the car.

Thank you to Pam and Vivian for the help in packing up the kitchen today. And to Gregg & Catie for all of your help packing as well. And mostly to my parents...what would I do without you?!?!? THANK YOU for letting us live with you, and for helping so much at the condo, and for loving Shelby and Josh and I, and...and...and... the list goes on and on.

We are so excited to see Josh this weekend as we weren't planning on seeing him until late November. And it will be great to spend so much time with the Bonus's!!!

Last blog (with pics) for a while...

I am working on packing up the condo and I have moved in with my parents. Shelby slept good last night at my parents and I am soooo glad!!! I may not be putting up too many pictures for the next three months, but we'll see how it goes.

Here is a picture from our walk the other day...it was cold out so I got her bundled up and we went! Her poor cheeks were bright red, so we made it a short walk, but she was asleep when we got home. Sweet girl!

A wonderful weekend with daddy

We had such a wonderful weekend with daddy! Shelby was a very good girl in the car. We left Friday morning at 5:40 and made it to Artesia by 4:15. Then the three of us headed to Carlsbad, NM for the night. Late Saturday morning we headed to Sanderson, TX to check out the town. We found out that they don't have much for visitors. Saturday was our 6th wedding anniversary and we had a LOT of laughs...we stayed in a dumpy motel, we ate at a gas station for dinner (I really wish we had taken a picture of our "delicious" meal - corn dog for me and chicken finger things for Josh), and Shelby slept in our bed with us.

Sanderson is a town that used to be much larger because the train stopped there, but years ago there was an accident and it was determined that that stop was dangerous so instead of fixing it they took it out. Many people left the town and there are now lots of abandoned houses too far gone to renovate. Still not sure what we are going to do for a house once January comes. For now we just keep praying.

Late Sunday morning we headed out of town and made it (an hour away) to Ft. Stockton for breakfast at IHOP. Then we went back to Carlsbad for Sunday night and Monday. Tuesday Shelby and I made it back safely to Greeley by 6:15 pm. What a weekend!

We found a pumpkin patch in Carlsbad so we stopped to take some pictures. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday night we had a much better anniversary dinner at Chili's. Shelby got all dressed up and looked so sweet!

Monday we enjoyed the Carlsbad Caverns. What an amazing place!!!

4 months old today!

Shelby is 4 months old today! She is just as sweet as ever. She is playing with her toes and her toys and will probably be rolling over soon.

We'll be going to see Josh this weekend and I am very excited! We'll spend Saturday and Sunday in Sanderson, TX checking out the town. Should be fun!

Talking to daddy

Shelby (although camera shy) loves hearing daddy talk to her. She will just stop everything she is doing (moving around) and listen and smile. It is very sweet!

We miss you daddy! And we are so excited to see you next weekend!

Toes!!!

Shelby has discovered her toes!  I love it!!!  And she just woke up from a nap and is having some tummy time and not crying.  So many great things today!
We continue to work on rolling over - she is getting better - I am sure she'll have that down in no time.  :)

Laundry Baby

This is Shelby helping me do the laundry the other day. :) Shelby is getting so big! She is a good smile'r but she is camera shy.

And she has turned over a new leaf! Or on a growth-spurt...she is taking naps longer than 20 to 30 minutes. Yippee! Right now she is going on 2 hours, which means that I got a nap, too. Now...if I can just motivate myself to clean the house. :)

We have had 3 showings on our condo. Please pray with us that it will sell by the end of October. Thank you!!!

Cute hat and playing

I put this hat on Shelby today for our walk because it was cool and windy. She looked so cute I had to share it!

Shelby is starting to meaningfully grab at and play with toys! Yeah! I am actually glad she isn't staying an infant. :) We are working on rolling over and I'll let you know when she's a pro.

Holding her head up

Shelby is doing much better at holding her head up! Yeah! I don't think we'll get a "c for concern" at our next doctor appointment. :) However she still does not like tummy time very much. Any suggestions?

We are praying that our condo will sell soon - by the end of September would be great! If you know anyone who is looking share these websites with them:

• Virtual Tour
• Realtor.com listing with lots of photos

So many people in our church have offered to help and I am looking forward to that when we are ready to pack this place up!

Josh is doing well. We sure do miss seeing daddy every day. We are making plans to see each other in October over the 3-day weekend. And then it will probably be the week of Thanksgiving before we see him again. We praise the Lord for such great answers to prayer - He provided this job for Josh at the perfect time! I am very glad that I am able to stay at home with Shelby. She is so precious and this is such a special time for us. God is good and we are constantly grateful that He is in control!

Down and back in six days

We made it! Shelby and I went to Artesia over this past weekend to visit Josh. It was a wonderful trip ~ so good to see Josh!!! We drove down to Los Alamos on Thursday and stayed the night, then drove to Artesia Friday. Friday night, Saturday and Sunday we spent with Josh. Then Monday we drove back to Los Alamos and Tuesday came home. THANK YOU GRANDPA AND GRANDMOTHER FOR LETTING US STAY AT YOUR HOME!!! And it was good to see you guys!

Shelby and I had a really good time visiting Josh. He is doing well! You are not allowed to take any pictures while on the base, so we don't have any pictures this time around. We enjoyed great meals with Josh, we did some laundry, Josh did some studying, and we met a few of his classmates. Saturday Josh showed us around the base - it is pretty neat! It was a lot of driving and Shelby did very well in her car seat, but she was definitely sick of it at the end. We are looking forward to the next time we can see him, which will probably be Columbus Day weekend in October...also our 6th Wedding Anniversary!

Thank you all for your prayers! God is good and we are so grateful for a wonderful trip and weekend.

Shelby is 3 months old today

At three months old ...

• I like to sleep all night, eating maybe once around 4 am.
• I like to take walks with mommy in the mornings while it is still cool outside. I usually sleep, but sometimes it is fun to just talk with mommy on our walks.
• I like to eat about every 2 hours during the day.
• I have a hard time taking naps during the day sometimes, but mommy says it's ok since I sleep all night.
• I love to suck on my fingers and my thumbs!
• I am learning to play on my own.
• I miss my daddy!!!

Here is a picture of me, taken today.

Mommy and I are planning to go to NM this weekend to see daddy!!! I can hardly wait!

He made it!

After around 18 hours of traveling Josh made it to Marfa, TX! We are all zonked so this will be short. Both flights (Denver to Dallas, then Dallas to Midland/Odessa) went well. The second flight wasn't very full, so Josh had some extra room which is always nice. Then he waited for the bus for a few hours. The bus ride to Marfa went well and his luggage is with him! There were only four people on the bus, all BP so Josh got to chat with them a little (one guy that will be in Sanderson, one guy that will be in Persidio (sp?) and one gal but we don't know where she'll be). We are praising the Lord for a good day! Tomorrow starts the fun!

Shelby and I had a good day as well. She is sleeping so I am off to bed. More later...

She did it!

Shelby laughed today!!! It was very sweet and I am so glad Josh was here to hear it! I was walking around the room with Shelby cradled in my arms just chatting and I kissed her neck and she laughed! It was so precious. We did this several times and she laughed each time. Later in the day she was laying on the ottoman and I kissed her belly and she laughed again. Oh what fun!

And we are going to REALLY miss daddy!!! He leaves in five days. :( I keep praying that these days go by slow and that we enjoy every minute of it. There is a lot to do, but we are having fun together. We are looking forward to Friday evening ~ hope you all can make it! Thanks for your prayers!

Farewell Party for Josh

Josh will be leaving next Sunday and he will be in training through January in New Mexico.

Please join us at the Griffin’s house (615 Collins Street, Eaton) for a come & go farewell party Friday evening starting at 6:00 pm. We hope to see you all there!

If you would like to send him notes of encouragement here is how you can contact him during his training in NM:

BPA (T) - Joshua R. Hamilton
U.S. BORDER PATROL ACADEMY
Session Number: BP ACAD Class #907
1300 W. Richey Avenue
Artesia, NM 88210

Or you can always send him an e-mail: hamfam03@gmail.com. And you can check out this blog for family updates: http://hamfam03.blogspot.com/.

Where is the world is Sanderson, TX?

Ok, so here is what we have found:

1. From Eaton, CO to Sanderson, TX: 15 hours, 2 minutes

2. From Chaska, MN to Sanderson, TX: 21 hours, 59 minutes

3. From Dallas, TX to Sanderson, TX: 8 hours, 14 minutes

4. From Gloucester, MA to Sanderson, TX: Google says "about 1 day 12 hours"

5. From Gothenburg, NE to Sanderson, TX: 16 hours, 58 minutes

6. From South Padre Island, TX to Sanderson, TX: 10 hours, 16 minutes

7. From Los Alamos, NM to Sanderson, TX: 10 hours, 2 minutes

8. From Helena, MT to Sanderson, TX: 1 day 1 hour

...Kim and Adam are the lucky winners at 8 hours and 14 minutes!

San Antonio, TX appears to be the closest big city and it is 5 hours, 16 minutes away. The nearest airport you can fly into seems to be Midland, TX - Odessa Regional Airport (MAF) and is 3 hours, 27 minutes away. Check out this site: http://www.sandersontx.org/relocate.html.

My how our lives will change!

Many great things...God is SO GOOD!

Yesterday was a good day!!

1. Josh got a job offer from the Border Patrol!!!

2. Our house is on the market!

3. Shelby slept all night!!!

Ok, here are the details:

Joe from the Border Patrol called yesterday and offered Josh a job in Sanderson, TX, the Cactus Capital of Texas (check out Google Maps for the location). And he accepted! Yes, it appears to be in the middle of no where, but we prefer that to a big city! In checking it out, the 2000 census shows a population of 861 people (Wikipedia). The good things are that there is a high deer population so the hunting is good, it is the Eastern gateway to the Big Bend Wilderness so there are places to "shop" even though it is a small town, it appears to be a cheap place to live, and there are lots of churches to choose from! Although it is a small town they do have a few restaurants. Check it out: http://www.sandersontx.org/ and http://www.sandersonchamberofcommerce.info/.

The crazy part of this is that Josh will have to leave next weekend! He has to report to orientation 8/31/09! Artesia (circled in red and in NM) is where Josh will be for training from 9/3/09 to 1/23/10. Shelby and I will be making trips from CO to NM on weekends - we can't go without seeing Daddy for 4 months! It looks like about a 10 hour drive from Greeley to Artesia. We may stop over in Los Alamos to split the trip up...we'll see!

Lori Lindholm with Re/Max is our real estate agent and our house is on the market. Her photographer did a good job on a virtual tour - check it out: http://www.buildmytour.net/tour.php?id=61FC. We are praying that our condo will sell within the next two weeks. Once it sells Shelby and I will move in with my parents in Eaton until we find a place to live in Sanderson.

Shelby went to sleep last night at 6:30 pm (while we were at dinner). When we got home at 9:00 pm we woke her up to feed her and she went right back to sleep. She woke up this morning at 5:45 am. Needless to say Josh and I got a great night of sleep!

Thank you, Lord, for so many good things!!!

Shelby's 2 months old!

Shelby is 2 months old today! It is hard to believe it - time has just been flying by. She is such a sweet girl! She has started smiling at us and cooing, what fun! She weighs 13 lbs 4 oz which puts her in the 97%'ile for weight. She is 23.5 inches which puts her in the 80%'ile for height. She is a big girl and oh so sweet!

Shelby has been to several parties - even at her young age. Just last night we helped Doug Freemyer celebrate his 50th birthday! Lianne threw a great party at Shelly's house. It was so great to see ALL of the Freemyers (minus Hugues, Jodi's husband). We love you guys!

Thanks, Donetta, for the great outfit - Shelby looks so cute and precious in it!

We missed you daddy!

Josh enjoyed a fun weekend with the guys at the Father/Son Campout up in the mountains of Colorado. Isaac was able to come out to go on the camping trip as well! And Adam and Nathan Bonus came, too. What fun! Chuck Stecker was the guest speaker and the guys said it was wonderful! Check out Chuck's blog entry. Also, check out Craig's sermon.

Top: Wayne, Isaac, Josh, Adam

Bottom: Gregg, Russel, Nathan

Grandma hung out with Shelby and I a little bit each day which was very nice. Here is Shelby smiling ~ she loves being talked to!

Shelby and I were so glad to have Daddy home on Sunday afternoon. Monday we got to hang out with Isaac before he flew back to MN Monday evening.

Shelby's first baseball game

Last night we took Shelby to her first baseball game! A few of the kids from our church had a game here in Greeley and so we went to see them play. It was a very nice night - there was a slight breeze so we didn't have to worry about bugs, and it was still warm. Just before the end of the game the wind picked up and Shelby was getting hungry so we snapped this photo and headed home. No, she isn't screaming...she is cheering!

Cabela's!

On our way back from NE to CO we took I-80 so that we could stop by Cabela's! We were hoping to see Bryce and Melanie, but they weren't home. Shelby didn't last long in Cabela's, but it was a nice stop on the way home.

Shelby's first road trip

We went to Nebraska this past weekend so that Shelby could meet her great-grandma Hamilton and all of the other Hamilton relatives that live in Gothenburg. Shelby slept in the car the entire ride to and from NE. We got to Gothenburg Friday afternoon and spent the afternoon with Mary and Grandma and Uncle D. Friday evening there was a pizza party at Pizza Hut there in Gothenburg. We had a great time and Shelby got to meet a lot of 2nd cousins (Wahlgren's and Schwanz's). (Unfortunately we didn't get to see Uncle Johnny and Aunt Jan as Uncle Johnny just had heart surgery in Lincoln, NE a few days earlier.) Shelby did great! We stayed the night at the Super 8 and Shelby slept all night in her "tent" - we were so glad! Saturday we went to Uncle D's apartment and looked at his amazing drawings. Then we said goodbye to Grammy, as she had to head back to MN. Josh, Shelby and I had lunch at Uncle D's with Grandma and then we hit the road back to CO. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time seeing everyone.

Grammy's stay (Mary)

Mary spent July 3rd through July 10th here in Colorado. Shelby loved being held by "Grammy" a lot! Josh took the week off to spend time with Shelby and me and his mom. We had a nice time hanging out at our house and running small errands. Shelby already misses you, Grammy! I was able to get a lot done since Mary was holding Shelby during most of her waking hours. Thank you, Mary!!!

Hopefully everyone has received their announcement of Shelby's birth by now. Again, thank you, Mary, for making those for us; we love your creativity! You are a huge blessing to us!

More Visitors and the 4th

Grandma Mary & Uncle Isaac came to Colorado from Minnesota to see Shelby this weekend. We had a nice time in the mountains, even though it rained and we couldn't go 4-wheeling (because we didn't have rain gear and we were wearing shorts!). Because of all the rain we got in June it was very green up in the mountains, so we drove around and enjoyed the Red Feather Lakes area. Uncle Isaac had to leave on Sunday, but Grandma Mary will be here through the week to hold Shelby and help around the house.

We enjoyed a cooler 4th of July and that was really nice! Thanks Russel and Zoey for hosting dinner on the 4th! And thanks Amanda and Mike for the cute outfit ~ Shelby looked great!

Noisy Shelby!

We were able to catch Shelby on video making the noises that she makes while sleeping. This is why the cradle is now in the living room!

The finishing touch...

Thank you, Grandma, for the finishing touch on my cradle! ~Shelby

My mom made a pillow for the cradle as well.

I love my canopy and pillow!

And notice the new location...Shelby is a loud sleeper, so we had to move the cradle to the living room so that we can get some sleep at night. Shelby likes to breath loud and kindof snort (Russel and Jesse and Kim - just hush!). We are trying to get a video of it so you all can hear. :)

First Father's Day!

Josh had a great first Father's Day. We were able to dedicate Shelby at the EFC of Eaton! It was a special time and neat because it was on Father's Day.

All of my family was here the week before. Jesse and Kelly left Sunday morning, but the rest of us spent Father's Day together. It was wonderful to have everyone here. Shelby did well with all the people, but was tuckered out at the end of each day.

Left to right: Wayne/Wink (Sharon's Dad), Adam (Sharon's Brother-in-law), JOSH, Grandpa Klatt; in front: Russel (Sharon's Brother)

Josh is such a great daddy! Shelby is so blessed to have him. Thank you, Jesus, for Josh!

Shelby's Visitors ~ Family

We really enjoyed our out-of-town family that came to visit this past week!!! Here are some pictures from that visit.

Emily (Sharon's niece)

Grandpa Klatt

Grandma Klatt

Aunt Kim with Abby holding Shelby and Emily watching. (Kim is Sharon's sister.)

Uncle Jesse and Aunt Kelly with Grandma Klatt and (Josh's leg). I don't have a good picture of Jesse and Kelly with Shelby, but we really enjoyed having them here as well! (Jesse is Sharon's youngest brother.)

Uncle Wayne and Aunt Deby Klatt (Andrew came, too!)

Mike & Amanda Lucas (not technically "family" but close enough!)

Thank you all for coming!! We love you and are excited for the next time we will see you!