Marshall's Gulch on Mt. Lemmon

We joined other families from the Rainbow Families group, sponsored by Wingspan in Tucson, for a picnic at the top of Mount Lemmon yesterday. This picture shows how much the kids enjoyed the running water and MUD in the very lovely temperature of 68-72 degrees. Emmett is on the right, his "mud brother" Matvey is on the left. Huge thanks to Matvey's dad for taking such great pictures!

This was a great escape from the valley heat of 102+ that has taken over for the summer.

A note from Kirsten (great story!)

The boys were 'gardening' when E and P came running to the door telling me something was dead in the birdbath. So I went to take a look and there was a chick dead in the water. Probably a little house finch. Emmett took the flowers that Grandpa Krueger gave me (I was getting ready to compost them anyway) and walked to where the dead bird had been with this clump of flowers in his hand, said a few words and dropped them to the spot. As they were falling to the ground Emmett waved goodbye to him.

I watched this from inside the kitchen and it was very powerful for me. Yes, I cried. He is so kind and loving. When he came in I hugged him, crying, told him how proud of him I am and how sweet and kind he is. Potter said, 'me too?'. I told him the same and we all had the nicest hug. We are so lucky to have these guys.

Ahhh, Seagulls!

Looks like they're trying to eat Harrison... I think he was just trying to throw them a few crackers.

Beautiful Boys and Beautiful Beach!

This could have been taken any day of the kids three week Florida vacation. They are total beach boys! I think this is Boca Grande, so lovely...

Too much playtime, so sleepy!

Oops, too much cousin fun in Florida :) Good thing Granny had lots of comfy pillows and a kid-freindly TV show when the thunderstorms started!

Summer vacation in Florida

The kids jumped right into playing, swimming, climbing with their cousins Kaylee and Hannah when they got to Florida for their summer vacation.

Tide Pools in Maui

The first few days we were in Maui, it was a little rainy and not so warm. So we went exploring the tide pools after walking to the Farmer's Market. This park is such a great park, with it's own beach, a great children's playground and just across the street from the Bad Ass Coffee Company. Awesome morning!

Maui, here we come!

The boys are marveling at the beautiful flowers and lush, green grass at our layover in the Oahu airport. It was a long flight, but so, so worth it! Thankfully they both travel well and we had the added adult presence of Grandma and Papa to help out when Mommy and Mama got tired and/or ran out of ideas :)

His 1st Trophy!

Emmett received his first trophy at his soccer party the other night. It even has his name on it. He is so proud and excited to have a trophy. He is taking it with us everywhere to make sure everyone can see it. Such a cute boy, growing up too fast!

Playing at the Park

Reid Park in central Tucson has some nice bike paths, lakes, and lovely green grass... all located on the same campus as the regional zoo, a children's train, and a large heated pool facility. The kids LOVE going there!

Granny Doughnut!

I don't think this picture needs any extra explanation :)

Farmers Market

We have been sampling the local farmers markets since moving here. This one has been the favorite so far, the kids loved it and we found lots of yummy produce... even some grass-fed local beef!

Cousins!

Our niece, Lucy, has started staying with us once or twice a week now that her Mom has gone back to work. Miss Lucy loves her cousins and her cousins love it when she comes over. The grown-ups are in love too! The only glitch so far is Lucy's natural preference for breast over bottle. Hopefully, she'll get more used to taking the bottle on her visit days really soon.

This is a picture of all three cousins on our bed the other day. So sweet!

SNOW!

The boys learned what snow was today. Kirsten and Granny Susan took the boys up to Mount Lemmon, just 45 minutes from our house. They all had an awesome time, including a trip to the local pie shop. I was very jealous that I had to stay home and work :(

Cousins on Christmas Eve

The kids had the best time at our Christmas Eve soup party. The picture at the kids table is Emmett (4), Jayla (5), Jaeden (2), Harrison (2). They thought they were so very cool with their own table!

4 generations on Christmas Eve

We had lots of family over for our Christmas Eve potato soup traditional dinner this year. All of my living grandparents were there, Grandpa Bill and Grandma and Grandpa Richter. My parents were there. Kirsten's mom too. My brother and his wife, Lynsey, attended with our lovely niece, Lucy. Lynsey's mom came and brought her two other granddaughters that love to play with our boys. We had a great evening and this picture is pretty special!

Hiking in the Cold :)

The boys are loving the hiking that the mountains around Tucson offer. Are they hiking or posing for a GAP commercial??

Santa at the grocery store

We took the boys to a local grocery store where they were having a Holiday party/sale. Harrison's nose is green because they went to the cookie decorating table and ate their cookies before seeing Santa. There were also tables where you could write your letter to Santa, new ice cream flavors to sample, meat and cheese tray samples, green and red balloons being handed out. We had a great time even though you could barely walk through the aisles. Even bought some Wheat Thins for only $1.27 a box! They had a couple of other good deals, but that one was my favorite :) Our overall purchase shows price paid of $37 and amount saved of $33... almost 50% discount on a grocery trip doesn't hurt. Especially when you get both boys to see Santa at the same time without crying ;)

2008 Family Photo

I know it's been a while since an update (I plan on filling in between May 2008 and now, sometime over the holiday break...) In the meantime, here's a great family photo that was taken at a Rainbow Families event hosted by Wingspan here in Tucson. www.wingspan.org is a non-profit that has been working on GLBT issues here in Tucson for many years. Their most recent launch, Families You Know, is a great program designed to help people understand that gay marriage is not just an issue of semantics or religion, it's about real people and real families who deserve the same rights as other families!

4th Avenue Street Fair

This is one of the events in Tucson I missed the most. The 4th Avenue Street Fair happens in the Spring and Fall every year. The City closes a couple of blocks along 4th Avenue and vendors and artisans set-up along the run, with all the 4th Avenue shops open for business.

We enjoyed ourselves, especially at the local restaurant, Bison Witches. The street fair is awesome and did not disappoint, BUT it's not usually freezing and raining!