Merry Christmas

So who doesn't like sledding? Unbelievable, our son didn't like sledding one bit! We figured he would love the thrill of flying down the hill...he was "done" after one try down the hill. Instead, we ended up making a snowman. Maybe some day.....

On Christmas Eve, we made our annual chocolate covered pretzels and cherries. Eli was a hoot while making the pretzel nibblers. At first, he had no idea it was chocolate...then he had some on his fingers and decided to lick it off. He got the biggest eyes and rubbed his belly..."yum" he said. It was no hold bars after that, he was popping pretzels left and right. Talk about a sugar buzz...holy smokes!

We hope all of you had a fabulous Christmas with family and friends. It was a bit strange to celebrate Christmas in a different house not to mention a different state, but we still had lots of family and friends to enjoy the moments with. Rob and I really talked up the Santa thing to Eli! It seemed he was more interested in Frosty! Every snowman he sees is Frosty the Snowman...too cute! On Christmas morning, Rob was already downstairs when Eli woke up...I don't know who was more excited to be honest. Eli was so excited with each present Santa brought for him...he sure must have been a good boy. As parents, we were very lucky not to have Santa bring anything that needed assembling...yippee!!! Rip, rip, rip went the wrapping paper....by far his favorite present was a helicopter and the geo-track airport.

Eli hanging with his nana!


Which one should I open first???


Oh boy! Dinosaurs!!!!

Later that afternoon, we went to dinner at some friends of ours. They have two little kids so Eli had a blast running around like a maniac. During dinner, he was able to sit at the kid table. This was his 1st time eating without sitting next to mom and dad. Needless to say, he didn't eat much food. He had too much fun goofing around.

We love riding our horses.

Eli turns 3!!!

Eli with Jeff Wiggle.

Toot, Toot Chugga, Chugga Big Red Car!!

Wow!! We can't believe that Eli is offically three....time goes too fast! We celebrated his birthday while in Indy so he could be with his uncles, aunt, nana, papa and cousins. Then when we got back, we also celebrated his special day. I quick made him a M&M cake so he could blow out his three candles. He only wanted the M&M's...didn't want anything to do with the cake.

A Visit From Amanda

Eli and his big sister!

Amanda, the lush!

Eli and his cheesecake before he went to town!

Rob, Eli and Amanda in Denver

The week before Thanksgiving, Amanda came to Wyoming for a visit. While she was here, we celebrated Christmas. Everyone had fun unwrapping presents. We took her up to Estes Park and through the Rocky Mountains. We also took a trip into Denver for the night. The scariest part of the evening was when we were driving, a man walked out into front of the car...Rob almost kicked my booty when I did my famous look up and yell..oh my god, a person. The man dropped his phone and did this dance in the road trying to get out of the road...all in all everyone turned out fine but man, use the crosswalk would ya. Later that evening, we got chuckling quite hard at the situation. While down in Denver, we had to take Amanda to the 16th Street mall. We knew she would love this place...she had to check out the Hot Topic store and compare it to the one she works at in Michigan. After we ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, we splurged on dessert and went to The CheeseCake Factory. We each got our own piece....including Eli! Needless to say, we took home some leftovers. We miss you, Amanda!!!

We Have Been Busy...Time To Catch Up....

The Big Man!

Eli is the next comic book artist...or Captain America!

The Family!

Uncle Joe pushing Kennedy and Eli

I can't believe I haven't updated since mid-November....I guess we have been busy!

Over Thanksgiving, we took a trip to Joe's in Indy for our good ol' Thanksmas. Everyone was able to make it for the event of the year! No doubt, we had a good time. I should have taken pictures of all the air matttesses located throughout the house. At one time, we had 6 matresses that people were using. When you get that many air matresses, you know that at least one of them will deflate in the night. Justin won that award...what he didn't know was that my brother and dad tried to put fix-a-flat in the matress prior to him using it. I guess fix-a-flat doesn't work!! Throughout the weekend, we played many games...spoons, pass the trash, cribbage, and several other goofy games. A micracle happened when my niece, Kelsey FINALLY won a game of pass the trash...she has the worst luck with that game! We even had time to shoot some family photos (which turned out awesome!). When it came to opening presents, oh my goodness...Eli ripped them open like he was a pro! Christmas is going to be a hoot. One day we ventured downtown Indy (which I love) and walked around. We lost Justin and his girlfriend, but eventually we were able to find them. While we were walking around, Eli got to see Santa on a Harley. Eli was more excited about the Harley than Santa! On Sunday, Mike, Lynda, Kelsey, and Kennedy had to head home to Michigan. Some of us went to the Children's Museum in Indy. WOW!! Is that place amazing. My favorite part was the huge yule slide they had...just like the one in The Christmas Story. After Eli slid down, he wanted to climb up the slide...the workers had to stop the next people from going until I got Eli out of the way....I was laughing at him!!

Jumpin'...My 1st attempt at a video

The Cheyenne's Mommies group took a trip to a place called Jumpin' in Loveland, Co. This place is a huge building with blow-ups for kids...slides, games, obstacle courses, etc. Eli was hesitate at first to climb the steps that lead to the slide. So, I had to climb up with him....holy crap, we were high! He must have went down the slide 25 times. This is a definately a place we will go back to this winter!

Putting Up the Christmas Tree

Yes, folks...The Crosby's put up their Christmas tree on Nov. 15th. No, we are not going crazy! Amanda is coming to visit this coming week and we are celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with her...hence the reason for a tree. The hilarous thing is that we gathered all of our Christmas items only to realize that we had all the parts to our tree except the tree stand...guess that didn't make the move. So we had to head to our 1st trip to Lowe's for a new tree and lights. Man, new Christmas trees have the hook up...no longer do you have to sort the colors to insert the branches into the stand. I was quite amazed....ok, ok, its been awhile since we have purchased a tree. Did you notice I put our 1st trip to Lowes? Thats because we had to go back to purchase more lights as we ended up not having enough...I think we now have 1,000 lights on our tree. Eli was a hoot helping Rob put the lights on the tree. He needed a lot of reminders to be gentle when it came to putting up the ornaments! Most of you may know that we have had two trees (sometimes three) since we have been married. I think it was something my mom and I started. We have a tree I have named the pretty tree with all the glass ornaments...that will go up later. Today we put up the family tree with all of the "oh so cute" handmade ornaments. We love putting up that tree! Some of my favs include ornaments my Gma Thayer made in 1976, Eli's ornaments he made in daycare last year, pictures of Benelli and Maggie when they were pups, and all the ones Rob and I pick up when we travel. We have a lot of sentimental ornaments that go on the family tree.

Time to Catch Up...

After a blizzard in Rapid City, SD (so glad we moved from there), we met our friends Joe and Liana down in Denver for a night on the town. We ate dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse. Being from Brazil herself, Liana had to help us understand some of the different items that came to our table. We loved this place! The server gives you this little wooden piece (I should have taken a picture of it...oops) that we used to say if we wanted the food to keep coming, take a break, or if we were done. They had 19 different kind of meat that came out at different times on skewers. After dinner, we walked around 17th street which is an open mall...very cool evening!

Halloween Fun!

Rob had Eli ready to hit a few houses for trick or treating. Our first stop was our neighbors. We made our visit and started to head on our way when Stuart accidently stepped on Eli's tail sending his pumpkin rolling down the driveway. Eli couldn't believe what was happening...he kept looking at Stuart like, "Why did you just do this to me?" We managed to continue our journey. Eli was a hoot once he figured out that everyone was giving him treats! Although, he thought we had to go into everyones house. Once we finished going to a few houses, we went back home. This is where Eli's adventures started. He had a riot with all of the kids that came to the house. I would give them candy, then he would have to put another special piece in their bag. Whenever the doorbell would ring, he would run to the door, trying to say trick or treat! We also let him have a couple pieces of his candy...oh my! He doesn't get that much candy so you can only imagine how wired he was....needless to say, bedtime was a little later that evening.

Estes Park, Colorado

Hanging in the park...

Anybody wanna play?

The tail is great!!!

I was 2 feet from these amazing animals!!

To start with, sometimes I don't understand the images and how they appear on the screen. The above looks like I just dropped a bunch of pictures onto the screen...yikes!

Our weekend was quite restful as Eli has the croup. We thought it would be best to lay low for most of the weekend. Eli wanted to get out the lincoln logs. I had to laugh as Rob spent almost 45 minutes building an entire village...then Eli played with it for about 7 minutes before he had to destroy it. Eli has been a little poopsicle lately with his toys...likes to crash them onto the ground. Oh what fun it is!!!

After hanging home on Friday, we decided to take a ride up to Estes Park and check out some of the shops. Eli was getting a little restless so we decided to take him to the park...wrong answer! The park was being occupied by a herd of elk!! We could hardly believe our eyes...thankgoodness Eli was ok with not going to that particular park. The pictures are pretty amazing. Rob had made a comment that he can walk around in the woods all day and not see an elk...then to come to the park and they are everywhere.

I was able to get some more Christmas shopping done and presents wrapped. Yes, you read that correctly! Hard to believe that we only have 3 weeks before we have our first Christmas morning of the season with Rob's kids.

On Monday, my mommies group got together for the Great Pumpkin Party. The kids were able to paint their pumpkins, make a mask, and best of all, play! You will be able to see a sneak peek of Eli's dinosuar costume. Yeah, he actually wore it for quite some time. My mom was the professional that did all the handy work...I will stick to sewing buttons onto shirts!

Denver Zoo and Pumpkin Patch, oh my!

What a wild weekend we had! I love that Rob doesn't work on Fridays...it will suck when I go back to work, but for now I have no reason for jealousy..ha!ha! On Friday, the day was absolutely gorgeous...(80 degrees...yippee for the sun) so off to the Denver Zoo we went. That place is unbelivably...so many unique animals. Eli never stopped walking/running the entire visit. We actually could have gotten away with not bringing the stroller. What a difference in Eli's reactions to the animals since the time we brought him to the Indy Zoo in August. He was so much more engaged this time around.

On Saturday, Rob went hunting so I brought Eli to a pumpkin patch...oh, how I miss Uncle John's Cider Mill! Anyway...we went for a hayride, rode John Deere tricycles, played on the playset, road a barrel train, and many other silly activities. Eli loves saying the word pumpkin whenever he sees one. Needless to say, I heard the word pumpkin a time or two.

When Eli woke up on Sunday, he was very surprised to see his gma and gpa at the house. He gets so crazy when they are around. My mom had made him some bean bags...well, Rob takes one and throws it at full force at the wall. Eli squealed with excitement....and proceeded to try to copy his dad. I was like, what a minute...we are not going to throw these and break a window! So, we spent the rest of the day experimenting with the bean bags...oh, what a kid! During the day on Sunday, Rob and I actually got to go and get some shopping done. This was a first time in awhile that Rob and I went out and I left my mother duties at home...a well deserved treat! Toys r Us was one of our stops...we filled the cart and spent a lot less than we anticipated...time to go back!!!

Unbelieveable Sight!!!

What a miraculous sight it was to go past the ol' gas station and see gas at $2.98 a gallon...plus I have a Sooper card that gives me 3 cents off per gallon. I never thought I would see gas under 3 bucks again.
We were suppose to go to a pumpkin patch today but our weather just sucks! There are actually blizzard warnings for different parts of Wyoming...thank goodness not our area, but we still are going to get some frigid temps. I will have to come up with some crazy indoor activities for us to do.
In some great news, we were able to land some great airline tickets prices for Thanksmas in Indiana. Originally, we were going to drive (heaven help us) to Joe's house but I kept checking the different flights. Now we will be able to celebrate even longer with our family...yeah!!!! Crazy thing....while we are there, Eli will be celebrating his 3rd birthday...wow, three already.

Visit to Nana and Papa's

What a busy week! Nana and Papa came to visit for a couple of days. Eli always loves when they come to visit...nothing but play, play, play! Eli still has the nasty fall cold but getting better each day. Then on Tuesday, we made the trip to Hill City to stay with Nana and Papa for a couple of days. Eli loved the huge backyard which was a huge playland!

On Sunday, we actually stayed home all day with the exception of church. I actually had time to do some scrapbooking. Eli stood by the table cutting and cutting his project....like for 15 minutes...a true record! A very funny moment was when I had to run upstairs to grab something. I came back downstairs to see Eli sitting in my chair with a marker. YIKES!!! He decided to add some of his own journaling to my completed pages and pictures....all I could do is laugh. I did take away the scissors however, never thought about him opening the markers! This is just one of the cherished memories I will have forever!!!

Here a shot, there a shot...ouch!

Oh man...our little man had his doctor appointment today. He ended up getting 3 shots(antibotic shot, flu shot, and hep a), plus they stuck a needle in one of his sores to recheck for MRSA...Yeah, that didn't go over so well. Glad I missed that appointment! Rob was the unfortunate one to bring him to the doctor. Hopefully his infections start clearing up...I have Christmas pictures to start thinking about..ha!ha! All weekend he has had a horrible fever (including today!) I hope his fever breaks soon.

Eli got a package in the mail today from his Grandpa Crosby and Peggy (one of the above pic.). He had the cutest face when I told him he had a present...I immediately thought how fun Christmas is going to be. He was hooked up some shirts from Texas...I will attach a picture!

Yippee! Yippee! I had to take my Wyoming Constitution this morning and passed. This should be the last step in obtaining in teaching license for yet another state.

Put your finger in the shape of an L....

This news is so not like me but after a couple of days at the new job I had to give my two week notice...shameful, I know. It wasn't an easy decision to make but I feel I had to do what I did for my sanity! This short time really made me put my ducks in a row. I will continue to search for something around here in Cheyenne.

On to better things and one of the big reasons for me leaving my job....Eli loves his STRIDE school. Whenever Rob picks him up from daycare, Eli will say "I want school." I hope he keeps this feeling for a very long time!!! Eli's speech continues to get better each week....there are still numerous words we don't recognize yet but he keeps working so hard.

The other day we went to eat at Shadows. I needed to put my leftovers in a box...the next thing I knew Eli was lifting up his bowl and dumping his mac-n-cheese into the box. It was so cute!

Saturday was a mama and Eli day. We went and walked around Sloan Lake, then played on the playground. As we were playing a lady invited us to have a picnic with her and some other people. It turned out that the people all work for Laramie Schools (the district I am tyring to get into). They gave me some hints to get into the district...what an awesome lunch. Hopefully I will be able to put they advice to use. As we were hanging out, Rob was checking out his hunting territory for the upcoming season. Using his GPS, he was heading back to the truck, as he turned the corner a bull moose was standing there...holy crap! He just stood still and walked back a little bit as the moose went along his business. That was a first for him to encounter....little different than running into a deer!

Sunday Night Feeling!

Ah yes, it has been 7 months (hard to believe) since I have had that Sunday night feeling...those of you that teach or have taught know what I am talking about. In case you haven't heard, I got a special ed. elementary teaching job in Greeley, Colorado. The bummer of the job is that its 45 minutes to an hour away. I will compute for awhile but YES there will be another move in our future...three states in one year, now theres something to be proud about! Ha Ha!!! The staff at my school seems extremely nice...they are also greatful to have someone in this position as it has been open since they started school Aug. 14th...for those of you wondering, our last day is May20th.

With this news also came the struggle of finding a daycare....I am very picky who I leave Eli with so this was not an easy feat. Plus not really knowing the area didn't help! After an entire day of checking out daycares, I finally found one. I love the fact that they have "class" for two hours each day. Rob and I got him a cute little backpack...I will post pic. later. He absolutely loves wearing his "mackpak."

Labor Day Weekend Camping Adventure

We set out Friday to pick up our rented RV for the weekend and headed up to Yellowstone National Park for an adventurous weekend. Rob has wanted to go to YNP for as long as he can remember...and it was his turn to pick the trip. Eli thought it was the greatest being able to sit and play in various spots while we were driving along. The first night we stayed in a little road side park outside of Lander, Wyoming. When we arrived, Rob and I stepped outside to see the most stars we have ever seen (I guess when your in the middle of nowhere this is possible). The Milky Way looked so spectacular....if only a shooting star went by but no such luck! In the morning, it was onto the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. Once inside the park, the views were amazing. We didn't realize how many lakes and rivers were in the parks. On our way to the KOA, we visited Old Faithful...for a geyser that only erupts every 90 minutes, we got very lucky as we ony waited 10 minutes. Throughout our weekend, we were able to see elk, moose, coyote, and a couple of other animals. While we were traveling, we decided to skip this one tourist attraction...good choice as a million people were there! We did however want to stop at the petrified tree attraction...to be honest I thought it was going to be more of a forest but it ended up being half of a tree...the rest had been stolen! However, when we got there, traffic was very heavy...we just figured it was really cool. Once we walked the distance, we understood why it had turned into quite a site...there were three of the largest moose just hanging out. We got some great pictures and video...the video is a little boring but still unbelievable!