Maroon 5 at the Fillmore

Last night we were able to attend the Maroon 5 Concert at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver. It was a sweet concert. Other than being on my feet for another couple of hours during the concert, it was great.

The Fillmore is basically a huge ballroom/dancefloor with some stadium seating on the upper levels and a stage at one end. The seating is general, first come-first served. This means too that you can go just about anywhere in the place. We were able to be about 10-15 feet from the stage. This made for some great pics and video of the concert. I only have a few pics from my phone that I can put up right now, but I will put up the video and other pics when I get home.

Adam Levine, the lead singer who also plays some lead guitar, is a remarkably talented performer. He has excellent vocal range. They played some of their well-known music, some of their new stuff, and a couple covers. They convinced me that Purple Rain (by Prince) is a pretty cool song. We had a great time and still have our hearing since I was able to find 4 sets of earplugs in my car as we were leaving our apartment.

On a side note: You would be wise to never go to a concert without earplugs--if you know the music will be loud. With them you can actually hear the music and not just loud bass and blaring and screaming. Janna didn't have them at the Gwen Stefani concert and had them last night and said she could actually hear the music this time. I learned my lesson after going to a Creed concert back in '99 and having my right ear ring for a season.

Off my soapbox, what a good time. We were able to get a 2nd set of tickets and Tim and Shannon met us there so we had a great time together. I think Tim is the newest Maroon 5 fan. Their music has its own sound. When I try to describe it I think of a jazz/modern/rock. It really is easy to listen to and when I hear it I have to sing along.

Maroon 5

Saturday at the Zoo we got tickets to Maroon 5 from the radion station Alice 105.9. It is tonight and Janna and I are headed there in a couple of hours. This was pretty sweet because I really wanted to take her, but got her the Nordstrom gift card instead. I guess she gets the best of both worlds. She deserves it. Sometimes things just work out.

It is time

So now the fun begins. We are starting to pack today. I have been able to start collecting boxes from the cardboard bin here at work and some friends have given us boxes. We have 2 weeks to get packed up and moved out. I have the truck scheduled and have talked to both wards about getting help loading. We close on Friday the 9th of November sometime in the afternoon hopefully. I am awaiting the time still.

We finally finished Stone's Superman puzzle last night. I have a big frame that a poster was in and we are going to glue the puzzle together and then we will frame it and put it up in the boy's new room. They want to decorate with Superheroes. I think the extra room will be their playroom and have a Cars theme. They have almost the entire Cars collection now. Stone got 4 more for his birthday. The puzzle got a little tricky toward the end because all of the pieces were the same color and we had to do it based upon shape of the pieces and which one had a bigger end or flatter tail. It was fun while it lasted and gave us something to do as a family.

The Rockies have had a rough start to the World Series. It is such a game of timing, having 9 days off sure didn't help them. They aren't getting the clutch hitting they were getting before. Last series they scored something like 16 runs with 2 outs. Now the Sox are doing the same thing to them that they did to the Phillies and D-backs.

If anyone reading this is around on November 10, we are planning on loading the truck at our apartment starting at 8am and planning on being to the house at approximately 1pm. We would love to see your smiling faces.

Happy Birthday Stone!

Stone is 5 years old today. I can't believe how big he is getting. It doesn't seem like it has been 5 years since he was born. Stone is a great big brother and we are lucky to have him. We love you Stone. He had a party with his friends yesterday. They had a treasure hunt to find the pirate treasure. The weather was beautiful. It was a little windy and one of the clues I had taped to a tree blew off, but luckily the kids found it up in the leaves. They had a lot of fun. He didn't like it when everyone was singing to him and watching him blow out his candles. He doesn't like that kind of attention, as you can tell from the picture below.

Last night I asked him if he was excited to be 5, he said, "I hate church and I hate being 5." He knew his birthday was on a Sunday and he told me he doesn't want to grow up. The missionaries came by last night and when they left I asked Stone if he wants to go on a mission when he gets older. He said he didn't and that he just wants to stay at home with me. He also told me today that when he is big like daddy, he is still going to ask me to help him wipe his bum. If I still have to wipe his bum when he is big, then we both will be moded. (And Tim will be moded too.)




Today when we woke up, it was snowing. It snowed all morning. Stone got a ton of presents. It looked like Christmas morning. His grandparents like to spoil him. We had bacon and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. It was yummy and tasty. He opened his presents before church. Doesn't he look so handsome in his new clothes? After church we had steak for dinner. That was Stone's request since he loves steak. Then we had another cake for him. He wasn't embarrassed this time when we sang to him. Stone decorated the cake. He used all the different kinds of sprinkles we had.

I think they liked the cake.

On Friday, we went out to eat for my birthday. We went to this little place called Rico's. It is this tiny Italian place. It literally had 8 small tables and people kept coming in the whole time were there. This was the first time we have been there and when we sat down, we saw a sign that said cash or personal check only. I only had a $20 bill, a golden dollar, and a 50 cent piece in my wallet and Luke didn't have anything (like always). According to my dad that means he is a vagrant. So we had to keep our dinner under 20 dollars. We were able to do it and we had plenty of food. I did have to dig though my purse for some more quarters for a tip.

I did get some nice presents. My wonderful husband, Luke, got me a Nordstrom gift card, which I already spent at Nordstrom Rack. He always knows what to get me. My mother in law gave me a sewing machine. So now I get to learn how to sew. My parents sent a gift card so I could get some stuff for our new house. We had a nice weekend and want to thank everyone for the gifts, cards, phone calls and posts on their blog. We wish we could see our families more often.

A Good Reminder

Got this from a friend today, thought it was good:

Just a friendly reminder to visit the temple this month.

If this makes absolutely no sense to you, don't worry about it. If it does, I hope you found it both funny and a good reminder.

Yummy and Tasty

I Busted Rusty and Stone eating candy from the haunted houses. It was pretty funny seeing them on the table.

When Rusty wants something to eat he will say one of two things. "I want something yummy and tasty." or "I want a special treat." Which means he wants candy. It is hard to say no to him when he says funny things like that.

I love October

Van is sleeping and Stone and Rusty are quietly watching SpongeBob and I should be doing laundry or something because for the past 3 days, Rusty has had to borrow Stone's underwear, but I have decided to blog. I love October for a few different reasons. I love the changing colors on the trees and the cooler weather. I love Halloween and everything associated with it. And I love the MLB post season. Especially when your home team is doing so well. If the Rockies win tonight, they will go to the World Series. Around here, it is Rocktober. Go Rockies!

We went to the Denver Zoo last week. They have a couple new baby animals we were able to see. It was a lot of fun and the weather was perfect. Yes, that is a polar bear.
On Saturday, we went to Six Flags. It was all set up for Halloween. The kids were scared to walk by all the Halloween stuff with the smoke coming out of it. It was cold and it rained a little, but it was fun. There was a trick or treat trail for the kids. Everything at the Super Hero store was 75% off, so we go a bunch of Superman and Batman stuff for Stone's birthday. Little boys love super heros and I have learned more than I have ever cared to know about the Justice League of America

We have a Halloween tradition of making haunted houses. Yesterday was cold and rainy so it was the perfect day to make haunted houses and drink hot chocolate.This is Rusty and me making our scary faces.

Haircut

These are some pictures of the boys before their haircuts. They were so long and shaggy. They don't really like getting their haircut, so we put it off for a long time. Luke is the master barber of the house, and he sets up shop in the bathroom. Stone and Rusty like to be eating a popsicle while they get their haircut otherwise they will cry the whole time. This was the first hair cut for Van. Luke just cut around the ears and neck. He didn't take any dreamy blonde hair off the top. His hair is better than Sanjaya's and the Donald.

Van's first haircut.

These are some pictures I took today because Van was so cute. But he is screaming now because I am not holding him and put him in his crib so I could blog about him. Poor parenting.

Busy Week

Now that we have the house under contract, the busy work has begun. We have checked off the Homeowner's Insurance, met with our Lender, scheduled the Inspection, and started to visualize what changes we want to make. Craigslist has been a popular site. We are trying to get a free trampoline that someone is giving away because of their strict HOA. Now we just need to give our apartment management a 30 day WRITTEN notice, even though the last day of our contract is November 14.

We cut the boy's hair yesterday in between conference sessions. Our little ragamuffins are no longer shaggy. Even Van got a haircut, his first. We didn't chop off his blonde locks, we just shortened it around the edges and took it off of his ears. He looks a little more grown up now, but his hair is still wild on top. We will post pictures of the haircuts as soon as we get them downloaded.

For those of you wondering, I have not yet cut my hair. I am almost to the short-spikey look that a bazillion of you voted for. I also shaved off the beard a week or so ago but that didn't last very long. I almost immediately started getting skin irritations on my chin, and thus only shaved it with the razor once. Sorry, no pictures. Janna really prefers the beard, so the beard will stay. I think she feels less like she robbed the cradle when I have it.

My youngest brother, Sam, had his 12th birthday on October 6. He was born when I was a Senior in High School. Happy Birthday Buddy.

FINALLY!!!

We got it. We found out tonight that our counteroffer to their counteroffer was accepted. We get into a 2600 SF house for a good deal and should be able to walk away from it in the distant future with a good chunk of money. The best part is, according to Stone, that it has a chimney for Santa (but if the fire is going when he comes he will burn his bum-bum Stone said.) This is all pending it passes inspection and appraisal, but hopefully that will not be a problem. We are supposed to close November 9, so we should be moved in a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.

Another good thing is that we won't have to spend another dime on renting an apartment. We will have to spend some money updating and eventually finishing the basement, but we have to be patient.

So the Rockies are on a tear. We have been able to watch them several times throughout the season and it has been sweet to watch them play so well. We are really hoping the Angels and Rockies make it to the World Series so we can have the SoCal Hart's Angels vs. the Lee's Rockies. After Manny hit that towering HR tonight, it is looking less like that will happen. This is okay with us as long as the Rockies keep winning. This town definitely has baseball fever though. No one is even talking about the Broncos these days. In fact after CU upset Oklahoma we hardly heard anything about that once the weekend was over.

GO ROCKIES!!!

Moving On...

Well as luck would have it we are still house-hunting. Our offer was not accepted due to agent error. The wrong form was submitted with our offer on it, thus a new offer had to be submitted and by that time it was the weekend and multiple showings=more offers. It has taken us the past 24 hours to get over it, but I am slowly getting there.

It is hard when it is out of my control. The next house I buy will not be with an agent. There is a reason my parents do not use them and unfortunately we have learned the hard way. Since going to that year of law school required me to endure a year of Contracts, it has stayed with me and I think through this process I have a better understanding of contractual obligation than most of the agents we have dealt with.

There is another one we are looking at that needs some updating and new carpet, but we are thinking about it anyway. Quarter acre, finished yard, huge house. We went to Lowe's today for something and started looking at tile and I think it will be fun to be able to make it how we want it. It's just that it costs money obviously and will take time.

Van has been rolling to his belly a lot and then cries to have someone flip him back over. Yesterday he finally figured out how to roll back to his belly, so now he does it a lot. I will try to have Janna get some video of it. He gets a big grin on his face after he rolls back to his back like he knows he accomplished something.

Rusty is enjoying his time alone with Janna and I two days a week while Stone is at school. He went with us today to look at a couple of houses and he is just such a pleasant kid to be around and so innocent with his comments. He always asks for water in the van and doesn't realize he can ask for it before he gets in the car I guess.

Stone is enjoying school. He goes to a preschool taught by an LDS lady and is religious based. He told us he said the prayer today for snacktime but, he said, "I didn't bless you guys that time." It was so funny to hear him say that. They both keep coming into our bed at night and it is getting old. Rusty is still small enough that he can get away with it, but Stone is so big that it is harder for him to find a place to sleep. Nevertheless, they both get carried back to bed. Usually they end up back in our room, but lately they have been staying in their own beds after I take them back. I know they won't be little forever and in some ways I want to let them stay by us so I know they are okay and still little. There is a certain comfort that comes from having your children sleeping nearby.