Christmas Morning 2010

Christmas is such as special time, and there is nothing else as wonderful as Christmas morning with a two year old!!!


















We set out milk, cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer last night and it was the first thing that Jadeyn wanted to check on this morning (even before running to his whole GeoTracks that were set up beside them!) GeoTracks were a hit!!! Within about 90 seconds of figuring the remote control out, he had race cars, a dinosaur egg and a few other random items laid out on the track ready to be run over by his new train! These will certainly grow with him as he get more and more creative with them!!

A few months ago, Jadeyn really wanted a "baby bumblebee" from Transformers. I told him that maybe Grandma and Grandpa would get it for him and he has reminded me of it every couple of days. Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa J came through with flying colors! He loved it! And again, within minutes of opening it, he was using Bumblebee to shoot his GeoTrains off their tracks, and Ironman off a table, and race cars in the air!!

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a wonderful Holiday Season!!!!

The Outdoor Life—We spent as much time as possible in the beautiful outdoors this summer. Many camping trips for a total of 29 nights under the stars, too many brookies and rainbow trout caught to count, tons of worms squished by little fingers, and quite a few trails hiked and so many beautiful places.

National Parks -Highlights of our outdoor wanderings were an incredible trip to Banff, Yoho & Kootenay National Parks in Canada and Glacier, Teton and Yellowstone. Glacier has quickly jumped into our top favorites NP list! Bears, big horn sheep, mountain goats wildflowers, aqua-blue water!!!

Hobby Time! Kevin’s rose garden was amazing this year!! We have a total of 21 in our yard & they bloomed all summer long! Such a treat to have a fresh bouquet every day! Rebecca went a little nuts with crafts this year: miter saw, sanders, paint & vinyl filled almost every one of Jadeyn’s nap time, but she had a blast, did well at the craft show & made lots of gifts! Jadeyn was our constant little helper in both hobbies: usually covered in mud and searching for worms near the roses, or covered with tiny pieces of paper from Rebecca's paper cutter!

Always Coasters—We couldn’t let the year pass without a coaster trip. Carowinds, NC gave us the perfect excuse to spend some time with Kevin’s sister Stephanie and family as well as Kevin’s college roommate and family. Good times!!! We can't resist a great thrill ride!

A New Toy? We fell in love with a new toy: a Polaris RZR4! We rented one of these machines along with a 4-wheeler and had an amazing time in Taylor Park, CO. Needless to say, Kevin thinks he needs one to explore all the Colorado mountains next year!!!

Family—We were lucky enough to have so many visits with both sides of our families. Rebecca’s parents visited us twice and Jadeyn fell in love with his Grandpa and Grandma all over again. The Cottrell family reunion took place in Telluride Colorado where 32 of us romped through the mountains in chaotic bliss!

Random Happiness! All in all, this has been a wonderful year! Jadeyn keeps us moving and laughing at all the creative comments that come out of his brain! He is a non-stop boy in motion and we love him to pieces!!