Welcome to the family- Bobo Fruvellhoff.

Dempsey asked for a bunny when she turned 10. Russell became the project manager and it has been wonderful. After scouring through facebook scams...they found a bunny in Colorado Springs. They made the journey and returned home with this cute bundle. Dempsey named her Bobo! It has been quite the journey! She is mostly potty trained! Dempsey walks her outside on a leash! We have a crate where she hangs out in, in the living room. Russ is determined to not have her be scared of him---and talks in the highest pitch voice to her. It's pretty adorable! We've all never had a bunny so it's been a learning curve for us all:) BUT money well spent! 

:) Welcome to the family!

BOBO

12 Year Old

Ryker turned the big 1-2!  I started December 1st bugging him about what he wanted to do for his birthday because I want him to always feel special! He had no idea and I let him know that I wouldn't let this go:) Every week I asked, and every week he told me he didn't know. I finally got him to tell us that he was interested in doing a family-only Denver weekend! It was sweet that he wanted to hangout with us-and I definitely don't want to take it for granted. 

Ryk celebrates his birthday hard and expects that from everyone. Maybe a chip off the old block:) For his birthday we went into Denver and did an escape room. Unfortunately we didn't escape-such A BUMMER! Then we went to Dave and Busters. For the first time the kids enjoyed their cards and played games that won them points vs the shoot-em-up games. Then we headed to the hotel-and played some amazing wrestling in the pool! We spent the night and then headed to a good ol' fashioned mall! It was a super fun weekend together:)

Ryk is loving middle school. He is obsessed with his grades-and has kept a 4.0 so far! He loves robotics and is taking after his brother and going even more in the morning than AJ! He has taken a huge liking to football! He still gets tired, and needs his comfy bed ASAP. He loves his snuggles. He desperately wants to be taller and occasionally wants to have more hair on his body. 

Ryk is adventurous...a feeler...and just is a well rounded dude! 

Love you Ryk! 

-Mom

Traditions Continue!

Traditions remain strong in our family this year! These are pictures of our annual Christmas Tree Hunting trip! Each year I schedule early with Mandy and family to find an Airbnb near the Granby area to go look for our Christmas tree. It's truly a favorite of our family! This year we ran into an issue that AJ and Ryker's robotics team happen to have tournaments during the time we scheduled to go. AJ and Ryker decided that they both wanted to forgo their robotics tourney because this tradition means so much to them. AS a parent this makes me so gooey inside. I LOVE having traditions that my middle schoolers want to do:) This year we changed things up by taking the day off to head up to the mountain earlier and we stayed at our Airbnb 2 nights! IT WAS such a great decision. Ryker and Russ enjoyed the mountain on their skis/board and the rest of us snowshoed right at the base of the mountain! It was Dempsey's first time and although she was nervous- she acted like a pro! We both ended at the same time and it felt like a win! We've struggled with figuring out how to enjoy the mountains when we have 1 kid that wants to go fast down it and the other two that want nothing to do with that. So yay for figuring out a win-win solution! We did have a foosball tourney this year-and surprisingly enough Russell and I made it into the finals. He annihilated me, but I still made it:)

This year we experienced loads of snow which was so pretty! We definitely had to trudge through snow, and tubing was BLISTERY! But no one seems to really question it because we know it's all in the fun!

The kids and I brought back another tradition this year by going to Zoo Lights down in Denver. We used to go with Mandy and family, but if I'm being honest--It was LOTS of work. Usually someone got cold, usually someone was tired, and I was both:) Russell decided awhile back that it wasn't his thing-so it felt a bit daunting to take them down by myself. This year after causally asking AJ if he might be interested, he said he was. I figure AJ is a good barometer on the other two and if he is down-then LET'S GO!!! IT was legit the best Zoo Lights I've ever had with them! I had to be the one to tell them we needed to go because it was late and my hip was barking! We decided to go with the Hot Cocoa and Glasses Package and I'm so glad I did. Those glasses made everything EPIC! All 3 kids were just in love with everything! It was a really special night with them:)





Luckily the kids and I were able to hit up another tradition by attending the Longmont Parade of Lights! IT might be one of my favorite parades! It happens at night and everything has such pretty lights!~ We were able to bring a friend with us too:) We left a bit late so we had quite the walk, but the prize of homemade banana bread once we got to our parade watching spot worked well!




Lastly, we enjoyed our Christmas Eve traditions. We all wore our matching jammies-thank goodness they are still interested in that! Then we did cheese fondue and watched The Rise of the Guardians and The Polar Express. We were too full and tired to do our chocolate fondue but fear not-we enjoyed that with grandparents on Christmas day!

We will celebrate with my family next week!

This year was a bit quiet as far as Christmas celebrations, but that was fine by us. Covid didn't ruin anything-and that was a success. We all have been staying up a bit too late, and sleeping in! We usually eat breakfast around 10, and everything else gets delayed from there! 

Cheers to another Christmas celebration.

Love to all,

Mom

10-TEN-10 Year Old

Dempsey Girl TURNED 10. We have no SINGLE digits in this house anymore...well except for Kevin. BUT. No humans. I can't believe that she is 10! We had a sweet birthday party where the only request was ice cream cake and time to play! When the party started they immediately started playing hotel/restaurant. They named all the rooms, had a menu, etc. They went in the hot tub, drove the riding lawn mower, and watching Jessie. For her birthday we did the standard treasure hunt and pick your dinner- Chicken Awesome. Demps and I decided to do a random run to the Troll Movie. Dempsey got the gift that she has BEEN wanting.....a bunny or guinea pig. Russell agreed to be the project manager- and I just support! It is a wonderful plan!

Dempsey feels things big time. Sometimes she has trouble telling us what is going on for her, but usually she comes around. SHE continues to love jumping on the trampoline, and asks for people to jump with her daily. She loves animals of all kinds! We went to a place where they had a bunch of taxidermy animals and she was like.."it's so sad about all these animals." Sometimes Dempsey struggles to explain how she is feeling, yet she has amazing skills at understanding how people might feel. I know the struggle-so I love to work with her. 

Oh did I tell you this story? Not sure if I did...but Dempsey said to me, "Mom-I don't need a sister because I don't not ever want to hangout with you....because you're my mom."

Also, the other day we stayed at a hotel. SAD NEWS.. but the hotel pool's heating element wasn't working. I brought the kids back to the hotel, while Russell stayed and hung with his friends. Dempsey was determined to swim, and I was determined to not. ME being cold is the worst thing ever for me. Dempsey told me, "Mom-I'm going to be brave and you should too." OF COURSE I COULDN'T let her down. I wanted to be brave too! LOL. So in I went with her. It was freezing. AND worth it.

Dempsey knows so many songs by Taylor Swift, Pink, and as the boys say "random happy stuff (songs)". Her voice is beautiful and amazing, and I just love when she sings!

We visited my mom's grave this past weekend and we stood by her gravesite and put roses in the vase. We looked at when she died and I said..."Yup, I was born in 83' so I was 10 years old." Dempsey knew what that meant since she was 10, she held by hand and looked at me and said, "Oh mom, that is so sad." I knew she knew what that meant. Guh her heart. 

Dempsey loves her Dad and me fiercely. She wants to see her grandparents all the time. She always tries to play/wrestle with her brothers, and sometimes they oblige. She has a great group of girlfriends, that she doesn't get to see enough!

I cannot believe she is DONE with the single digits. I heard her in her room the day before her birthday say to herself, "It's okay Dempsey. You can do this. Double digits. really soon." IT's a privilege getting to hear her internal dialogue outloud:)

Happy Birthday Dempsey!

Love 

Momma

Grizzly Tourney 2023

Grizzly Tourney 2023 in the books! This year was the first and only year where the boys were in the tournament together. For their last match they even got paired together, and they were both drivers! IT was amazing! Ryker's team continues to learn their lessons, and Ryker continues to want to do even better each time. AJ's team fought through some issues in the beginning to make it into the finals! They aligned with another Trail Ridge team and ended up losing. It was such a bummer! They did end up winning the Build Award. This does not qualify them for State, but it was still pretty cool! 

Honestly one of my favorite memories of the tournament was the day before when both boys were working on setting up for the tourney. It was so adorable! They were both working hard, joking with fellow classmates, and being funny around each other! I just love seeing them together and involved! It makes me so happy! 

Both sets of grandparents came and supported the boy-which I continually feel grateful! Robotics is a different kind of activity, so it's pretty neat that they have adapted and supports them:)

We continue to figure out how to entertain ourselves in between matches, because Robotics are LOoooooNNNNGGggggggg days!

Love,
Momma

Halloween 2023

Oh Halloween! It was a different year, but at the same time it was perfect! I proposed going up to Estes Park to participate in their annual Halloween festivities. We have heard that it a super great time, they close down Main Street and all the shops hand out candy! AJ graciously declined, due to plans of hanging with his buddies to go trick or treating. Ryker got invited to a friend's party and requested to go there instead of going to Estes. Luckily Dempsey agreed to come up with us! 

It's crazy to think that a few years back we were trick or treat with the entire family, and Ryker kept saying "Merry Christmas" or was it "Happy Birthday"? I can't quite remember. It was adorable. We had less than an hour of time before meltdowns happened! 

NOW---AJ was begging for me to come pick him up later than 930pm because he needed more time! Up until a weird/creepy truck following Ryker's crew, he had a wonderful time! And Dempsey! She had a great time with her friend Clare! I actually saw my parents dressed up. I legit cannot think of a time when they dressed up. EVER. It was awesome to see them getting into the spirit! Russell struggled to get into the Halloween spirit initially, especially because he wasn't inundated with Halloween spirit in the schools. BUT he persevered and got into costume. He even trick or treated and got his own candy!

I'm currently blogging while I listen to them do their candy trading-AJ, Ryk, Dempsey and Russell. They have going strong for at least 30 minutes. It's pretty adorable. "You like Twix-ok I'll trade 2 mini Twix for your Skittles?" "RIP HIM OFF DEMPSEY." "THAT Is not a fair trade." Since I'm doing the family blogging I'm occasionally getting paid in candy. Butterfinger, a warhead, a sucker, and some M&Ms. 

Good times,

Love,

Momma

Demps....is she getting bigger?

Oh sweet Dempsey! The only remaining member in elementary school, and it is crazy watching her get biggggger. On one hand I watch her staying little, but in the next breath her teenager self is coming out! Here are a few of my favorite things about her:

• Awhile back Dempsey and Russell were on their way to school. They were a little bit later than usual. Dempsey told Russell to go ahead and pull into the loop and drop her off. THIS IS HUGE. The loop requires her to get out and walk to her class, essentially by herself. She actively resisted this, even when she had a brother to walk with her. But all the sudden she was ready, and it was completely her idea. 
• Last week Dempsey and I made chocolate chip cookies. She also made sure we had our matching aprons on! I helped her make the dough, and then she looked at me and said, "Mom-you go ahead and sit on the couch. I'll take care of the rest of these." AND SHE DID!
• Dempsey requested that I dress up as Princess Daisy and match her Princess Peach. I WILL FOREVER MATCH HER FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. WHAT a freakin' honor!
• Dempsey LOVES LOVES LOVES jumping in the leaves. She was exstatic that the leaves were following and requested to rake every single day! It feels so amazing to have some great trees, with THOUSANDS of leaves!
• There is a picture of Dempsey from the Fox Trot. It was really neat to watch her this year. She started out running with her friends and then slowly her friends slowed down. Dempsey kept running with one of her friends. They stopped to get water and I heard Dempsey ask her friend, "Have you seen Charlee? I feel bad because I'm not running with her." Dempsey was able to feel this and then was able to tell herself to keep running. She ended up running 5 1/2 laps which was at least 1 lap more than all of her friends. Dempsey RARELY thinks about herself first, and it was really neat to see her push herself this year. 

What a great thing to watch her grow!

Love,

Mom