Happy New Year and so much more!

Sorry that I have been so delinquent with posting info and pictures on my blog.  I am going to do my best to catch everyone up on what I have been up to over the last couple months.

I had a nice Thanksgiving with my grandma and grandpa "T".  We had really nice weather and were able to get out for a nice walk after we ate.

Next up was Christmas.  This year was my year to get more hands on with all of the activities that surround Christmas.  I enjoyed helping bake cookies, setup the Christmas decorations and prematurely opening the gifts under the tree that were meant for my cousins.

Before making our anual trip to Iowa we met up with my Dad's side of the family at a restaurant in downtown Denver for a nice dinner and a gift exchange.  The restaurant was very nicely decorated and we had a large table for the food and gifts.

 Christmas at Lake Okoboji was a little different then it has been in years past.  We usually expect to get some sledding in and a walk or two on the lake.  This year the lake was still in its liquid state and there was no snow on the ground so we played football instead.  It was awesome to play with all of my cousins.  Whether it was in the pool playing with all of the toys or jumping on grandma and grandpa's bed, I was glad to be able to play with the cousins pretty much all the time I was awake.  It is always great to spend time with family in Iowa over Christmas.

Rolling out the dough for the cookies

This is too much fun!

Setting up the tree.  I would hand the ornaments for Dad to hang up.

Here I am practicing my Santa impression.  Can you guess what I am saying?

Christmas dinner in Denver.  Not pictured: grandpa T, uncle Jason and Dad,

Pool time at Village West in Okoboji, IA.

Cousin Ethan goes long.

Girl time.  The girl cousins (Maddie, Maggie, Erin & Me) and Auntie Julie.

Check out the doll goodies I got.

All the girls got dolls from grandma "E"

One of my favorite games to "play" in the game room.

Hair time after one of the pool trips.

The whole family at the pool for the last night.

Hanging out watching the Iowa - Oklahoma game.

My Christmas dress that grandma got me.

I hope that you all are having a great start to 2012.  I am looking forward to many fun and exciting things in the upcoming year.  I plan to make great leaps at school and the work that I am doing with my therapists.  We have some fun trips planned like Yellowstone in June and then a big trip to Iowa in August for Trent and Julies' wedding.  Keep checking out my blog and I will do my best to keep you all up to date with what is going on in my life.



Thanks for checking out my blog!

Love,

Lydia

Fall?.... Winter?... Depends on the day!

Hello from the frozen north (depending on where you are in comparison to me)... quite a few of you are probably north of me, but I liked the sound of the greeting!  I haven't heard an official snow fall total for today, but according to the height of the snow when I was walking through it, I'd say we got a good thigh high snow fall today (interpretation:  about 10 inches).

Nothing changed because of the weather, school was still on, Dad still went to work, the only difference for me was the crazy amount of clothing I had to wear - it took some coaxing before I realized that I could in fact walk in my boots in the snow.

Today was a big change from Monday when we had an 80 degree record high.  They say we should be back to regular Fall weather by Friday.  Until then, I am enjoying playing in the snow with Boscoe!

Here are some pictures from the last week, enjoy:

We plan to carve these before the weekend... for now, they look good with their snow hats on!

"Walking in a Winter Wonderland"

I don't think the tomatoes survived the storm... oh well, I don't think they had survived Mom's experimental gardening before this happened!

Boscoe loves the snow... he had quite a time finding his ball each time we threw it.

I was happy that I could still ride my bike in this weather thanks to the covered patio.

I love the contrast between the white and the orange of the leaves.

Everytime I tried to wipe it off, it would get worse!

Changing gears to last Friday - visited a pumpkin patch

Can't wait to pick out my favorite pumpkin!

"Guys! I think this one looks good!"

Just us pumpkins!

Come on guys, I gotcha.

Good Donkey.

This one was great, except for the fact that it would soon be dropped - don't worry, it survived and is currently coved in snow on the front doorstep.

There you have it, winter and fall all wrapped into one blog. 

I have been having a ton of fun at school lately and look forward to dressing up in costume for school the next two days.  I'll try to get some pictures of that as well.

That's all for now...

Love,
Lydia

2011 Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk

Hi all!

What a great and busy weekend we've had.... I got to go to Steamboat Springs with Mom from Thursday afternoon until Saturday morning.  We went to see Grandma and Grandpa Iowa (Mom's parents) who were on vacation there.  Mom and I had never been there, so we enjoyed it and hope to go back again sometime when Dad can come along!

After we returned from our trip, it was time to kick into high gear to get ourselves and our spot for the Step Up walk all ready for the big day on Sunday.  We had another successful year of fund raising and recruiting people to walk with our team.  We had 34 walkers with our team and raised almost $2,200 for the Mile High Down Syndrome Association!  Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers, participation, and donations for another great year.  This was our fourth year participating in the walk and all four years so far we've enjoyed picture perfect weather - it's great to live in Colorado this time of year!

These events led to some great photo ops - and since Grandma was along, you better believe I have about 300 shots to choose from.  I tried to keep it to a manageable amount for the sake of you, the viewer!  Here are some highlighted shots:

It was not overly hot out - maybe 65 degrees - but it was nice and sunny and the water was warm.  I loved splashing grandma, grandpa and mom and making them chase the ball when I threw it!

Even on vacation Mom put Grandma and Grandpa to work on the buttons for the Step Up Walk.

On Friday we headed to Fish Creek Falls - it was an easy enough hike that I was able to stay in my stroller even though that was not always my choice of transportation, I wanted to walk most the time, but I never like to go the same way as everyone else. 

Here we are headed to the falls through the forest.

Here are the falls and Grandpa went where I wasn't supposed to and we all praised him and took his photo - would've that happened if I had gotten my way?!

This horse was outside a western store in downtown Steamboat.  A worker from the store insisted that I needed a cowgirl hat to have my picture taken by the horse - I wanted to buy some cowboy boots there, but Mom didn't think they were necessary.

Here we switch gears.  This is the setting for the Step Up Walk at City Park in Denver.  There were just over 3,000 registered walkers this year.

Our tent in the Team (Tent) Village.  I like to make sure my teammates are happy, we brought some Panera bagels and pastries and we had some nice shade from our tent for our team to enjoy.

Here's the majority of our team - a few straglers didn't get the memo that the picture was being taken... oops! 

I walked for awhile during the walk, but I preferred to be on Daddy's shoulders!

Here I am with Daddy, my cousin Liv and my Aunt Lauren - it was so fun to have them there!

Here are the family members accounted for on the day of the walk:  Grandma and Grandpa Colorado, Uncle Jason, Aunt Lauren, Liv, Daddy, Me, Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa Iowa.

We are Blue Bunny people, but when Blue Bell is giving out free samples, I think we can deviate for one day - besides they gave me a cool hat!

Oops, this is out of place, but here Mom and I are enjoying the Falls by Steamboat!

   Well, that was the big weekend.  Yesterday we spent one more day hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa before they headed back to Iowa this morning.  We spent the day yesterday hanging around in Boulder and got a tour of Daddy's work.  It was another beautiful day!

Here we are working in the lab!

Here we are riding the "bus" at Chataqua Park in Boulder.

That's all for this post.  Hope you enjoyed the update!

Love you all,
Lydia

Aye-aye Lydia!

Ahoy Mateys!
I got to test my sea legs a few weeks ago with my friends Scott and Andrea and their sailboat!
It was a fantastically beautiful day and we spent four and half hours on the water.
Here are a couple photos from the occasion:

I was a little hesitant when we first climbed aboard.

Once I realized I was safe in my life vest, I got to sit behind the wheel!

Mom just wanted a photo with me too.

Captain 'Scott Sparrow'?

I enjoyed myself so much on the boat that I needed to have snooze.

As you can tell, we had a great time on the water!

One more photo:

Paul, Dad and Scott on the roof watching an airshow by our house!

As for everyday life, I'm having a blast going to preschool four days a week.  I go two days to a private school and the other two days at a public school.  So far I enjoy them both and love learning all the other kids' names.

That's all I've got for today, hope you enjoyed the nautical journey!
Love,
Lydia