Mom's New Toy

Christmas was very good to us this year! It was another busy year with work for Yancey and I but it was great to slow down for a couple of days to celebrate Christmas. We had Linda and Bob in town for the long weekend and about 20 of my family over for Christmas dinner. As you can see in the video, Emmy was having a great time. She had no shortage or toys or entertainment. Jackson received a snow board and all the gear and he and Yancey will be heading to the slopes on Wednesday for a snow boarding lesson. Yancey received a ski pass from Santa and hopes that he and Jack can get on the mountain several times this year. Annie, well we have yet to pull her head away from her new cell phone which she has already mastered texting on. This gift we may regret:) I received this fun new Flip video digital recorder. I hope I can keep everyone up to speed on Emmy in action. She is changing everyday! She is so much fun to watch! She has been a trooper, recovering from ear infections and battling a cold and still never fails to smile. I am told by everyone who meets her that they have never seen a happier baby that smiles so much! We thought of all of our family who was unable to be with us at Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year! We hope in 2009 that we get to see you all in one state or another.

Emerson - 5 months

Well, time is flying by and Emerson is now 5 months old. She has had ear infections for the past couple weeks but is doing great. She is now over the 16 pound mark and loves to eat. She is rolling over and sitting up pretty consistently now. I am sure she will enjoy her first Christmas! Linda and Bob were out for this past weekend and she enjoyed spending time with them. Hopefully, they will be back out for Christmas. Annie and Jack are doing great and are on the countdown to Christmas break. Only 3 days to go! Annie is still practicing softball and Jack is still active in Scouts. We have his pack meeting tonight. Both kids are growing like weeds! We are looking forward to a busy holiday season. Our good friend Janice will be in town and we are looking forward to spending time with her and Lue. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and we will be thinking of you.

The Goofy, The BAD, and the conFusEd

Recently, I had a choir performance for my school called The Goofy, The BAD, and the conFusEd. It was a melodrama in which the music teacher and the fourth and fifth grade classes of my school made, practiced, and performed. We had two performances during school and one the night after. I was assigned the speaking part of the hero, Heartthrob Harold. I had the second most lines to memorize. During the two performances at school the choir only had fifteen minutes in between performances because it was a short day. I think that the choir and I did a pretty good job overall.

My 13th Birthday!!

Well, this birthday would most likely have to be the best one yet! I got many cool things such as a laptop, a very pretty pillow for my bed, some clothes, and new shoes. I love my new laptop it is the best present I have ever gotten! My dad, Kelly, Jackson, my Nana, and me all went to Red Lobster for dinner, it was VERY good. After I opened presents we had cake and ice cream that put the cherry on top of the hole night. It was a very good birthday and night!!!!

October happenings.....

Emerson, Annie and I started the month walking in the Race for the Cure. It was a 5k and it was pretty overwhelming to walk with 50,000 plus of our closest friends. It was a wonderful experience. We were able to share in it with Janet a good friend of ours who is a 7 year survivor of breast cancer.

Annie's softball team won the tournament and took first in their league. It is now on to basketball. She made the varsity team and unfortunately they have lost their first two games. They were both close games though. This weekend will be the last tournament for her competitive softball team until Spring. It will be their first round in the 14 year old age group so we are hoping for good things.

You can see this year's Halloween costumes that made their debut last night at Cub Scouts. Jackson won best overall costume. It didn't hurt that he had his two beautiful sisters as props. Popeye, Olive Oil and Sweet Pea are looking forward to next week when Grandpa Mike and Grandma Kathy arrive from Idaho to join us for Halloween.

We are also very excited that Jackson will be playing the lead in the school's choir performance. He will be playing the role of Heartthrob Harry! I think that is what he told me. Stay tuned for more details. The big night is November 20th!

Quandary

My pal Koz found his way to Colorado for a quick weekend visit. We got to catch one of Annie's Middle School softball games. Running late, we walked up just in time to see her crack a home run. I would say, a good omen for our upcoming adventure. We played a round of golf in the afternoon, then planned our attack of 14,265' Quandary Peak, 13th highest of the 53 - 14'ers in CO.

Quandary is one of the many 14'ers in Colorado and from what I understood a relatively easy one to summit. Quandary is the tallest of the peaks in the Tenmile range located just south of Breckenridge Colorado. My experience climbing in Colorado is limited to a successful summit of Long's Peak (14,244' and 15th highest) about 10 years ago. Long's was definitely a rough hike - 12 hours round trip and some fairly challenging (non-technical) climbing near the top.

From what I had heard, I figured this would be a nice 3 hour stroll into the high country. Two things I failed to consider were my 43 years and my lack of excersize since Emerson was born in July. Our hike began at a trailhead just off the highway at about 11,000'. No time to acclimate, the trail pretty much shot straight up to the top - more than 3000 feet of elevation gain in about 3 miles. Fortunately, we were in no hurry and with fall colors, the scenery was absolutely spectacular. It took us a couple of hours to reach the first and lower summit. The main summit was a slog. We did, however, encounter a mountain goat and her two kids. We were able to get within about 10 yards of them and got some great photos.

Despite threatening weather, we took time at the summit for powerbars and some photos. I must tell you, I was pretty whipped. Even living in the mile high city, the altitude made a suprising impact. The change in direction was welcome relief to my legs and we made incredibly good time! Even with about 45 minutes at the top, our round trip was less than 7 hours - just a sight longer than the 3 I had planned. It was a memorable adventure and I thank Koz for inspiring the trip and for keeping me going!

Washington D.C. Honor Flight

Yancey, Emerson and I just returned from a week in South Carolina and Washington D.C. We went to visit my Aunt Sherry, Uncle John and my cousin Aimee in Myrtle Beach. Grandma went as well. We spent a few days at the beach and Emerson had her first experience in the Atlantic. She was amazed by her experience at the Dixie Land Stampede and watched the whole thing from start to finish. She loved the music and animals. That is the picture of her above with Yancey where she would not take her eyes off the show.

We then drove to D.C. to meet grandpa. He was flying in with the WWII vets on the Honor Flight program. We spent a couple days visiting the different monuments. It was great to be with grandpa while he visited the new WWII memorial. It was absolutely beautiful. Be sure to click on our picture link to view all the photos. Thankfully Emmy was very quiet during the changing of the guards at Arlington. We visited the Korean, Vietnam, Lincoln, and Marine memorials. We also made it to the Smithsonian to the Air & Space as well as the American Indian Museums. Emerson was a hit with tourists and the vets and had many photos taken of her.

Emerson did amazing on the airplane ride and traveling for 6 days. She is quite the girl scout. She is a natural at traveling and she loved meeting her aunt and cousin. I am not sure who entertained each other more. We look forward to our return trip to the south. Emmy is three months old and already made her first trip cross country. Lucky little girl!

A start to a busy fall.

Well it is starting to be a busy fall. We spent the weekend going to Laramie for a Cowboy football game. They played Air Force and lost. Emerson did very well for a long car ride and a long game. She slept as long as dad kept walking!

Emerson had her 2 month wellness check up today and she is doing very well. She now weighs 11 lbs. 2 oz. and is almost 23" long. She had 5 shots today and is a little sore in the legs but overall handled it like a trooper. She is sleeping well and becoming more and more aware of her surroundings.

Jackson is back on the road to scouts. He is preparing for a busy year and it will start with a camping trip with the boy scouts at the end of this month. School is already going well and he continues to read constantly. Taking time out only for his second favorite thing...video games.

Annie is on the middle school varsity team and is only one of four 7th graders who made this team. They have games a couple days a week and they won their first game by more then 20 runs. Although this is slow pitch, she is enjoying herself. She continues to have practice for the Bullets and has a tournament for fast pitch in late October.

Yancey is traveling again for work this week. He will be in Portland for the week and planning another trip early in October for Los Angeles. His company is growing and it brings many exciting things for the next year. We were very excited for him as he was recognized by his region as District Manager of the Year in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. He also had to dress up and perform in a rock band which he promises me he will post pictures of.

While Dad was away.....

As many of you know, Yancey was away for a week at a conference in Vegas. He leads a tough life:) I was a bit nervous about being at home by myself with Emmy. I realize now that I had nothing to be nervous about. I received so much help from my family. Annie and Jackson love their sister very much and helped me a ton! My mom and brother helped by watching Emmy so I could go golfing for the first time in a year. It showed in my score! My step-father would stop by prior to jury duty to give my arms a break and hold Emmy. Every bit helped and I appreciated it so much. I wanted to share a special moment with you all. As you can see in the pictures, it is a special time when you have four generations together all at once. My mom cooked dinner while Jere and I golfed. Then my grandparents who are 85 and 87 years old came to eat with us and visit with Emmy. Grandpa was anxious to wake her so he could hold her. I advised him it would be better to eat first as we often don't have quiet meals around here. After dinner, Grandma held her for awhile and then Grandpa decided it was time for "Tummy Time". This all seems reasonable, however I have never in my 33 years seen my grandfather lie down on the floor with anyone. This touched my heart when he grabbed Emmy and said, "Come on and I will lay with you on the floor." I have seen my grandpa with lots of babies. It is obvious in the way he looks at her that they have a special connection. She is lucky to know her great grandparents. I only hope we can introduce her in person to her other great grandmothers, Bennie and Bobbie.

1st Day at School for Jackson

My first day at school was good as far as first days go. Once my new teacher, Ms.Berg, let my class in we had to go straight to P.E (physical education). In P.E. we jumped rope and ran around the school track. When we were back in class we had to write a letter to Ms.Berg. I got done with that earlier so I got to start on homework. When it was time we went to lunch and after that we went to the traditional lunch recess. Once we got back inside we did a math activity and then left. That was how my first day of school went.

Having pre-teens at home...

As entertaining as it is to have an infant in the house, I find it just as entertaining to have two pre-teens in the house. Jackson will kill us for sharing this but when I saw it, I had to get Yancey to read it as well.

In the kid's rooms while they were little we had boards for their daily chores. I find the one that Annie helped Jackson write was by far the best. This one they created a couple of weeks ago. I hope that you find chore #2 as funny as we did. I am just surprised he has to be reminded to do this.

Our trip in Utah ( so far )

As you probably know we are in Utah for a vacation before school starts. Last night we went to a semi pro baseball game. The team was the Salt Lake City Bees. Even though the final score was 13 - 3 and we got our butts kicked it was a fun game and we had very good seats. Jackson almost caught a foul ball but it was to far over in the stands.
Yesterday we had a very competitive basketball game consisting of me(Annie), Jackson , Doug and Baba. Me and Dougie had the lead at first but then they Jackson and Baba started to get the lead and eventually won. It was a very good game and it was almost a tie. This morning me and Doug made up some of our own plays for basketball and practiced them.
On the night of 8-8-08 we , like all of you, watched the opening ceremony for the Olympics. It was probably one of the best opening ceremony for the Olympics I have ever seen! The part i liked the most was when the guy lit the torch and the guy ran around the stadium.
Tonight we are going to a concert. The girl playing there will be Iris DeMent. We are very excited, it will be very fun. At the concert we are taking a picnic and chocolate chip cookies YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well i guess we will write some other time BYE!!!!!!

Emerson's first swimming experience!

Well, we had a family pool party to attend last weekend and we thought....why wouldn't we put her in the pool? I mean after all she has this really cute swim suit that Jackson had picked out. I didn't want her to out grow it before she had a chance to be seen in it.

So, Dad took her in. As you can see on her face, she was not pleased. The water was a bit cool and she was not prepared for that. She clearly likes the warmth of the bath much more. So, although she won't be swimming on her own anytime soon, she sure looks good in plaid!

Emerson Lynn update .....she will be two weeks old tomorrow! Wow, how time passes!

Well, as you can see she is still cute! I know I am a bit biased. We have had two busy weeks. We have ventured out a couple of times for doctor's appointments, trips to Starbucks (our Starbucks family adores her), nightly walks around the neighborhood and even a softball game. I know, she is never too young to enjoy a ball game. After all, it was the Rockies game that we were at a couple hours before going into labor. I believe she will be a true sports fan.

She has been the center of attention around here and has daily visitors. I have added a few pictures. She has spent lots of time with Grandma and her aunt Sissy. She was visited by her uncle Jere, her great grandparents and many more. She has been more alert for some visits then others, but all in all, she has been a great baby.

As of last Monday she had regained her birth weight. No surprise, she is an eater! She has lost her umbilical cord a couple of days ago and dad and I are looking forward to her first real bath. Dad was disappointed when the doctor told him no swimming pool for 6-8 weeks. The bath will have to do.

So, with big brother and sister home this week, we are preparing for a visit from Nana. She arrives from Salt Lake today and will be staying through next Thursday. I am sure we will have plenty more to update you on in the coming weeks.

We hope everyone is well and I just wanted to thank everyone for all they have done for us and the tremendous love and support we have received. We hope to see you all soon!

Kelly

At The Frog Ranch

On Monday, July seventh, I flew to Spokane, Washington to visit my grandparents. Once I got off of the plane my Grandpa Mike, Grandma Kathy, and I drove to their townhouse. The first major event that I did was Grandpa and I backpacked six miles down Hell's Canyon. After we set up camp we did a geocache. The next day we hiked back up to Pittsburgh Landing. Once we got back to the car we did a few geocaches before heading back to the townhouse and had a big spaghetti dinner...mmm, my favorite!

Thursday morning already! We headed out to Frog Ranch. When we got there we unpacked and then Grandpa and I rode ATVs. I also got to test my skill on the Tote Goat, a very small motorcycle used to pull things. After the big hike, I was ready to relax a bit and catch up on my reading. I am on the sixth book in the Harry Potter series, The Half Blood Price. Grampa set up a hammock for me. I think this was made just for me. I can't imagine a better way to get some R&R. After a good meal, it was time to hit the hay.

Next morning Grandpa and I shot clay pigeons with a 20 gauge shotgun that he had customized just for me. It was awesome fun! I busted a pigeon on my first shot. After that, I missed a few so Grampa gave me some pointers. Three in a row -- he is a good coach. Once we were done with that we shot a Dr. Pepper can with my .22 rifle. After we put my .22 rifle away Grampa and I hooked a trailer up to the truck and loaded an ATV onto the trailer for our ATV / geocaching trip that we were going to do the next day.

The next day, the day before I had to leave, Grampa and I drove to an ATV trail that had a bunch of logging trails hooking onto it. Once we got to the trail we unloaded the ATV and started off. In that one day we got nine geocaches and drove over 45 miles. That night before bed Grampa, Grama, and I had a nice, big meal. The next morning, before they took me to the airport, Grandpa Mike, Grandma Kathy, and I did a geocache.
Jackson Warnock

Annies World Series Trip

My world series trip was really fun! In case you didn't know i just got back from the world series in Park City, Utah. Although we didn't win it was a great experience. Our team got to play many teams from out of state. Our first day we didn't do so hot and we lost all of our game but then on the third day we really started to pick up the pace and we won all of our games that day and we even played an undefeated team and we beat them 12 to 6 it was pretty cool then I had my best day of catching that day and I caught 2 games in a row and through 3 girls out at second and caught 4 foul balls. On the last game that we played I hit a double and then scored after someone hit me in!

After we played our last game some of the girls and I went up to the Olympic Park and went on the alpine slide and went on the zip line I really didn't want to leave but right after i got off the zip line we had to leave and I kind of wanted to get home any way because of my new baby sis!!! I had a lot of fun in Utah.
Annie Warnock

Jackson visits The Frog Ranch

Jackson is on vacation this week, visiting his Grampa Mike and Gramma Kathy in Idaho. He is having one adventure after another - backpacking, swimming, geocaching, riding ATV's, skeet shooting, target shooting, and just kickin' it in the hammock with his book. He has a couple more days of adventure before returning home Sunday afternoon. A big thank you to the grandparents for taking such good care of our boy! Stay tuned for Jackson's account of this trip when he get's back.

World Series Time!

Well, Softball Season 2008 is near the end. Annie is proudly representing the Colorado Bullets at the Triple Crown World Series in Park City Utah.

The team had a rough start, winning 1 of 4 games in their pool play. They started double elimination tournament play yesterday and unfortunately posted a loss. The team has rebounded today and is showing their true colors. They are 3-0 today and play at 8am tomorrow morning. It will be a tough day (3 wins to reach the Championship). Annie had one of her best days ever today. She was the starting catcher in the final two games and made some terrific plays - several pick-offs at second, a number of tough foul pop-ups caught, and a typical day at the plate, smashing the ball into the outfield.

We are very proud of Annie and wish her the best of luck tomorrow!

Emmie's First Week

On July 6 we welcomed the newest Warnock to the world. Emerson Lynn was born at 6:37 pm on Sunday. She was delivered via C-section following about 17 hours of labor. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 19.5 inches long.

She had a huge cheering section at the Hospital which included: Gramma Debby, Gramma and Grampa Walyer, Aunt Sissy, Uncle Bill, Uncle Jere, D.J., Claudia, Alex, and of course Big brother and sister: Annie and Jackson. We also had a special guest appearance direct from Salt Lake City by Nana and Baba Keiter.

We stayed in the hospital (North Suburban - same place Jackson was born) until Wednesday morning. It has been a relief to be at home where Emmie, Mom, and Dad are starting to figure out our routine. We are getting 2-4 hours between meals which is never enough time for sleep, but we are managing quite well. To no surprise, Mom is showing that she is a Superstar Mom just like everything else.

Yesterday Emerson made her first outing. No big surprise - Starbucks! She did pretty good and may soon be a "regular". Today she had her first visit to the pediatrician. She has gained back about half the weight she lost at the hospital. Everything was great and according to Dr. Shah she is PERFECT!

It's About Time!

We have been wanting to get this going for quite some time. With a brand new baby we realize an urgent need to share pictures and all her accomplishments and "firsts". Annie and Jackson maintain extremely full schedules, so we look forward to sharing their activities and providing them an outlet to do the same. Welcome to our Blog!