Parade of Lights

To celebrate Annie's mom's birthday, much of her family was able to gather in Denver for a yummy Italian meal at at Pagliacci's and then head downtown for the Parade of Lights. It was so fun to be together. And even though the birthday girl was in a foot cast, she was able to keep up with her of grandchildren.


The grandkids perched on top of the newspaper boxes to get a better view.


James was in awe of the Rudolph and his big red nose!


Emery, Hill, Mom and Dad watching Dennis the Menace round the corner towards the Daniels and Fisher tower. When we asked Emery later what his favorite part of the parade was, he said the great big Uncle Dennis balloon.

Happy Thanksgiving

There is so much to be thankful for this year. In such uncertain times, the love of family means so much.
We were fortunate to be able to celebrate the holiday with Hill's family in Denver. His mother and Hugh have just moved into their beautiful new home and opened it to each of us. Lauren is home safe and sound from a semester in South Africa. Bryson and Kathryn came from Portland with their new baby girl. And Amy was had an amazing year with the first graduating class from her first high school in May and the opening of her second high school in August.


We are so blessed.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.- Melody Beattie


(Thanks, Jenelle, for the quote...it is beautiful.)

Show and Tell

After our trip to Portland, Annie and Emery headed to Holyoke to help Trudy with her kids while Dennis is in India for work. Emery simply adores Austin, Josie and Lauren...so it will be a fun week.

Josie had show and tell today and wanted to bring in Emery. He was a big hit and gave everyone in the classroom a high five.

Addilyn and Portland

We were so lucky to be able to travel to Portland this week to meet Addilyn and spend some time with Hill's brother Bryson and his wife Kathryn. They have a beautiful home in a beautiful location. We will treasure the time spent with them. It was so special to see the three of them as a new family. Thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of this very intimate time.

Addilyn with her Uncle Hill and cousin Emery.


Hill putting Addilyn in the magic sideways hold to calm her. And Bryson putting Emery in the magical upsidedown hold to un-calm him.


The Slothower ladies.


Emery listening to a secret from Addi. What do you think she is telling him?


Emery, Hill and Kathryn at the water crank in the Portland Children's Museum


Emery brushing the alligator's teeth at the museum. (This one is for you, Russ and Julie.)


Emery and the St. John's Bridge.

Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween Emery dressed up as "Max" from the children's book Where the Wild Things Are.


Emery as "Max."


Emery in his wolf suit admiring his daddy's handy work on his annual "Steal Your Face" Jack-O-Lantern. GOGD

He was very excited to put on his costume when he woke up from his nap at 4pm and kept in on until 10:30 that night. We went downtown for Steamboat's annual Trick or Treat street. It was really nice weather and Emery loved collecting all the candy and seeing all the other kids (and adults) dressed up in their costumes.


On our way to trick or treat street.


"Let the wild rumpus start!"


Emery and Hill in the "Haunted Hallway" at a local Real Estate office.


"And he tamed them with the magic trick of starting into all their yellow eyes..."
The staff at the local book store was so excited to see a Emery dressed up as a literary character that they had him pose for pictures with their "Wild Thing" stuffed animal.


Wild Thing, I think I love you.


The whole family...pretty scary crew, huh?

After trick or treating, we headed out to Kim & Peter Kreissig's house for a Halloween party. They had their house decked out and Pete had constructed a haunted house in their garage. (Hill was one of the spooks inside). It was a great time and Emery loved dancing with the big kids and playing with Jake and Taylor's toys.


Emery walking through the haunted archway up Kim & Pete's driveway.


Emery with Auntie Cheryl and Kimmers.


Emery with his daddy the spook...doesn't Emery look terrified? :-)



Emery with his buddy the Carving Cowboy and a steaming cauldron of Monster Juice.


A kiss from his fairy godmother disguised tonight as the blue M & M.

On the way home, Emery announced that Halloween was his FAVORITE day!

A movie based on Where the Wild Things Are is coming out next October. And guess who the screen play writer is? Dave Eggers! Isn't that WILD? He is also releasing a novel next year based on the book to coincide with the release of the movie. Dave is an author who first became acquainted with Hill's sister Amy through correspondence about one of his first books. He worked closely with Hill's mom for a fundraiser for the Webb-Waring Institute and gave a very generous donation for cancer research. He later climbed Kilimanjaro with Hill and his brother and sister. Maybe we should forward a picture of Emery and see if he needs a model for his cover artwork!

Happy 10th Birthday, Austin!

From Emery and His Llama!

And Aunt Annie and Uncle Hill, too.

First Snow

We had our first snow this afternoon. Emery and his dad were excited to see the white stuff. But, I'm not quite ready for it. We had our last snow here mid June. So, that left us only 4 months without it. Is it to much to ask for just a little more time? Oh well. Wishing for no snow in a ski town probably isn't the best thing to do. Maybe I'll go get a little cheese to go with my whine.