Home Sweet Home

Wow, what a week we had on our Colorado Vacation. Here is a summary:

Madison and I stayed with our friends Jess and James for the first few days of our trip. We helped Jess out around the house so that she could rest. She is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her triplet boys, and even the daily chores around the house are exhausting for her...think 10 months pregnant and she is only half way there. I was glad to be able to help her out. Madison was pretty fussy while we were on vacation, and I hope that we didn't scare Jess and James too badly when they imagine her cries times 3.

Tuesday morning, we woke up bright and early and headed south to Pueblo. Here, Madison was able to meet her Great-Grandma Bonnie,

and her Great-Great Grandma Boyce.

We really had a great time visiting. We spend the majority of Tuesday and Wednesday with the Boyce side of the family. Grandma Bonnie flew back to Phoenix early Thursday morning, but we will get to see her again at the end of June for the Boyce Family Reunion in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Wednesday morning, we spent a couple of hours visiting my Nanny. Here is Madison with her other Great-Great-Grandmother. Nanny was thrilled to finally meet her first great-great-granddaughter and we had a good visit with her.

We were able to spend some more time with Nanny on Saturday after Brandon and my parents drove down from Gillette. We took five-generation pictures on her front porch and had a nice lunch with her. She had cataract surgery on Thursday, so she wasn't really up to a long visit. It worked out quite well.

Madison got to spend lots of quality time with her great-grandparents. She took naps,


played on the floor (she really enjoyed looking at every ceiling fan she could find),

and rested in her new swing. My cousin Kaylee bought a baby penguin during her trip to the Pueblo Zoo and let Madi borrow it during a nap. Madison grabbed hold with both hands, it was pretty adorable.

Madison also found a new friend in the mirror at her Papi's house in Colorado City where we stayed for the remainder of the week. She would coo and stare at the image in the mirror. It was a great place to take her if she started to get fussy, she would stop crying and would look at her reflection.

Boy, we were both so excited to see Brandon when he made it down late Friday night. Madison must have sensed he was coming because she sure didn't want to go to sleep that night. When we woke up Saturday morning, Madison immediately started screaming at her daddy. After a 30-second chew-out session, she started smiling and talking to her daddy. She must not have enjoyed being away from him for that long.

We drove the entire 8 hour trip in one day on Sunday to make it back home. Madison did very well in the car, but was ready to be home about 3 hours before we were home. I eventually had to sit in the back seat next to her to help soothe her. She was ready to be back in her own home.

Our puppies were very glad to see us home, too. They spent the week at Brandon's parent's house, and were excited to have us home again.

During the last week, Madison has really been showing signs that she is ready to start eating some solids. So infant rice cereal was the first thing we tried when we got home:

I am sure that with a little practice, on both ends, this will be a great new phase in Madison's life.

Overall, we had a terrific week visiting all of our family and friends in Colorado. We had a great time, but we were defiantly ready to be home. As the saying goes, "there is no place like home."