Rachel cheering us up

Cancer sucks.
3 people that I know and love have been recently diagnosed with cancer.  2 are elderly family members.  One is an amazing person, a fit and strong lady, and the mother of my very dear friends.  I am thinking of them often and I am so heart broken by this news.

I often think of a friend in Penticton who will soon have a baby whose mother is battling cancer.  Another coworker back in Penticton is having a hard time from her chemo treatments.  It's been almost 2 years since Jason lost his father Ray to cancer.  I am treating a college student right now who had lymphoma a few years ago and is doing well now, but lost her hip and has huge orthopedic issues since her chemo treatments.

Unrelated to cancer, my great aunt passed away last week after a broken hip.

At tough times like this... I look to Rachel to cheer me up...

Funny things Rachel is saying and what it means:
"Wub you.  Hug.  Pat pat pat."  (Love you, she hugs you and then pats you on the back.)
"Bye bye.  Soon.  Adios."
"No Nunu!  Only paper."  (She is scolding her blanket friend Nunu and saying No, Nunu, you can only color on paper - not on the furniture.)
"Bring it!" (I want to bring this toy or Nunu with me and will freak out if we leave it behind.)
"Have it!" (I'd really, really like some of this please and will cry and scream if I don't get it soon.)
"Help you please."  (Help me please.)
"Abugayno"  (we have no idea what this is and she says it several times a day.)
"Come on Rachel.  Go!" (as we are packing up to try and get out the door on time.)
"Come on guys.  Guys!  Gu-uys!!!"
"Ow Ow Owie Owie Owie" (I don't like it.)
"Daddy running.  Yeah runner!  Rachel run."
"Daddy funny.  Super Daddy.  Mamma beautiful."
"Excited.  Nice."

Favorite things Rachel loves to do:
- throw rocks into the creek
- throw a ball under a bed or the couch and then get down on the floor, saying 'oh no! ball! help you' as she pretends to try and reach for it, but really hopes an adult will come retrieve it
- building a tower out of anything that she can stack - see tower of canned soup that she made all by herself!

- hug and snuggle
- go down the slide backwards
- roll the dice in our game called 'Farkle' and cheer after she throws it.  Then say 'Rachel's turn!' until she gets to go again.
- turn on the radio and sing 'da da da'
- hit the buttons on the calculator while saying 'seven! two! eight' randomly
- go shopping in the kitchen, which means taking a bag on her arm and walking around filling it with things, such as cans of soup or granola bars or large spoons
- climb up chairs, on her stroller, or any furniture

- play hide and seek.  Sometimes she will hide properly, like behind furniture, while other times she will just cover her face with her hands and say 'hiding'.
- stand on one leg, walk on her tiptoes, or march around

Fun things we've done lately:
- watch baby chicks at our cousin Jeannie Ray's house (play this video)

- Easter Egg Hunt in town with the Easter Bunny

- been on a great family hike on the Osprey Trail, just outside of town.  See the pictures and the video of Mamma running with the backpack on, as Rachel says 'go! run!' and giggles as she bounces along.

Decisions on the House

We've been running around a bit disorganized lately, so we didn't manage to post anything about our house decisions.  We'll do our best to keep you up to date on the house progress... although we're going to take a break from it for a while and catch up on the rest of our lives!

Walking beside our lot

 Our house is currently a pile of dirt.

What the view will be from our upstairs

 Our back yard runs up to this church lot, so hopefully they keep it green an open so we always have a mountain view.

Making decisions at the design center

 We had many decisions to make at the 'Design Center'...  and each decision went with a prior decision and then influenced the next decision.  Each decision had a financial consequence as well!

Most of our choices

 Apparently we are going to have lots of neutral colors, and lots of browns.  We loved this hardwood floor and the brown (sorry, uh 'nutmeg spice') cabinetry, and then tried to choose non-offensive carpet and tiles and countertops from there.

Center = cabinet over carpet over hardwood floor

right top is kitchen tile, right bottom is kitchen counter

The kitchen counter top is some fancy recycled stone material that is all put together to be called zodiac slab.  This one was on discount so we saved loads of money and we hope it will look good!

Ok - more later about Rachel!

Goodbye Skiing, Hello Snow

Spring break means that Susan arrived to visit on Saturday March 31st.  After picking her up at the airport, and after playing on the escalators 10 more times, we went to the zoo.  It got up to 83F in Denver and was awesome.

Meggan, Rachel, and Grandma watch sea lion show

Daddy and Rachel tuckered out

View from our living room Sunday morning

On Sunday we woke early and drove to Vail to enjoy some Spring skiing.  Grandma babysat Rachel at the top of the Gondola while Meggan and Jason tried to round up our ski season as best we could, avoiding the slush, the dirt and the rocks.  It was awesome to have some time to ski together, and the views all around in the warm weather were beautiful.

The Olivers take on Vail

Looking at the Gore Range from Vail

We thought Buddy would love this Lego car at Vail

April is the month of Meggan's birthday, which means that we celebrate all month long :)  It started with Jason buying me AT skis and skins, so that I can learn to go ski touring.  Sunday afternoon we headed to Breckenridge resort and as all the Spring breakers packed it in and the chair stopped moving, Meggan learned how to and did her first skin up to the top of the Colorado Super Chair and then skied down.
Sunday night we went for dinner at the Swiss Haven and had fondue (where we had our rehearsal dinner.... mmmmmm!)

adjusting AT bindings

Adding skins to my skis for the climb

Ready for the climb up the resort run with skins on

Sunday night we slept at a motel in Silverthorne, and Monday morning we woke to snow.  We bundled Rachel up, grabbed her skis and boots, and then let her ski!

At first Rachel was quite distracted by a man that had a big fall next to us, and she kept saying 'Whoa!  uh-oh man!' over and over.

The whole 'on the hill' part lasted about 20 minutes, but we all enjoyed it.  Check out the pictures and the videos.

Rachel gets measured for a ski boot

R and J at Blue River Sports getting skis

Rachel and her gear

Skiing with Daddy!!!

 Rachel's first run... and her saying 'all done'

Rachel's faster run, where she is happier

For those who have not seen Rachel in a while, it may be funny to watch this next video.  When she says 'more' it sounds a LOT like 'no' and it's sometimes hard to know the difference.  Here we are trying to figure out if she is all done skiing for the day or if she wants to go again.  In the end, we agree that she is done and we pack up and go.  Of course, as we are leaving, she says she want to do more!  Next year, Rachel!!

Snuggling with Grandma back home

When we returned to Boulder Monday for Meggan to go to work, we put our ski stuff away for the year.  Of course, that night it got cold, and Tuesday April 3rd it snowed in town!