Taylor family visits

My Mom, Dad, and Libby came to visit us. We had a great time with them. BSU played on a Wednesday night and they got up early on Thursday and started the drive to Colorado. They stopped and had lunch with my Grandpa and Uncle and Aunt. My parents were going to stay the night along the way, but they decided to drive all the way. The arrived late Thursday night, but Brayden was so excited when he woke and realized Libby was on the couch. As Grandma came down the stairs we was beginning to realize that Grandpa must be here too. He climbed the stairs and knocked on the door until he opened it. He was attached to Grandpa the rest of the trip. On Friday we were able to relax and spend some time together until that evening we headed down to the CU campus and watched Ralphie run. Of course Brayden wanted to be right by Grandpa, until he saw Max Helfrich.Brayden and Max loved watching Ralphie.
They got right up to rail to watch him run by. It was so cute to see how much much fun they were having.

Run, Ralphie Run! We have a new Ralphie this year, and she is so fast.

After we watched Ralphie we headed down to Pearl St. to the CU Parade. Brayden of course loved giving high fives and pounds to the football team. He even gave high five to Coach Hawkins.
On Sunday we celebrated Libby's birthday. We had just gotten back from a walk, and Brayden started having a reaction, so he got to have some cake right before bed.
Monday we drove to Denver and toured the US Mint. Brayden liked to find all the flags and started saying money. After the tour we drove up to Fort Collins to check out the campus. Brayden carried his CU football all over the campus.

On Tuesday we drove up to Estes Park. It was a beautiful drive with all the leaves changing colors. We stopped at the Stanley Hotel; which is where The Shining was filmed. It was an awesome view from the hotel.
We were on our way out of town and decided to take the Peak to Peak highway home. It was awesome and right as we were leaving there were two big elk right on the side of the road. We pulled over and made sure Brayden got a good look at them.
Brayden took a nap as we headed back down to Boulder. It was an amazing drive, it was beautiful. We walked up to Boulder Falls. Brayden loved to watch the water, we could hardly get him to look at the camera for a picture. We had a great week with my family and we are excited to see them in a few weeks in California.

Ready for snow

We are excited for the snow to come. Last year by this time we already had several days of snow fall. This year we have had to wait a little longer, but that doesn't mean we don't enjoying putting on our gear. The boots are his favorite, he will wear them with or without pants.

With the weather getting a bit chilly outside we have been attending story time at the library twice a week. Jared was able to go with us and Brayden enjoyed showing him the fish tank.

Thomas the Train

Brayden loves trucks, tractors, and trains. So when I heard Thomas the Train was going to be in Colorado I thought that would be a fun activity for us. Thomas was coming to town when Jared was going to be in Florida for a game, so it worked out perfect. We were joined by our friends Max and Megan. We had an early train ride so we got up and headed for Golden around 7:45. We arrived at the Colorado Railroad Museum and it was very busy. Brayden enjoyed the train ride, but didn't like that he had to sit the entire ride.

After the train ride we had the boys check out the little trains. The boys were very entertained by all the trains. Some had bubbles, people, animals, and one was Thomas. The boys watched the trains for a good hour.Thomas continued to give rides through out the day and every time he would pass by we would walk up to the track and wave to all the passengers. The first time he went by it was a little big and loud for Brayden. There was also a petting zoo, which Brayden liked. He kept putting his figures in their mouths.

We had a great morning, and Brayden was asleep before we got on the freeway.

Denver Zoo

Monday we made a last minute trip to the zoo. My friend Megan and her son Max invited us to join them. I am so glad that we were able to go. It was a perfect outing. I loved how Brayden kicked off his shoes and spent most of the time with his feet on the stroller tray. He was in chill mode most of the morning, which was nice. That ended however the minute he got out of the stroller. After making the loop around the zoo we ate lunch. After lunch we decided to ride the train. Brayden seemed to enjoy the ride. Which was good because Saturday we are going to the Train Museum to see Thomas the Train.
Here is Max and Megan on the train ride, and Brayden sitting by himself while I took the picture.

Teresa's visit and West Virginia game

On Wednesday Teresa flew in for a visit. We were so excited to have her come, Jared hasn't seen her for over a year. We filled our first few days of the visit full of excitement. Wednesday night we headed down to the stadium to pick up Jared. We saw Ralphie run twice, but missed her first run when she got away. We then headed down to Pearl Street for the CU Parade. Brayden loved it like always, and Teresa enjoyed the great band. Thursday was game day. It was a crazy morning for us; I had to finishing sewing bags, I was late to the luncheon, I gave Teresa really bad directions, and Brayden was up way past his nap time. We finally returned home to have naps and get ready for the football game against West Virginia. We got to the game with 58 seconds on the clock. I was really nervous about the game so I was excited that we scored two touchdowns at the beginning of the game. West Virginia kept us from scoring the rest of the game. We ended regulation 14 to 14.

In overtime we were able to keep West Virginia from scoring so they tried for a field goal. The football hit the goal post and was no good. All we had to do was kick for the win. We kicked and it went right through. The fans stormed the field, it was pretty crazy to watch. We saw it from inside but a friend to took this picture from the stands.
After a very late night we woke up late and headed up to Winter Park to visit Teresa's friend. It was a really pretty drive and Brayden was a trooper. Saturday we went on a walk around the neighborhood and got back in time to watch the BSU vs Oregon game. Teresa helped us get Brayden to sleep before the game so I was actually able to watch almost all of it. We were very impressed and excited by the team. We respect and miss all those coaches so much, and it was fun to watch them win the game.
We had so much fun with Teresa and can't wait to see her in California in October.

Brayden loves

There are so many things that Brayden loves. It has been so fun watching him become so interested in things. He really like shoes and likes to put them on and walk around. He puts on my high heels, but I know Jared wouldn't appreciate that picture very much. A few weeks ago Brayden started to love reading. I have tried since he was born to read to him. Until now it only lasted a few seconds, but now he will sit for a long time and read. He will hand you a book and then turn around for you to pick him up and put him on your lap to read the story. It is so cute. We checked out a bunch of books from the library, most of them were about trucks, tractors, and trains. He seems to be especially into those.
We find him reading his books by himself too. He usually is pointing at the wheels or birds that are in the book.

A few weeks ago at church we had brought some books for Brayden to look at so he would be quiet. We brought him one of his animal books, and Jared would quietly wisper in his ear the sound that the animal would make. This continued for a while, and then Brayden moved on. A few minutes later we hear Brayden so we look over to see him sitting on the bench with his book saying, "baah, baah, baah, baah." right in the middle of church. It was so funny. I have been pretty desperate to find things to keep Brayden quiet at church so I got an idea to try stickers; it worked for a while. He likes to put the sticker on the paper and then take them off over and over. We usually end up with stickers everywhere, but he is having fun.
Lately we have been going to Storytime at the library. Brayden loves to do the actions to the songs. Brayden is doing the actions to head, shoulders, knees and...
...toes. I love it when he clapps at the end.
Brayden is also into football. Whenever it is on TV he clapps, fist his hand for the "fight, fight, fight" part of the CU fight song, and will do the touchdown signal. I am glad he likes football, I just hope in four months he is not sick of it.

CU vs Eastern Washington

This week Colorado played Eastern Washington at home. The Friday before home games they have a parade down on Pearl Street. So we bundled up and headed to the parade. It gets really loud with the band, but Brayden really seems to enjoy it. We have been singing the fight song and he puts his hand in a fist for the "fight, fight, fight" part at the end, it is usually a bit late however. Max is one of the new players, he is a great kid. Brayden knows Max from the weight room and he gave him a football.
Of course Brayden had to give Max and several other football players "pounds". It was really cute. The game was a little scary we were down with just a few minutes left and we got an interception, and ran it in for a touchdown to win the game. The final score was 31-24. After the game we were walking back to the car and noticed Brayden was having an allergic reaction. We aren't sure what caused it, but we managed to get him some Benadryl before it got bad (like when we were in Moab).