Stephens' Stories: September 2012

We are now residents of Houston but I first wanted to blog about our last few days in Denver. On Wednesday 8/29 my Bible study girlfriends planned a dinner at an Italian restaurant and since David was in Houston working already, Austin stayed with Jessica, one of his former teachers. It was so sweet of them to plan this and I got to say goodbye to everyone that could make it. David came back in town late Friday night. He played golf Saturday morning and we worked on packing after that. Austin and I made one last trip to the Cherry Creek Farmers' Market for some strawberries and peaches. We were supposed to go out to dinner with Ryan and Kelly on Saturday night but our babysitter was sick so they ended up coming over to our house and we ordered pizza, tried to watch the Texas game on the computer since it was on the Longhorn Network, drank wine, and chatted. We will miss them! But we will be back in Boulder on 10/5 for their wedding! Almost every day for the last week we were in Denver, Austin and I went running at Wash Park. We would drive there, and I would run pushing the stroller twice around, which is almost 5 miles. Then after the run, we would sit on the grass and he would have a snack of cheese and applesauce. He really enjoyed watching the people, dogs, geese, ducks and cars as we circled the park. He also loved standing up holding onto the stroller while eating cheese. On Sunday afternoon, we went to Adam, Rachel and Brody's house for dinner and playtime. It was so fun to hang out with them one last time. Rachel cooked tacos and we just played on the floor with the little boys. I can't wait to find out if their #2 will be a boy or girl!

Tupperware fun while packing

Farmers market farewell

Clapping at Wash Park

Ah!

Telling a story

So excited for the first Texas game of the season!

Best buds

Snack at Wash Park

Mommies and their boys

Blue-eyed

Savannah is a horse

Chilling with a bottle - we are almost breaking the bottle habit. He only had 1 today and the rest of his milk was from a sippy cup - yea! Such a big boy!

Looks like Austin is bossing Brody around in his own house

Friends!

Brody trying to give a gentle hug - ha!

Austin gets mad....

So Brody gave him a head-butt

Uh oh, now Austin sits in Brody's red chair

Brody's attempt to sit on top of Austin :)

On Labor Day, David played golf for one last time at Cherry Creek Country Club where we were members. I am sure he will get invited to play there again with friends, but I know he was sad to leave. I dressed Austin in his USA shirt, forgetting that it said Happy 4th of July on it too. Oh well. We enjoyed a run at Wash Park and later that day we grilled in our backyard one last time - steak, chicken kabobs with veggies, and corn on the cob. We headed over to Bonnie Brae ice cream - my favorite Denver ice cream place - so yummy! In the evenings the last few nights in Denver - I made sure to spend some time in the hammock with Austin. He is more squirmy now and doesn't like to sit still very long but we spent many hours in the hammock about a year ago when he was a little little baby. The fountain in our backyard pond and the swaying of the hammock worked like magic when he was fussy in the evenings. We will definitely miss that. We also enjoyed the comfortable evenings out in the front yard on a blanket and swinging. On Wednesday night, Jessica came to stay with Austin while David and I had one last night out in Denver. We went to a restaurant called the Ale House at Amato's, which had a wonderful view of downtown from the elevated patio. It opened less than a year ago and we had never been before but it was a perfect spot for a last date night out. On Thursday we closed on our house and fortunately Austin's school let him come for a drop-in day. We had more packing to do and it is MUCH easier to pack without a 1-year old crawling around. Although we closed on Thursday morning, Jon, the buyer didn't take possession until Sunday so we had a couple of days to be out. Mary/MiMi came up on Thursday night to help with the moving on Friday, and more importantly, the drive. More to come on the move....

For now, goodbye Denver. We will miss you dearly. We will miss our friends, the fall leaves, the crisp air, the mountain views, our first house, the birthplace of our baby, our genuine church, the hammock and pond, our neighbors, Wash park, and even the snow, among many others. I hope to visit often.