standin'

rowe is pulling up all over the place.

tunnel

thanks aunt b for the 'crawling tunnel.' rowe loves it.

cruisin'

rowe & i made it back from tennessee. we had such a sweet trip, busy, but sweet. he was such a champ on the airplane. i think the waking up at 3am helped his 'sleeping on a plane' abililty. we had big news in knoxville. rowe finally learned how to cruise, thanks to pa stroud. my dad actually got down on the rug & showed him how to push his knees under so he could have some leverage. and what do you know, off he went. also, mom and dad have a wooden glider and once rowe was cruising, he found those slates, easy to put your little fingers through, and promptly pulled himself up. so...i have been much busier as of late. here are some cruising pics.

more

just wanted to show you some more time with momma lee

hiking

we have had the best time with momma lee. we have had all kinds of firsts, too. Rowe had some cheerios, always fun - had his first hike in the back pack - responded to a "no" when pulling hair, finally - he is pulling himself to a sitting postition & momma lee thinks he has put on some more pounds since she has been here. so...we have had a great, full week.

ready

on your mark, get set, go.

dada

rowe is becoming such a little babbler. his latest and greatest is "da, da, da, da." genuis, i know. andy was off yesterday so had a huge family day. we went to the pool, went fishing, and then went "brushing." this is rowe's first tooth brushing experience. he was digging the electric toothbrush, thanks mom and dad.

we are so excited - only one more day until momma lee arrives.

sock

rowe found a new toy tonight. whatever works.

little

andy is always saying, "man, he is getting so big." so, this helps us remember how small he started out.

it is so funny almost every picture we take this kiddo has red hair. if you look at him, you can sort of see it, but our camera sees it for sure. andy and i have been waiting for the blond invasion because we both were blond as babies. it is slowly coming in.

my grandmother's dad always wanted a red-headed grandbaby. he said he would pay any of his children $50 to see some auburn highlights. i think rowe has got that covered. better late than never, right granddaddy chapain :-)

sleepy

my aunt ree gave rowe this little jacket. the whole outfit has little bear footies and the above little bear hoodie. it might be my most favorite article of clothing we have. we have a sleepy bear tonight.

staff

we just had our staff picture for the summer. the sole requirement for the pic is for all of the christensen kiddos to be looking at the camera. i guess we have one more kiddo to add in there. all of the departments are dressed in their gear - white for housekeeping & kitchen staff, green for fishing guides, blue for waitstaff, plaid for ranch hands, and cowboy attire for the wranglers.

we had an exciting phone call from momma lee & bets yesterday. momma lee is going to try and come up next week, b maybe in august (or rowe & i might travel to texas), and dandaddy and aunt suz for labor day. just when i was missing family, here they come:-) perfect timing.

jumpin'

rowe loves his jumper, thanks momma lee.

mater

elk hunting is a pretty big deal out here. there is a lottery system for what you can shoot, where you can shoot, when you can shoot, etc. so...a gentleman from tennessee that my dad somehow ran into had drawn a cow elk last season. he made his way to the 4ur, the ranch allowed him to hunt on the property & this was his thank you. he sent three crates of tennessee tomatoes. i haven't had a home-grown tomato in six summers. i can't tell you how good that tomato tasted, but i will show you how beautiful it was.

trying

well, he is trying for sure. we haven't had any official crawling, but he is sure getting close.

the 4th is a really fun day at the ranch. there is a major, major at least in creede terms, parade down main street, the staff has a volleyball tourney in the afternoon, & then fireworks in creede to round it off. again, major fireworks for the likes of creede. growing up the 4th was second only to christmas so it is perfectly planned for my heart to be able to have such a big day colorado style. it is so funny to have been here this long and to still get a bit teary eyed over the tennessee style 4th of my youth. i love that b is starting a 4th tradition texas style. rowe is gonna have all kinds of choices for tradition on the 4th.

bath-time

right after a bath is one of my favorite times. rowe is all blurry eyed, curly haired and so darn cute. i am a bit biased though.

thrill-seeker

i love this shot of rowe and andy. that is the kid's heart right there, just hanging on and loving it, a thrill-seeker for sure. it is also his heart for andy. he is so smitten. i'm not sure who is more smitten though, rowe for andy or andy for rowe.

color

this is for my dad. he wanted to see that camo in color.

sittin'

just wanted ya'll to know this little guy was sitting up all by himself, so we put him in a perfect place for sittin', a chair :-)