moving....and getting behind!!!!

ahhhh!!! i am getting behind on pictures....and i have SOOOO many!!! it has been a great, crazy, hectic, hard, but fun week. We are mostly "moved" into our new house...now just to do the actual unpacking part!
This is a picture of the ridiculously amazing cupcakes i found at a little cupcake boutique in Denver...aren't they just gorgeous!!! One of the highlights of our move back is getting to hang out with our dear friends in Denver. Unfortunately, just as we move back to Colorado, their family is leaving for Wisconsin, but at least we get a few weeks to hang out!!!!
Nova was thrilled to get to hold the SECOND little baby in her life!!! Griffie! isn't he just the cutest. He is seriously soooo chill...i guess that comes from having 3 toddler siblings running around 24/7! He is honestly so relaxed and easy going, and just the cutest little thing. Nova now considers herself a "baby expert" :)

Juneau and Nova haven't really had much of a chance to try riding bikes. The goods have a garage full of bikes, and actually gave the girls this RIDICULOUSLY cool Specialized Balance Bike (it doesn't have any pedals, so it starts to teach balance very early!) I actually looked all over the state of virginia for a balance bike for Nova's birthday and couldn't find one, so we were all thrilled to get this amazing one!

Juneau is working hard to get the hang of it!

Nova and Finley must have run a mile chasing eachother around the park!

They had a blast (and still look like sisters!)

Jackson was soooo sweet to Nova....she calls him her "New Prince" (Daddy is her "old prince!). He even pretended to take her to The Ball, and danced around with her. I think Nova truly believed she was a princess!
Daddy helping Nova ride down the huge hill!

Isn't this just exactly what Daddy's are for??

Yep....this is the crazy crew at dinner...I wish i had my video camera so you guys could hear some of the ridiculous interactions between these five! At one point Jack (Sweet, calm, rational little jack) said "why is everybody talking at one time?" excellent question jack!!! The Good's house is FULLL of dress up!

In fact, at one point every single kid was dressed in full-on dress up garb....what else could we do except have an impromptu trick-or-treat??!!! haha! the kids LOVED it!

mmmmmm.......licorice directly into the baby-birdies little mouths :)

of course it makes PERFECT sense for an astronaut to be having a sword fight with a pirate! The cutest thing of the whole fight was everyonce in a while one of the participants would pretend to "die", then one of the princesses (Nova and Fin) would have to give them a kiss of true love to wake them up so they could continue fighting! the imaginations on these five are sooo cute!

In Nova's world Buzz Lightyear certainly doesn't need any pants!

or a shirt, for that matter!

haha! not sure what these guys were looking at out the window (i think it was at the Colorado Moth Infestation!)...don't you just love that "tinker-butt!"

more of a typical scene in the living room.

our little princesses...as ridiculous as it is, this is the best picture i could get of the two of them!!

well, maybe this one is a little better :)

The Bugs (june-bug and shane-bug) holding a bug :)

The next day we went to Jackson's International School concert/festival. This is Juneau's typical look when i say I am going to take a picture. Seriously CRACKS ME UP!!!!!

ahhhhh sweet Griffie boy. So happy to be swinging.

These two are the little cuddle-bugs out of the bunch. There is nothing better than a Shane hug or a Nova hug. Absolutely love them.

Most of the gang :)

this one just cracks me up. Classic.

Yep, this boy loves to hug.

Jackson was awesome in his little show. I think he loved having an audience. He played his little heart out on his pretend trumpet, and was by far the best at the twirling partner dance :)

The festival was complete with bouncey-house slides We had to say goodbye wayyyyy to early (we had to meet the rental agent for our new house). There were hugs and lots of tears, and promises to come back soon (which have already been kept! stay tuned for some more ridiculously cute pictures from our 2nd visit with the Goods!).

It is hard to believe the bond these 5 kids have, and that even after 7 months of not seeing eachother, they jumped right in where they left off. We aboslutely adore this amazing family, and will truly miss our time with them when they leave in a few weeks! But we are thankful for the hopefully lifelong friendships we have made!

Black Barts Cave

Long-time blog followers of the Stickley fam will know that no extended trip to Denver is complete without a trip to the world famous Casa Bonita. One of Cris' missions in life is to introduce his friends who have never been to Casa Bonita to this crazy place. This time he recruited Melanie (one of his PhD students - who incidentally had been to Casa Bonita *many* years ago!), and Kate (one of the recent master's graduates from UH), along with Kate's husband Ben (the Univ of Hawaii gang is all in Denver for the sports med conference). Anyway, we escorted the poor, unsuspecting souls into the Disneyland of Mexican Restaurants for the classiest meal in Denver. We hope they like a plate of mexican delicacies smothered in processed-cheese-food. oh yes, my friends, that is a fire-juggling-indoor-cliff-diver.

Black Barts Cave. It's scarrrryyyyyy!!!! Juneau and Nova made it all the way through the cave, but they both had to cover their eyes for part of it :)

The *beautiful* Casa Bonita Fountain!

The last picture goes along with a funny story about Juneau. We have to look out for this girl....she keeps us thinking on our toes! Tonight on the way home from Casa Bonita, the girls were getting a little tired/grumpy. Nova was using the "Elmo phone", and Juneau wanted to hold it. Juneau said in a pretty nasty voice "But I WANT that PHONE!", so i told her she wasn't going to be allowed to use the phone tonight because of her bad attitude. After we got home Nova asked her if she wanted to see the phone, and Juneau told Nova that she wasn't allowed. In about 1 minute, Juneau came over and asked me if she could use the phone if she didn't actually touch it, but Nova just held it up to her ear. ahhhh....this girl is always finding a way to push the limits!!! I had to give her props for her creative problem solving, however, and let Nova hold the phone up to her ear one time :)

one of those days.....

You know those days, where 10 p.m. rolls around, and you feel like you are pretty much the luckiest person in the whole wide world? well, i've had "one of those days" :) I feel soooo blessed to have married the love of my life, to have the greatest families we could ever ask for, to have the 2 sweetest girls in the whole world, and to have spent some very formative years making some of the dearest friends ever. yep, it's been one of those days.
I woke up the morning, and cris volunteered to watch the girls while i went for a nice run and explored some of downtown denver (We are in denver for 5 days for a sports med conference cris is attending). After my run we went out for a great little lunch, and then i spent some time playing with the girls. This evening we got to hang out with Dee and Justin (my friends from med school) who have the absolute greatest little family (complete with 5 month old baby Luca). Cris and Justin share a *nearly* pathologic love for the Ohio State Buckeyes, so they were able to spend some much needed time commiserating over the recent devastating news from the Buckeye State football community.
All in all, it was a nearly perfect day, spending time with some beautiful people, and being incredibly grateful for the many blessings in my life.

now, some pictures :)

Juneau and Nova are somewhat obsessed with Easter Egg hunts (yes, we do realize it is June, and Easter is llloooooonnnnnng gone, but these girls love a good Easter Egg hunt!) They spent a good deal of time hiding rocks in a nearby park for everyone to hunt. As you can see, Nova was VERY enthusiastic about this!!!
Nova and Mommy with the "Easter Eggs" (rocks!)
I cannot even start to tell you how exited Nova was to hold her very first real baby. Baby Luca is 5 months old, and is seriously the most ridiculously adorable, well-tempered little guy ever. I told Nova earlier today that we were going to see a little baby, and she spent the whole day squealing with excitement. When we finally made it to see Dee and Justin and Baby Luca, Nova was soooo ready to hold her very first real baby. It was pretty much one of the best moments of her 3 year old life :)

ahhhh....5 months old...and just abou the cutest little thing ever. I LOVED that Baby Luca was totally happy letting me hold him, and give him his bottle. he is just the cutest little thing with black hair and blue eyes and the cutest little smile ever.

and let me tell you....Baby Luca LOOOOVEEES to eat his hand! it is DELICIOUS!!! :) It was soooo great to see Dee and Justin and catch up on life, and meet their new addition!

Dee, Luca, and Aunt Tena!!! Aren't they just the cutest ever????!!!!!

Daddy and Nova giggling :) Nova has been into this hilarious little game where she tells us "Kiss The Tummy!!!!!", and then she dies in giggles while hold up her shirt to give us a chance to try to kiss her tummy. Then she squeals and squeals and says " No! No! Don't kiss The Tummy! Don't Kiss it!!". She LOOOOOVVVVEEEES this game!

Juneau and Nova chillin' out in Auntie Tena's Hammock at the end of a fun night!

The girls playing "soccer ball" while waiting for mom and dad to wrap up their conversation with Dee and Justin.

When I see this picture, I think back to the summer of 1997 (now FOURTEEN years ago!!!) when Dee, Justin and I were freshmen at Youngstown State University....18 years old, and embarking on a llooooonnnnggg trip to becoming physicians. Who would've known that 14 years later Dee and I would both be OB/GYN's, and end up in Colorado, with families, and kiddos, and happy as can be :) and doesn't Baby Luca's face totally say "Hey....I was sound asleep! why are you guys waking me up!???!!"

Days like today make me so thankful all the amazing blessings in my life!!!!!

She's Got Her Momma's Sweet Moves!

road trippin'

okay, so we are not quite to colorado yet, but i had some really cute pictures, so it thought i would go ahead and post while we are traveling.

we left ohio yesterday morning. Grandma and mammaw kept the girls giggling and busy with bubbles, which gave cris and i the chance we needed to pack and repack the van (and uhaul!)

Grandma Stickley's homemade bubble recipe totally rocked! the girls LOVED playing with the gigantic bubbles!



Mammaw joined in the bubble festivities!

We are taking the 20 hour road trip at a leisurely pace, which has been great. we made it to St. Louis last night, and checked into our hotel. we couldn't believe the awesome view of the arch from our room!

Juneau takes her cartoon watching very seriously....

Nova showing off her new trick - winking!

This morning we woke up and headed over to see The Arch up close and personal. unfortunately, the fact that it is Memorial Day Weekend probably contributed to the fact that there were approximatley one million people who also wanted to see the arch today. the girls were troopers (for the most part....there was a moment where i thought we might all lose our minds after they BOTH announced they had to use the potty once we were already waiting for the tram to the top of the arch.....there is nooooo potty anywhere near the tram, and both of them had refused to try to go before we got back into the tram area. ahhhhh....the joys of parenting 2 toddlers!) anyway, here is Juneau in her most ladylike pose, waiting on the steps while we waited in line to go through the security checkpoint.

Me with the girls, in the "space ship" on the tram, waiting to go up to the top.

Nova lookin' super cool in her daddy's shades.

Mommy and Nova :)

Daddy and Jbug looking out the tram window on the way to the top

family self-portrait in the "space shuttle"

The girls enjoying the view from 630 feet...

ummm....yeah....this is some sort of famous stadium cris took a picture of.... a little clowning around before getting back in the van for more road trippin'

Downton St. Louis - headed back to the van after a fun morning at The Arch

We drove the rest of the day until we arrived in Kansas. My dear friend from residency, Benakar, (aka Auntie Benny) is stationed in Kansas. Unfortunately she was working all weekend, but we did get to bring over some Pizza Hut for dinner and spend a couple of hours on Labor and Delivery catching up with her.

As an extra surprise, one of the L&D nurses from Tripler is now in Kansas also, and works on L&D. She brought her new adorable sweet baby girl, Veeda over to say hello (even though it was wayyyyy past Veeda's bedtime!)

"Live Long and Prosper" The final 7 hours of the road trip is tomorrow. We are anxious to make it to Colorado and start settling in! Much love to our Ohio gang....we miss you sooooo much already!!!! Thanks for being the BEST ever, and making our 2 weeks of reunion/vacation extra special! We love all of you!!!